Show KELlEIr f AND EATEN I The Crimes Charged Against Albert Packer l JV 1 THE rCOLOBAiX > CANNIBAL i v How Ho Killed Ills Flro Companions and Sab lated oa Their FlesU HI Story o Owing toB techriicSFt7 l i due to the stupidity of > the legislature Albert Packer the most noted criminal in Colorado who has been under sentence of death for three or four years b to escape the gallows writes Gunniaon correspondent of the Now York Sun In 18G9 Packer and 1m live companions compan-ions all of them prospectors and adventurers ad-venturers left Utah for San Juan County Colorado J lie country was then a wilderness and ors the men were unfamilar with their surroundings they Post their way After weary wanderings wander-ings covering several weeks their food gave oat and the entire party was reduced re-duced almost to the verge of starvation starva-tion For aeveraldays they subsisted on barks and roots but as they grew weaker rapidly and no game appearing appear-ing they finally came to the conclusion that death was inevitable and it was agreed that they would meet it as brave men should This decision appears to have been arrived at in good faith by all except Packer Going into camp for the night with a faint hope thattbe morrow might bring relief all were Boon asleep save one r i Packer alone animated by a devilish impulse retained consciousness and when he had reason to believe that his exhausted companions were wrapped in sound slumber he seized his weapons and crept stemthlly about the camp shooting each man in the head So heavy was their sleep that those lat murdered had no warning of their fate and the five murders were accomplished as easily as one might have bean Once satisfied of the thoroughness of his workParkers banger got the better of him and without waiting for daylight he made a horrible meal off one of nU victims and fall asleep I dreamed he once said that relief re-lief had come and that we were already sitting eta wellloaded table No meal that lever ate was more real to me My companions were all there and my own satisfaction was heightened by seeing see-ing the enjoyment with which they devoured de-voured their food I thought the town which we had reached bad received us as heroes and we were proud of what we had accomplished but every few minutes a leaden feeling would come to my heart as if sot ekllng hat I had done was yet to destroy all my happiness happi-ness I awoke with a groan and glanced quickly about me jThe sky over the mountain was freaked wick light showing that the morning was near but in the valley it was almost dark I sprang to my feet as nimbly as my stiffened and weakened limbs would i permit and then the whole truth flashed onme I gave one glance at the bodies lying around me and shrieked in terror My wolfish hunger of the night before had been appeased and an awful revulsion revul-sion seized upon me fanced that I could see their faces and their wounds almost that I could hear them talk and without turning again Iran as fast as my legs could carry me away from them I neither knew nor cared in what direction All the morning I Dressed on never stepping and never looking behind unta at length ray strength would endure no more and I sank to the grovnd The day was half gone and I already began tolear the night I felt then as if Iwonldnot sleep again that I could not even close my eyes in daylight I stretched myself my-self on the ground and look up at the clouds and the sky and thought of every thiag that I could to kee that mind off the one horrible scene that J left In this way I saw the sundiaap year behind the range and the twilight come on and in a sort stupor which l remember I at one time had consciousness conscious-ness enough to hope was death I passed into a profound sleep from which 1 did not awaken until late the next morns in When morn-s Packer came to himself after this long slumber he was ravenously hungry again The thought of his companions com-panions again came to his mind now as a temptation rather than as agrim reproach and it was with a decided effort ef-fort that he dismissed the idea temporarily = tempor-arily and sought long and painfully for game 2ot finding anyt arid growing more and more ravenous as night came on he eadeavoredidsatisfy his cravings by chewing such shrubs t and leaves as were within his reach The darkness now dill not nffrichtcn him He saw no vision and his imagination conjured con-jured up nothing to disturb him In the blackness oi the night he laid wide o awake and with mind supernaturally I active speculating on the position In which each of his victims had been left and turning over and ever in his brains I hew he would prepare his unnatural meal He coulrf hardly wait for daybreak I day-break to begin his journey and when i he set out on his horrible errand weak as he wasjit wns with a bonynney which surprised himself After this trip he baths terror and the repugnance with which he regarded his crime passed away He lingered near the scene of the mnrdeiaiortlays i until finally adimonished that his revel could not last mueh longer he bcaan to make excursions in various directions la the hope of finding succor On some of theee trips he was absent several days and at last after having subsisted on tho bodies of his companions farsix1 weeks be came upon a camp and was directed to Salt Lake City where his crime trsssoon made known and where he was promptly arrested for nurder The jail in those days were primitive affairs and not long after his Incarceration Incarcera-tion Pecker dug ms way out arAl was not seen nor heard of until thirteen years ad passed In 1BS2 something impelled him to venture back to the scene of his crime and he was again arrested and put on trial for his life His conviction fol lowed and in the spring of 1883 howas sentenced to death Friends of the man bellevirg that his crimes were comm com-m + tted when he was insane and being advised by good lawyers that the conviction con-viction was illegal carried the case to tbesupreme court when a supersedes was granted and on a change of venue the ca > e was brought here In behalf of Packer the bicf submitted to the Supreme Court held that the law under which he had been condemnedto death was not in existence at the time of his crime The murder law then in force had been repealed and a new one substituted sub-stituted The court decided in accordance accord-ance with this view that theman could not be tried underalaw which had been repealed and certainly not under one which hid not been passed until ten or twelve years after the alleged offense When this ruling was received here Packers attorneys moved for his dismissal but the presiding judge denied the motion holding that the laws bearing on manslaughter man-slaughter had not been changed and directing that an information alleging that crime be filed against him or that offense if I convicted ho can be sent to the penitentiary for ten years but he never will be banged Packer has been in jail here for nearly three years and has attracted much attention at-tention from tourists He has let his hair and whiskers grow until they aro of wonderful length stid from them he has made many little articles which he has sold to curiosityhunter He is highly elated over his prospects or escaping with his life In connection with this case the Denver Den-ver Aect has the following reference to it and it is probably correct The case Is so well known that the briefest summary will suffice Packer formed one of a party ot twentyone prospectors which leftUtah in January 1874 fdr the San t Juan country At D1 Oreek Colorado Packer and flve men left the main party end < hea < ted for Lot Pin03 agency That was thelast seen of them until the April following when Packer turned up at theagency He told many conflicting stories as to the fate and whcreaboutsof hfscdm panions stating at last that they eere all dead and that he had been obliged to live on their flesh He was suspected having murdered the men and on failing conduct the search party to the place where they lay he was arrested by General Adams and sent to Saguache He escapedand remained at large until 1833 when he was rearrested neat Cheyenne Wyo When brought to Denver he stated thA the t-he had been obliged to kin Bell inset defence but that Bell had killed the rest of the party in his Paokeraab relict He still maintains the same story Public opinion seems to side neither oue way nor the other down here and the greatest curiosity is manifested as to what the fury will do Everybody wanted to see him have a fair trial and will be satisfied with whatever thejury decides LaterAfter being out t1ree hours they returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter as charged in the five indictments = in-dictments |