USA > Ohio > Champaign County > The history of Champaign and Logan counties : from their first settlement > Part 10
USA > Ohio > Logan County > The history of Champaign and Logan counties : from their first settlement > Part 10
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move about ; that he did not see which way she went; said they had no falling out on that night, but they had a few days before ; told him I did not think she could get away on such a bad night as that was, and he didn't make any reply ; asked him where her clothes were, and he said she had taken all but two dresses ; he re- fused to give them to me, and said she might have them herself if she would come for them, and I replied that I thought she would never come for them ; told him he had accused her of being inti- mate with other men, but that it was not so, as he would never allow her to speak to any man without getting angry ; to which he made no reply; when I left him I went to Mr. Gittenger's house, and his little daughter was present, and I told them that I wanted to see Mr. Gittenger, as I thought there was a great change in him, and that he had made way with my sister, and I was going to 'Squire Bushey to have a search made. The change I allude to is, before that he had been more sociable and friendly, and that now he would hardly speak to me or look at me. It was about 12 o'clock on Sunday when I call d at his house; did not tell him any thing about getting a search warrant. I was at Horn's house on the 17th of December, before dark, and went to church with Malinda ; when we came back, he commenced running her down, and said she was too young for him, and abused her, and said that she liked other men better than she did him, and was very angry; next morning I went to church with her again, and she was con- firmed ; it was a protracted meeting ; when she went home I went to Mrs. Gittinger's, and she came over and said the old man had thrown her clothes out to her and would not let her in ; I then went over with her, and he said I might come in, but that she should not ; she tried to get in, but he pushed her out, and said she should never come in his house again; it was about 12 o'clock on the 18th of December. When she was at Littlestown Horn came to me and said if I would send for her he would try and do better than he had done before; after a few weeks I wrote her a letter and told her what Hoorn had said, but did not advise her to come back to him ; when she came back she staid at Mr. Gittin- ger's all night, and said she woul I try and please him. When he turned her out on the Sunday he said she should never come back, as she thought more of other men thin she did of him ; I told him that he ought not to treat her so, particularly while she was attend- ing meeting.
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A singular circumstance. collaterally connected with the murder . of Malinda Horn, is the suicide of Storech, who was the neighbor and friend of the murderer, and was one of the gunning party who found the body in the hole. To Storech it appears that Horn had deeded away his property, and we have every reason to believe that if this man had not made away with his own life previous to the trial, his evidence would have brought to light some secrets in regard to the motires of the murder that must now remain forever buried.
The trial lasted one week-the prisoner was ably defended by his counsel, Jas. M. Buchanan, Chas. F. Mayer, Chas. Z. Lucas, and John I. Snyder, Esqrs .; and on Monday, 27th of November, the arguments closed, and the case was sumitted to the jury, who were instructed to find the prisoner "guilty," or "not guilty," and if " guilty," to find the grade of guilt. A bailiff being sworn, the jury retired to their room, and after an absence of about ten minutes, returned into court.
The prisoner was then placed in the bar; he took a position % merely resting against the seat, standing on the lower step, and & sort of languor seemed to pervade his frame.
The Clerk then asked, " Gentlemen of the jury, have you agreed upon your verdict ?"
The foreman replied, " We have."
" Who shall say for you ?"
A juror answered, as usual, "Our foreman."
" How say you; is Adam Horn, the prisoner at the bar, guilty of the matter whereof he stands indicted, or not guilty ?"
The foreman replied, in a distinct voice, GUILTY.
Tne sanctity of the court room was instantly violated by a spon- taneous outburst of applause, consisting of stamping of the feet and cheers ; and a constant succession of loud raps from the ivory hammer of the Judge, and the vigilance of the bailiffs, were in- sufficient to restore order for several seconds, As soon as silence again prevailed, his Honor, Judge Magruder, remarked that he would send any one to prison who should be detected in such a breach of decorum, and hoped that every one would consider the solemnity of the occasion.
Mr. Berryman, the clerk, then demanded the grade of the guilt.
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MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE.
The counsel for the defence then asked that the jury should be polled. The jury were accordingly each called separately, and rose as they were called, delivering their answers standing, in the follow- ing manner :
J. B. H. Fulton.
Mr. Fulton, who was the foreman of the jury, rose.
" Look upon the prisoner at the bar. How say you, is Adom Horn guilty of the matter whereof he stands indicted, or not guilty ?'
" GUILTY OF MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE."
And so with the rest.
The prisoner, who had manifested throughout the whole of these solemn proceedings the same stoicism which characterized his gen- eral deportment, with the exception of a slight flush which passed over his cheek at the word "guilty," was then conducted from the bar by Mr. Tracy, the Sheriff, and Mr. Sollers, the warden of tho jail. He was shortly afterwards conducted through the library, under a large official escort, but the crowd was so dense without the court room, down the steps, in the lower portion of the build- ing, and extending down the lane to the carriage, that it was only with great difficulty they could force their passage. They finally succeeded in getting the prisoner into the van ; and it drove off amidst the hootings, cheers and execrations of the surrounding multitude.
On the 4th of December 1843, the prisoner was brought into Court to receive the awful doom of the law ; and in the midst of a crowd of witnesses of the solemn scene, the prisoner being first asked whether he had any thing to say why sentence of death should not be pronounced against him, and signifying that he had nothing to say, the Honorable Richard B. Magruder, who presi- ded alone at the trial pronounced the sentence, that he be taken to the jail of Baltimore county, from whence he came, and from thence to the place of execution, at such time as shall be duly ap- pointed, and there be hanged by the neck until he be dead.
This unhappy criminal has been ordered for execution on Friday,
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the 12th of January, before the hour of 12 o'clock at noon, the death warrant having been received by Mr. Tracy, the sheriff on Satur- day night, an emendation having been made according to the pro- visions of the act of Assembly of 1809. It was deemed by some of the gentiemen of the bar that the original warrant was legal, the law contemplating twenty days between the judgment of the court and the day of execution, and the judgment of the court being al- waysrecorded within four days after the verdict, although sentence may not be delivered at the time. The verdict was rendered on t ... 27th of November, and the judgment necessarily recorded according to law, assoon as the Ist December; the 22d instant would therefore embrace twenty clear dass. There is, however, a difference of opinion on the subject, not to be regretted, since, lean- ing to mercy's side, the Governor has added three weeks to the life of the wretched culprit, which suitably improved, will better prepare him for the awful change he must undergo.
The following is a copy of the death warrant :
" The State of Maryland to the Sheriff of Baltimore County, greeting :
"Whereas Adam Horn, otherwise called Andrew Hellman, late of Baltimore county, was convicted iv the county court of Balti- more county, at November term, A. D. 1843, of the murder of one Malinda Horn, and the said court sentenced him to be hung by the neck until he be dead ;
"Now, therefore, these are to will and require, as also to charge and command you, that on or beforetwelve of the clock, on Friday, the 12th day of January next, you take the said Adam Horn, otherwise called Andrew Hellman, from your prison and safely convey to the gallows in the county aforesaid, the place of execu- tion of malefactors, and there the said Adam Horn, otherwise called Andrew Hellman, hang by the neck until he be dead : For all which this shall be your sufficient power and authority.
"Given under my hand, and the Great Seal of the State of Mary- land, the 6th day of December, in the year of our Lord 1843, and of the Independence of the United - SEAL. States the sixty-eighth.
(Signed) FRANCIS THOMAS,
By the Governor :
JNO. C. LEGRAND, Secretary of State."
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The foregoing has been extracted from the columns ofthe Balti- more Sun, and the publishers vouch for its correctness. Since the report of the trial, &c. appeared in the paper, a confession by Horn has been published, which abounds so much in partial statements and gross misrepresentations, that in justice to the memory of his victims, as well as to the public, we have copied from the Sun the following review, which fully exposes the unfairness of the Con- fession.
A REVIEW OF ADAM HORN'S CONFESSION,
SHOWING ITS
Falsehoods, Omissions and Prevarications.
[ BY ONE OF THE PEOPLE. ]
When it was first publicly announced that Adam Horn Was about to make a full confession of his crimes, and that it would be forthwith published, a suspicion immediately seized the public mind that the promised expose would be unsatisfactory - that the publication of it before his death was intended to change the tide of public opinion that had set against him, and perhaps procure an amelioration of his lawful punishment. The perusal of the confession has tended rather to confirm these suspicions, whilst the tone of enmity and vindictive feeling evinced toward the men- ory of his murdered victims, falsely traducing then, ar they lay in their graves, in an effort for his own vindication, has, il possible, rendered him more odious than before. The keen eye of public scrutiny has weighed every word that he has uttered, and the mo- tive can be traced throughout, c early showing it to be a studied effort to excite a feeling of pity in behalf of the murderer; and, did not his assertions bear the impress of falsehood on their face, such might have been the impression produced. If his story is to he believed, he has been a mar of proverbial gocd disposition,
.
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prone to yield everything for peace and quiet, whilst his whole life has been embittered by an unfortunate union in the first place with an unfaithful and devilish woman, and in the second with one equally evil disposed, and prone to violate her marriage vows. Verily, if such were the case, he would, indeed, be worthy of pub- lic sympathy, and none would be more willing to yield it to him, with all the benefits that might accrue therefrom, than the writer of this communication. The character of his first wife has, how- ever, been fully vindicated in the sketch of "his life, character and crimes," given to the public through the columns of the Sun, which will live long after her murderer and traducer has met his deserts. Sad, indeed, has been her lot on earth, and she richly de- serves "Peace to her ashes." After living for cighteen years in constant. unhappiness, accompanied by relentless torture and mis- ery, deprived of all the comforts of social life, she was hurled headlong and unprepared into eternity, by that hand that was pledged to protect her; and now, after the lapse of several years, we find him again using his bloodstained hands to record all man- ner of evil to her memory, and to traduce, vilify, and blacken her character, as one whose sad fate should be unlamented. The char- acter of Malinda Horn has also been fully vindicated from his last malignant and cruel attack, by your faithful record of the evi- dence adduced on the trial. From the mouths of a "host of wit- nesses," we there have the most conclusive proof of the falsity of his charges, establishing her character for virtue, fidelity, piety, submission, and kindness of heart, far above the efforts of his vin- dictive arm to blacken it.
The high character of his legal friends and advisers, to whom this confession was made, at once clears them from any implica- tion of joining in the palpable designs of the criminal, but that they did not advise him to a different course and thus save him from adding perjury to his other crimes, is a matter of general surprise. The old saying that "a drowning man will catch at a straw," is fully verified in this confession, and that same cunning which led him to smear the blood of his first victim over his per- son, in order to substantiate his story, has undoubtedly led him to disregard both truth and houor in his abortive effort to palliate his crimes, and excite the sympathy of the public in his favor. Whilst the tenor and spirit of the confusion, as well as its early publication, fully sustains this construction as to the motive of the
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criminal, the plain manner in which it is drawn up clearly shows that his intentions were not communicated to, or entertained by, his legal friends.
The object of this communication is not to crush the fallen, or to strike a blow at the defenseless, but rather to protect from the foul tongue of slander and falsehood those who are mouldering in un - timely graves. To shield the memory of the dead is the duty of all who have it in their power, but it is doubly incumbent in a case like the present, when the deceased are of that sex whose charac- ter is de arer to them than life, and who would doubtless, whilst living, rather have submitted willingly to their unfortunate fates, than have surrendered their claims to virtue and purity of life. Having, therefore, from undoubted sources, become acquainted with facts-stubborn and uncontrovertible facts-I feel called oa to stand forth in their defense, and if, in so doing, falsehood is staniped on this confession, and its author be followed to the gallows with- out one sympathizing heart in the train, no more than justice will be done to the memory of his helpless victims.
With regard to the first part of the confession, as to his early life in Germany, nothing new is detailed-it is only a repetition of his own representations in former days, as fully detailed by you in the Sun two weeks since. Whether it be true or false, rests solely be- tween him and his God, and the fearful reckoning will shortly be made. But his history, from the time of his arrival in this country, in the detail of the murder of his two wives, of which sufficient had previously been known to render a confession unnecessary, I will prove him guilty of so many falsehoods, prevarications, and omissions to detail so many important matters, that the rest of the confession, which cannot be touched for want of information, must be considered equally void of truth.
From the time of his birth, up to his marriage with Miss Mary Abel, he represents himself as possessed of every good quality of both head and heart; and he would then have us believe that he entered the marriage contract as a lamb goes to the slaughter-that he was always disposed to do well, and she to do evil-that he was industrious and she was lazy-that he was mild and kind in his disposition, and she was cross, stubborn and morose; in short, he would have us believe that she was a very devil, and that he was as kind as an angel. He does not, however, tell us how he slighted and neglected her immediately after marriage, which was the
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case; he does not tell us that, when she became enciente with her second child, and during the whole time of her pregnancy, when she was in that weakly condition which commands kindness from the vilest of creation, he continually taunted her with being un- faithful to him, denied that the child she bore was his, and de- nounced her in the strongest terms as a harlot. If, as he says, she hal afterwards been unhappy, sullen, and morose, she had here cause enough, in all conscience, to make her so. But such was not the case. Her whole life was one of fear and trembling. So tyrannizing was his disposition, and bitter his temper, that, like his second victim, she was afraid to speak aloud in his presence; whilst those very children, whom he now calls his dear offspring, were kept in rags, one of them was totally disowned, and all of them strangers to kindness or love from their father. The love he now professes for his "dear son Henry," the disowned, must be a new-born passion, that has never before been visible, and which will not now, at this late hour, I should think, be reciprocated. It is now the son's turn to disown the father, and most thoroughly should he do it.
Again, he does not tell us that on the birth of his third and last child, John Hellman, when the poor heart-broken mother was lying, weak and emaciated from her sufferings, that he approached her bed, and with oaths and imprecations swore that " if she erer had another child he would kill her." From the day that this hor- rid threat was made, the poor mother determined to use the only means in her power to prevent its consummation, and from that time to her death she had no more children. On the night of her murder Henry Hellman was absent, they were alone together, for the first time, and the reader can imagine the scene as well as the cause which led to the bloody drama that ensued.
Had he detailed these facts, it would have spoiled the amiable and inoffensive character which he had laid out for himself, and have shown him to the world as he is, in his true character, grasp- ing, miserly, tyrannical, unfeeling and fiendish in his temper and passions, consequently they were entirely withheld. There is an evident desire to justify himself throughout the confession, to make it appear that he had suffered and forborne until "forbear- ance ceased to be a virtue," and had then rid himself of the evil spirits which had rendered his life so miserable and unhappy. We can discover no remorse, no sorrow or contrition for his
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crimes, no prayer for forgiveness from an offended God, but it is all self-justification, and a person on perusing it cannot but imag- ine that the heart that dictated it must have exclaimed to itself & "Well done! I have served them right ?" Not the slightest in- dication of regret appears, even when contemplating the forfeit of his own life for his crimes, but he seeins, on the contrary, to think `that this is nothing in comparison with the satisfaction received! from their committal.
His description of the murder of his first wife is glossed over it its details, and none of the real horrors of the scene are at all mentioned. He speaks of striking her but twice, and then cutting her throat, whereas the fact is, her body displayed fourteen dis- tinct wounds, besides the bruises on her hands, and the forefinger of the right, and the little finger of the left hand being broken .. According to the appearance of the room and the body, the con- test must have been a fierce and determined one. The large quan- tity of blood in the bed clearly gives the lie to his assertion thas she was awake and getting up when he attacked her, whilst the. sprinkling of the blood in all sections of the room, and the num- ber of her wounds plainly indicates that she was not despatched so quickly as he has "confessed." To inflict so many wounds- time must have been required, and the suffering of his victim must have been intense. He then tells us that he bruised his head and back and went to bed, but he says nothing about smearing her blood over his head and person, to give credence to his story -and instead of giving the true cause which excited him to the com- mittal of the murder, he has evidently fabricated another relative to his wife's charging him with being the father of his nephew, who, it will be remembered, even according to his own story, had been then long absent from his roof. It being thus evident that he has- disregarded truth, and omitted important farts in relation to the first murder, may it not be equally presumed that the array of " startling facts," which, according to the preface, "illustrates the soundness of the injunction, that m the infirmity of man's judg- ment such circumstantial testimony may shed a false light, and lead into fatal fallacies, and that therefore the most anxious caution in receiving and weighing it should ever be used." are equally false and unfounded in the second. There are some things, how- ever, in his detail of the cause and the manner of the murder of Malinda Horn, which we shall also be enabled to stamp with false-
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hood, and therefore the remainder of the confession may be con- sidered equally void of truth. But we are digressing.
He then states to us that he was thrown in jail at Bellefontaine, and having tiled the hobble off one leg, made his escape, carrying them in his hand ; but he does not say who assisted him in his escape-by whom the hobble was taken off of the other leg- who it was that sold him the horse-who visited him in his cell' prior to hisescape. These matters as he is aware, have been much discussed in Bellefontaine, and names have been handlel in the controversy, but he remains wholly silent on the subject. If his confession were a full and a true one, this would not be the case ; nothing would be withheld, and those wholly under the foul im- putation, if innocent, would have been exonerated from the charge. But he tells us every thing which is known, and artfully conceals that which justice requires should be disclosed. On the heads of those who thus shielded and protected him from the punishment due his first offence, rests a fearful responsibility, and they are equally guilty, in a moral point of view, with him who is con- demmed to suffer death for the murder of his second victim ! Yes, her blood is on their heads, and on the fearfal day of judgment God will require them to account for it. If it had not been for their assistance, she would doubtless yet have been living, surrounded by relatives and friends, whilst her murderer would have met the doom which now awaits him, two years ago in Ohio. These are stubborn facts, which are recommended to the serious reflection and consideration of those concerned.
With reference to his detail of the murder of his second wife there are few who will believe, after reading the evidence of the host of respectalle witnesses, that she, a young and defenceless female alone and in his power, and acquainted with the violence of his temper, would have dared to call him a liar, or even to quarrel with him. Can it be believed that she, who was in constant dread of her life, and was afraid to speak aloud in his presence, could have musterod sufficient courage, when he wasalmost burst- ing with rage, to have called him a liar? The assertion is prepos- terons, and bears on it the impress of falsehood. Nor has any one been found credulous enough to believe that the bruises on the hands, the breast, the shoulder and the back, resulted in any other way than by blows inflicted at the same time that those which caused her death were given. A man who had gone through such a scene
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of horror as he confesses, at a previous day, would not have struck a blow, and repeated it, without knowing and contemplating what would have been its effect. He was, from experience, skilled and practiced in the force of the blow required on the hum in head to cause death, and still he would have us believe that it was almost the result of accident, not intended, and unpremeditated.
In order to substantiate the charge of infidelity, and to palliate the offense, he states that he had understood she was in the habit of clandestinely meeting a young man who resided in the neigh- borhood in the vicinity of his house. From whom had he under- stood this, and why was not the person who had given him the information brought forward as a witness? Could he have proved her infidelity, it would doubtless have saved him from the gallows, by changing the character of his offense to murder in the second degree. But no such person could be found, as it was doubtless a creature of his own jealous and evil imagination. Any person who has the slightest doubt as to her fidelity can be satisfied that it is utterly without ground in truth by calling at the office of Dr. Dunbar. There will be found the unimpeachable testimony of God himself in behalf of this murdered and traduced victim, es- tablishing her virtue and fidelity to her husband beyond the power of frail man to controvert it.
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