Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-30
DENYING HIS GUILT.
LIEUT.. BECKER DIES
|NELECTR|C CHAIR
Continued from First Page.

Continued from First Page)
copies were typewriter, which Becker
signed with his fountain pen in bold
hand TO Deputy Warden Johnson,
who had charge of the execution IN
place of Warden Thomas Mott Us
borne, who does not believe in the
death penalty the one-time police lieu
Tenant gave his fountain pen as gl1t.
1T is the last thing that l have 10
give away, and I want you to nave ~.
I want you to give this statement u
the newspaper men,.
| Becker's message given out just De-
fore he went to his death read:
! gentlemen: 1 stand before you in
my full senses, knowing that no power
on earth can save me from the grave
that is to receive me. In the face OF
that, in the teeth of those who con-
demned me, and in the presence of my
God and your GOD. proclaim my 1850
lutte innocence of the foul crime Tor
which J. must die. You are now about
to witness my destruction by the state
(which is organized to protect the lives
pardon every one who has contributed
in any degree to my untimely death.
And now on the brink OF my grave. ]
declare to the world that ! am proud
to have been the husband of the pureSt,
noblest woman that ever lived-Helen
Becker This acknowledgment is the
only legacy / can leave her. / bid you
all goodbye. Father, am ready to go.
Amen.
(Sgned CHARLES BECKER"
Pins Wife's Photo on Shirt.
After his wife had said farewell,
shortly after midnight, Becker main
tanned a casual conversation with Dep
uty Warden Johnson, who sat beside
the screen in front of his cell. Some
| times he smoked cigars, after which he
would let his head fall upon his hand
and gaze refectively at the concrete
floor for minutes at a time. Dawn found
him seated on the edge of his cot care
fully pinning a photograph of his wife
on his white shirt just over his heart.
Then, as if he desired to have her all
to himself, Becker put on thin black
alpaca coat. which he tightly buttoned.
The photograph 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
iexecutioner, 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, and went about his work
briskly
Becker's executioner said that in his
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, a
I negro murderer, was brought into the
Execution room and electrocuted
| One of Beckers last requests to War
den Osborne was that he be put to
death before the negro Haynes
!
A statement credited to Mrs. Becker
was given out here shortly after her
husbands death.
Il shall never rest" she is quoted as
saying, until l have exposed the meth
DDS which were used to convict my hus-
band. Whether he was guilty or inno-
cent there was no justification for the
means employed to convict him.
| 81 would rather lose all the other mem
hers of my family, as dear as they are to
me, than lose Charlie. No one can take
his place. In all of the ten years OF our
| married life / never had occasion to
regret that l was his wife.
Charlie was no angel He made no
pretense of being .one. He was just an
ordinary human beine-and perhaps that
is why I loved him So"
Mrs Becker said farewell to her hus-
band at 1870 am. She did not leave
| the prison, however. until lis am. John
Becker, the condemned mans brother.
and John Lynch, Mrs. Becker's brother,
accompanied her She showed no effects
of the mental strain to which she had
been subjected.
Attacks the Governor.
Becker, it is said. had not expected
/ clemency. Almost at the moment the
news was received, the prisoner gave
out letter that he had written to
IGovernor Whitman, in which he at
Hacked the executive for having, as he
indicated, given to the newspapers
statements which cast foul asper-
sion on my character, and for which
he demanded a retraction.
In this letter Becker again re1terated
his innocence of the crime for which
he has been convicted.
ITO these charges and to all others,
] answer the letter read, by repeat
ing solemnly. on the brink of the
world to which you are sending me
before my time. what was my constant
answer while in the world: l am in
nocent as you of having murdered
Herman Rosenthal, or of having coun-
seled, procured or aided his murder. or
having any knowledge Of that dreadful
crime
The alleged statements which Becker
referred to as having been credited to
the governor were that he had offered
to plead guilty of murder in the sec
ond degree; that. quoting from Beck
er's letter he had offered to give testi-
mony against several persons fwhOse
names are undisclosed) of having
shared with me in collecting money
from law breakers; that he had sent
counsel to two men arrested for com
plicity in the Rosenthal murder and
with a cruelty almost inconceivable,
it is stated that my first wife died
under circumstances warranting sus-
picion that / had caused her death"
Becker explained the death of his
first wife by declaring that she had
died of "hasty consumption" and that
no breath of suspicion had ever been
raised against him in that connection.
MARK well, sir, these words of mine,
the letter concludes, when your power
passes. then the truth of RosenthaIs
murder viii become known. But not
while your nominees remain district
attorneys and can hold the club over
these persons.
with the aid of judges who were
misled into misconceiving the testi-
mony offered in my trial and into mis-
stating it both to the jury and on APP
peal you have proved yourself able to
destroy my life. But, believe me. / will
surrender it without rancor Not all
the judges in this state, nor in this
country. nor the governor of this state,
no GiStr ct nf