The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1910-08-04
REFUSE PARDON To
FATHER AND SON
Men Were Convicted of Burning
Mill in Shenandoah County In
Order to Capture Money
Their Victim Was Sup
posed to Have.

RIG II MOND, VA-Speci al
Clemency has been refused by the
Governor i'm the cases OF William Wes-
ley and Warren Tucker Craig, father
and son. respectively, serving twenty
one and eighteen-year terms In the
State Penitentiary for the murder or
Bruce Lonas in Shenandoah county.
1t was with some disappointment
that the Executive found himself COM
PEELED TO say no in this matter, as Mrs
Craig, the wife of the elder Craig, has
literally camped in the Governors Of
flee for months, in her piteously per-
sistent efforts to get pardOns for her
husband and son.
Indeed, she has devoted all of her
leisure in recent years to pleading for
the two unfortunates who now wear
the stripes.
Appeals have been made to all the
Governors who have held office since
the commission of the crime. Each,
after careful study of the record.
has felt constrained to deny clemency,
as the papers do not appear to justify
it.
Bruce Lonas lost his life on the
night of December 10, 1900, in a mill
which was destroyed by fire and it is
supposed that this is another one OF
the many Virginia cases in which
murderers have used the torch in the
nope OF covering up all traces OF their
work.
AhS HOHllCluS at the time attracted
Widespread attention. although the ar
rests did not follow until several
months after the mill was burned.
Several members of the Craig fam
| lily were indicted, as well as Scion W.,
Robert and John Linthicum. The
three aforementioned. according TO the
record, were respectively given eleven,
two and hve-year terms in the State
prison.
In the cases of Wesley and War
L
ed and the men seemingly were tried
! both for arson, robbery and murder.
At any rate, they were given excep-
tionally long terms.
Mrs. Craig strenuously denies their
guilt and insists that the crime was
committed by some individual who has
since left the State. She has. however,
| been unable to substantiate this opin-
| ion by evidence calculated to con-
vince those vested with the power Of
executive clemency.
Both the father and the son are at
the State Farm in Goochland. and in
the fullness OF time, their terms may
| be reduced under the ticket-of-leave
system, which. however, is based
largely on good prison records.
The mill in which Lonas persisted
was operated by his father, who usu-
ally derived about 500 or $500 annual
income from ii. At times a good deal
| of money was kept in the building
which young Lonas generally looked
after.
The victim OF the homicide was
careful about fires and there was alb
solutely no reason to believe that the
blaze which destroyed the mill was
due to any neglect on his part. More
over, no money was found in the de-
bris.
chance remark attributed to
young Craig gave an important clew
to the guilty parties. The youth is
alleged to have remarked to a GER
tain woman acquaintance, whom he
knew but casually. that he regretted
having aided his father in the killing
of Lonas.
The prisoners petition emphatically
denies that young Craig ever made
any such statement and declares that
il is little short of absurd TO suppose.
even granting his guilt. that he would
have been guilty Of such an indiscre-
ton.