Arizona republican., 1914-05-09
TRIAL OF HICKS


 eG on Bedloes Island, where the oning the World now stands, on July 13, 1860. was the greatest murderer | who ever has been convicted and l punished in this country. Hicks was merely tried for the murder of Captain Burr, Smith and Oliver | Watts, which he had committed on board the oyster sloop E. A. John son. But this was but a minute part ot the great number of crimes of !, similar character of which he was l guilty.
 l The indictment against the prison | CT was that on the Fist of March, /! 1860, on the sloop Johnson, Hicks l had committed the crime of robbery upon George H. Burr, master and commander of the vessel. and to conceal the crime had murdered the three men named. The sloop, which was found floating in the New York bay, showed every evidence of the crime by the large spots of blood upon it..
 When the murder became known Hicks made his escape from New York and was apprehended at Provi- dence, R. l., and brought back to the city When he was arrested he had on his person a silver watch which was identified as having be- | longed to Captain Burr, as well as other articles belonging to Burr and i the other two men murdered.
 ay,oir, at on | before the grand jury Hicks was in- 6icted and placed on trial on May 1S- The trial lasted five days, during which time the prisoner maintained a show of cold indifference. In those days robbery on the high seas was punishable with death, and in consequence only for piracy was the prisoner tried, and not for murder. The prosecution was conducted by ex-Judge Roosevelt, the United States district attorney, and by two assistants, Charles H. Hunt and James F. Dwight. Messrs. Graves and Sayles defended the prisoner.
 Mir Dwight made the opening speech for the government. Th' first witness called was Selah Cow ell, who was half owner with Cap tain Burr of the sloop in which thu robbery and murder were commit ted. The examination of many othe prisoners followed. all of which tes : tified as to seeing Hicks on tn
 sloop when it left the dock, other seeing him on the boat and stil
 others meeting him after the mur der. Several witnesses who had me J Hicks testified that he had told ther that he had been in wreck at ses in which his sloop was run into an |, the other members of the crew wer . knocked overheard and either kille
 or drowned.
 The watch was brought in as evl | dence, as well as the other article found on the prisoner. At the en of the fifth day Judge Smalle
 charged the jury, and they withdre' 5 at 1O:36 and were only out seve l minutes before they returned an !, announced a verdict of guilty
 Hicks was then removed to tn Tombs in irons. A motion for : new trial was afterwards argued an denied Immediately after this de cision the sentence of death wa passed upon Hicks. the day fixed fo the execution being Friday, July | Hicks made a long confession be fore Lorenzo de Angeles, the deput United States marshal for the south crn district of New York. on July Ill this story the prisoner gave complete history of his life from tn
 date of his birth. in 1929. in tn | town of Foster, Rhode Island. H : had run away from home when h . was fifteen From this on for tn i next twenty-five years the story
 his life of crime is most amazini
 and covered almost every section
 the globe, down to the murders
 the "E. A. Johnson"
 Hicks confessed that he had nevt
 known of or seen Captain Burr be
 fore he Shipped with him. He sai
 the captain was an amiable maj
 and that he even liked him, but ths
 he had engaged himself solely, an
 only for the cruel purpose of takin
 his life, because he knew that I
 had considerable money with hir
 This confession is one of the mo
 remarkable ever subscribed to by
 criminal.
 Hicks was executed at half pal
 eleven o'clock in the morning
 July 13. The execution was wi
 messed by thousands from the nun
 erous excursion boats on the bay an
 was in plain view from the Batter
 A company of United States marine preserved order. He made no r
 marks on the gallows, except to r' ulquest the marshal to hang him quic
 Hicks confession was printed ger
 orally throughout the country u
 day after his execution. There
 no doubt, from this confession, tn;
 he was one of the most fiendis
 monsters that ever lived.
 u Tomorrow-Trial of Henri Koch, II fort,