St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1912-01-10
EXECUTION OF KENT.
Rope Broke and Let the Man Fall
to the FIOOr.-HeId Up till
He Died.

. t.
don, a deaf mute, at her home in
years ago. Although death was
practically instantaneous, it was ac-
companied by a grewsome accident,
the rope breaking as it was snapped
taut by the weight of the condemned
man, when the drop fell. In the
i opinion of DIR. S. H. McKewen, the
prison physician, who witnessed
the execution, Kent suffered no
conscious thought after the first
Tightening of the moose. In an Off
cial statement the doctor said that
the mans neck was only partly
broken by the fall.
The trap was released at lis p.
m. by an electrical device. At a
signal each of the six deputy sher-
| ifs pushed an electric button. One
of the buttons connected with a wire
which released the trap. 1t worked
instantly and Kent shot downward,
but the strain was too great for the
rope, which broke near the ring in
the top of the galloWs. As Kent's
body fell to the floor the deputy
sheriffs and physicians rushed to the
condemned murderer's side. While
some of the witnesses we're lifting
the body. others took the unnoOsed
end of the rope and fastened it over
the balustrade in the rear of the
gallows. At 125 p. m. DR.. Nc
Kewen made an examination and
found that there was a slight pulse.
Seventeen minutes later the body
was taken down.
Physicians Statement.
The following statement was is
sued by DR.. McKewen after the ex-
ecution had been completed:
''Owing to an unavoidable acct
dent, which no one was responsible
for, the condemned mans neck was
only partially broken by the fall. But
he suffered no conscious thought
and died from the shock.
Before the execution, the prison
officials had tested the gallows with
a bag of sand weighing more than
100 pounds. Everything worked
perfectly at the trial.
Kent went to the scaffold without
exhibiting any emotion. He replied
''no'' when Sheriff J. H. Kiniry ask
ed him before adjusting the cap
over his face whether he had any
thing to say.
An autopsy was performed on the
body by DR.. B. H. Stone of Bur-
lington, the state pathologist, as
sisted by DR.. G. F. Dalton, with
three other physicians as witnesses.
1t was found that Kent was in good
physical condition and nothing abb
normal was found The brain was
removed and taken to Burlington.
Three hours after Kent had been
pronounced dead his body was low
in he 1nf Cd |
by the prison in the Ascutney GEM
etery. None of his relatives we're
present.
Second Similar Accident.
This is the second execution in
Vermont in recent years which has
been marred by an accident. When
Mrs Mary Rogers paid the penalty
on the scaffold on Dec. 8, 1905, for
the murder of her husband, the rope, |
which was the same one used Fri
day, stretched so that her toes
touched the floor This incident led
to an agitation for the abolition of
the death penalty in Vermont, but
no action resulted.
Before the execution Friday sew
eral senator's and representatives
made it plain that they intended to
carry a campaign into the legisla-
ture for the removal of capital pun
and the substitution of life I
Imprisonment as the penalty for |
murder in the first degree. That |
their purpose was strengthened by |
the accident at the gallows, was the
general feeling at Windsor.
Kent's Last Days.
Kent's last days were spent in a /
room near the hospital IN the east /
wing of the prison, over the old /
and from his window he II
could see the beautiful outlines Of h
Ascutney mountain, which however
never appealed to him. He gave his
keepers very little trouble, and bus
led himself in writing upon scraps
of paper, keeping a. record of the
number of days until this fatal fifth
Of January.
The scaffold, the same one by the
way which has been used since the
double hanging in 1864, was erected
n the west wing, near the iron
stairway leading to the cells and in
plain view Of the guard room.
After the reading of the death
to the condemned man by
Sheriff Kiniry, Kent marched with
irm steps to the gallows, accom-
panied by the sheriffs and the pris-
IN chaplain, A. w. Ford.
Among the deputies present and
were r. A. Spafford of
White River Junction, P. c. Tink-
lam Of Rochester, d. j. Mcdonald
md w. L. Fairbanks of Springfield,
:. J. Winship of Weston, s. N Tay-
or of Windsor, B. M. Newton of
f. A. Leland of Chester
md E. E. Cushman of Bethel.
Executions in Vermont.
The hangings in the first half
entury of Vermont's existence were
lublic, the first recorded one taking
lace at Bennington in ITS, when
David Reddington was hanged. The
ext one did not occur until 1903,
vhen Cyrus B. Dean was executed.
'hese were followed. by those of
amuel E. Godfrey on Woodstock
Areen in 1918, Virginia Clue, a col
rad mon % A1honc in and