Arizona republican., 1910-10-26
Francisco RaPquez VIII Not
 Be Hanged For Murder
IMPRISONMENT FOR LIFE
An Act of Clemency Said To Have Been Suggested By the State Department. The Prisoner Had Power full Friends In Mexico.

Francisco MarqueZ, the slayer of Peter Hodges of Yuma will not be hanged. His sentence was yesterday commuted to life imprisonment by Governor Sloan, almost on the eve of the date set for his execution at the end of the last of many reprieves which have been granted him at the request of the Mexican government through the department of> state.
 It is understood that the action of the governor was taken at the sug- gestion of Secretary Knox. It ap- peared to have been the theory of the state department that such an act of clemency would more firmly estab- fish the friendly relations between the United States and Mexico and that it might result in the securing of bet ter treatment for American citizens who may get into trouble on the other side of the line
 How the Mexican government came to take such an active interest in the at Yuma as a humble citizen has DtCll d SuDJGCl OI NODJcCluIt Dul u has been learned that whatever Mar quez may have been. at Yuma, he had enjoyed Influential connections In his youth in Mexico.
 He had been a protege of General TarraZa who, by the way, is the father-in-law of Governor Enrique Creel of Chihuahua and former Mex ican ambassador to the United States. Therefore Marquez, in his extremity after his conviction and while he stood under the very shadow of the gallows, applied to his powerful for mer friends with the result that the matter was taken up with the state department by the Mexican minister of foreign affairs
 Marquez was first sentenced to be hanged in December of last year His case was appealed and was heard at the January meeting of the supreme court. The judgment of the lower court was affirmed a month later and Marquez who had been removed to Florence was taken back to Yuma to be resentenced.
 His death was fixed for May 19 and he was taken back to Florence. It was then that appeal was made to the Mexican government and shortly afterward a request was received from the state department for his reprieve. Marquez was given a lease of life of sixty days. The day be- fore the expiration of that time, an other reprieve was requested and he was given thirty days more to live. Before that period had expired. a further reprieve was granted and that communication came.
 The killing of Hodges took place on June 17 of last year. He. Marquez, and Manuel Arviso left Yuma to visit a prospect which Marquez said he owned in the mountains at some distance from Yuma. Shortly after that Arviso returned, wounded in the breast by a bullett, and said that Marquez had killed Hodges and had tried to kill him. A posse was formed and after a fierce chase of three days he was captured.
 Though there was no doubt that a murder had been committed a satis- factory motive for it was never found. Marquez said that he had acted in self defense for he had learned that Hodges and Arviso had planned to kill him. He said that he had over heard the plotting and had heard Hodges say that they would get rid of him.
 Marquez was carrying the only rifle in the outfit. Hodges had a knife and Arviso a gun. Marquez said he believed it was the intention of his companions to throw him over the edge of a cliff and once when he was on the verge of a precipice Hodges rushed at him with the knife when he fired. At the same time Arviso had his revolver leveled al him and Marquez said that he him. self then fired wounding Arviso. Though this story was not believed by the jury or many other persons, il impressed the priest who confessed Marquez and he has since believed that Marquez was acting in self de- fense. The priest has frequently visited the governor in behalf oi Marquez and he also joined in the ap- peal to the Mexican foreign office. Others, taking into account tht probable mental attitude of Mafquez believe that he might have thought that he was acting in self defense that he had probably overheard Hodges say tat he ought to be killed for bringing him and Arviso out on { wildgoose chase, since they had beer
 unable to find the prospects whicf
 they had gone to see. and that h. had mistaken that remark for { +braat to lyill him