A MURDERER’S FEELINGS ON THE SCAFFOLD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1425, 22 June 1899, Page 14

A MURDERER’S FEELINGS ON THE SCAFFOLD.

STRANGE STORY OF JOHN LEE. From time to time reports have appeared announcing the release from prison of John Lee, the man convicted of the Babbacombe murder, who escaped death on the scaffold in consequence of the drop refusing to act. Such reports are entirely unfounded. John Lee is ;iti!l a convict at Portland, and one who was a fellow-prisoner with him for some y;ars, and who worked in the same convict party, has given to "Lloyd's" some remarkable particulars of Lee's demeanour

and life as a convict. Recalling the circumstances of the trial, it will be remembered that on Nov. 15, 1885, Lee wiio sentenced to death for the murder of an old maiden lady. Miss Emma W. Keyse, to whom he had been butler at ‘‘The ’.’Clen,” Babbacomhp 'Devnshire. He was to have been hanged at Exeter, but placed upon the drop the latter would not fall, and he wa3 taken off the scaffold while the sides of the drop were cut. Then he was placed upon the drop again, and again it refused to ad. -Removed a second time the ''"’op was 'planed and cut until it fell easi * .without the convict. Yet when he wa" placed upon it for the tim’d time * was as immovable as before. Alter tins he was reprieved, his sentence being commuted to penal servitude for life. .... Lee told the ex-prisoner just interviewed that after his reprieve he passed nine months jn Exeter gaol, where he vyas taught to make mail-bags for the Jrostai authorities, and soon became expert at the work. At the,end of the nine months he was removed to Portsmouth. .Convict prison, where he, remained. until it Was closed*some years ago. Here he was employed in .the laundry, T rom Portsmouth he went to Portland, where he was at once put on first-class hard iaboui in the quarries. His great muscular strength did him good service, ancl he -was allowed an extra eight ounces or bread for breakfast because of .the way he worked. Eighteen months ago he was \ appointed, owing to his good conduct, o a speciial post which he seems likely to retain. This is that of “orderly to the penal cells,” and his duties are of the lightest description, such as waiting on prisoners undergoing “punishment, and sweeping and cleaning the corridors. V Lee has got through a vast amount of , reading during the fourteen years he has been in.prison, and expresses his intention of publishing an account of his hte when he is realeased on license. Lee has stood his punishment well, and has the appearance of a young man still. His ' father and mother visit him periodically, and he much appreciates their 'visits, though hens always much upset after the interviews. Of the crime tor ■ which he was sentenced lie says nothing, but was not so reticent when asked about ibis feelings on the scaffold. When pinioned the first time in his cell he was ' filled for some moments with fright and horror, which gave way to a dazed fee,mg, ' and he does not know how he reached the scaffold, to which he was supported all the way. -The next time his fear had subsided, and though he felt the horror of his position, he walked back to the gallows unaided and placed himself on the drop. The third time he says he felt positively sure that the drop would not act,rim spirits rose, all fear left him, ana his own words are, “I thought no more then of going on the scaffold than I should of going into a public-house to have a glass of beer.” It has been said that the convict carpenters who put up the scaffold had arranged the drop so that it should not act. No really satisfactory reason has, however, ever been given, but Lee’s escape was certainly one of the most remarkable on record. He is looking forward to being released on license m 19Uo.