The Sentencing of James McPherson
A somber day in court as a defendant is sentenced to death despite his final protestations of innocence.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The sentence of death was passed upon Ezra Snodderly last Friday morning. During the afternoon, McPherson was brought into the court-room. Judge Wingard said, 'James McPherson, stand up.' The prisoner did so. 'You have been indicted by the grand jury for the crime of murder in the first degree, and the petit jury which has tried your case have said that you were guilty as charged in the indictment. Have you any legal reason to give why judgment should not be passed upon you?' McPherson replied, showing some emotion in his voice, 'I don't know any reason to give; but, your Honor, you are about to pass sentence upon an innocent man. Before God I knew nothing of the murder of Cummings until the 27th of July.' Judge Wingard said, 'The Court is bound to accept the verdict of the jury as true; I therefore sentence you to be taken hence to the county jail and kept there till the day set for your execution, and that you be then removed to the place of execution and hung by the neck until you are dead.'
“I don't know any reason to give; but, your Honor, you are about to pass sentence upon an innocent man.”
Capital punishment cases in the 1880s were handled with a grim, procedural formality that contrasts with our modern, agonizingly slow appeals processes. This report provides a stark look at the finality of territorial justice.
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