Feature Article on Frank Earl. Topic: LAW & ORDER
& PEOPLE
Written by Rich Wallace in
January, 1997
MAN EXECUTED AFTER 1907 SIDNEY, OHIO MURDER |
|
Our thoughts turn once again this week to issues of crime, punishment and the rights of the accused as another murder case winds its way through our court system. These topics and others were hotly debated almost ninety years ago in what was perhaps Sidney's most notorious murder case. This is the story. An eerie silence descended over the thirty spectators as the death mask was slipped over his face. His head had been previously shaved in what the inmates referred to as the 'toilet of death.' The Sidney Daily News reporter who was present described the scene: "Frank Earl complained against his wretched fate... Within thirty seconds of eternity he protested he had not slain William Legg at Sidney... This denial formed a dramatic incident in the gloomy theater of horror." It was 12:06 am on December 20, 1907. As the first contact was made, 1,750 volts surged through Earl's body. The spectators looked away. Who was this man, and what events led to this macabre end? William B. Legg and his wife had operated a small meat market at what is now 528 W. Michigan St. in Sidney for about eight years after having moved here from Indiana. There was certainly nothing unusual about Saturday, April 20, 1907, at the market. Mrs. Legg had retired to the living quarters in the same structure earlier that evening. Garney Woodruff, Legg's clerk, left around 10 p.m. At about 10:13, two men entered the store, guns drawn, and demanded money. Legg kicked at one of the robbers, and two shots rang out in quick succession. |
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