DR. LAMSON’S EXECUTION.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1085, 10 June 1882, Page 4

DR. LAMSON’S EXECUTION.

Fvbtheb respite ior the condemned j man was refused on the27’.h of April, us the Home Secretary, after due consideration of rhe latest affidavits, had declared tha- no gr muds existed justifying further delay. The Home Office no ified all interested to this effect, and the execution was fixed for the next day, Friday, the 28ih, at nine o'clock. Lamson had a farewell in- j it rvievv with some of his friends on: Thursday afternoon. Afterafinal interview wiih his wife, he wrote to his I friends, virtually admitting his guilt, i and attributing his crime ’o mental derangement. He subsequently wrote a definite confession that he poisoned Percj - John, but denied that he was concerned in the death of Herbert John. On the morning of the execution he was calm and composed. Quite; a crowd of the lower orders gatheree. outside the gaol early to witness the hoisting of the black flag—the signal of execution. The fact that the flagstaff was not. erected until after dark on Thursday caused some to think a reprieve would be granted at the last moment, on account of the occurrence of the marriage of Prince Leopold to Princess Helena, which took place on Wednesday. The chaplain of the gaol visited Lamson at seven o’clock on Friday, and engaged in prayer with him. The condemned man wore an ordinary dress, sot the garb of a convict. He partook of a good breakfast. According to his own request, only three reporters were present at the hanging. The procession, headed by the chaplain, entered the yard of the prison at fifty-five minutes past eight, ■when the prison bell was tolling the death-knell. Following the -chaplain were two prison officials with their prisoner, who, until the time of starting, had been calm and composed, but who now looked awfully pale and dejected, and seemed very nervous. He was supported by the warders on either side, and was with difficulty able to ascend the steps to the scaffold. Marwood, the executioner, met him at the foot of the steps; the operation of pinioning the prisoner, who was bareheaded, seemed interminable. He ■submitted without a word, and hardly seemed conscious of what was going on. From the steps there was a distance of about sixty yards to traverse to the gallows, and •Dr. Lamson was supported with difli-•-culty from this point to the scaffold. He swayed backward.and forward, and stared wildly around him when placed under the noose. The chaplain appeared much affected, and began reading the burial sendee, Dr. Lamson in the meantime being supported by the "two gaolers. Just beforA he cap was placed he cast down his eyes with a look of extreme despair. The drop was nine feet, and death was instantaneous. The body remained for an hour, and the chaplain stood for .some time by the gallows repeating the Lord’s Prayer. A formal inquest was held, and the surgeon who made ■■the examination testified that Dr. Lamson had been executed. His neck was not dislocated, and his features wore a placid expression. With the •exception of a slight red mark around the neck, there was nothing to indicate a violent death. The jury gave a verdict in accordance with the evid--ence. Later despatches, April 30, says the Home Secretery announced that Dr. Lamson, before his execution, confessed his guilt to the chaplain, and and acknowleged the justice of his sentence. Mr Montague Williams writes that he thinks it is due to himself and all the other gentleman professionally associated with him in Dr. Lamson’s defence, to state that no suggestion of the doctor’s insanity had •ever been made to them. Mr Williams also says that he was assured from the first to the last by the prisoner -that he never committed the crime. His instructions were to challenge the ■direct and scientific evidence given by the prosecution. This explanation is necessary by the late letter written by Dr. Lamson in his sad extremity. The English lawyers express amazement that the American Attorney General, Brewster, should have regarded the evidence sent from the United States as possessing any legal validity whatever.