_ U.S. Consul, the Hesper being registered under the American Flag,
and from there they were taken to San Francisco where they were
tried in the U. S. District Court. St. Clair, the first to stand
trial and the ringleader, was convicted and sentenced to die, Hane
sen and Sparf were then tried together and they, too, were convict-
ed and sentenced to be hanged, #11 of the convictions were appealed
to the United States Supreme Court which first sustained the con-
viction and sentence of St. Clair, Then, in the longest decision
ever rendered by that body in a criminal ase up until that time,
they affirmed Hansen's conviction but reversed that of Sparf, The
ex@cutions were delayed until after Sparf's new trial where he tes=
tified that he had been forced to join the plot through intimidation
Fven though he could offer no good reason for not having warned the
officers, the jury acquitted him, They had desired to find him —
guilty of manslaughter but the instructions of the Court had elimina.
ted this possibility and rather than see him hanged, they turned
him Loose. At 2 o'clock on the afternoon of Oct. lv, 1895, oe
Clair and Hansen were hanged under the supervision of a Ue Se Mar-
chal_at San Quentin Prison, At Hansen's request, only official wit-
nesses were allowed and newsmen specifically were excludede
SACRAMENTO BEE, Sacramento, California, 10-18-1895
sdb CUBE AANA dear Bl uke pp 95=96
U. S. Consul, the Hesper being registered under the American Flag,
and from there they were taken to San Francisco where they were -
tried in the J. Se District Court. St. Clair, the first to stand
trial and the ringleader, was convicted and sentenced to die, Han-
sen and Sparf were then tried together and they, too, were convict-
ed and sentenced to be hanged. #11 of the convictions were appealed
to the United States Supreme Court which first sustained the cone
viction and sentence of St. Clair, Then, in the longest decision
ever rendered by that body in a criminal ase up until that time,
they affirmed Hansen's conviction but reversed that of Sparf, The
ex@cutions were delayed until after Sparf's new trial where he tes-
tified that he had been forced to join the plot through intimidation
Even though he could offer no good reason for not having warned the
officers, the jury acquitted him, They had desired to find him
guilty of manslaughter but the instructions of the Court had elimina,
ted this possibility and rather than see him haters they turned
him loose. At 2 o'clock on the afternoon of Oct. 18, 1895, oe
Clair and Hansen were hanged under the supervision of a Us Se are
shal at San Quentin Prison, At Hansen's request, only official wit-
nesses were allowed and newsmen specifically were excludeds
SACRAMENTO BEE, Sacramento, California, 10-18-1895
set GEES ANCES deer Bi buce, pp 95-96
U.S, Consul, the Hesper being registered under the American Flag, |
and from there they were taken to San Francisco vhere they were
tried in the 0, S, District Court. St. Clair, the first to stand
trial and the ringleader, was convicted and sentenced to die, Han=
sen and Sparf were then tried together and they, too, were convict-|
ed and sentenced to be hanged, 11 of the convictions were appealed
to the United States Supreme Court which first sustained the con-
viction and sentence of St, Clair, Then, in the longest decision
exBcutions were delayed until after Sparf's new trial where he tes-
tified that he had been forced to join the plot through intimidation
Even though he could offer no good reason for not having warned the
officers, the jury acouitted him, They had desired to find him
guilty of manslaughter but the instructions of the Court had elimina:
ted this poseibility and rather than see him hanged, they turned
him looses At 2 o'clock on the afternoon of Oct. 18, 1895, Ste
Clair and Hansen were hanged under the supervision of a Us Ss Har
shel at San Guentin Prison, At Hansen's request, only official wit-|
nesses were allowed and newspen specifically were excluded
SACRAMENTO BEB, Sacrament ifornia, 10-18-1895
to, Califc
sad! EBRD PANGS GeV Blake, pp 95-96
ee hn hey
Sie mcervicin af try Bare
Bene, IDEAS
SPE LAW SHER floes ose
"HANSEN, Hans Rasmus and ST. CLATR, Thomas _
Hansen and St. Clair, both. white, were seamen on board the bark
Hesper which sailed from Newcastle, N, S. ™%, for Honolulu on
Dec. 22, 1892, St. Clair enlisted Hansen and another sailor, Her-
man Sparf, both of whom were assigned with him to the starboard
watch, in a conspiracy to kill the officers of the vessel, take
charge of it and sail it to Chile where they planned to operate
as pirates, They decided to first kill thesecond mate, Morris
Fitzgerald, who was the leader of their watch and on the night of
January 13, 1893, St. Clair lured Fitzgerald to the after part of
the tessel on the pretext that some of the cargo was loose and
there all three of the conspirators attacked him with a hatchet
and clubs, After Fitzgerald was rendered unconscious, they threw
him overboard to drown and them attempted to clean up the blood
stains on the deck, Fitzgerald's cries for help were overheard
by.others on the vessels and the other officers immediately armed
themselves, ‘When they could not find Fitzgerald but did find the
bloodstains, Hansen, St, Clair and Sparf were all placed under
arrest,and chained, Both Hansen and Skxx€Xakxxmtx Sparf ae
damaging admissions and a bloodstained hatchet, one of the murder
weapons was found hidden under St, Clair's mattress, The prisoners
were delivered to Tahiti where they were taken into custody by the
«
HANSEN, Hans Rasmus and ST. CLAIR. Thomas
Hansen and St, Clair, both.white, were seamen on board the bark
Hesper which sailed from Newcastle, N. S. ™%4, for Honolulu on
Dec. 22, 1892, St. Clair enlisted Hansen and another sailor, Her=
man Sparf, both of whom were assigned with him to the starboard
watch, in a conspiracy to kill the officers of the vessel, take
charge of it and sail it to Chile where they planned to operate
as pirates. They decided to first kill thesecond mate, Morris
Fitzgerald, who was the leader of their watch and on the night of
January 13, 1893, St. Clair lured Fitzgerald to the after part of
the tessel on the pretext that some of the cargo was loose and
there all three of the conspirators attacked him with a hatchet
and clubs, After Fitzgerald was rendered unconscious, they threw
him overboard to drown and them attemted to clean up the blood
stains on the deck, Fitzgerald's cries for help were overhearid
by.others on the vessels and the other officers immediately armed
themselves, ‘When they could not find Fitzgerald but did find the
bloodstains, Hansen, St, Clair and Sparf were all placed under
arrest,and chained, Both Hansen and QXxx@Xakxxwndxe Spart made
damaging admissions and a bloodstained hatchet, one of the murder
weapons was found hidden under St. Clair's mattress, The prisoners
were delivered to Tahiti where they were taken into custody by the
&
HANSEN, Hans Rasmus and ST. CLAIR. Thomas _
Hansen and St. Clair, both, white, were seamen on board the bark
Hesper which sailed from Newcastle, N, Ss %, for Honolulu on
Tec. 22, 1892, St, Clair enlisted Hansen and another sailor, Her=
man Sparf, both of whom were assigned with him to the starboard
watch, in a conspiracy to kill the officers of the vessel, take
charge of it and sail it to Chile where they planned to operate
as pirates, They decided to first kill thesecond mate, Morris
Fitzgerald, who was the leader of their watch and on the night of
January 13, 1893, St. Clair lured Fitzgerald to the after part of
the wessel on the pretext that some of the cargo was loose and
there all three of the conspirators attacked him with a hatchet
and clubs. After Fitzgerald was rendered unconscious, they threw
him overboard to drown and then attempted to clean up the blood
stains on the deck, Fitzgerald's cries for help were ee
by. others on the vessels and the other officers immediately
themselves, ‘hen they could not find Fitzgerald but did find te
bloodstains, Hansen, St, Clair and ee were all placed under
arrest, and chained, Both Hansen and $k:
danaging admissions and a bloodstained, hat
weapons was found hidden under St, Clair's mattress, The prisoners
were delivered to Tahiti where a were taken into custody by the
ORRICIOURE 5
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