Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1913-06-10
CHARLTON TO
RETURN TO
ITALY
SUPREME COURT OF UNITED STATES
DECIDES TO-DAY THAT CONFESSED
Wife MURDERER MUST Be Ex.
TRADlTED FOR TRIAL.
LONG LEGAL FIGHT
IS ended TO-DAY

Washington, D. c., June 1.-Porte
Charlton must return to Italy to an
swer the charge of having murdered
his wife in June, 1910, at Lake Como
The supreme court SO decided today.
Justice Lurton began delivering thu
supreme courts opinion in the Charl
ton eXtradition case as soon as the
court assembled. He said no error hat
been committed in excluding evidence
of insanity at the habeas corpus pro
ceedings in the lower court and tina
no error was committed in making
the formal demand for Charlton be
cause it was not necessary to the de
,nand at the extradition hearing.
After discussing the insanity ples
the justice took up the main point il
the case, whether, under the treaty
Of 1868 an American citizen could be
extradited to Italy for crime com
mit!ed there, particularly since ltaly
will not eXtradite its subjects fol
crimes here. The refusal to surren
der citizens for extradition. the justice
said, was of modern origin. Some
of the American treaties provide, he
added, that citizens shall not be extra
lited while others are silent.
The conclusion is, said Justice
Lurton that this government max
ing exception in some treaties that it
would not extradite it's citizens, shows
it was fully aware that there was no
exception in favor of citizens in other
treaties where the exception was not
made, as the treaty with Italy.
I'VE come to the question whether
the treaty is no longer binding on the
United States because Italy has re-
fused to surrender up it's subjects
Justice Lurton reviewed at length
the correspondence between the Unit
ed States and Italian governments re-
gardiEg the attitude of the two gov
ernments. He pointed out that it was
conceded that crimes comra'tted in
Italy were not justifiable in the Unit
ed States, so if extradition were not
granted the criminals would go un-
punished. Grimes committed in the
United States" he added, were JUS
tifiable in Italy
According to international law, he
held that the treaty by reason OF
Italys course had not become void
but merely voidable at the option OF
the American government. The exc
cutive department having waived its
right to annul the treaty. the justice
concluded, nothing remained for the
court to do but to enforce its decis-
ion."
Charlton has been 2 prisoner in the
Hudson county, N. j., Jail nearly three
years, while the fight for his eXtradl-
ton has been going on. The supreme
courts decision today affirms the ac-
ton of former Secretary Knox, who
determined to turn Charlton over to
Italy. The prisoner now probably will
he turned over to Italian authorities
after the observance of few for
nalities.
Charlton's father who conducted a
gallant fight for his son, was former
United States Judge for Porto Rico,
and classmate of former President
Taft.
The next move is for the supreme
court to direct the New Jersey court
to carry out its original order. 4
warrant for extradition for Charlton's
delivery to representatives of the 1t
allan government has been waiting
while the legal fight has been going
on. There is possibility of request
for re-hearing of newly discovered
evidence.
The killing of Mrs. Porter Charlton
stirred Europe and America as have
few murders of recent years. With
the discovery of her crumpled body
stuffed into trunk and sunk in Lake
Como, Italy, where she had been with
her husband to spend her honeymoon.
both continents turned to search for
the murderer.
The first great problem to solve was
the whereabout of the twenty-one year
old husband who, as bank clerk in
New York, had married the woman,
eight years older than himself and the
divorced wife Of Neville H. Castle,
San Francisco lawyer. His father
Paul Charlton, law adviser Of the bu-
reau of insular affairs and former
President Taft's classmate, was firm
in the conviction that his son. too, had
been murdered. That question was
solved when Porter Charlton, with his
initials marked on his suit case, arrfv-
ed on a steamer from Italy, few days
later at Hoboken, N. J. That night
there appeared confession bearing
his name.
'My wife and l lived happily to-
gether, but she had an uncomfortable
temper, and so had l." read the con-
fession. ''On the night of the murder
she had the worst outbreak of temper
l ever saw. l told her to keep quiet
or would make her keep quiet. Then
she had another outbreak. | took
up a wooden mallet, with which ! had
been repairing table, and hit her on
IL IN