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lemtodtheusttal-oorDOlich-n adelost381Saylingpras)nd!or-j iniog;le-an ithei nd ectfer,teris;Ti-i3 athemi-ide » topesict.J.liedd-)dy r stit 1 ymdtedhehutthethei ofge.redinduedthent-ofF.ws:12.ofck-indourlisted i us-on,utttedan-lierveshat J in deliforicaleeniul-Why the Potts Killed MylesFawcett,A ROMANCE AM) A CRIME.A Husband and Wife Meet Death on theGallow?, Retaining a Secret W'hich, if Reveal d, Might Have Cleared Them.Josiah and Elizabeth Potts, husband and wife, were hanged several years ago iu Nevada f-r the murder of Myles Fawcett.The crime was a peculiar one, inasmuch as the Potts and Fawcett were neighborsnear Carlin and were supposed to be on the most friendly terms.One fine morning, however, Fawcett was '•oimted among the missing, and a few days afterward the Potts sold their belongings and quietly removed to another part of Nevada.The mystery surrounding Fawcett’s disappearance, which cause 1 no little comment in Carlin, was solved by the purchaser of the Potts property.The new possessor, while rummaging about the premises, found a loose board in tho flooring of the house.He raised It, and after digging for a few feet in the earth beneath, he came upon the body of Fawcett.The head had been crushed in by a blow from an ax, and the commission of the crime was immediately charged upon the Potts, under whose bouse the body hud been buried.The accused were hunted down and brought to trial. They seemingly had no defense to offer tor their crime. Of course they fought the case in the courts by taking advantage of every technical point known to the law and by endeavoring to discredit the testimony against them, which waspurely circumstantial.Both Volts and his wife were found guilty of the crime uf murder and were sentenced to death by hanging.T rue to the order of execution Potts nnd his wife were hanged on the same gallows at the same time.During the trying moment that preceded their execution they apparently maintained a stoical indifference to what was going on and went to their death without an explanation of their reasons for committing the crime.Lately, however, the true facts in the case have Conte to light, and it lias been shown that the couple might have pleaded mitigating circumstances for their deed had they been w illing to unveil a crime which the wife had committed a year previous to the murder, ,Potts and hfs wife were married Jn 1862. They lived together In Nevada until 1887, when the w ife came to this city to see thesights.While here she engaged in what she considered as an innocent amusement by seeking a husband through a matrimonial agency conducted by a Mrs. Thomas at6©7V£ Washington street.Through this medium she became acquainted witli Myles Fawcett, to whom she said her name was Elizabeth Atherton.She encouragod his attentions for amttse-menr, but she was a handsome woman, and Fawcett fell desperately in love with her.Ho squandered a fortuneon her in jewelry and fine clothes and Mrs. Potts then awakened to the seriousness of iier amusement.Fawcett was desperate and would brook no refusal from her. Ho vow«*d to marry her, or take her life and his owrn.T hrough fear Mrs. Potts yielded, and iu March, 1887, the couple were married by Justice of the Peace Burke.After several weeks of life with Fawcett Mrs. Potts became stricken with remorse and wanted (o leave for her home in Nevada. At last she confessed that she was married to another, and that she was abigamist.At first Fawcett appeared to repaid the matter in a reasonable light. He was angry, of course, and he employed Attorney M. Matthews to recover the $100 hr» had paidthe marriage bureau for its services iu procuring him another man’s wife. lie then pot all his gilts back from Mrs. Potts.He informed Attorney Mat hews that he was •‘through with |women.” But he was so deeply Infatuated with Mis. Potts that lie again threatened her life and with arrest for bigamy if she did not resume relations with him.He then returned the 8100 to the marriage bureau and gave Mrs. Potts back her presents.One day Mrs. Potts w as missing, and he followed her to Nevada.Several months passed, when Mrs. Potts wrote a very pathetic letter to Attorney W.Matthews.She re nu as ted him to take some steps to rid tier of Fawcett, who was constantly menacing her life and threatening to have her arrested fur bigamy.In a subsequent letter she said her life was a torture. Fawcett was forever askiug her to run away with him, and when she refused ho would threaten to expose her crime.The next that the attorney heard was when Myles Fawcett was murdered.This great secret in their lives the Potts stoic lt;1 y earned with them to an ignominious grave.Had they told the story of the wife’s relations u ith Fawcett, of his threats andimportunities, they could undoubtedly have escaped the noose if not ail punishment for the murder.But they kept the secret well, and on tho gallows they were silent. The causes which led to the mysterious murder might never have been known had not an attorney inaccidentally looking ovor his papers happened to find the solution.TWO WILLS FILEDeiPiA1taU|inPidiI*lt;a iMJlt;LAtKfoeETnrtiletaVIbfPiBTdrinhlt;hihrtilalirAscU!PIThiQinhp»ult;
Newspaper Details
San Francisco Morning Call
San Francisco, California, US
Sun, Sep 25, 1892
Page 10
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 18 Oct 2022
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