The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-07-28
F|END IS AWAITING
HIS DOOM
Murdered Choir Singer at
Ottumwa, Iowa, Feb
ruary, 1909.

fore the expiration Of another day
John Junkin, the negro who, ON the
night of February 5, 1909, brutally
murdered and then robbed Miss Clara
Rosen, handsome choir singer at
Ottumwa, in this state, will have ex-
plated his crime upon the gallows.
The scaffold recently erected at the
penitentiary is waiting for the DOOM
ed man and the preparations for the
execution, which have kept Sheriff
John g. Clark, of Appanoose county
busy for many days, are completed
in every detail.
With the approach of the time for
his execution the condemned muir
derer has become extremely nervous
and the prison guards who have kept
the death-watch over the prisoner for
vigilance, fearing that Junkin, almost
insane from fright over the ap-
preaching ordeal, would attempt to
commit suicide at the last moment,
rather than undergo the legal penalty
upon the scaffold.
The attitude of the negro murderer
has undergone a remarkable change
since the time when he was first
taken to the penitentiary to protect
him from being lynched. After his
fear of the lynchers had worn off
Junkin displayed a bravado which
thoroughly disguised the prison Off
Gals. He seemed to feel great salts
faction over his Importance and no.
toriety and did not even lose his as
surance when he was found guilty OF
murder and sentenced to death. But,
as the time for his execution ap-
preached, his dread of the terrible
ordeal made him craven, sullen and
whining as his moods changed. Never
for moment did he give the slight
est evidence of remorse for his brutal
crime or of sympathy for the victim
and her family.
The crime for which Junkin will
pay the legal penalty upon the gal
lows tomorrow was one of the most
heinous in the criminal annals of the
state. The young and handsome vic
tim, Miss Clara Rosen, was returning
from choir practice on the night of
February 5 of last year, when she
was waylaid by Junkin in a deserted
locality. The negro choked the girl
to prevent her from crying for help,
| beat her brains out with rock and
then robbed her of her earrings and
finger-rings. He was caught a short
time after the murder, when he tried
to pawn the rings. The unusual bru-
tally of the crime had aroused the
most intense feeling among the cltl-
zens of Ottumwa and when it became
known that the slayer of the girl had
been apprehended, the citizens gath
cred with the intention of lynching
the murderer Only with the great
est difficulty did the authorities sue
coed in thwarting the plans of the in
censed citizens and in smuggling Jun
kin out of the city and bringing him
by special train to Fort Madison,
where he was kept safe at the peni-
Tertiary.
The execution of Junkin tomorrow
will be the second legal hanging of a
negro In this state in 25 years. The
last negro who paid the death pen
atty upon the scaffold in this state
was Joe Smith, negro from Buxton,
who was hanged on April 20, 1906,
for the murder of his sweetheart. 1t
is a remarkable coincidence that
Judge NJ. A Roberts, who passed
Judgment on Junkin, also presided at
the trial of Smith.
There was a great demand for per-
mits to witness the hanging of Jun
XIII, UuI OUSlill SldI e" 40 SoAAPNAA~
to refuse the requests of a majority
of the applicants. Among those VINO
received tickets of admission are the
father and two brothers of the vic
tim, the aged mother of the con-
demned murderer, six sheriffs, three
of the jurors who pronounced Junkln
guilty of murder, four of the special
guards who watched Junkin day and
night since the conclusion of the trial,
the prosecuting attorneys of Wapello
and Appanoose counties, one of the
attorneys for the defense, the super
intendent of the railroad who had
arranged the special train to take
Junkin to Fort Madison, three news
papermen and a few others.
After the execution the body of
Junkin will be turned over to Pro-
fessor H. J. Hoeve, the criminologist,
who wishes to make careful exami-
nation of the brain and other organs
OF the criminal. Junkin sold his body
to DR.. Hoeve for $50, the money to
go to his old mother who spent her
last dollar for the defence of her son.