The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-05-10
RAY HAMILTON,
FOUR OTHERS
DIE IN CHAIR
International News Service

1nLefnhtIOnhA Ne"b SSENlCO
Five convicted murderers, one Of
them Raymond Hamilton, deSper
ado terror of the Southwest
calmly went to their deaths today
in the electric chairs at Hunts
vile, Tex, and Joliet, ILL.,, peniten
tiarieS.
Accompanying Hamilton to the
Texas electric chair was Joe
Palmer, his companion in a Texas
prison farm escape that cost the
life of young guard.
At the old Illinois penitentiary
three bank bandits, charged with
Staying three men, were executed
Hamilton, pale of face, but COM
posed, said his last farewell in the
death chamber and was bolted into
eternity a few minutes after mid
night.
Convicted of killing j. Charles
Bundy, cashier, and two others in
q raid on the State Bank Of Leo.
more, ILL.,, Fred Corner, John Hauff
and Arthur Thielen were put to
death. Corner and Thielen, both
Of Rockford, ILL.,, were brothers-in'
law.
HUNTSVILLE, Tex, May 10
(IN.S) Their lives snuffed out
in the Texas penitentiary electric
chair, the lurid crime careers of
the staggering Raymond Hanil-
ton and Joe Palmer, notorious
deSperadoes of the Southwest.
came to an inglorious end early
today.
Palmer was the first to die.
He was placed in the chair
shortly after midnight, and IS
minutes later the ashen-faced
Hamilton, in a clear voice wished
an attending priest a mice trip"
to Ireland, made a final state
ment and followed his desperate
pal in death.
Public Enemy No. I
The double execution ended
one of the most sensational
crime chapters in the history of
the Southwest. A daring series
of robberies, abductionS and gun
battles with posses had given
the 21-year- Hamilton q rank
ing as Public Enemy No. ] in
recent months.
Hamilton and his gunman ally
were executed for the murder Of
Major CrowSon, a young prison
guard, on January 16, 1884. The
two engineered two Of the most dar-
ing prison breaks ever made in
Texas. Crowson was shot down
when Hamilton and Palmer, aided
by the late Clyde Barrow and his
cigar.smoking sweetheart, Bonnie
Parker, led a break from the East
ham prison farm.
Thanks Priest
Palmer, before the current was
turned on, read a brief statement
addressed - Father Hugh Finne-
gan, Catholic prison chaplain. He
thanked the father for his re-
lgious ministrationS, and said:
II ask God to accept my
ignoble death in atOnement for
my SINS"
Hamilton, when strapped in the
chair. thanked Father Finnegan
for his spiritual aid, and said:
II hope you have a nice trip
back to Ireland, Father"
He continued:
1.-THE governor sent word by
his secretary to ask me if
would tell who did the HillSbOrO
murder. l want to say that I
didn't do it and the man who
did it is dead. If he wasn't dead
/ wouldn't tell it now"
Hamilton's reference was to the
killing of storekeeper in Hills
boro, Tex, for which the outlaw
was assessed a 99-year sentence.
He placed the blame upon another
convict. In seeking to have his
death sentence committed, Ham
ilton had maintained that he had
never killed anyone.
Long Trail of Crime
After their Eastman prison farm
break, Hamilton and Palmer Sepa.
rated. Both were recaptured and
imprisoned in the Central prison
in Huntsville. Again making a des-
perate break, they scaled the
prison walls, exchanged gunfire
with guards, and got away. This
escape was on July %, 1884.
Palmer was recaptured early
this year in Paducah, Ky. Before
he was recaptured, Hamilton left
a trail Of criminal depredations
through several States.
His crime career began in a
squalid section of West Dallas,
and he robbed his first bank at
the age of Is.
A small figure, Hamilton was
known as the pint sized des-
perado." His love affairs as we'll
as his crimes became news. Katie
jenkins, red-haired Dallas girl, was
his latest sweetheart. She, with
the desperado's mother, vainly
tried to win clemency for her con-
demned lover.
illinois Executes Three