The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-07-22

lions or IL.
Walter Muir, d twenty-one.year.
old graduate Of Clason Point NM.
Itary Academy, New York. took
life. Therefore his own life was de.
manded Of him and on July iii III,
the peaceful little town 81 Valley.
field, Quebec he was hanaed ~ tha
neck until he was dead.
there were extenuatinr circI,iy..
stances. The man Walter M,Tsr
killed was previously unknown toI
MIN. They had become erabroiled
70 e barroom argument. Min
pulled his gun and fired five sliute.
some Of them at least apparently ~
random. but one bullet found tn
billet. Il Was said that tha yvn,,n.,
did not reach q Vital oro.an a,.f
the victim died four DAYS Iafey. ~
aaulr was charged with murder.
Manslaughter SouRht.
The trial Judge indicated that "
conviction for sDanslauehter ns,rbt
suffice. go did Ct least one 81 fy,a
appeal judges. The jury of FrancI,
canadians, the same race - go
victim q the crime, thought difscr.
enIly ana found Muir guiltv Of
Great Influence vas brourht a.
pear on Muirss behalf. HIS nnthe,-
beside herself with grief. vet fnII ~
courage and persistence. cassn ~
Lanada TO plead his cause. 81 did
sne duchess de Richelieu. for1neriv
MISS Ellnor Douglas Wise ~ NavSv
1, representations came from
Lne state Department at Washing.
Ton. The most prominent cOunsel
Il Canada were engaged to dead
AZ one point five lawyers. four AZ
Lnem Kings counsel, were ENGAGED
81 auirs behalf. They included
y. - Lallamme, K c.; Eugene
1.aL,eur, - g.; Alban Germain. K.
~; Ian McAyoy, *. G.: and Joseph
Gonen. McAvoy had the unusual
record q having defended fifty.twp
persons charged with murder and
having succeeded IN all but three
cases. No lack of influence a.
talent could account for TIE faiI,,re
10 save Muir's life.
At one stage 1t looked a. if the
government was sympathetic to
Muir's cause and that he would be
saved from the trap Of Ouebec,s
blood-colored gallows, q UNIQUE al.
paratus that has been used for half
century. The government
granted Muir one reQuieve. His
original sentence declared that he
must hang on April 4. On April 3
he was taken from the provincial
penitentiary to the Valleyfield jail.
the gallows were erected, the hang.
man was on hand. when word came
from Ottawa that the government
had granted q reprieve until July
IL, In order that an application
might be made for q new trial. II
seemed as though Muir's life was
to be saved.
But his application failed before
the judges OF the court 81 appeals.
and this meant that his sentences
to be hanged on July IL stood.
There lay one more path to safety.
That was that the Government
would commute the sentence from
hanging to q term Of imprisonment.
In view Of its previous action in
granting reprieve, it seemed rea-
scnable to expect that it would
still be sympathetic.
Petitions Pour In.
Petitions poured in upon Ottawa.
international channels Of commune
cation were resorted to. The mat
ter was largely in the hands of the
Honorable Ernest Lapointe, min
lister OF justice in the Canadian
government. It was also discussed
BY the cabinet, which includes the
Honorable ]. Al. Robb. acting min.
lister Of finance, in whose con-
stituency lies Valleyfield, where
the crime was committed.
What arguments were advanced
In the cabinet council, what con.
siderations resulted in the final
decision, has not been officially al.
vulged. But something happened
to turn previous sympathy to stern
justice. untempered by mercy. Two
days before the date set for execu-
ton 1t became known that all
chance Of obtaining communication Of
sentence had vanished, and that the
extreme penalty Of the law must
be paid.
Why was there no mercy for
Walter Muir7
From source close to official
circles the following statement was
made:
THE reasons why communication Of
the sentence was not granted were
that the cabinet is not court OF
review, and that an examination Of
the evidence did not show that there,
had been any miscarriage of justice
on the part Of the jury in bringing
IN q verdict Of guilty Of murder.
Official reasons for its action in
cases like this are never given out
by the department of justice, but it
was felt that the evidence In the
Muir case was by no means circuYn.
stantial and that there was no par
ticular reason for communication Of
the sentence beyond the agitation
which was raised, particularly in the
United States"
No Religious Prejudice.
Is that the whole story?
One allegation is that Walter Muir
was the victim Of religious bigotry.
The theory scarcely holds water. II
the victim was q Catholic and ali
bis sneighbors were Catholics, so also
was Walter Muir. Among those who
pleaded most earnestly in his behalf
was his parish priest, Father u. II.
Aumais, who telegraphed to the
members Of parliament whom be
knew. begging for an exercise a.
their influence. would that r
could go to the rope In his place. /.
no declared, with the tears rollinr
down his cheeks the day before the
hanging. This boy Is no criminal
but the victim of events" ID
Strong representations on M1ir.s
behalf also came from the Supreme
Council AZ fha Xyioht. - s1-,.s- /,