| Show i nun SENTENCED j 1 Twenty Years In State Prison For Murder of Egan I PLEADED FOR LENIENCY J ALFRED BENNETT WANTS TO BE LIBERATED FROM CITY JAIL Martin Christopherson Enters Another Anoth-er Proceeding Against the Assignee As-signee of the Western Shoe and Dry Goods Company Probate Orders Or-ders Miscellaneous Court News Jesse F Mcilillen who pleaded guilty on Monday to murder in the second degree for the part he took in the killing kill-ing of John Egan was yesterday sentenced sen-tenced by Judge Norrell to 20 years Imprisonment in the state prison The defendant appeared to have considerably con-siderably recovered from the despondent despond-ent and apparently hopeless condition of mind In which he was when he pleaded guilty on Monday and received re-ceived his sentence without any particular par-ticular show of emotion standing erect with folded arms as he listened to the remarks of the court the closing clos-ing words of which sealed his doom JJe was brought Into court by Deputy Dep-uty Sheriff McLelland and when asked by Judge Norrell of he had anything to say before sentence was pronounced he slowly rose to his feet and made a statement to the court in so low a tone of voice that it vas very difficult for those even sitting closest to him to hear and his honor several times requested re-quested him to speak in more audible t tones The burden of his statement was that he did not realize the graveness I cf the act of putting morphine inthe beer which Egan was to drink He had not the slightest intention of taking tak-ing the mans life and did not know he said that morphine was a poison Unfortunately he allowed himself to be persuaded to commit the act nnd to be made a tool of by another and I in conclusion he asked the court to be as lenient with him as possible Attorney George H Ilhea who has recently been McMillens counsel and exercised great ingenuity and spared no pains to save him made a short but eloquent and touching plea for leniency He recited the previous good character of McMillan and spoke of his respectable parents and good training train-ing and graphically told of how hemet he-met with evil associates and unwittingly unwit-tingly fell into the crime which he now regretted so much McMillen counsel moreover said was not likely to live long He was afflicted with consumption con-sumption and even now was so poorly that it was with great difficulty he could talk in an audible tone of voice The confinement in jail for the last year had told on him and even not along a-long sentence was very likely to prove fatal Assistant County Attorney Putnam on behalf of the prosecution said that in view of what his principal Mr Van Cott had stated to the court on Monday Mon-day he did not care to say much The prosecution had recommended that the sentence be 20 years in the state prison and considering that with good behavior according to the Utah statutes stat-utes a sentence of 20 years meant really but ten years and ten months actual timein prison he did not think the punishment was too severe He wculd leave it with the court I Judge Norrell ordered McMfllen to stand up and said that he had no < J doubferfn hisll jthatEgans killing was murder in the first degree He J did not however think that either I Phelps or McMillen intended to kill Egan but the law says that when a I mans life is taken by poison when the motive is robbery it is murder in the first degree What Mr H iea had I I stated to the court his honor said had carried considerable weight He really I had intended to Impose a heavier penalty pen-alty than 20 years But from what he I had heard he thought that McMillen was not the principal in the tragedy but that he had been controlled by Phelps Under all the circumstances the sentence of the court was that the defendant be imprisoned in the state prison for 20 years McMillen was then taken back to the I county jail and later in the day deliv I e d to the state prison and began I working out his sentence |
