Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1908-07-16
ROPE CUT SHORT
HIS WILD RAWLINGS
Unaffected by Reading of Death
Warrant he Began Tirade
Against Priesthood When
Moose Was Adjusted and
Continued Until Death

Canon City, Colo, July 16.-Gui-
| seppe Ala, the murderer of Father
| Leo Heinricns, paid the penalty for
| his crime at $3.50 o'clock last night
| by hanging. The execution was wit
| messed by prison officials and news
paper reporters, in all sixteen people.
The trap was sprung at $3.50 and Ala
hung suspended nineteen minutes His
neck was not broken and he strangled
to death.
Ala was unrepentant and until his
cries were cut snort by the rope he
continued to call down maledictions
| upon those whom he believed to have
been the cause of his troubles He
was unaffected when the death war
rant was read and ate a hearty sup
pei at 8 o'clock. On his way to the
trap he was silent but as the black
cap and moose were adjusted he
broke out with rawlings against the
priesthood and Father Leo, and con-
tinued until the rope strangled him.
Giuseppe Alias crime, the murder
of Father Leo Heinrichs, of the order
of franciscan monks, at the altar rail
in st. Elizabeth's church in Denver
while the priest was administering
horror to the heart of every person
in Denver, and awakened anxiety
throughout the Catholic world lest it
should prove the beginning of a gen.
eral plan of priest murder.
Ala had been In Denver several
weeks, unemployed and apparently
penniless. Early on the morning of
sunday, February 23, according to his
story. he was aroused from sleep by
the ringing of the chimes in st. Eiz-
| abeth's church. He arose, dressed
himself hurriedly and walked out to
the church, led by the musical tones
pealing forth a call to worship. But
he went not with the thought of
thanksgiving in his mind, for he de-
clared, and many times repeated after
his arrest, that the chimes recalled
| alleged wrongs experienced in his ma
tive Italy and attributed by him to
the church.
Entering the church, ALA went
through the usual ceremony of oless-
ing himself with holy water, and then
seated himself where his view of the
altar and kneeling, awaited the ar
he followed the ritual up to the point
where communion is given to all who
altatr and, kneeling, awaited the ar
rival of the priest officiating at the
communion, not knowing, Ala has
said, or caring who it should be.
A number of other communicates
had assumed the same posture and
positions at the communion rail were
practically all taken. When Father
Leo beloved by all who, knew him,
nf
appeared with the cOnsecrated waters,
all at the rail seemed impressed with
the solemnity and sacredness of the
service and inspired with thoughts of
God. Ala, however, according to his
own statement, could barely restrain
a desire to spring at the throat of the
priest, despite the place, the scsne and
the peculiarly sacred character of the
action in progress.
Along the line passed the priest.
placing upon the tongue of each sue
cessive commitment the consecrated
wafer and repeating the lines of the
mass declaring the eucharist thus ad-
ministered IL the Savior himself in
person. Ala was now the next in
line. Father Leo, placing the wafer
upon the tongue Of the stranger, all
in Alias heart began, Take eat; this
is my body" but stopped horror
stricken. The subject of the prayer
had spat the blessed morsel from his
mouth Almost simultaneously with
this desecration a shot rang out and
Father Leo sank to the floor, mOrtally
wounded. A bullet from a revolver
fired by Ala had penetrated the
priests body near the heart.
Father Wulstan Workman, hearing
the shot, rushed from the adjoining
sacristy just in time to administer TO
Father Leo the last sacrament, Faith
er Leo expiring a moment later in the
arms Of his brother priest. Immedi-
ately after firing the shot Ala, with
curse, darted toward the main aisle
of the church and rushed for the
door. With hair disheveled and
smoking gun flourishing over his
head, ne made his way to within ten
feet of the portal where he tripped
and fell. Policeman Daniel Cronin. |
who was among the worshipers,
wrenched the gun from Alias hand
and dragged him 10 the street I'm an
effort to protect him from the mad
deued WOTshipars Outsida the polica-