OCR Text |
Show MORRIS SAID HE KILLE0SA1JLL Murderer Left Interesting Letter Let-ter to the State Board of Pardons. STORY IS NOT BELIEVED Number of Discrepancies Are Noted in the Murderer's "Confession. " Nick .Haworth, who already has served thirteen years in the stato urison. following conviction and sentence sen-tence to lifo imprisonment for tho murder mur-der of Thomas Sandal I, a night watch-mau watch-mau at Layton, in 1S99, ia not guilty of the crime for which he is suffering, if tho confession of J. J. Morris made inct hntVirrt li mounted tho scaffold last Tuesday, is true. Morris wrote a full confession to the Layton murder and handod to his attorney. Cnrl Bad-gor, Bad-gor, tho morning he was hanged. Tho confession, iu the form of a letter to the stato board of pardons, was handed hand-ed to Governor William Spry by Attorney At-torney Badger yesterday. Letter to tlie Board. The board of pardons w-ill consider the matter at a meeting to be held oarlv this week. Tho letter, written bv Morris at the hour of bis death, is as follows: To the Governor and Board of Pardons; Par-dons; Gentlemen, -Sirs I leave this letter in order that t.ho truth may be known and In my last statement on this earth may do justice to an Innocent man that is confined hero doing a lifo Kcntence for a- crime that was committed com-mitted by me. I do not know this man, but do Know niai no is not guilty of the crime that he In confined, con-fined, hero for. That man Is Kick Haworth. I left Ogden on tho afternoon of March 1S90; took a double-barreled shotgun from a sheep wagon about five uil'cH south of Ogdon. then wont to Lav ton. Utah. That night 1 broko Into tho Rrlck Mercantile storo; that was about l'J:30 o'clock. I entered through tho coal hole on the north side of the building. Aftor 1 got into the store 1 was encountorcd by a man, which afterwards I learned was the night watchman, by tho name of Thomaa Sandle. Tells of Killing. He tried to Interfere with mo, and tho shotgun, both barrels wero discharged dis-charged and ho fell to tho floor. After Af-ter looking at him I saw tho side of his head was almost missing- I searched him and took a purso and revolver from his peraon and touched nothing else. I left tho Btpro tho name wav I entered, by tho coal hole. This building was located on tlie north side of tho O. S. L. railway. After leaving the store I went along the wagon road and stopped at a haystack hay-stack on tho way. About one-fourth ot a milo from Layton there I left the empty purse and gun and went on my way. Now, sirs, If you will take the time to Investigate thin I am certain you will find It Is the truth. I am very rcspectfuly yours, .7. J. MORRIS. Although the authorities aro inclined to doubt the confession, no step will bo loft untaken to determine its truth or falsity. Sheriff Sharp has sent out photographs and records of Morris to many prisons throughout the country in an attempt to learn whether or not he was at liberty at tho time of the Sandal murder. The known record of Morris shows that he was released from the state prison of Colorado in 1S98 and did not come neain into tho hands of tho law until 1901, when, ho was sent to tho Montana state prison for highway robbery. Discrepancies Noted. There are many important discrepancies discrep-ancies in Morris's confession as com-tmred com-tmred to the facts in tho murder. Whereas he wrote that he murdered Sandal Maroh 25, 1899, tho records show that the murder was committed March 29. His statement that ho took Sandall's purse also is disprovon by ihn TBfnvrl. whi'pli shnwn flint, niilv f.hn murdered man's keys and revolver were taken. Tho record showed, too, that the murderer left the store Deforcing De-forcing tho back door, while Moms claimed he loft by the coal chute, through which he entered. The murder was committed in the Farmer's Union store. Morris said he killed Sandall in tho Briek Mercantile store. Nick Haworth was arrested in Oro eon several months after tho crime. Ho is said to have made a confession, but later repudiated it, claiming ho was forced to mako it because of "third degree" methods adopted by t.ho Davis county sheriff. At the trial it was shown that he had been in the vicinity of tho murder, traveling through with a band of wandering evpsies. In August, 1900, Haworth was found Kuilty of murder in the first doeroo and was sentenced to bo shot. A new trial was granted by tho supreme su-preme court, but it resulted in the same verdict. The supreme court refused re-fused to interfere neain and the caso' was laid before the board of pardons with tho result thtit tho death sentence was commuted to lifo imprisonment. According to the prison authorities, J. .7. Morris and Hnworth never asso- ciatou wixu eucu otner at the state1 prison, though it is said that it would havo been au easy matter for Morris to have arranged with Haworth to con-coct con-coct the confession. |