Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1905-07-21
NORMAN
WILLIAMS
HANGED
MHIti-Mnrderer Pays Penalty
or His Crimes at The
DaIIeS This Morning

The Dalles, Ore, July 21.-Daniel
1EsrDan Williams, the alleged multi.
uurderer, whose crimes extend from
Nova TO Oregon, and who for so many
ynars escaped the penalty of his acts,
WAS hanged in the county Jail here to-
day
The exeeution took place at sos this
unOEning. He went to the gallows with
rput nEnltering, and met his end without
N frempr. He refused to talk, and was
usr1Unpuneed dead IS minutes after the
trip was sprung.
Williams was hanged for one of the
rr8sa atreciOus crimes in the history of
sCAzgsn, the cold-blooded and brutal
umurder Of Miss Alma Nesbitt on the
might Of March 8, 1900, on his home
sstEAd ranch, about 20 miles from Hood
kEfiyn. Al the same time he killed her
rmufher, Mrs. Louisa Jane Nesbitt, for
eshe purpose of secuing possession of a
homeEiead claim taken up by Miss Mes
sbdtt adjoining his, and to cover up
~sfbrr crimes which he is alleged TO
Aavs committed against Miss Nesbitt.
Bp-a of this is series of crimes in
TSwa with yhich he was connected.
Williams knew the Nesbitts in Nc
HbrMsAKa and induced them to come West
He then persuaded Alma to take up
homestead, which he did in 1899. A
ashvrt time after this he induced her to
marry him, although he had a wife liv-
Sng nj that time in Iowa, and was the
asaber Of several children, who are of
an adult age
Bnf short time after this mar
,ringe, which was secret one per-
Termed at Vancouver, Wash, in July,
RB00, williams is supposed to have
Rearned that his wife could not hold
her homestead, which is believed to
have been the object of the marriage.
On March s, 1900, williams, Alma
Ncsbitt and her mother left Portland
. fsr Hood River. They arrived there
aaae in the evening and started to.
drive TO the claim of Williams, a dis
1uuee OF 20 miles, although the night
wns dark and stormy. That was che
last seen Of the two women in life'
WILLIAMS returned to Hood River the
ToIIowfng morning without them.
The evidence, which was cireumstan'
aial. showed that williams took the
1wo women out in buggy and muir
dered both with an AK, horribly mutt
hating them. The crime was commit
aed only after bitter struggle, in
uvhieh the women evidently resisted to
their utmost their gruesome fate. He
then buried their bodies in a huge
brush pile and burned them.
Williams built his plans carefully,
and even went so far as to construct
n henhouse over the graves OF the
unfortunate women. He endeavored
20 account for their absence by do
.laring that they had gone to Wash
FnRton, and asserted that Alma had
entered on fast life. He wrote
sneh story Of her to her sister, who
IS a resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa,
and TO other friends OF the murueIeu
women in the east.
Sometime after George Nesbitt OF
aOwa endeavored to trace the where
abouts of his mother and sister, and
beeame convinced that Williams had
murdered them. The murderer had
failed 20 remove all traces Of his
crime. A portion of Mrs. Nesbitt's
scalp with long gray tresses attached
ahereto and some bloodstained gunny'
sacks were found. The bodies OF the
two women have never been found
Expert testimony showed that a
portion of the hair and scalp haa
been torn from the head of Mrs. VIII
liams while she was yet alive, and
these gruesome relics were shown IN