The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-07-28
Iowa Negro Who Murdered and
Robbed Handsome Choir Sing
er at Ottumwa Must
Make Expiation
few Will WITNESS HANGING
Fathers and Brothers of Murderer's
Victim and His Own Mother
Among Those Who Have Been
Given Permits.

Fort Madison, Ia, July 2S.-Before
the expiration of another day John
Junkin, the negro who, on the night
OF February 5, 1909, brutally muir
dered and then robbed Miss Clara Ro-
sen, a handsome choir singer at OF
tumwa, I'm this state, will have ex-
plated his crime upon the gallows The
scaffold recently erected at the peni-
tentiary is waiting for the doomed man
and the preparations for the execu-
tion, which have kept Sheriff John c..
Clark, of Appanoose county busy for
many days, are completed in every
detail.
The crime for which Junkin will
pay the legal penalty upon the gal
lows tomorrow was one of the most
heinous i'm the criminal annals of this
state. The young and handsome vic
tim. Miss Clara Rosen, was return
ing from choir practice on the night
Of Feb. 5, of last year, when she was
waylaid by Junkin i'm a deserted To-
cality. The negro choked the girl to
prevent her from crying for help, beat
her brains out with a rock and then
robbed her of her earrings and fin
ger-rings. TIE was caught short
time after the murder, when he tried
to pawn the rings. The unusual bru-
tality of the crime had aroused the
most intense feeling among the citi-
zens of Ottumwa and when Ii be-
came known that the slayer of the
girl had been apprehended. the citi-
zens gathered with the intention OF
lynchng the murderer. Only with
the greatest difficulty did the au-
thorities succeed I'm thwarting the
plans of the incensed citizens and In
bringing him by special train to Fort
Madison. where he was kept safe at
the penltentiary.
The execution of Junkin tomorrow
will be the second legal hanging of
negro i'm this state i'm twenty-five
years. The last negro who paid the
death penalty upon the scaffold i'm this
state was Joe Smith, a negro from
Buxton, who was hanged on April
20, 1906, for the murder of his sweet
heart. 1t Is remarkable coinci-
dence that Judge NJ A. Roberts, who
passed judgment on Junkin, also pre-
sided at the trial of Smith.
There was great demand for
permits to witness the hanging of
Junkin. but Sheriff Clark was COM
jority 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 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 superintendent of the railroad who
had arranged the special train to
take Junkin to Fort Madison, three
newspapermen ard a few others.
After the execution the body of
Junkin will be turned over to Pro-
fessor III. 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 DIR. Hoeve for $50, the money to go
To his ,old mother who spent her last
dollar for the defence of her son.