The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-11-24
Beattie Admitted Wife-Slaying
and Expressed Penitence
WAS ELECTROCUTED TO-DAY
Young virginian Went to His Death
Quite Calmly-His Attending Minis
ters Issued His Signed Confession
But Refused to Talk Further

tric chair to-day confessed to the muir
der of his wife. His statement was
given out as follows
81 Henry Clay Beattie, jr., desirous of
standing right before God and man, do
on this 23d day of November, 1911, con-
fess my guilt of the crime charged
against me- Much that has been pub
lished concerning the details is not true.
But the awful act without the harrow
ing circumstances remains. For this act
/ am truly sorry and. believing that |
am at peace with God and soon to pass
into His presence, this statement is
made"
The attending ministers say that this
statement was signed in the presence OF
the two attending physicians and IS the
only statement that can and will be
made public by them.
The execution of Beattie took place in
the state pententary here at 1898 a.
m One minute after the shock was ad-
ministered he was pronounced dead.
Was Very Calm This Morning.
Beattie passed fairly peaceful night.
He dressed this morning with his usual
care and ate sparingly. He did not ap-
pear either nervous or apprehensive and
during the reading Of the death war
rant the doomed man maintained his
composure. Then, as the death march
began, Beattie said:
81 am ready, gentlemen"
Broke Down Once Yesterday.
For a brief time yesterday, young
Beattie broke down. and il was feared
that his remarkable stocsm and nerve
were about to desert him. This was
when he took leave of his father and
BROTHER Douglas. When the parting
came the son laid his head on his fa-
TIERS breast and sobbed conyulsively.
One arm was flung across his fathers
shoulders; the other hand griPped that
OF his brother.
But he recovered quickly. The forth
tude OF the elder Beattie had more to
do with the recovery than the sooth-
ing Offices of the Rev. Benjamin Dem
mis-, who has labored with the doomed
prisoner. With Spartan self-control, the
father kept his emotions in check, al
though the tears raced down his cheeks
and his lips twitched pathetically. No
words were spoken, but the young wife
murderer must have felt the stern re-
preston of his parent, for his sobs were
strangled and he Strengthened
"Good bye" he said and turned away.
Neither father nor brother trusted to
make reply but made their way from
the penltentiary.
Hazel, the ls-year-old sister of the
prisoner, and his two aunts drove to
the state prison in a closed carriage in
the middle of the afternoon. They were
in the death chamber a trifie more than
an hour When they emerged, Hazel
was on the verge of collapse, while all
three were violently agitated and the
eyes of each were red and pufFed with
weeping.
The condemned mans last day was
spent in prayer. save for the time oc-
cupied by the farewells of the family.
Beattie is said to have declared his COM
plete conversion and to have no fear
that his peace was made with God He
told his spiritual advisers that be faced
the hereafter with supreme confidence.
Convicted by Shotgun.
ne GIllllE Jbl WHICH AldN Dthb~
tie, jr., was executed was one of the
most sensational in the criminal history
of Virginia. Interest in the murder was
country wide owing to its unusual fea-
lures and the swift movement of JUS
tice.
On the night of July Is, last, Beattie
drove his automobile into Richmond,
carrying with him the body of his wife
which had a gaping shot gun wound in
the head. He declared that a tall beard
ed man had accosted him on the Mid
lothian turnpike, five miles from Rich
mond and when he had requested the
man to make room for him in the road,
the stranger, without warning, had fired
the shot which killed Mrs. Beattie. He
added that he had grappled with the
man but was overpowered and that the
murderer had fed, leaving the gun be-
hind. This story of the crime was main
tanned by Beattie to the end.
For a brief time Beattie's story was
given some degree Of credence, but with
In a day or two suspicion began to
point to him and he was kept under
the closest surveillance. Bloodhounds,
taken to the scene of the crime, re-
fused to leave the place, circling around
the bloodspot on the road.
Beattie, it eventually transpired had
thrown the shotgun into the tonneau
of his automobile after the shooting,
but in passing over some railroad tracks
not far from the scene it had been iolted
out and was picked up later by a !
negress. This gun, which Beattie al
legged had belonged to the mysterious
highway man, proved the means of send
ing the young man to the electric chair.
Az the coroner's inquest the weapon
was identified by Paul Beattie, second
cousin Of young Henry, as the weapon
he had purchased for Henry with money
furnished by the latter. Beattie was
arrested Immediately after the inquest.
This was ON July ri, and on August 10,
one month after the day of the muir
der, the trial was begun before Judge
Walter A. Watson, in the picturesque
little Chesterfield county courthouse, six
teen miles from mere.
The jury was made up almost entirely
of farmers, and ON this fact Beattie
based his claim that he had been con-
vieted, not for the murder of his wife, |
but because of his relations with Beulah
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