Show BLACKS BLACK CAP I i The Murderer of Robert Burnett i Hanged at Laramie STORY OF HIS HORRIBLE GRDIE He Coveted His Neighbors Claim and Failing t Get I Killed the Owner and I Burned His Body LARAMIE Wyo Feb 26Spcciai telegram tele-gram to THE HERALD George A Black Y was hanged here this forenoon for the murder mur-der of Robert Burnett in May 1SS9 The execution was brought off in elegant shape Black retired at 1 oclock this morning and was called at 6 He awoke twice the firstvot time in an hour when he said to the deathwatch death-watch You believe I told the truth dont you Guard Davis answered Yes and advised his charge to sleep At 4 oclock Black raised up and looked about his cell but soon fell into a heavy slumber again George Black the murderers brother called early this morning and there was a painful scene which was repeated re-peated when three women friends appeared ap-peared For the first time since his arrest Black cried but ho soon regained composure compos-ure Father Cummiskey and two sisters prayed with Black nearly all the morning The procession was formed at 1 oclock Ss I Sheriff Yuud followed Black and the priestS priest-S 4 The prisoners step was firm and his manner 4 man-ner collected The services on the scaffold were very brie Black walked t the trap unaided The noose was adjusted at once and the arms and legs pinioned Sheriff Yund brought the black cap and asked for his mans final statement In low but distinct tones the reply came I have nothing to say except 1 am not the man who did it Black reached for the cap with his head His jaw commenced to quiver but he shut his teeth and drew his lips together His eye was clear The trap was sprung at 1110 Black shot the five feet and a half like the sand bag with which the gibbet has been tested The big knot slipped around t the back and throwing throw-ing his head forward broke the neck Heart pulsations were perceptible in six I I minutes but the body was not cut down i until twenty eight minutes had passed 4 The usual tremor of the frame was scarcely I contains noticeable the A body grave in the potters field Black and Burnett were neighboring homesteaders The man executed today was a low browed villainous fellow who coveted Burnetts claim the holding being superior in location t his own To possess himself of the place he set about to put its owner out of the way He lacked the cunning which is one clement of deliberate planning but had sufficient malice cowardice cow-ardice and disregard for state and moral laws t traverse any length t accomplish his purpose Burnetts murder was preceded pre-ceded by cruel and remarkable persecution This victim avarice was a peculiar being be-ing He lived alone in miserable squalor his only purpose in life being the acquisition acquisi-tion of title t his claim and subsequent installation of a daughter i the east as mistress of it He was aged and weak I minded superstitious a anegro and eecen tric as a lionized genus A strong and persistent play was made upon his infirmities I in-firmities White cap notices with rude drawings of skull and cross bones and coffins cof-fins were posted on the door of his poor cabin but were allowed to remain unheeded un-heeded He was haunted by a flesh and blood spook but showed his disregard for such spirits and put an end to this form of assault by sending a rifle ball after the ghost one cloudy night He was always armed and combative and plucky Old Bob was sick nigh unto death at one stage of the war On this occasion the blacks became I very solicituous for his welfare and sent poisoned pottage which was promptly W thrown on the earthen floor of his habitation 1 habita-tion Assassination was attempted but C came near province disastrous for the highbinder high-binder Black opened fire on Burnett from a clump of spge brush The eccentric forced his horse into the cover and cap tured Black but strangely enough refrained re-frained from harming him acceptiug the I flimsy excuse that he and his mount had been mistaken for an elk A sanguinary pitched battle was the next incident this i unequal struggle Burnett and Black met in the road and after a few words shooting I commenced and only ceased when the elder man fell off his horse He was left in the highway for dead but recovered and while a few years before this time he was always ready to enter court on the slightest pretext II pre-text he refused to institute a prosecution against Black and the authorities for various reasons ignored the matter Burnett disappeared last May He was I o not missed for several weeks and then he was given about twenty days grace to return re-turn from a hunting trip Black gave it out that he had bought the old mans place ana boldly took possession of it He said Bob had gone to spend his declining years with his daughter in the east The story was discredited but the powers were slow t take hold of the case A search forflury I nett was suggested by some settlers but Black stopped proceedings this direction by making it known that he would kill thes I orpanizcr of an investigation committee Officers worked secretly and assidiously but nothing developed until August Mrs Charles Pullman and daughter members of a Missouri family that had emigrated to Wyoming were berrying in a patch near Blacks place when they made a find that frightened them half t death Curiosity I led them to rake old over an campfire and in the remains they found a charred skull and human bones some metal trinkets and f a few Iragments of clothing Mrs Pullman Pull-man and the girl ran home with blanched 4 faces chattering teeth and told of their discovery to the man of tho tribe He had neither fear nor sentiment but was endowed with horse sense and fair judgment judg-ment and placing the evidence of murder o in a bucket hurried to town and gave the I information and its substantial corroboration corrobor-ation to the prosecuting attorney Black was arrested without trouble and said he had expected t be taxed with old Bobs murder but that he was innocent and that i anyone knew anything about it the individual was his exhired man Dwight Rockwell who had left the country m the meantime Rockwell a anpre hended and became volubility itself A speedy trial was had and Black was convicted principally on the evidence of his former servant who told a clearstory which was strongly backed by a dozen incriminating f in-criminating circumstances It was in sub fj stance this He and Black arranged t go to Burnetts ranch and become occupants of it by ousting oust-ing the old man on the ground that Black had a prior claim Burnett was lying down and did not rise when the pair entered en-tered his home He simply ridiculed the demand saying that such a question would have to be settled in the land office at Cheyenne Black drew uis six shooter and opened fire on the defenseless man Bur nett begcred piteously for his life but another shot silenced him and a third was sent into his body to make sure work The remains were wrapped in a tarpaulin and loaded in a wagon and Black with Rockwell Rock-well besidehim drove t an isolated gully where he proposed burying the corpse When the of concealment place concelment was I reached Black said the best thing to do I would be to burn the body thuscompletely y destroying all evidence of the crime Rock vellsilentlyacquiescedand the rude wel ientj acquiesced cremation 1 cre-mation proceeded Hal a day was occupied occu-pied in the work and both men were sick all the tie being almost prostrated with nausea They alternated at watching and feeding the fire Black heard Rockwells testimony without with-out weakening and in his defense only dod do-d the recital and said thatthe hiredman did both the killing and cremating When sentenced he exhibited no concern only saying that he was innocent and would like t hand ave a fair show His brother wife h-and two stepdaughters wept bitterly when sentence was passed on their relative The women he comforted in a rough fashion but the masculine mourner was gruffly I fo med that he had no nerve and advised I him to brace up An attempt was made to secure a now I trial for Black but it was unsuccessful He spent the first days of his confinement reading newspapers and poor novels and summarily dismissed a clergyman who called asserting with much positiveness that he did not believe in any hereafter but he has been praying ft week with the sisters Governor Warren refused to commute I com-mute his sentence i |