The Long Road to Walla Walla

Eugene F. Boucke, of Seattle, convicted of waylaying and robbing a woman, made a piteous plea for mercy in Judge Bell's court at Seattle Tuesday afternoon, declaring that if a heavy sentence was imposed, he would never live to serve it. Being twice convicted, little mercy was shown by the judge, and he sentenced Boucke to 16 years in the penitentiary at Walla Walla. The man is expected to arrive at the prison in a few days. Boucke is now 40 years of age and will be an old man before he tastes of liberty again. When asked by the court if he had anything to say, he made a vehement declaration of his innocence, calling upon the heavenly powers to witness the injustice of his conviction. After his motion for a new trial was overruled, he said, 'Realizing that I am going to the penitentiary, where I shall end my days, standing upon that brink, I call upon the Supreme Judge in Heaven to bear witness that I am as innocent of crime as the angels that surround His throne.' Judge Bell remarked that he had listened carefully to the evidence in both trials and was firmly convinced of the defendant's guilt.