The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-10-19
FOX GOES TO
GALLONS WITH
! 200 WATCHING
Knees Shake % He Stands ON
Trap Before Plunge to
Eternity
CHANTS LITANY OF DEAD
Trap Sprung 22 Seconds After
Slayer Entered Hangman's
Abode
CHANTS LITANY OF DEAD

San Quentin, Prison, Calf, Oct.
19.-(P-William Edward Hickman
was hanged here today for the mur-
der Of 12-year.old Marian Parker,
Los Angeles school girl, whom he
kidnapped last December. The trap
was sprung at 1910 Z. m.
The youth, who boastfully called
himself "The Fox" walked to the
trap, white, with little other out
ward appearances Of emotion, con-
sistent to the last breath with the
attitude displayed since he was ar.
rested in Oregon.
Up . flight Of Is steps he went,
preceded by the Rev. William Flem-
ing, Roman Catholic priest, under
whose spiritual guidance he turned
from fatalism to Christianity in the
shadow Of the moose.
His arms were strapped to his
sides. On either side and behind
him marched . guard. In . semi
circle were some two hundred per-
sons who saw him die.
The priest chanted the litany Of
the dead from the Roman Catholic
ritual - the death march progressed
and Hickman made the responses.
The doomed mans lips scarcely
moved, but he followed without !
noticeable break.
Hickman walked to his death
steady and straight - Z ramrod,
but his knees shook q he stood On
the trap an instant before il was
sprung.
Twenty-Five seconds after he en-
tered the gallows room the trap was
released.
Body TO 'Frisce .s
The doomed mans father, Thomas
Hickman, gave Warden Jamess B.
Holohan I signed order % deliybt the
body to San Francisco undertAk4r,
but the prison official declined to
state whore il would b sent. Il was
previously announced that the body
would be taken to the east for bur-
ial, but the name Of the town was
not announced.
One Of Hickman's last moments
was the reading Of letter from his
mother, Mrs. Eva. M. Hickman, Of
Kansas City, delivered to him . few
minutes before he was led to the
gallows. He wept. It was the first
time guards had seen tears in his
eyes since his doom was sealed.
The contents Of Mrs. Hickman's
letter were not disclosed. Hickman
received and read three other COM
forting letters from relatives during
the morning.
There was Z telegram from Rev.
Edward Brady, In Rochester, N. ~
spiritual advisers after he entered
San Quentin.
Falters, Smiles Weakly
Hickman faltered slightly % he |
stepped through the entrance to the |
gallows room and blinked his eyes. |
Through his paleness there came a|
weak smile. He glanced at the rope |
and mounted the stairway slowly,
swaying slightly 1t the top.
Two Of the spectators tainted, onel
~ the trap was sprung and the 9TH
er 10 mini tes later.
Before the trap was sprung Hick-
man had collapsed until his head
was within three feet of the scat
fold floor. For this reason his fall
was not % complete q it otherwise
would have been. This WAS believed
|by guards to have delayed his death
by two OF three minutes.
Among those who witnessed the
execution was George OBrien, noted
motion picture actor and son Of
Chief Of Police Daniel ]. O'Brisn, Sof
San Francisco. Another witness was
I'D. ]. Oliver, Los Angeles police Of
|ficer, who was shot in the abdomen
lby Hickman during the holdup Of
the drug STORE Of G. Ivy Thomas,
Rosehill, Calif., oh Christmas eve.
Thomas; Tie druggist. was killed
during the h6ldup. Welby Hunt,
NOW serving . life term in San ouen-
tin for the murder, worked with
Hickman en- the holdup.
Four months from today, Hick-
IMAM would have BEEN Il years old. 4
DjaboIical and Brutal
The kidnapping and killing Of littls
Marian Parker IN Los Angeles. last
December constituted probably ths |
most diabolieal and sensational crime
In recent California history - Il
aroused the nation because Of it, |
lack Of motive. and the !
|utterly strange JOY tho kilJer took |
Ia baking in publicity following dis |
lclosurs q the Staying. +
Apparently untroublsd By . con-
lgcience, the murderer. william Ed I
ward Hickman, Of Kansas City; ap.
lDeoaehod doath with only Z perfume |
|toty expression Of sorrow that he L
bad taken the life. then 1iendishly |
|hseksd - pisces the body d the girl |
whom 10 did not even know.
Many alioniots who examined
Hickman failed to agree on tn COM L
|plex Of the 41-yoarsold nurdorer. asJ
there seemed No standard h Amori. |
|can history upon which 70 base an
|nccurste conception o9 tho killer.
No vlelh)e Qokjvo
Apparently With ~ other motive
than 70 commit such = g)ating crime |.
that he would 80 down IL criminal I,
annals q mastor- minded criminal I
|Hickman climaxsd Z brio1 1i1o 81 II
pstty crime With the fisndish nur- |!
DIR.
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