New Britain herald., 1917-10-31
Wise GUILTY, MUST
Hang DECEMBER "A
In Face Of Death Denies Murder.
ing Mrs. Tobin

Convicted of murder in the first de-
gree, in the cold blooded killing of
Mrs. Anna Tobin on Pearl street early
| on the morning of September 10, Will
| liam j. Wise, formerly Of this city and
| later of the regular army, was sem
fenced late yesterday afternoon by
Judge William S. Case in the superior
court to be hanged between midnight
| and sunrise on December IA. Wise
! accepted his fate coolly and from all
outward appearances might have been
| the least interested person in the
courtroom. Albert A. Greenberg of
this city and John F. Forward Of
Hartford, counsel for the accused,
state that they will take up the mat
ter of an appeal later
The jury brought in a verdict of
first degree murder in almost record
time, being out only 40 minutes. Judge
Case finished reading his charge to
the jury at 4:10 p. m. yesterday and
at 1850 o'clock the foreman of the
jury had returned the verdict which
means death at the hangman's hands
for Wise. States Attorney Hugh M
Alcorn moved for Mediate sentence
and Wise was brought before the
judges bench. Asked if he had any,
thing to say why sentence of death
should not be imposed upon him Wise
looked squarely at Judge Case and
without the slightest tremor in his
voice replied:
Eyes sir. I want to meet my Max
commit the crime
Sheriff Dewey then proclaimed 81
lence while Judge Case read the
death sentence condemning Wise to
be executed at Wethersf1eld on the
morning of December IA before SUM-
rise. It was q trying moment for the
accused, but his eyes never wavered
and at the conclusion of the sentence
he nodded his head in complete I'M |
derstanding of what had been read. !
He then walked unass1sted from the
court room, head erect and step unfal-
tering.
Although both Attorney Greenberg /
and Attorney Forward made strong
pleas for their client, the evidence
upon which States Attorney Hugh NJ
A1corn had built up his case seemed |
moro convincing to the jury. The
state also made considerable capital
Of the fact that Wise had testified that
he used his left hand for all work and
that It was his left hand he used in
cutting himself yet when he gave an
actual demonstration before the
Judge and jury of how he slashed him.
self, 1t was his right hand he used.
Expert medical witnesses for the state
had previously testified that the cash
on the left side Of Mrs. Tobin's throat
was whore It would be made at the
hands Of man welding a razor in his
right hand. Lawyer Greenberg made
the initial plea for the accused man
and spoke eloquently, laying. especial
stress upon Mrs. Tobin's many let
ters in which she threatened to COM
NIT suicide and calling attention to the
fact that had Wise contemplated
murder the logical place for him to
have committed the act would have
been In the seclusion Of Walnut Hill
park where they spent an hour on the
fatal night, rather than near her own
home. In his plea, Lawyer Forward
made no attempt to condone either
Wise's or Mrs. Tobins past actions,
but declared that the case at hand was
whether Wise had committed the MUIR
der. He called attention to the lack Of
an explained motive and declared the
state had failed to prove it's case be-
yond a reasonable doubt.
In summing up for the state, States |
Attorney Alcorn made an imprisoned !
plea for Justice. He declared that !
Mrs. Tobin had paid the penalty for |
her sins and now, he demanded, Wise |
must pay the penalty for hts The |
states attorney commented significant
ly on the many contradictory state
ments made by the accused and said
If he lied in one instance he had |
probably lied in others.