Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 54, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1899 — OTHERS HANGED FOR HIS CRIME [ARTICLE]

OTHERS HANGED FOR HIS CRIME

A Terrible Confession by a Murderer Abont to Be Execnted. A negro named Pete Burton, who is to be hanged at Houston, Texas, has made a startling confession. He says that, in addition to the murder of Gottlieb Meyer, wife and child, at Cypress, for which crime he is to be executed, he has killed four other persons. Several persons have been executed for crimes he committed. His story has been partly corroborated. Burton killed the Meyer family last summer while working on their farm. He espied a deputy looking for him, secreted himself, killed the officer and took his rifle. Burton says that he and “Kit” Robinson killed the tank tender on the East and West Texas road and burned the body. They obtained s4l. Robinson was convicted for this and hanged. At Cold Springs he killed a peddler, for which crime an innocent negro named Fisher was hanged, he says. In this murder he and his partner secured S7OO. While escaping they reached Arkansas. Here his partner broke his leg, and, realizing that he would be captured. Burton killed him. For the murder of the water tank tender, in addition to Robinson being legally executed, two women were lynched at Keno, Texas. One of them was a kinsman of Robinson. Both, according t« Burton, were innocent The House Naval Committee has agreed to the construction of twelve nesr warships, as follows: Three first-class seagoing battleships of about 13,500 tons] three armored cruisers of about 12,000 tons each and six cruisers of abont 2,500 tons. All of these ships are to have the highest possible speed and most powerful ordnance suited to vessels of their type.