San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-09-20

He spoke firmly and with a trace
of amusement on his face, as If
tickled at all that was going on.
Neither did he ever abate from this
attitude.
"Do you plead guilty or not
guilty." he was asked.
GUILTY. came the startling re-
Spouse.
Justice Avory - "Did you kill
her Intentionally"
S@mour-T killed her inten-
tionally."
Justice Avory-Do you under
stand that the only sentence l can
pass upon you for this crime, if you
plead guilty to it, is the sentence
of death?"
Seymour-"Certainly l do"
Justice Avory-"Thomas Sey-
mour, you stand convicted of muir
der on your own confession. Have
you anything to say why the Court
should not give you judgment of
death according to law?"
Seymour's reply Sas typical of
his behavior all through.
mot in the leastw he answered,
airily. y
81 The Judge, therefore, put on the
black cap and pronounced the
death sentence. By.
Seymour went back to his prison
cell with a smile on his face. His
execution was fixed for May 8,
1911, and when I went to Wilton
Jail, Liverpool, to carry it out, !
found the man as dour and unre-
pentant as ever. He was a rather
wiry, type of man for his age, which
was sixty-four years, and won
dered If we should have trouble
with him. The wardens, however,
said he had been a good prisoner.
Right to the end Seymour kept
up his truculent attitude of caring
nothing for anybody, and so far as
I knew never expressed the slight
est regret either for his deed or its
consequences. He said nothing to
me when / went in to pinion him
on the morning of the 9th, but his
eyes told me Of his fierce determi-
r.ation to "take his medicine" with
out asking for mercy.
With head erect and looking
utterly unafraid, he passed out of
the condemned cell and walked
firmly to the scaffold.
But il Seldom and Thomas Sey-
mour made no effort or any plea
to escape the penalty of their
crimes, certainly young Harry
Beal was in every way a strong
contrast, for he not only denied
the murder, but advanced the most
absurd explanation of the crime
attributed to him, and at the last
moment turned piteous eyes on me
as entered the death cell to PIN
ion his arms, and begged of me:
"Don't hurt mer'
Beal was a mere boy of twenty,
and his crime arose out of a boy
and girl love affair, in which Clara
Carter, a pretty lass of only seven
teen, was killed by her sweetheart
one Summer evening when they
were out for a counting walk in
Abbey Lane, West Ham. II was
already pitch dark, but as Beal
and Clara came into the circle of
light cast by gas arc lamp, two
girls coming toward them noticed
that the couple were walking in
close embrace, each having an arm
around the others waist.
This lover-like position must
have been suddenly altered as the
two girls passed. At any rate,
they had not gone many yards
further when they were startled
by a cry of "Help"
The voice was Clara's, and as
they wheeled round to see what
was amiss they observed her fall
ing to the ground. Then the young
man fell. When they got close up
to the prone figures the feeble
light of the gas lamp showed them
that something terrible had oc-
cured. Blood lay all about, and
the girl and the youth gradually
quieted and lay still. The Threats
of both had been deeply gashed.
Poor Clara was at her last gasp.
She tried to speak and failed. Al
most before they realized how des-
perate was her plight the girl was
dead.
Beal was also in a bad way, but
was removed to a hospital with a
fair chance of recovery. There
he gave the first inkling of the
line of defence he was afterward
to put forward. 1t was the girl,
he alleged, who had tried to COM
nit murder-not hel
This startling story he stuck to
all through the trial, and he ac-
tually went into the witness box
and swore to it on oath.
81 turned my face to kiss her."
he continued, "and as ] did so l
felt something sharp stick into my
neck, and ! fell down. / did not
attack her at ALL"
C..,zI,, ALano -nNroV 1900