The Topeka state journal., 1905-05-01
DID SELL DO IT?
Famous Murder Case Is Before
Gov. HOch.
Sixteen Year Old Boy Convicted
Of AtrOciods Crime.
KILLED WHOLE FAMILY
Has Been in the Penitentiary
for Nineteen Years.
People Of NeoshO County Oppose
the Pardon.

- CAOcK TINS afternoon, Governor
Hoch commenced the hearing of the
application of Willie Sell for a pardon
Ihere is an immense amount of inter
est IN the case. and in addition to those
Who are here representing the boy. now
arrived at maturity, there are a num-
Der Of people here from Neosho county
lighting the application for pardon.
1t seems that the sentiment of the
people of Neosho county is strongly
against granting a pardon. The news
papers are fighting the application on
the ground that the boy was proven
guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.
state Auditor Seth Wells, of Erie,
NeOsho county. is one of those who is
/ strongly opposed to the granting of the
patuoh, ana he has used the columns of
ms newspaper to vigorously protest to
the governor against any clemency. He
says that by pardOning Willie Sell the
governor would commit a crime only a
little less than that committed by Will
lie Sell himself
j. NJ. Allen, who was one of the coun-
" ofncers at the time of the murder,
IS IN Topeka to oppose the granting of
pardon. He has brought with him
/ aIndaNlts from a good many people
VINO were closely connected with the
famous case.
Willie Sell was sent to the peniten-
tiary 19 years ago, when he was a
boy OF 10. He was proved guilty be-
lore jury Of numbering his father,
mother, brother and sister, the object
of the ghastly crime being to get pos
session of the farm owned by his
father so that he might marry a girl
with whom he was infatuated The
/ defense was that Willie Sell had moth
ing to do with the case; that the crime
was committed by some unknown
party for the purpose of robbery.
Some effort has been made to cast
/ feT7e fafr =,
Sells father. 1t is also claimed the
boy was physically incapable of COM
hitting the crime.
One of the important dispositions
which was presented to the governor
this afternoon against the granting of
/ the pardon was that of J. J. Hurt, who
was clerk of the district court when
Sell was convicted. It gives a good
deal of important history Of the case,
and is in part as follows:
Il am resident of Neosho county,
and have been for thirty-five years last
past. I was clerk of the district court
of said county when Willie Sell was
tried for the murder of his parents,
brother and sister, and heard all the
evidence in said case. I was personally
acquainted with J. w. Sell, the murder
/ ed man. He was a man of medium
size and weight, and ordinary circum-
stances, an so acre farm poorly stocked
and housed; land not rich, and Mr.. Sell
/ had a hard struggle to keep his family
( properly clothed and his children in
/ school, he lived in a small unpainted
house with two rooms, where he was
murdered. Some time before he was
murdered he was in town trying to sell
a revolver to buy seed to plant his farm
and told of his hard struggle on the
! farm. He taught school when he could
4 procure one during the winter but in no
/ way would lead any one to think he
was a man of means such as to incite
| a robbery. 1 had charge of the clothing
! that Willie wore when he committed the
murder. His shirt front was sprayed
/ with blood showing that his pants COW
| cred the lower half of the band, the
pants could not be found for the trial,
but pair of decayed pants that tailed
1 with the pair Willie wore the day OF the
murder were found under hoored hog
pen, but this was not put IN evidence
/ and occurred a. few years afterwards.
/ His shirt cuffs were smeared with blood
where he had pushed them up to wash
his hands.
cone of the cuffs was wrinkled in his
/ effort to push it higher so as to get
the blood off his arm, but he had not
succeeded, and left a streak of blood
around his arm about half way to his
elbow His finger nails were clotted
with dried blood next morning, as Was
also his socks and the bottom of his
! feet his tracks where he had walked
/ through the blood on the floor i'll his
/ stocking feet were plainly discernible
1 next day. The WaShpan where he had
washed was marked with bloody fin
ger marks. The towel where he had
wiped was bloody The blood had
soaked through his clothing on his
knee. The print of his knee was left
on the floor in the blood by the side
of his fathers head where he cut his
/ fathers head nearly off with the
/ butcher knife, which was left lying on
/ the floor near by covered with blood
/ It was such d knife as is usually kept
1Ia
sharp as such knives are usually kept
and was sharp enough to do the execu-
ftiOn that was done with 1t that night
It was in my possession for several
I months. Willie sWore that he mad not
washed his hands. He claimed to have
run man away in certain direction
+ There was a light snow on Ine StoulC'
/ and no one but Willie had LETT the
/ house. He slept at Mr. F1ce's, a near
tnefghbor, and asked for water to wash
his feet. and Mrs Rice refused It. ana
made him go to bed as he came IN he
slept soundly until morning He first
gave the alarm at Mr. Mendalls, a
neigh hbor much further away than
4 Rice. and another neighbor. Willie was
nearly II years old and Weighed
something over 12O mounds; had chop
/ ped and hauled a load OF Wooq from
{ the timber several miles away the day
/ before the murder; was used to doing
IaH kinds of farm work. He was a
strong and vigorous boy and amply
/ able to DO Ihe QeeQ Iof Wnlcn ne was
convicted. He had complained about
/ having to stay at home and do the
work while his brother was awav at
school and his father teaching. He
was deeply enamored with MendafI's
daughter at the time, and his brother
had been with her the Sunday of the
ira gedy. He asked the sheriff if he
| thougFs, the girl would marry him if
7la So cleared. When asked if he
cid not know that he would be hung
for stcE, \ crime, he said: sThey do
not hans people in Kansas I have
Hooked that up The brother Of ].