Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1908-03-07
TO PAY DEATH PENALTY
L. c. Thurman Will Be Hanged Mex
Week For the Murder of His
Friend, w. P. DoIsen.
Special to the Herald.


Norfolk, Va, March UNLESS Gov
ernor Swanson interferes with the
sentence, which is not considered like.
ly, tomorrow will be the last Sunday
on earth for Leo. c. Thurman, who is
to be hanged here next Friday for the
murder of his roommate, Walter P
Dolsen, more than two years ago
The convicted man, who is not yet
thirty years old, seems resigned to his
fate and is said to have made full
confession of his crime.
Both the murderer and his victim
were marines in the United States
service and had been discharged a
short time previous to the crime. Dol.
sen was en- route to his home in Mich
igan, when he picked up with Thur
man. The two young men became
friends and together they secured
lodging in an East Main street board
ing house in this city. Thurman was
practically penniless, while Dolsen
had about $400, which he had saved
from his pay in the marine corps.
While Dolsen slept one night Thur
man chopped the defenseless man to
pieces with an axe, robbed him, pack
ed the body in trunk and tied a tag
on it ready for shipment to Edenton,
N G.. The crime was discovered al
most Immediately, but not before
Thurman had eluded the police and
left the city He went south, and
after wandering across the continent,
he finally located in Vancouver, B. c.
Here he was captured. The passing
of bad checks, which was an old prac.
tice of his, proved his undoing. He
was arrested as result of check
transaction, and when taken to police
headquarters in Vancouver detective
with a good memory for faces recog
nized in the prisoner the man who
was wanted for murder in this city
Thurman, after the murder of Dolsen,
had travelled under the name of Gould.
The police of this city verified the de-
scription of the prisoner, and a hat
which he wore bearing the name of a
Norfolk halter completed the identifi-
cation.
= beS-vrlv o---sIarsnll. danart-
ment were at once sent to British Co
lnmbia to bring back the prisoner A
trip of six days across the continent
and the much-hunted man was landed
behind prison bars, almost two years
after the murder had been committed.
A speedy trial with a verdict of
murder in the first degree and the
last chapter in a career that was
punctuated by many misdeeds was
completed. Thurman was never placed
on the stand. His attorneys argued |
that if their client killed Dolsen he |
was insane at the time. There was
not a witness for the defense, except |
to try to prove that Thurman had |
been considered partly insane at |
times.
Thurman was born in West Point, |
KY, and in his youth was newsboy
and several other Ohio |
cities. Prior to enlisting in the marine
corps he had been in several scrapes
Of a more or less serious nature. After
his arrest on the murder charge his /
family gave him what aid they could.
brother came from Kentucky, and
a lawyer came with him to assist in
the defense. 1t did not take the jury
but few minutes, however, to arrive
1T a verdict of guilty. The first trial
took place last summer, and Thurman
was sentenced to hang the latter part
Of September. An appeal to the SUI
preme court resulted in a stay. The
higher court declined to interfere
IN the case, whereupon the young
man was sentenced to pay the death
penalty on Friday, the thirteenth day
Of March.
GEORGE MILLER SUICIDES.