The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-11-24

4 great crowd gathered early in the
morning around the gates of the prison,
whose gray walls were wrapped in fog.
but there was nothing for them 70 see
save a private coach containing an un-
dersherin driving into the Jail and out
again The black flag is not run up
when a man is hanged as was formerly
the custom. and there is no signal to de-
note that the judgment OF the courts has
been carried out
Another change from the old system Is
that no bell is now tolled when the hang
Ing is taking place. This Is out Of con-
sideration for the other prisoners who
are in prison under sentence of death
and are awaiting the carrying out of
their sentences.
Execution Is Private.
A large screen had been erected within
the walls Of the prison on the northeast
side m order that the residents OF ad-
jacent flats might not witness the eXecu-
ton. Even the sides Of the pit into
which the body dropped were padded so
that the rapdoor should work in silence.
No reporters were admitted.
As the clock struck 9 the crowd stood
silent for a moment. Ten minutes later
the undersheriff departed, thus init
mating that all was over. The crowd
then dispersed without making any
demonstration.
Crippen weighed just over 40 pounds.
He was called at an early hour this
morning and dressed in his own clothes.
lie spent his last moments In the com
pany of a Roman Catholic priest, Father
Carey who says the murdered died
hravely fortified by the rites Of the
church. He walked firmly 20 the scat
fold.
The Daily Mail says that while Grip
pen was in bed last night he removed
the glasses from his spectacles and
broke them. with the apparent intention
az committing suicide by opening a vein.
His movements attracted the attention OF
the warders, who were watching him,
and they Immediately searched him.
They found fragments Of glass hidden
in his Undertaking.
Crippen passed a restless night. When
he was awakened this morning he looked
pale and haggard and left his breakfast
practically untouched. When Execu-
toner Ellis and his assistants entered
the murderer's cell few minutes before
3 o'clock Crippen arose slowly and qui-
city submitted TO the pinioning OF his
arms.
Death Quickly Follows.
He was then escorted from the cell by
two wardeTs. who assisted him on the
scaffold. where he seemed 90 be on the
point OF collapse. The moose and white
cap were quickly adjusted. and the exc
cutioner then drew the bolt which freed
instantaneous.
Five minutes after the hanging the
usual official notices were affixed TO the
prison gates.
The inquest on the body Of DR.. Crippen
was held at Pentonville prison this after
noon. The jury, after listening 10 the
brief testimony, rendered verdict that
the judgment Of death had been duly
executed.
The prison doctor testified that Crippen
made no resistance and did not struggle
against the warders The whole proceed
ings from the time the execuuoner en-
tered Crppen's cell until the death. Occu-
pied only one minute.
Notwithstanding the fact that the home
Office, Scotland Yard, Arthur Newton,
Crippen's solicitor, and the prison Off
GERS emphatically deny the report that
the murderer who was hanged this morn
ing made any confession, the Evening
Times persists that such is the case.
The paper publishes a lengthy narrative
which. II is alleged. Crippen gave to his
friends after he had been sentenced 10
death.
The statement is by no means convinc-
ing. Il is written all the way through
in the third person. 1t declares that
Crippen and his wife quarreled fire.
ouently. She was fond OF boasting OF her
cOnquests over other men, and was con-
Etantly threatening 70 leave him. She
often spent days at a time indoors
dressed in her UnderclOthes with a pata-
ma jacket across >her shoulders. Humi-
Hated and eXaspeTated by her insults,
Crippen refused TO occupy the same bed
room with her and sought elsewhere for
sympathy, which he found in Miss Lee
neye.
Gave Wife BIsmuth.
Crippen. the alleged confession says.
finally decided to rid himself of his wife.
She had for some time been taking a
remedy for indigestion. This consisted
Of sugar-coated tablets containing bis
muth. Crippen decided TO administer
hyoscin in the same fashion. He gave
his wife the first tablet after dinner on
January 81 last, when, after the de-
parture of Mr.. and Mrs. Paul Martinetti.
the actor and actress. who were friends
of the Crippens, he became aggravated by
his wifes boastful illusions 10 her vari-
Gus love affairs But this was not, as
the evidence given at the trial indicated,
fatal dose.
When Crippen returned home on the
night OF February l, according to the
story. he found his wife half dressed,
with curriers' in her hair and a pajama
jacket about her shoulders Dinner was
not ready and everything was untidy
and in disorder. That same night he
gave her another tablet. His wife fell
into stupor from the effects OF this
and died within an hour.
II was on the evening OF February .,
so the story goes, when Crippen began
dissectng the remains with a surgical
knife which he had bought several DAYS
before He severed the head, hands,
feet. and then removed the bones. which
he placed in the kitchen stove and which
We're soon reduced 10 ashes, which he
threw in the dust hole among the house
refuse. This task occupied some days.
Meantime decomposition of the flesh
set in and Crippen was afraid the neigh
bors woule detect il and seek the source.
He then decided to bury the remains in
a hole in the cellar. where they were
found afterward. He threw the knife he
had used into the garden of a nearly
empty house, where apparently il sim
remains.
Respecting the foregoing narrative, IL
is asserted that Crippen, although he did
not confess. made a statement for post
humous publication, which he handed 10
Z L. aTa l. II
only statement that Crippen authorized.