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NO COMMUTATION FOEMILLER AND WIGGINSGraham County Murderers to Pay Death Penalty Sept. 1.aAsheville, N. C., Aug. 23.—Governor Craig today denied the plea of commutation of sentence for Merritt Mil- | ler and Hardy Wiggins, under sentence of death for the murder of Phillip Phillips, of Graham county. The men had been granted reprieve until Sep- I tember 1, and will be executed on that date, unless the Governor grants another respite. The prisoners were said to have belonged to a gang of which Ed. Williams, son-in-law of Phillips, was the leader. Williams is serving a life term for the murder of three other members of the Phillips family.Governor Craig issued a lengthy• statement giving his reasons for refus-i! rug to commute the sentences of the \ . two men, his principal reason being1 that Phillips, after being shot, had tied the mule he was riding, and when | his daughter found him, told her that it was no use to go for a doctor, that ! he was dying and that Merritt Miller* and Hardy Wiggins had attacked him,\ Miller shooting him. He describedwhere they had stood, and repeated . his assertion on several occasions bo-j fore his death. This, coupled to the fact that he was shot from behind a I log where the assassins were ooncealed-■ and that btood hounds trailed the two men to some extent, followed by their I conviction and the refusal of the Su-I preme Court to set aside the verdict, f I the Governor says, leads him to refuse to commute the sentences of the two ! men to life imprisonment.
Newspaper Details
The Commonwealth
Scotland Neck, North Carolina, US
Fri, Aug 25, 1916
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Jack R.
USA 26 Sep 2024
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