Iowa State Bystander

MURDERER SAVED FROM GALLOWS.

Stagal of Davenport Will Not Be Hung, Governor Shaw Commuting the Sentence.

Governor Shaw has commuted to life imprisonment the sentence of death against C. Stagal, convicted of murder in Scott county. Stagal is a colored man, and was convicted of murder in the first degree. He murdered another colored man, the result of a quarrel in which women were concerned. It is charged that Stagal laid in wait for his victim, and when he caught him slashed him fearfully with a knife, finally severing his jugular vein, from which death resulted. The victim died in the presence of a crowd of people on the street. Unable to do anything for him, they saw him bleed to death.

Governor Shaw recently decided, on his own motion, to investigate the matter. He decided that there was a possibility of doubt whether the crime was premeditated. In such a condition of affairs he was not willing to allow an execution to take place, and commuted the sentence. The execution was to have taken place December 1, in the Anamosa penitentiary, where Stagal is confined. The sheriff of Scott county would have been required to perform it, and was far from pleased with the prospect. As no execution has ever taken place in the Anamosa penitentiary, the authorities there will be about equally pleased that the commutation has been granted.