The Assassin Sentenced

Czolgosz was sentenced on the 26th ult. to suffer the death penalty in Auburn prison at some time during the week beginning on October 28th. His life will be taken away by the electric current, according to the New York law which provides that capital punishment shall be inflicted in this manner. His trial, covering two days, had consumed only eight and one-half hours. The jury were ready to pronounce their verdict without leaving their seats, but in the interest of orderly procedure they decided to retire for consultation. They were out thirty-five minutes, and in that time they observed the formality of balloting upon the questions of the prisoner’s sanity and guilt. During the trial it was shown that the bullet in Mr. McKinley’s body had not been found because the family was unwilling that the search for it should be prolonged. Chemical and bacteriological investigation proved that Czolgosz’s bullets had not been poisoned. No testimony for the defense was given at the trial. It is understood that the alienists who examined the prisoner agreed that he was sane. When brought to court for sentence the assassin at first seemed unwilling to say anything in response to the customary question from the judge. His counsel asked that he be permitted to exculpate the members of his family. Whereupon Czolgosz said in a low and feeble voice:

     “There was no one else but me. No one else told me to do it, and no one paid me to do it. I was not told anything about that crime, and I never thought anything about murder until a couple of days before I committed the crime.”

He was taken to the penitentiary at Auburn on the 27th by the sheriff of Erie County. While on the train he maintained his composure. He expressed sorrow for the suffering of Mrs. McKinley. “Tell my father,” he said, “I am sorry I leave such a bad name for him.” Again he declared that he had had no accomplice, saying that no one had tied the handkerchief. It was not tied, but was loosely wrapped around his hand. After leaving the train, however, and while on the way to the prison, he was so frightened that he became unable to walk. Shivering, moaning and sometimes screaming, he was borne along by the officers to his cell. The nine anarchists arrested in Chicago immediately after the attack upon the President have been released, there being no available evidence against them.