THE MASS FOR THE DEAD - Horror Stories

ORLANDO CASLER

 


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Non-Fiction: ORLANDO CASLER
Published in 1879


Orlando Oasler is sentenced to be hanged at Seward,

Nebraska, on the 26th of May, 1879, for the murder

of George L. Monroe. Casler was a farmer, living near Beaver Crossing, in Seward county, bearing

anything but an enviable reputation among his neighbors.

Monroe resided in Arkansas City, Kansas, where

his family still live. He came to Nebraska in June,

1878, looking for a new home, and naturally drifted

to the fertile prairies of Seward county. At Beaver

Crossing, on the 6th of July he met Casler, and went

home with him to spend the night. At eleven o'clock

the next morning (Sunday), they left Casler's house

with Monroe's team, for Seward City. They arrived

there in the afternoon, and towards evening drove two

miles from town and camped on the banks of the

Blue river. Other parties came along and camped

near by them, and Casler on pretense of avoiding the

mosquitoes, persuaded Monroe to move farther up

the river. This is the last time any one; save his murderer,

saw Monroe living. On Monday, Casler arrived

at his farm alone with Monroe's team, satchel,

and revolver. Subsequently deeds belonging to the

murdered man were found hidden between the ticks

of Casler's bed. As he was known to be without

money to purchase this property, which he claimed

to be the case, suspicions that Monroe had been foully

dealt with arose in the minds of his neighbors days

before the accidental discovery of the body.

On the afternoon of the 11th of July, Mr. Cowden,

of Seward, with his little son, were fishing in the

Blue, near the place where Casler and Monroe had

camped five days before. The little boy, walking

along the bank, discovered the corpse floating near the

opposite shore. The coroner was summoned, and an

inquest was held immediately. After hearing the testimony

of the men who camped near them on the night

of the 7th of July, and of others who met Oasler the

morning after the murder, with bloody pants and wet

clothes, and heard his contradictory stories as to the

disappearance of Monroe, the jury returned a verdict

that George L. Monroe came to his death by a shot

through the heart from a pistol in the hands of Orlando

Oasler, and that his victim's dead body was consigned

to the waters of the beautiful Blue river, by

Oasler, with the hope of hiding his awful crime.

He was tried and convicted, and there is no hope of

reprieve in his case. Three weeks before the day of

execution he was interviewed and said: " I am innocent,

and pubiic prejudice has convicted me. People

think that because I was in prison for horse-stealing,

I am guilty of murder." In reply to the question

whether he had any hope of being reprieved he said:

"While there is life there is hope; but if God has ordained

that I shall die at the end of a rope, it will

have to be so, and I will die like a man. I am preparing

an address to be read on the scaffold. I propose

to give the people h—1. I think it would suit me

best to have a public execution. It might be too

select were it private as the law provides."


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