The Washington times., 1927-06-14

the unqualified findings Of Ruth
Snyder's witness, but had Judd
Gray answer to 1t:
"WeIl. / was there and the doctor
wasn't"
On that hedging speech hung my
life!
When pleaded mot Guilty" I
answered to the charge Of first de-
gree murder. / did not mean l was
an innocent woman. / meant that
the charge in the indictment was
untrue.
did not get on the stand and
paint myself an injured angel.
God knows had been injured
enough and more since. Probably
in all criminal history, no one had
a trap close on her from as many
sides at once and with as sharp
steel teeth from all sides.
But / admitted plenty.
Had Judd Gray never taken the
stand at all, never confessed at all,
and my own testimony stood as it
did, undisputed, could not have
hoped for an acquittal.
Guilty As Accessory
If I committed no other crime,
was guilty as an accessory after
the fact by my own sworn testi-
mony. That alone would have got
ten me a heavy sentence. Having
left the door open for Gray. / was
an accessory before the fact, so
am told, even though my intention
was to prevent and not cause the
al mt
held for the consequences of our
follies, even when we do not realize
what dangerous deeds they are at
the time of commission. Having
had warning and knowledge of
Gray intentions, / was an accessory
in that / did not warn my husband
and notify the authorities; We are
held responsible for not preventing
possible felonies as well as for
encouraging them.
But that still is very different
from actually committing them, es.
pecially murder, ourselves, with our
own hands, with malice afore-
thought, with a motive of gain.
1t is on that conviction that / am
sitting in the death house, SEN
fenced to die in the chair.
To. decent people it may sound
like hair-splittin:. Guilty is guilty.
But to me it is only the little diff.
ference between life and death.
! Has Much To Live
have just passed the age of
81. Under normal conditions I
should have the longer and better
! part OF my natural life yet before
me. / am in good health, have a
mother and a child and a great
deal for which l want to live on
even hope that, after a fitting
prison term, I might save from the
embers of my ruin something worth
living for.
But 1 am doomed to die.
There Is considerable argument,
| even actual betting am told, as
to whether or not the State of New
York will execute a woman.
I want to say and let the whole
world read and remember:
Ruth Snyder does not ask and
does not want any mercy because
she is a female!
Ruth Snyder sincerely demands
consideration. justice, as a defend
ant at the bar. During the trial
she was referred to constantly as
the defendant Snyder" Let it be
SO now. Not Mrs" Snyder, not
Ruth" Snyder-nothing to point
the sex of the defendant Snyder.
Ready To Go To Chair
The defendant Snyder is ready
to march TO the electric chair If
the law and the executive forces
of the State in which she was born
can find no other mitigation for
her than that she is a female.
The defendant Snyder was tried
with terOcity, vfndictiVeness, and
prosecuting viciOusness. She asked
| no breaks" at that time because
of her sex-and surely got none.
The defendant Snyder appeals
from the verdict Of the jury and the
sentence of the court as unfair, un-
Just, and contrary to the law and the
facts.
The defendant Snyder appeals on
grounds that she was not given
legal trial and that the methods of
the State were intensely prejudicial
to her constitutional rights.
The defendant Snyder asks no
clemency or charity and wants none.
Not Guilty" Still Her Plea
The defendant Snyder, further
| more, expects none.
The defendant Snyder repeats her
plea of mot guilty" to the charge
of first degree murder.
And the defendant Snyder is
ready to take the consequences of
all she did and all she did not do If
her plea fails. She will not fall on
her knees to any human power. She
will win because her cause is right
or she will go down with it to the
end when the State demands its for.
| felt.
And, when it does-that will be
one murder committed when tho de.
PENDANT Snyder was NOT out Of the
room!
Another intensely inter
esting installment Of Ruth
Snyder's Own Story tomor.
| row. Watch foY. III