DON’T HANG ME!”

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 7, 10 January 1916, Page 6

DON’T HANG ME!”

GIRL’S PATHETIC PLEA AFTER DEATH SENTENCE.

MURDER TRIAL SCENE,

YOUNG SERVANT’S HAMMER ATTACK ON MARRIED WO- '■ , MAN.

There was a painful scene at the Dublin Assizes when Jane Reynolds, aged 17, a domestic servant, was sentenced to death for the murder of Mrs. Angelo di Lucia, the wife of an Italian of Sligo. When the sentence was pronounced the girl cried:—

“Oh, I did not do it. My Lord, he killed his wife. Don’t hang me. I have a little child. lam found guilty, but I am not guilty at all. I have a father and three brothers at the front.” Many women in court burst into tears. The jury recommended her to mercy.

Angelo di Lucia, .the husband of the murdered woman, is awaiting trial on a charge of murder. The woman was found dead in bed with three wounds in the head, apparently caused by a hammer which was lying on the floor. Reynolds, in a statement to the police, is alleged to have stated that Di Lucia urged her to commit the crime, and gave her whiskey to give her the strength to do it. She attempted to put a cloth across the woman’s mouth, but could not. She screamed, and Di Lucia ran into the room and said, “You will never do it.” He then caught his wife by the nose and killed her.