The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1911-09-14
BEATT|E IS FOUND
GUILTY; SENTENCE
OF DEATH GIVEN
. $50
Jurors Prayed Before
Balloting on the
Verdict
TT WAS UNANIMOUS
1T WAS UNANIMOUS
Convicted Man Does Not
Despair, Hoping for Re
versal on Appeal

louDG Sulty OF murder an, sCntpnc.
I cd to h electric chat, sand today
that he Was convicted, not on evil
dencc that he killed his wife, but on
statements admitting his relations
with Beulah Binfcrd.
Bcattie hopes the court of appeals
will reverse tho verdict and give
him a new trial. Rumors of Il sui
eide causcd the officials to place Il
double guard over tho prisoner. In
a few hours. Beattic will be taken to
the Richmond Jail to await execution
in the electric chair &c days from
now.
Chesterfield Courthouse, Va. =
Twelve N~ire'nians. mostly farmers.
kncl, at dusk last night in tic ob-
security of the small dusky jury room,
prayed %fervcntly that they might
pass Judgment Alright on Henry Cay
beattie, Jr., indicted for the murder
OF his wife, dcliberated nearly an
hour, and silently one by one. record
GU II ui'u IIltllOuS NCTulCt vi SulllN.
After weighing carefully the mean
ing of their decision, and once more,
on Blended knee, seeking divine assist
ance against possible error, at the
end of tifty-eight minutes, the jur-
Ors filed into the husled and crowd
cd courtroom, and with startling
S,Idh1nnnncc two1rn ynionc ;rcto.l ~r
the usual n of the foreman, spoke
the word, guilty" in chorus.
1t was almost a shout.
The spectre of death, which stalk
ed Midlothian turnpike on July IS
last when the life of Mrs. Louise Ow-
en- Beattic was taken away with the
discharge of a single barrelcd shot
gun, stared hard at the young hus-
band, ready to claim its victim by a
decree of Judge Watson of death by
e~lectrocution on Friday, November
"a.
The court of appeals will be ask
ed to grant a writ of error and a new
trial.
Bcattic Still Hopes.
Young Beattic, knowing the legal
weapons yet at his disposal did not
surrender. Instead lie consoled his
broken father, white h~aircdiand wr;n-
killed., aud comforted him as he whis-
pered: II haven't lost yet. father"
Unsusal as was the tragedy the
juIymen did not hesitate to admit
to their friends that they stood in
Judgment, not only owe the cold
blooded murder, but on Bcattie's
matrimonial infidelity as we'll.
1t perhaps was a dramatic continu-
alton of Virginia justice, which, in
the last half century, has swiftly sent
to death such similar m%urderers as
Culvcrius, Phillips, and McCue.
Wcndenburg Is Bitter. N
AT the, close of a powerful address
by l.. o. Wendenburg, the voluntary
assistant of the commonwealth in
the case, the suspense was felt, not
alone in the courtroom. but in Rich
mond, where thousands of people
awaited the outcome.
The jury had for eleven days
heard evidence, for two days speech
es, but these words of Wendenburg
rang in their ears as they left the
courtroom to find their verdict:
Let that mar go free!
What. let that man go free? Why
the motherhood of Virginia the wom-
anhood of this nation, will shudder
in terror, as the security of its life
is threatened. Let this man go free?
The man who basked in the degrad-
ed sunshine of another woman. while
at his home, a young wife nursed his
child? Gentlemen, ! merely ask you
in the name of justice to do your
duty.
And, the prisoner admits that it
was his passion" said MIR. Wenden-
burg. Eyes, it was passion, but pas
sion born of the devil. and passion
that sent to death his wife, SO that
he might continue his vicious pleas
ure." MI ''Wendenbulrg concluded
his address a few minutes after 5
O'Clock. A brief respite was given
the Jury and at 5:2S o'clock it be-
gan consideration of the case.
jury In Prayer.
}t For ffty-eight minutes the jurors
were together in deep consultation
and prayer. They we're men of SIM
pie life, who each morning during
the trial sang hymns and strove to
forget the story of dissipation with
its filthy characters as related or the
witness stand.
'a~ What has been generally predict
ed was true, namely, their minds