The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1911-11-30
STRATTON
GETS LIMIT
FOR CRIME
Negro Sentenced to Lie I'm
prisonment by Judge
Wiikin.

Tuesday found guilty in the district
court here of attempting 70 rape Mrs.
Leonard Rosie of South Canon on the
sth day of September, was at 11:30
o'clock this morning sentenced by
Judge Wilkin to a life term in the
penitentiary at hard labor Fifteen
minutes after sentence was pro-
nounced a mittimus was issued and
Stratton was taken to states prison
by the sheriff to enter upon his pun
ishment
The crime for which Stratton was
convicted was one of the utmost bru-
tality and created great Indignation
throughout the community at the time
the crime was committed. At lonely
place in the road between the home of
his victim and Canon City he sprang
upon her and knocked her down;
beating her into insensibility after as
saulting and robbing her. He made his
escape from the scene of the crime,
but was apprehended near Pueblo a
couple of days later and brought here
and lodged in Jail. Stratton made
determined effort to get away after
leaving here and succeeded in eluding
he raj 20 lrfy
eight hours, although every avenue
by which he could get out of the coun-
try was successfully guarded. His
trail was picked up, however, in the
vicinity of Pueblo and he received a
charge of buck shot in the back while
running through some high weeds
along the Rio Grande railroad track,
which led to his giving himself up 10
the Pueblo police the next morning.
Very little is known of Stratton's
history, although there is reason to
believe that he had had varied GRIM
inal career. He is about thirty ?eight
years of age and is suspected Of hav-
ing raped, and afterwards murdered,
Mrs. Rupp in Denver in December
1909. He was taken into custody for
that offense and held in fail in Dem
yer for several weeks as a suspect,
but there being no proof of his guilt,
has was finally released. Mrs. Rupp
was mudrered, after being outraged,
and her body thrown into Turkey
creek, where 1t was subsequently
found by her friends. One of Ter chill
dren testified that the crime wa scom-
mitted by a negro and suspicion
pointed very strongly to stratton as
the guilty man. -
Before pc-s!ag sentence on tl.s
prisoner this morsi- Judge N'iiF.n
asked him II he had anything to say
to which Station repli-d that the
court had been packed against him
and that he>had not had fair tril.
He said that If he had been given a
chance he could have proved that he
was not in Colorado at the time the
crime of which he was accused took
place At the conclusion Of the state
ment his attorney, Lee Witcher, arose
and said that Stratton had been
shown the utmost fairness and cour-
tesy by the court and the jury and
that the reason that he had not made
better showing at the trial was be-
cause he had failed to produce the ey-
idence of his innocence. Mr.. witcheris
address was manly one and made 1t
clear that the prisoner was not en-
titled to any leniency from the court.
To afford Stratton every opportun-
ity TO establish his innocence the
court appointed Mr.. Witcher and Geo.
u. Wilkes as counsel to defend him.
Mr.. Witcher said that as attorney for
the prisoner he had made every effort
10 fnd some mitigating circumstances
in the case against his client, but mad
been unable TO do so. He said the
statements made TO him by the pris-
oner about being able to prove an
alibi had been found to be tissue