The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-11-10
IS SENTENCED
TO BIZ: HANGED. !. | !
Judge Refuses New Trial
for MCCue: Must die
on January 10th.
WILL GO TO
SUPREME COURT
Prisoner in Open Court Declares
He Is Innocent Of Murder Of
His Wife-The Judge Is
Much Affected While
Passing SEN
tence.

tence. III
Especial From a Staff f&Corrcspondent)
CHARLOTTESVILLE. VA. November
e.--Betwecn NrcCue the murderer, and the
grim and awful nakcdness OF the gallows
now stand only the Supreme Court Of vlr-
glnin and the Governor OF the State;
neither OF whom, in the opinion Of a vast
majority OF the people, Is Likely to In <
terfere with the course Of justice as els
ready defined. IA ~ is3 "
4 What the coming days may bring forth
sderations to be weighed and nice tech
ntcalittes to be decided Tho learned
and superior Judges may find in the ex-s
ceptions OF the defense just cause for II
acuon-or they may not. McCue may be !.
tried again--or he may not, It Is tho II
.vcriest folly to predict All that can Il
ibc attempted is TO indicate the trend OF y
sentiment In the lay mind. and L this Is
done in the opening sentence.
Ono thing alone IS known positively and B
this thing Is now beyond the peradven-
tureS Of q doubt--that unless the law, that Y
has already condemned, reaches forth
Its strong arm and at the last moment III
snatches the prisoner from he very jaws Y
of DEATH NIcCue, the ex-N1ayor, Will on y
the goth Of January, 1905. between the Y
hours Of sunrise and sunset ascend tho Il
scaffold and there give ha life in re-
turn for that of his dead and murdered
wife. ia fss 353
Sentence Passed. &.
With voice that trer1bled and all
most broke: Judge George W. Morris, Is
one. time friend and fellow ownsnlan OF Il
him. who, pale and weak, n ow stood be-8
fore him a convicted sfelon. Yesterday y
passed the sentence that means an
5ignominious and frightfulS end to the c;l-g
srcer OF a once happy and prosperous man.
Tho scene wns quickly begun VI and as 4
Quickly over. With a. rapidlty that
caused many to gasp. there was flashed u
before the eyes OF three or four huns
dred people the figure OF the prisoner
protesting his Innocence. a. nd then OF the
court prunouncing the terrib BILE words II OF
the death sentence. 1t was over and done
In an instant, but that instant fixed NJ
self indelibly upon the memory Of those a
who shuddered and saw. g 55ss33ii8it
q II came ut the end of an hour Into q
which had been crowded events many 9
had expected would drag on through
days The motions of the defense for q
new trial were made and one " by one Il
were overrulcd. There was no argument,
and herein is where came the surprise, ,$5
and the suddenness with which the court
and tho people found themselves facing n
tho climax Of a tragedy that has shaken AZ
the State to It's Very depths. Everybody
had looked for a wrnngle that would cons
sumo ut least one afternoon. Yet within III
Of an hour. before either 55
the judge or tho people could Il brace
themselves for the end, the end had come.g
Motions Overruled. a
SIX reasons for the motion for a newiss
trial were pointed out, and when these
proved OF no avail, a seventh attempt to .9
stay the hand of tho court WAS made.
only to meet the fate Of the others Judge
Morris passed quickly over the first FIVE u
motions but dwelt upon the sixth, which
he declared to be the only one that had II
cnused the court any trouble This was Il
the vexed question or the reading OF 4
by the jurymen. Af'terscare-ss ss
cldcd that this objection, too. was In
valid. 1t had not been shown that the Il
jurylnen We're in any way influenced by
what they had seen In the printed sheets;
on the contrary, they had stated under
oath that their verdict had been In no @
way affected by headlines or reports. , Il
was, therefore, the opinion of the court K
that this motion, along with the five O
that preceded It, should be overruled.
After noting exceptions to this action
tho defense made Its last n1oYe-equallyS
vain. The Jury had found the prisoner
guilty. us charged In the indctment,5ot
murder In the first degree. The lndict-
ment was simply for murder and under Il
1t the accused could have been convicted II
OF any degree of homicide. I was clain,-
ed that Il flaw In the verdict--rguilty as
charged In the indlctment"--left 1t open
what the jury meant, and 1t was he'd to
be improper for the court 10 undertake
to establish the degree Of guilt. The rnl-
Ing OF the Judge was toithe effect that
the concluding words of the verdict were
OF a deAnlteness sufficient to indicate be-
yond all doubt tho meaning OF the twelve
men who tried and convicted McCue.
A Tragic Moment.
The defense had nothing else to OFFER:
the last moment was at hand. The rela-
tiyes OF McCue had loft the room Little
Ruby. who had been present q moment
before, had gone with the Others. Men
and women blessed the forethought that
spared her the horror Of what was ITO
come. hut In that Very bless ng liiYga
curse for the agony she Ind been allowed
to suffer for so many days. MoCne was 81
almost alone The Judge looked fixedly y5at
him Morris, stern and uncompromislrg 4
to the end. was trembling now. Ills voice
quivered.
~, Samuel Mccuc," he declared. slow
ly and solemnly, stand up,
Tho prisoner arose from his chair and
took a step forward, Not a sound dis
tnrbed the quiet OF tile little roonl-ra
quiet that In Its awful intensity recalled 4
the scenes Of the memorable Saturday
previous. I. ss
."Iiave you anything to say, ], Samuel
NcCue;s why the court should not now
proceed to pass sentence Upon you?
Declares He Is Innocent.
r,yely ear was strained, Would thes
murderer sneak or would he stand In
silence while he was condemned 70 dle2
He did not hesitate. He had evidently "
thought long over what ne would say
at this supreme monent, tfis race was
male: his lips trembled ptteousiy. but the