The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-04-13
FRS I liza ICING IN
IOWA In II YEARS
SMITH, A NEGRO, TO BE Elk
ECUTED NEXT FRIDAY.
Double Execution Is Stayed by an APP
peal in the Case Of Louis Busse, q
Wife Murderer, to Test Validity Of
Indictment Story Of the Crime Com
mitted by Smith. /.
Special to The Journal.

Special to The Journal
/ Des Aoines, Iowa, April ia Judicial exc
cution VIII take place In IOWA a week from to-
Gay Tor tie first time in eleven years. Joseph
~ smith, negro, convicted of the murder OF
Mrs. Ida Canady at Buxton will be hanged at
the Fort Madison penitentiary at noon on that
day. 1t Is a coincidence that after SO long an
interval, double execution was to have taken
place on that date. Louis Busse, the other con-
demned man, has secured a ,stay Of execution
\ by appealing to the courts to test >the validity
OF the Indictment. after every other resources
had been exhausted. Hi
The man who last expiated his crime the
gallows in this state was J. X. Cumberland,
hanged Feb. 8, 1895, for double murder. His
death warrant was signed by Governor Frank D.
Jackson @5if ST. sJ
Louis Busse, wealthy Butler county farmer,
was convicted Of having killed his wife ana
attempted to conceal his crime by burning her
body. The judicial record in the Busse and
Smith cases has been almost identical. Both
were found guilty in the district courts OF MUIR
der in the first degree. Both cases were ap.
pealed TO the state supreme court, and. by 1t
the decree of the lower courts was sustained.
The attorneys for both cases then petitioned Gov
ernor Cummins to commute the sentence to life
Imprisonment. These applications the governor
refused and set the dates for the execution, but
referred the applications to the legislature. The
pardons committees Of both houses reported that
the Legislature was without. Jurisdiction in such
cases. ' s zgi..
Ssse5FFg5Sls 0L6Ilu t1dS SCl up40o. S3Esa
When. the attorneys for Busse decided to make
use of the only means in their powerAto delay
the hanging-that Of bringing suit in the federal
court at Cedar Rapids, to test the validity Of
the Indictment and Of the method OF selecting
the jurors, there was one man besides the pr1s-
oners who took deep breath Of relief. 1t was
Sheriff Henry PARROT of Bremen county, his APP
pointed executioner Sheriff PARROT does not
believe In capital punishment, and his contem-
platon Of the official duty that seemed inev-
! liable has only served to strengthen his scru'
| pies in this direction. 8 r. ;
| Nevertheless. Sheriff Parrot had gone system
| atically about the preparations for the ordeal.
/ He had studied every detail of the requirements
| made by the law for hangings, and made one
4 trip to neighhoring state to consult with an
| official noted for the number, OF executions ne
had performed. He was told:
! ''The main thing is to keep your nerves un-
| shaken. your head clear and your mind SO strong
1 ly concentrated on your task that nothing can
i take your attention from it. When the galloWs
4 are reached. try to shut my eyes and ears to
/ all that is going on about me- The few moments
! preceding the dreaded event are intense ones
! There is mental strain upon all concerned. and
Il should lose my head In the least degree there
/ Is no telling what contretemps might follow,
! NY greatest trial is when the prisoner makes
1 statement try not to hear 1t, except tc
know when he is thru" 81 z"
Busse's Crime. ~
i Busse was convicted largely on the evidence Of
an 1s-year-old boy who was employed as a farm
4 hand He killed his wife June 10, 1901. The
Il defense endeavored to show that Busse was first
i attacked by his wife, and that the murder was
i committed when Busse was In violent rage
4 There was evidence however, to prove that the
crime had been deliberately plannd.
| The negro, Smith, became infatuated Will
J Mrs Ida Canady. his landlady at Buxton, II
4 Monroe county. He thought 1t would be better
i for him to leave town. Mrs. canadys objected
/ and after loving persuas faileds to move smitf
4 she grew angry, and rushing from the sfous'
i said Smith had assaulted her and caused hi
i arrest The man was in the county Jail fo
4 nearly ninety days awaiting action by the grand
i Jury. He was released on the first hearing
/ there being no evidence on which to base al
\ indictment. Smarting under the great injustfc'
A which had been done him, Smith de1beratel!
planned the murder of Mrs. Canady and shot he
one morning she stood in her doorway. Sher
If John Doner Of Monroe county will have charg
Of his execution. - III