The Nuneaton Times. — 1875-09-11 (Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England)

DOUBLE EXECUTION•A.T LIVERPOOL.  On monday morning William Baker and Edward Cooper. who. were condemned to deoth at the last Live pool Assizes, suffered the extreme p niity of the law in Kirkdale Gaol. Baker was found gui ty of the murder of Chimes Langan, in Liverpool. and Cooper of the murder of Edward Jones, on the high seas, in the ship Coldbeck. The circumstances of Baker's crime were beefly these .—Baker and his victim, Langin, were bolt engage I in- totting -transactions, and in sine way great enmity eprang up between them. Ab ut one o'clock on the moi 'king of July 10, Baker, ace nipanied by some friends, met Langan in London Read, called to him, aod afrer a f..qv words had passed the report of a pistol was heard, and Landau fell. He was put in a cob and taken to 'the infirmary. where he was found to be dead. In the meantime a policeman came up, seized Baker, who was point-d out as the man who fired the shot, and found a smal revolver, one ctiamher of which .had been discharged, in his pocket. It transpi-ed during the trial that Baker had frequently been heard to threaten Langan. When put on his trial he pleaded not guilty, but when he was found guilty, and ask d what he had to say why sentence of d-a•li should not be passed, he found fault with the course which hod been taken by ho a counsel, did not deny the act, but urged the treatment he had received from Lanzan, as a palliati .n The jury recommended him to mere, , but the judze in passing sentence, held out no hope. Three petitions have since ben sent to the Home Secretary on his beha f, ani others from his friend and toe pti lie of Liverpo A, and one from friends in Nottingham, where he was well known. A. deputation from Liverpool also waited on the Home secretary, but witiliout avail, as he declined ti interfere with the course of the law.  Cooper was sentenced to death for shooting the boatswain of the ship Coldbeck, on the high seas, with a revolver. Some ill-feeling had sprang up between them which culminated in the murder of the boatswain, and on the arrival of the ship Cooper was tried and sentenced to death. He ' seems to have been almost friendless, as no one visited him several days after his removal to Kirk. dale Ultimately, however, a female, believed to be .a boarding-house keeper, with whom he at one time lodged, visited him. The owners of the ship on which the tragedy occurred, having heard that his counsel defended him without any preparation, also took an interest in his case and got up a petition, which, however, met with the same fate as those in the case of Baker. Cooper has some friends in America, but declined to communicate with them, leaving instructions with the Roman Catholic chaplain to do so after the execution. Baker since Thursday has been in such a low nervous state that the doctor declined to allow his friends to see him On Sunday night he wrote a farewell letter to his wife, and went to bed about one o'clock on Monday morning. He slept but little and fitfully, and rose between five and six in a very 'feeble and nervous condition. Cooper went to bed earlier, and slept soundly. Both ate but little breakfast. They were then attended respectively by the Protestant and Roman Catholic chaplains, who administered the last sacra. ment. In the pinioning room Baker said to Cooper, Let's exchange a blessing," and each repeated a fervent" Gol bless you." Cooper fir-t ascended the scaffold, at toided by Father .Bonte, who py iyed,  the convict resp-ndlg. Baker f. llowerd with feeble step, and.sripp .rted by the warder, his eyes  clAvncast and lips moving in prayer. Under the drop Cooper b oked round two or three times, and tmde "Far-well' to thoso arrouud, adding that he did not get justice. Baker seemed odivions of what was going on, and prayed without ceasing. Just bef re the drop fell he said. "Lord Jegis, have mercy on my soul." Manrood performed the office tf executioner. The bodies fell ful'y six feet,  dea;il being apparently instantawmue. Bake; insisted to the last that he dia not intend to kill .Langal. A crowd of abmt 600 persons assemb'ed outside the gaol, and waited until the hoisting of the black iiag amusing themselves meanwhile by groaning a• sum prisoners who ware released from gaol. Baker was a Coventry man.