Kansas Charley: The Boy Murderer
Joan Jacobs Brumberg
Language: English
Pages: 288
ISBN: 014200488X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Most Americans regard "kids who kill" as a bane of modern society, but the tragic tale of "Kansas Charley" reminds us that it is a long-standing issue. Charles Miller was a fifteen- year-old killer who was hanged in 1892 for the murders of two young men. Kansas Charley vividly brings to life a thought-provoking chapter in American history and in the history of the juvenile justice system, shedding light on our contemporary predicament and encouraging us to think about what it means to continue to uphold the juvenile death penalty in the twenty-first century.
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history of America discloses no parallel case to that of Charley Miller. It will ever remain a question as to whether the ends of justice have been satisfied by hanging him. It can safely be said that young Miller never enjoyed the comforts or was surrounded by the civilizing influences of a Christian home, but at the same time it is equally true that the fault was his alone.” Oscar Sharpless, who walked to the scaffold behind Charley, was disturbed by what happened to the youngster who had
person, Sheriff Meyers booked Charley into the Riley County Jail and sent Preston Loofbourrow back home to Leonardville. Whatever goodbyes were said between them were never a matter of record. Loofbourrow had seen the boy cry and he had heard an authentic statement of remorse. An avuncular figure with a commitment to the idea of moral rehabilitation, he must have offered Charley assurance that he had done the right thing by confessing to the crime rather than being haunted forever. “Honesty is
because my historical detective work was producing a rich file of documentary material that made it possible for me to imagine him as a real boy, and more than just a name. Charley Miller was a murderer—there is no doubt of that—but, like most boys who kill today, he was not a psychopath, a fact that made his story even more relevant and important. He never tortured small children, killed cats, or found sexual satisfaction in the act of murder. Charley’s crime was commonplace: it was an
Nevertheless, by the end of the first day, Stoll had most of the major elements of the prosecution case in place: the boys from St. Joe were alive and well when they entered Wyoming, Charley was definitely with them, and, shortly after the murders, he turned up in Hillsdale sporting a watch that belonged to one of the victims. When the court adjourned at 6 p.m., Stoll had only two pieces missing: “What actually happened? And why did the boy do it?” ♦♦♦ Whatever Taggart lacked in criminal-trial
senator’s mouthpiece on the Miller issue, and they were quick to tell the newspapers that they had little use for the sentimentalists who wanted to save the vicious boy tramp. As the clock ticked, those who wanted to see Miller hang boasted that they had acquired five hundred signatures, but there was also talk from their quarter of less peaceful means of expression, some rough justice, if events did not unfold the way they wanted. One man told editor Slack that any citizen who dared to petition
