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Show HAS SHE NOT BEEN PUNISHED ENOUGH? Poor, frail Nan Patterson, who has twice escaped the gallows and been given the chance of again enjoying what she calls life, furnishes fur-nishes a splendid argument for those who inveigh against capital punishment. pun-ishment. All know that Nan is not a murderer at heart. This was made evident at the actress' two former trials. If she shot Caesar Young, she did it accidentally or in a moment of anger that made her temporarily irresponsible. One cannot but ask if this unfortunate woman has not been punished pun-ished enough, even though she did kill Young. It is said that she is row with her husband at Porto Rico, living in seclusion and endeavoring endeavor-ing to keep her identity unknown. Those who have seen her say she j a wreck of her former self. Her beauty is fading, she has aged tet-rbly tet-rbly in the last few months, and a haunting fear is shown in her haggard hag-gard eyes. , When Nan received word that Jerome had been re-elected as District Dis-trict Attorney of New .York, she ' aid to have suffered -a nervous collapse. She fears that if she returns to New York the case will again be opened up and another effort made to convict her of murder. The terror of another prosecution is always with her, and it is believed be-lieved that rather than go through the ordeal again, she would end her own life. Nan Patterson's may be an isolated case, but surely the ends of justice wquld not be gained by another prosecution. If the woman is' guilty, the haunting fear which even now possesses her and the pangs of conscience which she assuredly feels will be penalty enough. Hanging or life imprisonment could not increase the punishment. A failure on the stage, aging fast and her beauty gone, life has little of bweetness left to offer the show girl. Then, there remains the probability that the woman is innocent. Thousands have been spent in efforts to convict her; twice has the prosecution failed. District Attorney Jerome should not open up the case again. Let the poor woman go. |