Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-05-24
GIRLS DON'T FEAR
 COMING HANGING
Two Young Women in New Mexico Await Death Penalty for Murder One Gave Her Husband Rat Poison and Both Have Good Time in Jail

Though under the sentence of death, the two young women, Valentino Mad rid and Anna Lyons, make merry in their prison cell at Hillsboro. Though convicted of the murder of Mrs. Mad rid's husband by putting rat poison in his coffee, and sentenced to be hanged on June z, they profess extreme indif- ference as to their fate.
 ''I have just returned from Hills boro, ' said Elfego Baea, who, with the district attorney, H. A. Wolford, con dueted the prosecution and secured the conviction of the two women, "and must say that l never before saw two such unfeeling women in my whole life. I visited the women in their cell on Saturday afternoon and expected to find them weeping, or in To wspirits, but instead they were practically re- joicing. Alma Lyons, the negro girl, was playing the harp, and Mrs. Madrid was singing. They did not even stop the music upon my appearance. How anyone can be so indifferent at such a tiHiV anu uHuSi SuCH SonuilIOu ID amazing to me.
 Don't you dread to diel' I asked of them.
 Mo- they answered, we are glad to die. We have got to die some time --whoy not die now9' They said this without a quaver in their voices or a tear in their eyes.
 " But I continued, 'have you no fear of death2'
 "With toss of the head the ne gress replied; I don't fear nothing
 "Two tougher girls--they are but girls; Alma is only F years old and the widow of the murdered man is only IS years-I never saw. In Ian guage and actions they betrayed the lowness of their characters. Both have had the reputation of being moral de- generates, and if they ever had such a thing as conscience, they must have lost it long ago. Both are uneducated and without mature judgment, but undoubt- edly the negress was the one who sug- gested the idea of poison to Mrs. Mad rid. She was familiar with the action of that poison, as the testimony at the trial brought out.
 CT called again on Sunday at the cell. The women were still in a state of unfeeling indifference. They were rlaying with dolls at that time, like children, instead of acting like felons | convicted of a foul murder. One of the dolls they called 'Nigger Girl and they caressed this object in burlesque manner. Whether they entertained any hidden feeling of remorse and thus sought to disguise the emotion, I can not say. Surely they acted their parts so as to conceal any finer feelings they had, if they had them, which I gravely doubt. Again put some questions re- garding their fate. They still main. tained their former careless demeanor and denied that they dreaded hanging Tn fact, they seemed happy and laughed and joked in the lightest manner possi | ble.
 "The father of the negress lives at Silver City, but he has not even taken | the trouble to visit his daughter, who is under the shadow of death. asked the girl why her father was so unkind | and she said:
 l" He ain't got no use foh me. I'se got CT stepmother, an one day I lam pasted the ole woman mos dre 'ful. certainly did pound dat ole woman Since den my ole man hain t got no use foh me, nohow.'
 ''The mother of Mrs. Madrid is cir culating a petition to endeavor to in duce the governor to commute the sen tence of her daughter, claiming that the girl was unduly influenced by Alms l Lyons, but none of the better class ot people of Hillsboro are signing tn, paper.
 | fFrancisco Baca, who was charged with being an accompliec to the crime and with whom it is said Mrs. Madrid was in love and wished to marry, wa taken to the penitentiary at Santa F. by Sheriff Ed Tafoya, of Sierra county for safe keeping. He will receive [ trial later.
 "All during the trial of the girl mur derers the sentiment of the spectator and the general public was strongl, against them, and this feeling was az gravated by the stoical attitude of tn defendants. When the jury returned the verdict of guilty this stoicism wa not In tho laasf ra1ovnd
 "The family of the widow is no noted for its law-abiding uprightness At the present time the father of Mrs Madrid is wanted for having poisone' a dog. He is missing and cannot b found The widow of the husband sh helped to kill has no children. ''-Albu querque Citizen.