|
Charles
Myers was charged with setting fire to a hotel in Asotin where his wife was
proprietor. His intent was to dispose of her and a man, Frank Sherry,
but there were some who thought, ironically, that Sherry and Myers' wife
escaped unhurt. Myers and his wife had been separated for four weeks,
and before the fire, Myers had killed another man, Elmore Stimpson, whom he
blamed for his wife's leaving him.
He was tried in
Asotin and found guilty. The case was appealed to the supreme court
and then tried in Pomeroy with M.F. Gose prosecuting. The verdict was
"guilty" again and he was sentenced to be executed. To the
very last Myers insisted his innocence. He was undaunted, always
jaunty and in good spirits during his time in jail before the execution,
seemingly unperturbed about his impending outcome.
Invitations to the
hanging were sent out and had to be in hand for admittance to the
event. The Columbia Chronicle gave a detailed account which is partly
quoted here:
|
"...at
10:40 Myers left the jail for the scaffold. Neither wife nor
friend accompanied him but he walked past his open coffin and
mounted the scaffold steps between Sheriff Baldwin of Garfield
County and Wormell of Asotin County without a tremor.
"His hat was on and his long hair
carefully brushed showed beneath it. Suddenly Sheriff Baldwin
announced that the condemned man would speak. With a military
tread he advanced to the front of the platform and in his broken
English tremulously said, 'My friends, I am innocent. I have
always been a law-abiding citizen. I hope I see you over
there, goodbye!'
"He never moved a muscle while the
straps were adjusted. Again he spoke-this time in a prayer and
in a feebler voice than before: 'May the Lord save my soul as
well as yours.' The rope was then adjusted and the black cap
drawn...
"At 11:15 the body was placed in the
coffin. It was buried by the sheriff as no friend or relative
appeared to claim it. |
This was the first
and only execution in Pomeroy and it created intense excitement.
Over one thousand people were present. The noose is now hanging in the
Garfield County Museum.
|
|
