The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1912-05-21
RICHESON GOES TO DEATH
WITHOUT A TREMOR
Continued from Page ~

the railing in the crowded courtroom
in Boston, by Judge Sanderson, rs the
latter imposed the only penalty pos
sible for his admission of the most
cruel murder in the history of the
state. Rev. c. V. T. Richeson, Baptist
minister, who first betrayed and then
murdered confiding, trusting Avis
Linnell, belle of the little village OF
Hyannis, down on Cape Cod, had
hoped by his open confession to avoid
the ignominious death in the cruel
chair. His lawyers had told him that
he could probably earn a commuta-
UP murder mystery which, no matter
how conclusive the evidence, would
always have left suspicion in the
minds of those opposed to circum-
stantial evidence in capital cases. And
the man who had degraded his holy
calling, grasping at the straw, had
pleaded guilty in the hope that after
all he might save his life, even though
doomed to spend the remainder of it
in prison.
But the closing words of the black
robed, stern faced Judge brought the
realization of how slender his hope
was and Richeson had to be carried
cut of the courthouse to the prison
van that returned him to the Charles
street Jail where most of the time
since his sentence has been spent.
Jail officials admitted today that he
was greatly depressed from the mo-
ment he was brought back from hear
ing his fate pronounced. He realized
that the closing words of the court, al
though a formula dating from past
centuries, meant that his only hope
was in the God whose calling he had
betrayed and even since his waking
and sleeping hours have been haunted
by the spectre of the broad arm chair,
with it's bright metal base and cruel
network of wires
Beginning in the little Cape Cod
village of Hyannis, the love tragedy
which eliminated in the murder and
today's execution was the world old
triangle-two women and a man.
Back in 1909 Richeson graduated
a few months before from the Newton
Theological Seminary, was called to
the pastorate of the Hyannis Baptist
church. Handsome, polished in man
ner with a wonderful amount of per-
sonal magnetism, he was soon Il So
cial favorite. Young and old were
81 egation was doubled in the first few
months of his incumbency. Little |
comment was occasioned by the fact |
that he was seen frequently in the
of 17-year-old Avis Linnell,
the brightest Of the local high school |
students. She had been baptized and |
received into the church by the young |
and the old gossips of the |
little village considered them natural
y attracted to each other and looked |
or them to we'd
There was no formal announcement
If an engagement But Miss Linnell
lad given up most of her social diver
.ions and was spending nearly all of
Ter time in church work. She was the
right hand of the pastor in most
# the events and took his part in a
isputa that arose from his methods
+ preaching. 1t was Richeson's boast
hat he always called "a spade a
Lade," and his forceful preaching. in
,hich he assailed sin in every guise,
DON split the congregation in fac
ions. In April 1910, Rev. Richeson
esigned and stated that he had ac-
erted a charge in Emmanuel, Cam
ridge. He had planned to stay there
ally short time and later to marry