Bisbee daily review., 1910-07-29
JOHN JUNkID,
NEGRO BRUTE,
SWINGS TODAY
Iowa will Witness Second Le-
gal Hanging of Negro in
twenty-five Years When
Trap Springs,

FORT MADISON Ia. Jaly 2S:-Be-
fore the expiration Of another day
John Junkin. the negro who, on the
night Of February ; 1909 brutally
murdered and then robbed Miss Clara
Rosen, a handsome choir singer at
Ottumwa in this state will have ex-
plated his crime upon the gallows. The
scaffold recently erected at the peni-
tent airy is waiting for the doomed
man and the preparations for the ex-
ecution, 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 murderer
has become extremely nervous and the
prison guards who have kept the
death-watch over the prisoner for sew
cray weeks. have doubled their Wig
ilance, fearing that Junkia. almost in
sane from fright over the approach ng
ordeal, would attempt to commit sui
eide 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 dis
played a bravado which thoroughly
disgusted the prison officials. He seem
ed to feel great sat .sfaction over his
Importance and notoriety and did not
even lose his assurance when he was
found guilty OF murder and sentenced
TO death. But as the time for his ex-
ecution approached. his dread Of the
terrible ordeal made him a craven sui
len and whining as his moods changed.
Never for a moment did ne give the
slightest evidence Of remorse for his
brutal crime or Of sympathy for the
victim and her family.
The crime for which Junkin viii
pay the legal penalty upon the gal
lows tomorrow was one of the most
heinous in the criminal annals of
this State. The young aid handsome
victim Miss Clara Rosen, was re-
turning from choir practice on the
night Of Feb. of last year, when she
was waylaid by Junkin in a deserted
locality The negro choked the g.ri
to prevent her from crying for help,
beat her brains out with a rock and
then robbed her OF her earrings and
finger-rilgs. He was caught a short
time after the murder, when he tried
to pawn the rings. The unusual brut-
ality Of the crime had aroused the
most intense feeling among the citiz-
ems of Ottumwa and when it became
known that the slayer Of the girl had
been appTehended the citizens gather
ed with the intention of lynching the
murderer. Only with the greatest diff
fculty did the authorities succeed
/ in thwarting the plans of the incens-
ed citizens and in smuggling Junkin
out of the city and bringing him by
special train to Fort Madison, where
he was kept at the peaitentiary.
The execution OF Junkin tomorrow
viii be the second legal hanging of
| a negro in this State in twenty-five
years. The last negro VINO paid the
death penalty upon the scaffold in this
State was Joe Smith, a 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 Junkin
/ but Sheriff CLARK was compelled tc
refuse the requests Of a majority Of
/ the applicants Among those who
| received tickets of admission are the
father and two brothers of the victim
the aged mother OF the condemned
/ murderer, six sheriffs, three of the
| jurors who pronounced Junkin guilty
Of murder, four Of the special guard,
who watched Junkin day and nigh
since the conclusion of the trial, tn,
prosecuting attorneys of Wapello ant
/ Appanoose counties one of the at
torneys for the defense, the superia
tendent Of the railroad who arranged
the special train to take Junkin Il
Fort Madison three newspapermel
and a few others.
After the execution the body OF Jun
KIN will be turned over to Professo
H ]. Hoeve, the criminologist, VIII
wishes TO make a careful examination
Of the brain and other organs OF tn
sriminal. Junkin sold his body tC
Dr. Hoeve for $50, the money to g
to his mother who spent her last do
lar for the defence Of her son.