The Day of His Death Is Near.
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HE STILL HOPES
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For a Commutation of His Sentence.
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If Not, He Promises to Die Like a
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A HARDENED WRETCH.
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He Killed His Benefactor in Cold Blood- What Rom Is There For Executive Clemency in His Case?
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(Special to the Morning Hearld.)
Bets, are being offered even that Hopt’s sentence will be commuted to imprisonment for life. His case is the sole topic of discussion at the hotels and streets; sympathy or prejudice being freely expressed by every one according to his feelings. Petitions and counter petitions are being circulated. It is rumored here that Jack Emerson, the man who was pardoned after suffering imprisonment for five years, for alleged participation in the murder of young Turner, has asked permission to be one of the executioners. Emerson has always asserted his innocence; probably he really was innocent; and he feels undying hatred against Hopt for permitting him to be convicted when a word would have saved him. Father Kiely is Hopt’s spiritual adviser in his last hours. Your correspondent has just seen a letter from the condemned in which he says: “ I hope for a commutation of sentence; but if I cannot get it, I will die like a man.” K.
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Hopt’s crime was a murder as cold-blooded as was ever committed by any human being. He slew his benefactor while eating that benefactor’s bread. The manner of the crime was especially brutal. After killing Johnny Turner with an ax, Hopt stored the body in one of Turner’s wagons, and then stole all the dead man’s stock and goods. Four times he has been convicted and sentenced to death, and even now he hopes for a commutation. What room there is for sympathy in his case, it is difficult to determine.