Glasgow Courier. — 1848-01-13 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

EXECUTION OF REID, THE MIRFIELD MURDERER. Tonic, Jaw. 8, 'Fwatve Nocur.--Patrick Reid, the man who was convicted of having murdered Mr. and Mrs. Wraith, and their servant, Caroline Ellis, at Mirfield, was executed this morning at Tork. The facts of this atrocious murder have already been minutely laid before the public, and it is, therefore, unnecessary to repeat them. Since his condemnation, Reid has been frequently visited by his friends. He leaves a father, a mother a brother, and a widow and infant child—for the latter he has expressed much concern. It is satisfactory to know that he had complied with the exhortation of the learned judge, who tried him, In laying aside all hopes of a continuance in this world, and in endeavouring to make his peace with and obtain that pardon from the Almighty which the law of this land could not grant under the fearfully deliberate circumstances of his crime. Being an Iriphman and a Roman Catholic, he has been regularly attended, since his conviction by the ministers of his church, and his contrition and repentance were, it is understood, complete. Under these circumstances, the Chaplain of the Castle, the Rev. Thos. Sutton, has of course had no participation in the religious services which. have been performed, and no condemned sermon was preached on the day previous to the execution, as is the case when the culprit is a member of the Protestant Church. The interest which the execution of this man has caused throughout the neighbourhood was excessive, and many thousand persons arrived in the city to witness the horrid scene. It is supposed that no leas than thirty or forty thousand individuals were present on the occasion. When the clock was at the point of twelve the prisoner was brought upon the scaffold, attended by the Rev. Joseph Render, and followed by the Under-Sheriff, the governor of the Castle (John Noble, Esq.), and the other officials. Halberdiers were placed to guard the scaffold, as were also the officers of the Sheriff. The prisoner walked with the utmost firmness and composure on to the scOold ; and having knelt down, he engaged in prayer with the minister of religion by whom he was attended. At the conclusion of the service he rose without assistance, and crossed himself on the breast. He then turned round and said to those immediately around him, "Well, gentlemen, I wish to say that I alone am the guilty person; that M'Cabe is entirely innocent, and that no human being in the world had anything to do with it but myself." He then resigned himself into the hands of the county executioner, Nathaniel Howard, who adjusted the fatal noose; the cap being drawn upon his eyes, after a momentary interval the fatal bolt was drawn, and Patrick Reid was launched into eternity. The culprit, who was a light made man, appeared to auffer much for a few seconds, when the death struggles ceased, and he became a motionless corpse. The body remained suspended for an hour, when it was cut down and placed in a shell, to be interred this evening in the precincts of the prison. The immense crowd appeared to behave with great decorum—passive spectators of the awful scene.