The Tupelo journal., 1903-10-09
VAN WORMER BOYS
ELECTR0CUTED
Three Brothers Met Death Like
Stoics In Electric Chair.
SHOWED NO SIGNS OF FEAR

They Paid the Penalty For the Muir.
der of Their Uncle and Bene-
factor, Peter Hallenbeck, ON
Christmas Eve, 1901.
Dannemora, N. Y, Oct. 2.-The three
youthful Van Wormer brothers were
electrocuted Thursday morning for the
murder of their uncle. Peter A. Hal
lenback, on December "a, 1901.
They have been preparing for the
end for the last few days, after all hope
of executive interference at Albany
had gone. They embraced the Cath
Ollie faith, made confession of their
sins and wrote pathetic letters of adieu
to their relatives and friends.
Then they made .eady for the elec-
trio chair, to which they were led one
after the other.
First, Willis, oldest and mos: i'm
questionable of the three; second,
Frederick, the youngest, who mas
seemed to be the most hardened:
third, Burton, the second in point of
age.
At $3.50 it was reported ny the war
den that the men Were in the best pos
slble condition, both of mind and oody,
and well nerved for their ordeal
In the Death Chamber.
Willis Van Wormer entered the
death chamber at 11:34:30, the cur
rent was turned into his body one min
ute late. and al 1887 he was declared
dead.
At 11:41:30 Frederick entered the
death chamber. at 11:42 the current
was turned on. and he was declared
dead at 11:43:30.
Burton entered the death chamber at
11:47, the current was turned on at
11:47:30, and he was declared dead at
11:48:30.
The entire proceeding, from the
start of the first man from his cell to
the doctors declaration of the death
of the last, consumed but 151a minutes,
and no untoward incident marred the
execution of the law.
The Van WOrmers' Crime.
On Christmas eve, 1901, with their
cousin, Harvey Bruce, the three broth
ers drove from their home in Kinder
hook, some II miles. to the hamlet of
Greendale, in Columbia county, where
lived Peter A. Hallenbeck. an uncle of
the Van Wormers. On the way they
stopped at the Greendale church, where
they stole from the vehicles of the
farmers number of robes and whips.
At Their Uncle's Home.
Thence they went on to the Hallen-
beck house, where Mr.. Hallenbeck, his
wife and his aged mother, were sitting
in the lamplight in their living room.
A few moments later there was a
knock at the door. and Mr.. Hallenbeck
answered it, to find masked men be-
fore him armed with revolvers. Bur-
ton Van Wormer led the way, and with
him the old man grappled. At once
all four began a fusilade of pistol shots.
which fairly riddled the body of Mr..
Hallenbeck. Mrs. Hallenbeck, the wife,
ran into the kitchen. and the brothers
shot at her but missed. Her husband
ordered her to fee, and she ran up
stairs, whittier the older woman had
preceded her, and the two barricaded
themselves in the attick.
The Murderers Ran.
Mr.. Hellenbeck, although MORALLY
wounded, broke away from his assail-
ants and went to the landing of the
stairs, where he kept a loaded shot
gun. The assailants saw him get the
gun and fled. The old man fell to the
floor and died.
The four young men were soon after
arrested, betrayed by their footprints
in the snow, and because they were
known to have harbored bitter feelings
and to have made threats against their
uncle. They were brought to trial before
an extraordinary term of the supreme
court appointed by Gov. Odell and pre-
sided over by Justice Alden Chester, OF
Albany, on March 80, 1902.
The Convicting Evidence.
Harvey Bruce turned states evil
dence, and it was to large extent up
on his testimony that the conviction
of the Van Wormer brothers was Sc
cured. He swore that upon the ride
back from the scene of the crime each
OF the brothers hcasted of having shot
the uncle.
1t was shown that the bitterness
which the brothers felt toward their
uncle was due chiefly to his having
foreclosed a mortgage upon the proper
ty in Greendale owned by their step
mother, the loss of which compelled
their removal to Undertook.
On April all three were found
guilty and sentenced to be put to
death in the week ending May 80, 1902.
Their appeal to the court of appeals
acted as stay, and the case went over
to the present year.
Maxwell Leather Company Bankrupt
Chicago, Oct 2.-The property of the
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