This week in 1851

“I committed the deed and now I’m paying for it. If I had to do it over again I would. I leave my written words for you all to read.”

— Creed Turner, convicted of murder, hanging, Oregon Territory.
Executed December 4, 1851

There was never a point after Turner was arrested that he regretted killing—the only thing he felt bad about was that he couldn’t kill himself. Turner spent his last week writing his autobiography and proclaiming his innocence. Visitors during his last few days reported hearing him muttering about how the courts had not done him justice and an innocent man was going to die. Turner died for the murder of E. A. Bradbury and denied “being as bad as the people seemed to think him,” according to an article in the New York Times.