Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-01-25
LIFE TERM IN PRISON.
Fred Lehman Begins The Life Term of Imprisonment
at Hard Labor to Which He Was Sentenced by Judge
Wolf-Four Months from Commission of Crime
To Sentence-The Financial COst-Parallel
Cases-Is Crime on The Increase?

On the night of September 16, 1917,
Fred Lehman murdered his wife,
Grace; such was the conclusion
reached by IL men who arrived at
this conclusion after hearing and con-
sidering the evidence presented in the
testimony of many witnesses.
On January 10, just four months
after the commission of the crime,
Fred Lehman stood before the court
which had tried his case and received
his sentence to Imprisonment in the
ohio penltentiary tor the balance of
his natural life at hard labor; no part
rary confinement.
Last Saturday at 4:30 a. m, Fred
Lehman, accompanied by Sheriff W.
5. Boone and Deputy John McQuil-
IN, left Wauseon for Columbus, and
before the day was ended he was an
inmate OF the Ohio penitentiary.
Lehman was confident that he
would get a new trial when his case
is reviewed by the Court of Appeals,
anu that such trial would establish
ais innocence.
r'-om the point OF view of the av-
erage observer, it seems that Leh-
man has had a fair trial. He was
aDly defended and both the court and
the jury seemed to accord the ut
most fairness to the defendant. 1t
mas been said by many Of those who
attended the trial that if ever a jury
of II men were conscientious and
careful to fulfil their obligation to
render verdict according to the law
and evidence presented to them
without being swayed by personal OF
popular prejudice, the jury in the
Lehman case were.
There may still be a mystery in
regard to the Lehman tragedy, but il
is not without a parallel in the an
mails of crime. A case of striking
similarity has been discovered by At,
torney +. S. Ham in Volume At Of
tains all current decisions of Supreme
courts of Massachusetts,, Ohio, Hi.
nois, Indiana, and Appellate Court Of
Indiana, and Court Of Appeals of New
York. The case referred to is thai
of the State of Indiana against Viii
liam E. Hinshaw on the charge Of
numbering his wife, Thirza Hinshaw
on the 10th day of January, 1895. Tht
defense in this case was very similar
to that of Lehman, and was based OF
the defendants story that he and hi
wife were attacked by two men il
their home, his wife shot through tn,
. head and killed; he graphing witt
, the burglars and receiving severa
] hot md 0I1f
, which were evidently self-inficted
A light snow on frozen ground faile,
to corroborate Hinshaw's account O
the direction taken by his assailants
r Hinshaw was minister, bearing al
irreproachable character and the rela
tions between himself and his wifi
? were reported perfectly amicable, b,
neighbors and friends. There were
however, inconsistencies and absurdi
= ties in his story and investigation
. disclosed a motive in his infatuatio
: for another woman, with whom
was reputed to have had improper re
lations.
!. Hinshaw was convicted of the Grim
: October IL, 1895, nine months afte
r the commission of the crime, ser
e fenced to Indiana State prison fo
d life. The case was appealed to tn
v Supreme Court of Indiana. Thi
court, after reviewing the case, cor
e frmed the findings of the trial cour
e Many of the specifications of error
It the bill of exceptions bore a strikin
) resemblance to the errors claimed
r the motion for a new trial in til
e Lehman case.
,e Another and more recent case ths
v is attracting attention as being sin
/ liar to the Lehman case, is that {
% the murder of Mrs. Walter Binghal
L at Attica, near Tiffin, Ohio. Mr.
le Bingham was found dead with a dag
ger in her breast at her home in A
tica, August %, 1917, by her hu
band, who claimed that it was a ca
of suicide. Bingham was indictt
and the trial is now on in the Con
mon Pleas Court of Seneca, count
The defense will be based on Bin
n hams story. A woman in the ca
has been located.
~ These parallel cases suggest t
thought that the crime of murder
D. not of infrequent occurrence in t
state of Ohio. Deputy John McQu
lin reports that officials at the Oh