This week in 1893
February 18th, 2015 by admin
”I only wish to say that the statement I have made about the crime with which I stand charged is true. I must say that since I have been here, no Protestant minister has come near me. When the priests came, they were kind to me, and I can only say that I die happy and a Catholic. That is all.”
— Walter Holmes, convicted of murder, hanging, Massachusetts.
Executed February 3, 1893
Though raised a Protestant, Holmes converted to Catholicism as he awaited execution—an act that angered many people in the community. He walked to the gallows on a pair of crutches, then was nearly decapitated when the noose knot caught under his chin.
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