Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-01-17
MURDERER Gull EN-
LYNcHED FOR CRIME
Slayer OF VIE and Coy IS
Hanged from Bridge at
Charles City, Ia.
v TO 81 cRAzY
psubt as - us Sanity Had Long *
,sted-Promiaent Men Of the Town
~ Ne5rly All Walks Of Life
IN the Mob.

cherries rt,y. Ia. Jan. II. Fighting
ios his life iiNc a tiger at hay. james
cu.ilol. ,ne wealthy coniractog WHO
Tuesiay npsnine murdered his Wife
aud le-Nc.f-old ~s'crson. WAS dsassed
trom his c,ll ia the Floyd county, jail
"a. II n',.oc', hast night by a mob Of
Infatuated citizens 1nu hanged It" death.
IN. iNnohrrs Fastened "A noos" about
MS neck and tnicW him oil a bridge
~ nidnisit mis- lifoioss body MAS siill
sMANiile /" and ifo AZ the cad "l l'e
hope his feet dangling within Il few
fee, oG the recovered river. No one
t.t1 We, appeared Z" claim The BODY.
Darkness Brings Out Crowd.
Public Indignation over 'ullrn's mon
f strols crime oi TIN. previous morning
had grown more, bitter with every hour
I'll day. When evening came the PEG
I,l, OF the town assembled as IL by
common consent. The streets were
iillcd with AN excited throng. About 4"
o'clock inc crowd gathered around the
county iail Within whose walls MAS
imprisoned IN. double murderer. From
~ few hundred the mob gained recruits
=" rapidly that Within half AN hour
there wcrr nearly LOCO people in the
Snr2ing throne.
Leading Men of City in 1t.
Tho leadiug ,uen of the city. doctors.
l., gers, merchants. mingled with
Workiu2m"n On n onnon footing and
With u common .tim-to avenge the
melcil"ss crime ulon :, woman and
her son. Women aud Children. too. !
were there in large numbers. There
were apparently 10 leaders of the mob, '
all Woi. leaders.
Al $50 o'elock sheriff w. W Scher-
merhorn appeared from the door OF his
quarters adjoining the Jail and tried tol
address ;lc crowd. He urged the citi-
zcis TO ~" lnwabiding and commanded
the crowd 10 disperse. No one moved i,
The sheriff read determination In the
faces of thu tlrong and knew his APP
peal was of 10 avail. i
Door Is Battered Down.
y. few moments later the surging mob
made way for q bunch of men carrying
Il railroad rail. procured from the yards ;
near by. Manned by all the men who
could get hold ON il. the heavy iron
was driven with tremendous force
against the outer oak door of the Jail.
a few blows Mere enough to batter
down the door and the mob entered.
They encountered u brick wall. bu,
that was :, small obstacle. They soon
cut their way through that with axes
and reached tn" steel cage. They prieti
the steel door off its hinges and entered
the cell wher. the terrified cullen
,rouchcd in a corner.
Prisoner Makes Desperate Fight.
Cullen fought like u demon when
the men seized him. but he Was soon
"~verpowerrd and bound His c;tptors
dragged him from the cell amid tn.
shout of tn" multitude and through
the crowd into HE street.
Two blocks northeast from the Jail
is The bridge oyer the trGar river.
Struggling as hard as b. could aeainsi
The combined force ~ ii score of men.
cullen Was hurried 10 tho bridge a
nn"se, already prepared. Wa slipped
about his neck.
Declines Opportunity to Pray.
Al this jnnctimc t.nsis, ii"pel. of
III" salvation army. who bad Just ar
riv"d in charles city. stepped up.
Would YOU like TO pray ne
asked tn" .ioon"I man. SIN s'rie
No dctiantly shouted tho en-
. ragged man.
Have YOU got anything more t."
sny"' yelled s"nloon" in In" crowd
Cullen hecainc quiet. He spoke sui
l.nly. as if he realized Their. WAS no
Says Wife and Boy Attacked Him.
'She and III" boy attacked me be
fore I ever touched either of them.
ic declared. That's all"
That's !; lie" Throw him over"
-, '"'lil' from II 'ioIen tDfcatS.
The rope had been firmly tied to
ihc bridgr railing. fausing = moNlent
! 10 soc that In" moose was properly ad
g iustcd the self appointed cXecutioners
9 picned Cullen - and throw his strug-
glii x form IN over the river. The
rope ;aute'ied with Il sudden jerk.
There was Il sudden crack. tullcn's
; body "uiv"r"d ronvulsivcly AS il
; swung back. His neck Was broken.
All vas over.
, ..ftor gazing u few minutes in awei
: ail"nco while cuIien's body swung to
: and fro in thu breeze tn" members OF
= III, mob dispersed in an orderly fash
= ION. 1t had taken about one and !.
: nall hours 10 batter DOWN the Jail. cap
'ur" the murderer. and accomplish
= his execution.
Th" man Who probably win take
: rhars" of the body is X. &. Cullen
rashier OF the Farmers bank AT War
: ron. M Il brother.
He Was Worth $5o.o
James Cullen was abou, sixty years
of lg". and had a fortune
' Ut $4,000. He had behaved in an ex-
' centric manner for years ana by soms
= was regarded :fs demented. He was
= special! - crank on th. question ol
I temperance. II il said that he never
-"ok Il drink in his life.
! The shocking crime which resulted
: ~ II" death Of Mrs. Cullen and hen
= son vas d particularly revolving one
= cullen rose early in the morning on
= Tuesday. and While his wife WAS sleep.
= ins. cut her throat With :, large knife
4 He then attempted to murder his step.
: son in Tn" sam" Nay. bat when the boy
: 'elt the knife touch his throat h,
! iump.d up AID succeeded in gainint
possession Of il. i;oarders in the hous,
= were aroused. They attempted To over.
: power the murderer. As the bo,
I starred froia the house 10 set the town
,,..k- Is,.t -.lA4 l:-.- ,- A-