Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-02-17
Desperate Eleventh Hour
Efforts Fail to Save Lives
of Condemned Slayers ;
Help Negro to Gallows.
NEGRO ONLY ONE,
HELPED TO GALLOWS
four White Youths Execut-
ed for Murder Of Truck
Farmer; Finger Prints
Convict Colored Man.

Convict Colored Man.
Chicago, Feb. 16.-Five murderers
\ ere hanged in the Cook county jail
today. The four slayers of Fred Guei
Wv met their fate first. They were
Lwald and Frank Shiblawski, who
lied together, and Philip Somnerling
and Thomas Schultz, who met death q
few minutes later. Thomas Jennings,
the negro slayer Of Clarence Hitler,
was hanged shortly afterward. His
execution was stayed for a time by
the plea Of his lawyers before a fed
eral court that in being forced to
( make thumb prints his constitutional
iinmunity from having to testify
against himself had been violated.
he plea was denied by Judge Lands.
Desperate eleventh hour efforts
ere made by sympathizers to save
lie lives of the Guelzow slayers. A
l'clish Catholic priest this morning
Cselared before Judge Mckinley In
tie superior court that he believed the
o,ths were insane. While the death
n. arch or the Shiblawski brothers was
\ in progress in the jail, bailiff from
!. ] sdge McKinleys court sped to the
:s.il Office and summoned Jailer Davis
- court. But three minutes before
t e tailiffs arrived the Sh1DlaWskls
Lao been swung into eternity
Davis refused to obey the summons
,,rt
e.;uty Peters telephoned to the
Judge that two of the men had been
;nged and that the executions OF the
oiher two would proceed unless
tolmal writ prevented. T.
No writ was issued and Somner-
Eng and Schultz followed their COM
anicns in crime on the gallows. % .
Representatives of tie states at
lerney's Office resisted the attempt to
stop the executions and told Judge
.,citinley that the petition alleging
insanity which under the law Is bar
% execution was presented only for
he purpose of delay! ...
This was hotly denied by counsel
or the condemned men and a wordy
,ltercation occupied the mintes IN
stich the four were being prepared
or the gallows. .L8-
Judge Mckinley declined to permit
Re petition to be filed until it had
cen read. The prosecutors insisted
! at the petition, which was signed
y Ree Repinski was not in accord
With the facts. e-
Jennings was the only one of the
who required physical assistance
. mount the scaffold.
Final Efforts to Free SIayers.
The five men condemned to be
sanged for murder in the county jail
ere this morning made final efforts
through lawyers and friends to escape
he gallows. The time for the execu-
sions had been set for the hours be-
tween 10 a. m. and 2 p. m. today.
Court proceedings in behalf of the
our murdereds of Fred Guelzow the
ruck gardner were scheduled in the
supreme court at Springfield and in the
superior court here.
Lawyers went to Springfield to ask
writ of supersedeas of the supreme
.eurt in the hope of halting the execu-
.ions Of the Guelzow slayers.
The Five Condemned Men.
The five condemned men and their
,ges are:
Ewald Shiblawski, "a years. -.
Frank Shiblawski, 21 years.
Philip Somerling, "a years.
Thomas Schultz, 19 years.
Thomas Jennings (colored) 80 years.
Two others were engaged in the
rider of Fred Guelzow with the four
en- condemned to be hanged. They
capped the sentence of their fellows
account of their youth Both were
mt to the penltentiary for life. They
re Frank Kita and Leo Suchomski,
each is years OLD.
The men murdered Guelzow on the
northwest side while he was on his
way to market with a load Of garden
truck.
Guelzow, who had been married
little more than year, pleaded with
his assailants to take his money but
spare his life for the sake of his wife
and month old baby. Instead, his slay-
ers attacked him with clubs knives and
revolvers. After they had killed him
they mutilated his body. They were
arrested while trying to sell Guelzow's
horses.
The crime was committed Oct 20,
1911. The six were found guilty Dec.
IL. The punishment of the two young
est was fixed at life Imprisonment and
the other four at death. They were
to have been hanged Dec. 20 but Gov.
nAnaan granted stay until TODAY
, F. b .