598 Page – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

Here is the translated text as follows:

566 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.

I knew the man, but I told others that I found him in the street. Accompanied by the sexton, I carried Stiles home. His wife asked me if I had killed him. I said, "No." She replied that she was glad I had not killed him, and that she would rather he be brought home in this condition than brought home drunk.

The next morning, he came into the barn. I asked him how he had killed Stiles. He said that he had put his hand into his handkerchief on the back side of Stiles' neck and drawn it so tight that he could make no noise. He then asked me when I was going to pay him. I told him as soon as I could get the money. He insisted that I must say nothing about his killing Stiles. I told him that there was a mark around Stiles' neck. He proposed that we go see Stiles. We went to Stiles' house and saw the mark. After we came out of the house, he said that he thought the mark would not be noticed. Mrs. Stiles, when I boarded in her family, had said that she had married for her husband's property and out of spite against her family. She wished she could get rid of him so that I might then have the property if I would take her with it. I refused to have anything to do with it. I commenced boarding with Stiles around the middle of April last, and within a few weeks, I had illicit intercourse with Stiles' wife, which continued until Stiles' death.

Orrin De Wolf.

Worcester, February 20, 1845.

Some time after, the jury that convicted him recommended that his sentence be commuted to life imprisonment on the grounds that he was only 18 years old, weak-minded, and ignorant, and easily influenced by others. A number of petitions, signed by prominent citizens of Worcester County, requesting commutation, were filed in the executive department. The Committee on Pardons, after granting a hearing and considering all the circumstances in connection with the case, advised and recommended that the Governor commute the sentence of Orrin De Wolf to imprisonment for life in the State Prison. A formal commutation of sentence was issued on August 20, 1845.

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