Great Falls tribune., 1922-02-03
Butte Offers Plea
for Life of Juhray
i'm Many Petitions
Delegation Tells Governor Sentiment Almost
Unanimous for Communication of Sentence
of Slayer
Special to The Tribune.

Special to The Tribune.
Helena, Feb. 2-According to the
representations of a delegation of
Butte residents which appeared before
Governor Joseph NJ. Dixon, Thursday
in support of petitions for commuta-
ton to life imprisonment of the death
sentence imposed upon Assad Juhray
and as shown by the numerous peti-
tions and communications presented at
the same time, it is the almost unan-
imous opinion of the people of Butte
that Juhray should not be compelled
to pay the extreme penalty for murder.
Governor Dixon, who had called in
the members of the board of pardons,
Attorney General Rankin. Secretary
of State Stewart and State Auditor
Porter. to sit informally and to hear
the representations, received the dele
delegation consisted of James G. Cock
ing. mayor of Butte; Charles r. Leon
ard, Matt Canning, Mrs. Elizabeth
Kennedy, Mrs. NJ. Valentine, Earl
Genzberger and John Lindquist.
Assad Juhray, an Assyrian of Butte,
is under sentence to be hanged Feb
ruary IL for the murder Of Hugh Glib
son on Sept. s. 1920. The supreme
court recently affirmed the judgment
in the case. s7e
Make Political Capital
In bringing the hearing to order
the attention of those present to arti-
cles appearing in certain of the news
papers Of the day relating to the
Meany parole action of Wednesday and
said it was unfortunate that some of
the newspapers have sought to make
political capital out of matters which
involve life and death and the liberties
of men.
Mayor Cooking Of Butte then pre-
sented bundle of petitions for COM
mutation. He said he did not know
how many names were signed to the
petitions but that there were 26 or u
separate petitions. He said he had
a personal acquaintance with Juhray
prior to the murder and that he was
one of the most charitable and kindly
disposed men he had ever known, al
ways ready and willing to give his
money for the assistance Of the un-
fortunate. He said he had never en-
countered a person in Butte who ex-
pressed opposition to Communication OF
letter from DIR. Groenefelt. pastor OF
which the writer opposed imposition
Of the death penalty in this case.
Oppose Hanging
C. r. Leonar, well known attorney
Of Butte, informed the governor that
he was not employed in the matter and
did not know the parties but that his
interest in the case had been aroused
BY the interest shown by his own wife
and he had accordingly reviewed the
trial and had come to Helena on his
own expense to appeal in behalf Of
Juhray. He reviewed the case for the
information of the governor. He said
the people of Butte generally feel that
sentence should be commuted and that
he had yet to talk with a person who
believed this to be hanging case.
Matt Canning. of Butte. one of Juh
rays attorneys at the time of the trial,
briefly referred to number Of matters
in connection with the case. presented
petition signed by eight of the jur-
undersheriff, four deputy sheriffs and
Bridget Scott. who resided next door
to the house in which the killing had
taken place and who had been the
principal witness for the prosecution.
In this affidavit she did not change
any of her testimony but gave addition
al information and explained more fully
some Of the testimony at the trial. In
this affidavit Mrs. Scott brought out
that Gibson, the murder victim, had
not only permitted Juhray's attentions
to Maud May Gibson, his supposed
wife, over whom the killing occurred.
but that he had welcomed them.
Athlete lntercedes
John Linquist. former marathon
runner of Olympic games renown, ap-
peared before the governor in support
of the petitions. He said he had talked
with 400 or 500 persons in Juhray's
in Butte and had found
only two who felt Juhray should be
hanged.
Earl Genzberger, an attorney of
Butte who was not connected with the
Juhray case but happened to be in