The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1903-07-21
FIGHT FOR A LIFE.

Ea-eET L
made a hard fight TO save mans life
without thought of payment" said
Lawyer Lawrence Harmon. Zone of
the hardest of them was made more
than 30 years ago.
There lived at ChiIlicothe, Ill. a.
poor shoemaker named Henry Nc
Nulty. He had been married a few
years before and lived with his wife
and grown-up stepdsughter in a little
house IN back street. Enclosed by a
common five-board fence, with a
vacant lot on each side of it.
"One day in the summer of 1872 the
wife of McNulty was found lying dead
in her home. Upon investigation it
was ascertained that McNulty had been
drinking hard the night before and
that in a drunken condition be quilted
saloon at IL o'clock. that his step
daughter was not at home. so that the
only occupants of the house must have
been McNulty and his wife. post
mortem examination showed that
two or three of the woman's ribs were
broken as If by violence and that the
broken ends had penetrated certain or
gans. causing death. It was we'll
known that McNulty when under the
influence of liquor was in the habit of
abusing and assaulting his wife. He
was therefore arrested charged with
murder. His lawyer produced no testi-
mony in his favor before the jury As
the eircumstantial evidence was all
apparently against the prisoner the
jury convicted him and fixed the pen
atty at death by hanging.
Finally McNulty sent for me. told
me his life story. called God TO witness
that he was wholly innocent and ig-
norant as TO the manner of his wife's
death and begged me TO make an eff
fort 10 save his life Impressed by the
story of this unfortunate man. con-
sidered if my duty 10 make an efortin
his behalf
My next move was to present GER
tilted copy of the records to Justice
Scott. of the supreme court. then re-
siding at Bloomington. with an appli-
cation for writ of error and super
scdeas until the supreme court could
pass on the case in the following
January. he said that owing to tl--
popular excitement over the matfd
he did not like to take the sole respo1
sibilitE- but asked me to get anotbei
judge Of the supreme court to act with
him. l applied to Judge Lawrence, OF
Galesbnrg. He refused.
ITO the late Gen. John NJ. Palmer.
then ending his term as governor of
Illinois, / appealed for intervention
Although oppressed with work he
spent half night carefully going over
the records of the case, and then he
said to me:
'4r. Harmon. il there was any pos
sibIe chance for me to intervene and
save the mans life. any peg in the
records upon which TO hang my action.
would gladly commute his sentence.
hut as II Is. much against ny viii. l am
compelled TO refuse to do 90, while con
demning the one-sided manner in
which he was tried
Il went TO Bloomington and told
Justice Scott that had done all in nv
power as man and a lawyer for nv
client. nesting failure on every hand.
and that I would row lay at his feet
the life of unfortunate Henry McNuIty.
in whose legal innocence had full be
lief For some moments the distin-
guished jurist appeared in much dis
tress of mind. then he suggested that
| ask the governor for reprieSe for.
McNulty until the supreme court met
four or five weeks later at Spring field-
declined. whereupon the justice him
self wired Gov. Palmer. and the re-
prieve wzs granted-35 days.
THE csss came in due time before
the supreme court. Only Justices Scott
and McAllister favored granting
supersedeas. The rest refused.
Then one day an elderly woman
came into my Office and desired TO see
nv partner, the late William W.
o'Bricn. and myself in reference to the
zscNulty case The story she told goes
to prove truth stranger than fiction.
Here it is:
II en- doctor and have prscsiced
for many years in ChiliicotLe 1 am
the mother of the young lawyer who
was counsel for AcNuity en- Eis trial.
On the night of the supposed murder
Of Mrs. AlcNuliy 1 happened TO pass
hsr house on my rss1rn to my own
home after { professional visit, when
heard = moaning in : vacant Let be
side her house. j went 10 tne scot in
the darkness ard Sound Mrs McNulty
in great suffering. She told ne that
in attempting to cross the fence into
the vacant lct on her WY to neigh
bor's house she hS6 fallen and struck
upon something that had caused Sc
we're injury to her side IasSixted her
to rise, brought her around to her
house and in at the front door end
made her as comfortable asI could on a
lounge. not realizing that she had suf-
fered any serious injury. Then went
to my home. I was shocked when I
heard next day that the woman was
dead and her husband was arrested for
murder
+" why, in the name of mercy. didn't
you mention this before?' asked her.
~'0h. well. while l felt certain that
McNulty did not kill his wise-for he
was not at home-I had my mind maLe