TICKET-OF-LEAVE MAN.

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 July 1918, Page 7

TICKET-OF-LEAVE MAN.

CLERIC WHO WAS CONVICTED TWENTY YEARS AGO. FLIRTATION ON PAROLE. Convicted and .sentenced to imprisonment for life in the United States over twenty years ago, the Rev.. William E. Hinshaw, whose trial on the charge of murdering- his young wife was one of the most sensational in the history of the courts, has just been released on parole. It is nut the first time that the prison <mtes have opened for him in this way, as lie has been in and out of gaol' oh numerous occasions since he entered it after his conviction. His ooin"s and coinings, in fact, have been" so frequent that few people have ever been able to keep count of them, or to know just when he wwi in or when he was out. Sometimes he enjoyed freedom for several weeks, before being ordered back to his cell for some reason or another, and altogether he has put up a record a«; a-.ticket-of-lea.vo man. Twenty-three years ago Hinshaw's Wife was found Irruelly done to death, and he was charged with the crime. Vigorously he protested his innocence, declaring that the unfortunate woman had met her fate at the hands of burglars, but the. prosecution made out a strong case

.against him, and to prison Hinshaw went to serve a life term. As soon as ho entered the prison in Michigan City Hinshaw became a; "model" prisoner. In due time his ease went before the pardon board, and one of the last official acts of Mr. Winfield T. Durbin in 1901, before he left the office of Governor, was to free Hinshaw on parole. The former minister went to his old home, at Belleville, Indianapolis, Avhere the crime was committed, to live. Soon after Mr. Frank Hanly became Governor stories were circulated to the effect, that Hinshaw was paying devoted .attention to Mrs. Anna. Freeman, then the wife of the sheriff of Wabash County, but formerly a. sweetheart of the minister. Those reports of his flirtation caused him to be taken before the Governor, and an order was issued for his return t;> prison. When Hinshaw was returned to prison by Governor Hanly, he resumed bis place as a "model prisoner," and thereby won the confidence of the prison and Slate officials. Although Ins ca.se was before VicePresTdcnt Marshal! when the latter was Governor of Indiana., and also before Mr. Samuel M. Palston when he held the executive office, neitherwould grant a- pardon. Hinshaw, however, was permitted to make short visits to relatives who were seriously ill or dying, always reporting back at the prison doors at the time set. In January, 1917, Mr. James P. Goodrich, a friend .of the Hinshaw family, and well acquainted with the former minister, became Governor. He is said to have been in favour of executive clemency for Hinshaw. Early ■ last year reports were laid before the Governor that Hinehaw's health was poor and that continued confinement would cause his death. An unpublished parole \\a.s thereupon granted the prisoner. He weid, to Arizona, and with money held for him by his relatives 1 lie bought a, ranch. While on the ranch in Arizona, it developed later, Hinshaw telegraphed to Mrs. Freeman, who in the meantime had become a widow and was still living-in Indiana., and asked her to come to him. She went, and they were married immediately. Hinshaw wn,s again removed to prison, where he remained until his release.