Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-07-31
After his wife had said farewell,

After his wife had said farewell,
shortly after midnight. Becker main
tanned a casual conversation with
Deputy Warden Johnson, who sat. be-
side the screen in front of his cell
Sometimes he smoked cigars, after
which he would let his head fall upon
his hand and gaze refectiveIy. at the
!. concrete floor for minutes at a time
Dawn found him seated on the edge
Of his cot carefully pinning a photo
graph of his wife on his white shirt
just over his heart. Then, as if he de-
sired to have her all to himself Beck
er put on thin black alpaca coat
which he tightly buttoned. The photo
graph was not seen by the witnesses
until the prison physician opened his
coat as he sat in the death chair.
Becker was put to death by the state
executioner. whose name is unknown
to the public. This man succeeded
State Electrician Davis and he said he
would not take the job unless his
name was kept secret. He lives in a
little town upstate. He went about
his work briskly.
oGChcT CACCOtAOhCI ofAA llldl All illSo
opinion the man had died instantly/at
the first contact.
An autopsy on the body Of Becker
was performed according to law i'm
mediately after the execution. After
Becker's body had been removed from
the electric chair, Samuel Haynes,
Negro murderer, was brought into the
execution room and electrocuted. One
of Becker's last requests to Warden
Osborne was that he be put to death
before the Negro Haynes.
Mrs. Becker's Statement
A statement credited to Mrs. Becker
was given out here shortly after her
husbands death.
81 shall never rest" she was quoted
as saying, until 1 have exposed the
methods which were used to convict
my husband. Whether he was guilty
or innocent. there was no justification
for the means employed to convict him.
II would rather lose all the other
members of my family, as dear as they
are to me, than lose Charlie. No one
can take his place. In all of the 10
years of our married life I never had
OCCdSlOII OllSC " ACSACS thnS "ao HAS
wife.
Charlie was no angel. He made no
pretense Of being one. He was just an
ordinary human being-and perhaps
that is why loved him SO"
Unusual Resistance
Dr. W. o. Stillman Of Albany, who
assisted in the autopsy. said that
Becker showed unusual resistance to
the electric fluid. After the autopsy DR..
Stillman said 4:
Il noticed no unusual effects upon
Becker's vital organs The way he re-
sisted the strong current was remark
able, showing him to be an unusually
powerful man."
1t was expected that Becker's body
will be removed some time today to
New York where funeral services will
probably be held on Sunday.
Review Of Case
Herman Rosenthal. the gambler for
whose murder Charles Becker was
sentenced to die in the electric chair,
was shot to death by hired gunner
in the early morning Of July 16. 1912,
| in front of the Hotel Metropole on
| Forty third street, a few steps from
Broadway. The murder was the swift
| elimination of sensational charges
made few days before by Essential
against Becker in which Rosenthal as
serted that Becker, then head Of the
Strong Arm Squad Of detectives. free
ly sold police protection and had ac-
cumulated thousands Of dollars of
graft money.
| Rosenthal went further than that.
He swore that Becker was his silent
| partner in a gambling enterprise that
failed and that Becker, angered by
losses where he had expected large
profits, raided the Rosenthal estab-
| lishment and drove Rosenthal out of
business by stationing uniformed po-
licemen on his premises day and night.
These charges were published and
District Attorney Whitman began an
investigation Of them. He summoned
Rosenthal to the Criminal Courts
building and listened to his story. An
appointment was made with Rosen-
thai for the next day. Before the time
came, Rosenthal was murdered.
When the assassins had, done their
work, they ran across the street,
Jumped into a grey automobile which
was waiting at the curb and whirled
| away uptown. A bystander caught
the license number of the car.
| District Attorney Whitman, notified
by telephone Of the murder. reached
the police station where Rosenthars
| body lay before dawn. He aroused his
detectives from their sleep and spread
a draznet over the city for the murder
| car. 1t was found before night. It's
| driver, Louis Shapiro, and Louis Lib
hey. part owner. were arrested and Mr..
Whitman asserted openly In an en-
phatic statement that the police had
abetted tho murder.
New York City. already interested in
the charges OF police corruption, re-
sponded to the news Of the murder as
II to a call to arms. Becker, who had
been the chief target Of Rosenthal's
cuso<fro~ xyas onaul~, ~,,~pnrfad IJo