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Coon, Harry Guilty 1stDegree Murder 19301002 news_PottEnt

20210806GHLn-
Harry Coon, Guilty 1st Degree Murder, Must Die in Electric Chair.
CLIPPED FROM
The Potter Enterprise
Coudersport, Pennsylvania
02 Oct 1930, Thu • Page 1
BYwetzupdoc · 06 August 2021

Harry Coon, Guilty 1st Degree Murder, Must Die in Electric Chair.
Murderer of Little Mildred Cass Learns Fate at 4:41 Yesterday Afternoon List of Jurors Who Served Brief History of Case Attorney for Defendant Makes Earnest Plea Coon Unmoved Apparently When Sentenced to Die in Chair Crowds Fill Court Room and Many Cannot Gain Admittance Date of Ex ecution Must Be Fixed By Governor.

"Guilty of murder in the first degree!"
In the court room, filled to capacity, there was silence. The jury that had heard the evidence in the case of the Commonwealth versus Harry Coon had reached this verdict and at 4:41 yesterday afternoon George A. Clark, foreman, announced it to the court.
Harry Coon seemed , less nervous and less concerned than court officers, witnesses and spectators. There was no change in his expression.
The jury was polled at the request of the attorney for the defendant and each of the ten men and two women answered audibly "Yes."
The condemned man stood up and faced the court with head lowered. Asked if there was any reason why the death sentence should not be imposed upon him he did not immediately reply. In a low voice he finally answered with the monosyllable "No."
Judge Robert R. Lewis immediately thereafter at 4:46 pronounced the sentence prescribed by the act of assembly of 1913, which reads: "Such punishment in every case, must be inflicted uy causing to pass tnrougn tne Doay oi tne convict a current of electricity of intensity sufficient to cause death, and the application of such current must be continued until such convict is dead. The said punishment shall be inflicted by the warden or deputy warden of the Western Penitentiary, or by such person as the warden shall designate, in a building on land ownejj by the Commonwealth in Center County."
The case had been given to the jury and that body retired to its deliberations at 3:15.
By all means the most Important case to come before the present term 'cl court, at which Judge Robert R. ' Lewis Is presiding, has been the Coon-Cass murder case. The Enterprise has told in. recent issues the story of the murder of lit-tle Mildred Cass, the six-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry B. Cass, who reside two miles above Seven Bridges on the river road.' Eriefly told the story is as follows: Harry Coon was employed on the Cass farm. On Saturday afternoon, September 13, he was sent to a back lot to be a fence. The child accompanied him. When supper time came on the farm, and neither Coon nor little Mildred appeared the family became alarmed. Inquiry was made In the the neighborhood but no trace of the missing ones was found. About 8:00
HARRY COON
o'clock in the evening Mr. Cass came to Coudersport and notified Sheriff S. B. Sawyer. That official advised the father to return home and search all vacant or aDanaonea Duuaings oi tne vicinity. Cass did as directed, accompanied by Arthur Cole and Tony Shaw.
Find Coon in Vacant House
About midnight after going through several vacant houses they came to one on what is known as the Peter Jordan farm. This is remote from neighbors in an isolated spot and some distance from a public road. Cole and Shaw entered the building and found no one on the first floor. On the second floor under cloth and paper that had come loose from the wall and ceiling they found Coon apparently asleep.
Professed Ignorance
Coon claimed he had sent the child home and agreed to take the party where he had last seen the child At a point some two miles distant he entered a piece of woods going almost to the spot where the body was later found, but he claimed he could not be sure of his location and took the three men in a different direction.
Bound With Ropes
After traveling through woods and briars it was finally decided to take Coon to the Cass residence and hold him until next day. He was bound with ropes and a watch kept over him.
Hundreds Search for Child
Next morning Sheriff Sawyer was notified of the finding of Coon and informed that little Mildred was still missing. The fire alarm was sounded In Coudersport at 9:00 o'clock and the telephone was used in other sections and probably not less than 500 men; and boys searched the woods and fields. In the meantime officers were trying to get from Coon the story of what had happened, the man having been brought to the county jail.
Makes Confession
About 11:00 o'clock Sunday Coon confessed to having killed the child. He made a rough map and by its aid the body was found by Ed Tucker of Colesburg and Delbert Snyder of Os-wayo. The child's throat had been cut and the body horribly mutilated.
Threats of Lynching
Peeling ran high against the man who could have committed so horrible a crime. There were threats of taking the prisoner from the jail and meting out summary justice but no attempt was made to carry out these threats.
Coroner Takes Charge
Coroner R. K. . McConeghy took charge and on Monday a jury heard the evidence. It was composed of George D. Stocum, William C. Klein, George P. Wright, Fred B. Cole, C. L. Lyman and J. Vernon Dleffenbacher. This jury found Mildred Cass had come to her death at the hands of Harry Coon and he was charged" with willful, deliberate, premeditated murder. He was placed in jail on a coroner's commitment to await trial at the present term of court.
Attorney Appointed
Attorney P. A. Stebbins was ap pointed by the court to defend the prisoner, and Dr. Mitchell of Warren, was called to examine the prisoner as to his mental condition. This eminent authority found the man to be responsible for his acts.
Jury Is Selected
The panel of 41 jurors called for court this week was examined Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning and from this number nine were selected to serve on the case to be tried. The court room doors were closed and fifteen spectators were summoned. Three more were selected. The jury when completed was composed of the following with George A. Clark of Gale-ton foreman: Curt Cochran, farmer, Summit. John Beckman, laborer, Coudersport George Nickerson, farmer, Ulysses. Dana Burdick, farmer, South Sharon. Ora Kemp, farmer, Oswayo. ' W. J. Clark, farmer, Bingham. E. A. White, merchant, South Shar- of is better to of I the- All George A. Clark, car shop foreman, Galeton. Mrs. Alice Kline, housewife, Galeton. Clate Gallup, retired, Coudersport. Mrs. W. B. Hemphill, housewife, Hebron. C. L. Woodcock, laborer, Coudersport.
Court Takes Evidence
The taking of evidence began with the opening of the session at 2:00 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. Harry Cass, the father of the murdered child, was the first witness called. He was followed on the stand by Arthur Cole, Tony Shaw, Dr. J. H. Page, Dr. Ross H. Jones, Coroner R. K. McConeghy, Ed Tucker and others. There was little cross examination by Attorney Stebbins for the defendant and at the conclusion of the Commonwealth's testimony there were no witnesses for the defendant.
Attorneys Address Jury
Attorney Stebbins addressed the jury and made a plea for the defendant. He has been highly complimented for his effort in behalf of Coon. This was followed by the remarks of District Attorney Crandall who reviewed to some extent the testimony presented. Mr. Crandall con cluded his address at noon yesterday.
Court Instructs Jury
When court convened at 2:00 o'clock

20210806GHLn-
CLIPPED FROM
The Potter Enterprise
Coudersport, Pennsylvania
02 Oct 1930, Thu • Page 1
BYwetzupdoc · 06 August 2021

cont'd
... yesterday afternoon Judge Lewis instructed the jury as to its duties and very carefully informed them as to the law. His instructions were explicit and he was painstaking in giving them.
Jury Retires at 3:15
The jury retired at 3:15 and deliberated. Shortly after 4:00 o'clock a verdict was agreed upon and the prisoner was taken from the jail fo the court room. Its verdict is given above.
Only Third in History
This is only the third first degree verdict in the history of Potter County. It is the first one in 25 years.
The first murder was Farmer Jones who some fifty years ago killed his wife in the vicinity of Ellisburg. Jones was jailed, escaped, was recaptured and finally sold his body to physicians to be delivered after the execution by hanging. The body was taken to Whitesville where Dr. French of Coudersport and Dr. Thorpe of Whitesville dissected it.
The second murder case was that of Charles Brewster who shot his step-father, Marshall Stryker. Brewster was convicted when tried at the September term of court 25 years ago. He was executed in the jail yard here by hanging. W. A. Stevens was sheriff at that time.

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