Show UTAHS DARKEST PAGES I Nine nin have paid the blood penalty I for the shedding of human blood In Utah Since the territory Ilrst aim under un-der Government control In 1SSO Utah was no lid ter than uny other frontier I territory t In the curly days and though I murder was frcqiiunl lor lan years hut few were ever compelled to give their own lives In expiation of their crimes Many murders have been dIn d-In Utah since Statehood was secured but two only o the great munbfcr I of men whose hands have been stained with blood have paid the highest penalty pen-alty 1 I I Tho act crcating lime Territory oft of-t tllh was signed by l PrcHldenl Mllhird l Flllmoro September B 1850 No record 1ms been kept of hue murders thai have since been committed Eight legal executions have taken place In the succeeding suc-ceeding ilftylhrec years The Territory Terri-tory was admitted to the Union as a State January 4 J 189C Records show a large number of murders that have been commuted since that lime Fl FiST EXEC IJTION The first legal executions in the old Territorial days were thosu of Jace Luco and John Vorguson Those men wcro executed in the early COs and as no records wore kept and few still live who recall their case the facts arc hard to get at Luce was shot In tIme yard of thc slT l courthouse where the county Jail mm stands The crime for which Luce died was tho t murder of a stranger who had come to the then frontier village but a short time before The killing occurred in front of the silo of thc present Progress block and was said l to havo arisen from Il drunken quarrel Luce stabbed the Flranger to death He was tried by a Jury and found guilty of murder in the first degree and the I death I flontcnco was passed limo execution drew a large crowd from the ourrounding country nnd the streets near the courthouse were lined with i spectators Jtifrt before the order lo lire was given the executioners the ofllcer In charge naked i lure if he had anything to say lIe replied hat I he bad not but asked frt 1 r lmv rf l tnlin in Ferguson was ° xecuted just outside of the old city wall north of the City cemetery He also died at the hands of time riflemen HV was 35 years old at tho time of his death None of the old timers remember the details of Ferguson Fergu-son crime LEE THE THIRD MAN SHOT Tho third man to meet his death at the hands of legal executioners In Utah was John D Lee he of the Mountain Meadow massacre Mountain Meadow IB I the name of a small valley In the southern part of the State near St George There It was proven a band of emigrants over 100 in number was massacred Only a few children were left I alive after the laughter The emigrants were en route lo California Cali-fornia when attacked by Lees band Indians who wer afterwards helped by I Htgbeofi battalion of the Nauvoo Legion The massacre occurred oc-curred In Iron I county In I lSr 7 Twenty years elapsed before the t execution execu-tion I of Lee who alone paid the I forfeit for ito I crime though others were tried for the name offense Leo wan executed on the scene of the crime in 1S77 A company oi soldiers from Fort Cameron formed an escort for the officials and also furnished a guarantee thai no Interruption would nIce place Lee was taken from his cell at Beaver and placed In a closely covered I cov-ered carriage well guarded and driven rapidly I southward As soon as tile party arrived Lees coffin was placed at the spot assigned for it and Leo was brought forward lie was accompanied by a preacher and sat upon the edge of thc coffin while United States Marshal I Nelson read the order of execution after which he aukcd Lcc if he wished to make a statement Lee arose his countenance exhibiting no trace of fear or any other emotion and stated thai he was not afraid to die He believed in the merey of God he said The only regret he bad was that he was compelled to leave his wives and children unprotected Ho believed that he was mau > the victim to suffer I for the sin1 of others Rrigham Young won leading the people astray ho sold but the doctrines of time church led to salvation 1 sal-vation The only request he made was that the executioners aim at hlf heart and be sure not to break any of his bones LAST PICTURE FOP IllS WIVES Lee wan their photographed and he asked that pictures be crt to his wives j handkerchief was bound over I hid eyes and as the order to fire Was given I live rifles spoke at once and ho dropped into his coffin dead with five bullets through his heart Lee was 55 years old when lie was executed His body wan given to one of his wives Rachel of Pangultch One year later Wallace Wilkerson il years old wan executed for the murder mur-der or a ranchman He wag shot at Provo May lii 1S7S He was first sentenced to Iy hot December De-cember M 1S77 but Oov Emery reprieved re-prieved him on the morning of last day to awail lie action of hue Supreme court runt court sustained the decision deci-sion of the I lower court and Wilkerson paid the penalty May 15 ISiS As soon as Wilkerson had committed lho criim for which he WHS finally executed exe-cuted he escaped and was afterward captured by the notorious Porter Rockwell Rock-well who trailed t him for many miles AVIipn Vilkerson was executed ho declared I de-clared that he died with but one regret that ho h1I1 nol murdered his father who had punished him years before and the memory of which always rankled III Ills licjirt A short time before his 1 dealt Wilker EOii confessed Hint ho had murdered a school teacher In the East Tins lonelier had punished him so ran the ftory he told and ho swore vengeance Ho was only a child but he purchased a small I Derringer revolver and waited hit opportunity op-portunity One evening he was walking 1 walk-ing through I the woods with I the teacher What bird Is that up In the iee7 ho asked Innocently The teacher I looked up b and till lad placed the revolver at liiM temple and fired The tvachar fell clenching his IiancF convulelvelv Vllkcrson placed 1 the t smoking revolver In the t hand of the murdered teacher and held It here I till time hand became rigid In death The teachers body was quail in the lonely spot and a Coroners Jury bronchi In a verdict of suicide Wilkcr son was nhol to death FRED WlvIjLCOMES 1 CASE The crime and execution of Fred Wellcome alln Froil Ilopt was one thai attracted time most attention of any thai ever occurred Jn Utub save per History of the Murders for Which the a Criminals Have Suffered the a Death Penalty haps exceptions I in the cafes of Lcc md Morlenaen Wellcomo was given four separate trials und seven years elapsed between the commission of the erlmtj and his execution Tills case coat the Government Govern-ment and the Territory and county of Utah more than 325000 AVellcomeo crime was a cold blooded one and one of the most llendlsh on record in Utah Vcllcomc or Ilopt as ho was bettor known was arrested in 1879 by Sheriff Turner of Utah county for stealing horses Because of the absence of the complaining wItness he was released and given employment by i Uiii Sheriff Just before Christmas of that year he expressed a desire to go to Park City and was given money and other necessaries neces-saries by the Turners and bidden god ttfprifl KILLED HIS BENEFACTOR John t uinci 1 a MII r left his fathers home in Provo June 28 1850 to go lo Park City to procure work for his teams About July 1st hemet he-met Tlopt at that place who escorted him to the various camps surrounding Pari City to secure work for the teams Hopt left abruptly and was not scout again until late that night Young Turner I left In a short liar I and wiis never seen alive again Hopl returned re-turned at midnight and in a saloon it was seen he hud bioudstnlns on Ills clothes He said he had been lighting He danced that night with his shirtfront shirt-front spattered with blood He Induced a miner to start to Wyoming with him the iKxt day on the I ylrcnglh ot tlv statement that he had two teams that he wished to poll They started and Turners dead body was hidden in one of the wagon They drovp through Echo canyon when they secreted the body It was found July llth by a young hoy named Phillip who was fishing with his father I VULTURES DISCOVER BOOT Tht body was hidden in an old tent iintl the vultures swarmed about it like flies The left aide of Turners head was crushed by a blow from an ax and his under jaw had been broken by a glancing blow from the same weapon liopt and his companion went to Green River and sold the outfits for 5500 I Then they went to Cheyenne where Hopt began drinking heavily While there Sheriff Turner learned of the horses that he had sold and began an investigation On his arrival at Park City he learned of an Inquest that had been held and on looking at the corpse discovered his murdered son Tie at once began a chase for Ilopt who was overtaken at Cheyonno When Ilopt was taken Sheriff Turncr was unable to control himself and seised him but Ilopt t was released bother b-other officer Numerous attempt were made to lynch 1 him on his way to Salt La k Jack Emerson alias John McCormlck the miner was indicted with Hopt for murder In the fIrst degree Emerson was given a life sentence but was pardoned par-doned five years later by Coy Murray LONG LEGAL BATTLE FOUGHT Hopt had four trials ench time counsel coun-sel being appointed by the court to defend de-fend him He was first tried before Judge Emerson February 1C 1SS1 being be-ing defended by Lean er J Sharp and John A Marshall He was found guilty of murder in the first degree and under the laws of Utah sentenced to be shot He applied to the Territorial Supreme court and the decision was nfllrmed The case was taken to the United States Supreme court and reversed on a technicality tech-nicality The second trial began befoie Judge Hunter on March 2 18S2 and April 2nd he was sentenced to be hanged on June 1st t The casi vvaij again appealed to the Supreme court of the State and affirmed af-firmed then to the United States Su pierne court On March 3 i 1SS Justice Harlan speaking for that body declared de-clared that the lower court had erred in several particulars and on the JPli of April 1SS4 the third trial began On neither of the two previous trials did the defendant enter a defense relying solely sole-ly on technicalities to escape ihe vengeance ven-geance of the law On May 9th he was lItfI1Cd to be shot on June 18th and ayfi II took advantage or the right to CITIZENS DEMAND HIS LIFE The iiiH MI smalt1 illlrnt uy the Supreme court of the Territory A stay of execution was asked by h he attorneys at-torneys for the defense pending an appeal ap-peal l to the United States Supreme court and an indignation meeting of citizens was held at the old Walker house protesting against the stay of pioceed lns i Arting GOt Thomas finally granted a reapile until the Pnitcd States Supreme court could hear the case caseHis last trial began September f 3883 which resulted In nillrmatioix by j I the Federal court of the dccWonoC the 1 Territorial court A death warrant was Issued and August J1 18S7 fixed UI ilio 1 date of the execution Ilopts only request was that Sheriff 1 Turner father uf his victim be not allowed al-lowed to see the execution Uopt looked for him as he l marched out of the death l cell to till place or execution nut roust not find him although he was present He declared that he had courage enough to die like a man A circle of paper one and onehalf Inches In diameter diame-ter was pinned over his heart He sat I looking at the muzzles of the rifles as calmly as though he wore looking Into I a photographers camera When the rifles wcre fired a SliLl1 Iud look came tiuddenly over his face but no oilier evidence evi-dence did he give lie was thrown backwards and five bullet hole wore found in the body within an itch of each other Ilopt I i secured a large quantity of morphine mor-phine which he intended to take had lie known that Sheriff Turner would be present to wltneFS his execution This lie Rtive to time death watch a few min mites before the execution I merely wanted to show you ho salt that I could have killed myself if Sheriff Turner had been here Hut I didnt want to disappoint all these people who have gathered Jlopt wan 13 years old when he was executed and 22 years old when he committed com-mitted the crime He had prominent connections In the East MURDERER DAVIS SIXTH MAN Enoch Davis was executed In Utah county on September M 1S04 for uxorl chic Ills case was one of the moat detestable In Utah annals Davis was sentenced for lie crime of f Brief Accounts of the Nine Executions for Murder in Utah m i the Last Half Century and Something of Crimes murder In lime first degree It was proved that ho murdered his wife by cutting her throat with a u knife and buried the body in a potato pit in the yard of his home On November 3 1SD2 he was sentenced lo bo executed on November 10th ot thai year A stay of execution wan granted a short time before Hint dat however and he secured se-cured a few more months of life On July n ISOI he was rescntenctit by Judge II W Smith to be executed September Mlh This sentence wan carried out DaviH when he wan executed refused re-fused to occupy a scat in tho wagon which carried him from the Stule prison to the scene of his death hut sat upon his coffin His tvo skills TvUncfiHetl his execution and lie intoxicated I Jeered and reviled them to the last Davis was 13 years old when he was killed BUT ONE LFGAL HANGING Only one legal hanging ever occurred in Utah The man who suffered the death penalty for win murder by th I hangmans noose was Charles Thiede a Dutch hart ent1T at 1 Murray Thlede slashed I his wifes throat in alit I a-lit of insane jealousy with a keen edged bulchrr knife 11 o left her dying in a back yard while he continued fa serve beer to his customers Thlede confessed at one lime but evpr after ward protested his Innocence even while the I noose was belner fastened about hIs neck Tilled was commlttcI to the penitentiary peniten-tiary October 2i isrii On November nth of that year ie was sentenced to be executed December ISth A stay of proceedings pro-ceedings was granted pending an appeal ap-peal to the Supreme court He was re scntcnced June 11 ISOfi and executed In tin jail yard in this city August 7 1S05The The gallows on Mhkh he was hanged was oldfashlonod and clumsy and Thlcde died of strangulation COUGH LAN I EXECUTION Patrick 11 I I Coughlnn wa Ihe I second man executed nlnce Utah was granted admission to the sisterhood or State Patsy Coughlan was only 22 carlo carl-o age when In was executed and his case was one uf lie I prominent ones In the criminal history of the State Coughlnn and Fred George who Is f serving a life sentence in the penitentiary peniten-tiary and who Is seeking pardon stolij a box of strawberries here in 1S9G A policeman went after the boys but they went to Park City The Sheriff of Summit county attempted at-tempted to arret them but they gave fight and he went back for reinforcements reinforce-ments A long running fight that extended over Summit Illch Davis Weber Salt Lake and other counties followed and armed possea were beaten and outgeneraled outgen-eraled at every point until in a battle hi Rich county Deputy Sheriffs Dawes and Stagby wure killed The men were caught in Tooelo count coun-t and were tried and committed to the penitentiary September 11 1S5 George was sent up for life but Coughlan was given the limit n After one or two legal delays Cough lan was shot to death December 7 ISPS Peter Mortensen L I the last to pay the extreme penalty being shot today for the mirdur of James P Hay December 1C 1001 I |