Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-04-06
WOMAN CONVICT
MAKES HER ESCAPE
KATE O'DWYER, WHO WAS AT
ONE TIME PUT IN IRONS,
GAINS LIBERTY IN CLARKE
COUNTY.

ATHENS. Ga, April Skate O'Dwyer,
the prisoner famous from having caused
the prison commission to issue proc
lamation that no female prisoners have
shackles placed on them, made her escape
from the county farm prison last night.
She was serving a sentence Of twelve
months imposed by Judge c. H. Brand
and was in charge OF Warden w. u
Kelly.
During yesterday she gave no evidence
of her intention to attempt an escape,
and at shutdown yesterday the warden
locked her up as usual During the night
she removed the bars from in front Of
her window and thus escaped.
| 1t is evident she had outside help, from
the fact that box had been placed I'M
derneath her window, which was some
/ four feet from the ground. The fact that
she escaped was not known until o'clock
this morning.
The county farm is some three miles
from the city, and up to this hour there
is no trace as to her whereabouts and no
one has seen her since she was locked
up last evening.
In the haDeas corpus proceedings al
chambers before Judge c. H. Brand, OF
the superior court of the western cir
cult, in the case of Kate O'Dwyer VS..
| w. D. Kelly, superintendent of the
! Clarke county chain-gang, an opinion
was handed down by the court, send
ing the woman back to serve her sem
tence. The opinion was in part as fol-
lows:
Kate O'Dwyer was known as Kate
Leopard while the present judge was
solicitor general of this circuit. Her
life and character and the scope of her
unlawful operations are we'll known in
this city, but not to others whose SYM
pathetic attention has been attracted to
her confinement. Her business since
1899 has been that of a general law
breaker. She has been keeping lewd
house, a disorderly house, a place where
liquor and beer were sold and motor
ious retreat for men, both married and
unmarried. Her place of business was
located on the banks OF the OcOnee river
I'm East Athens. She is about forty years
of age, is about five feet and eight
inches high, and weighs about one hum
bred and seventy-five pounds.
An Old Offender
''Since 1899 she has been arraigned
and convicted in the municipal court of
this city three times for keeping a dis
orderly house; one time for keeping a
lewd house, and five times for disorderly
conduct. During this time she has been
araigned in the city court of Athens two
times; once for keeping a lewd house,
which was settled on payment Of cost,
and once for assault and battery, to
which she pleaded guilty. And during
the same time she has been presented
by the grand jury of Clarke county
thirteen times; she being charged in
said presentments, from time to time, for
keeping a lewd house, keeping a dis
orderly house, selling liquor and va
grancy. She pleaded guilty in the SUI
perior court to six OF these charges
had two settled on payment Of cost; four
mol pressed, and one is now pending
against her undisposed of for keeping a
lewd house. She has never been &C
quilted of any ofrense in any of these
tribunals.
At the April term of 1907 of Clarke SUI
perior court, the woman pleaded guilty to
keeping a disorderly house and was fined
500. She was warned that owing to
her frequency in court she might expect
severe sentence II she appeared again.
She disregarded the admonition of the
court and at the October term, 1908, she
was again indicted and at this term
pleaded guilty in two cases.
It is pointed out that she was a danger
Gus woman. She is said to have separat-
ed a husband from his young wife and
sent her word that If she made any effort
to prevent him from visiting her that she
would run her down and blow out her
brains. It is stated further, that she had
seriously injured young man by knock
ing him in the head with a beer bottle;
that older men had been assaulted by her
with deadly weapons; that women in
competition with her trade had been
cursed, knocked and cuffed about by her,
and that young clerks had been charged
with stealing from their employers to
crafty her demands. In addition to this,
the decent and law-abiding citizens of
East Athens, whose interest and welfare
deserve consideration, had become tired
of this woman's presence and her bust
ness and her habit and that of the wom-
en- she had about her, of parading up and
down in front of the peoples houses and
Haunting themselves in the face of their
wives and daughters, and many of them
earnestly beseeched the court to be re-
lieved of this ever-present evil.
The above statement discloses some OF
the reasons why changing sentences
were imposed when the woman last
pleaded guilty.
It is shown further that she was given
the alternative OF leaving the circuit, new
er to return. or serving the changing
sentence. The woman, however, broke
her promise and her return made II
necessary to enforce the sentence of the
court.
CROKER CROSSES SEA