“Father Curry said to him, after we had ad
ministered the Holy Sacrament: ‘Are you guilty,
by word, or deed, or in any manner whatsoever,
of this crime?’
“Becker answered: ‘Father, as I stand oh the
brink of the grave, I am not.’ ”
Now, let me tell you two things about
Becker:
(1.) A man who. in his farewell interview
with his wife, told her to place on his
coflin a plate, accusing Governor Whitman of
murdering him, had not forgiven his “ene
mies,” as he professed to have done, and had
not really became a Christian as he pre
tended to have done; and he went to his
death with, such malignant hatred of Whit
man that he would have caused him to be
assassinated had he, Becker, ever got the
chance.
(2.) Becker meditated and planned a crime
against the Jew gambler, Rosenthal; and
while that crime may not have contemplated
murder, Becker was guilty of murder, if in
the carrying out of his felonious plan, Ro
senthal got killed.
You will notice that the priest confined
himself to “this crime” —that is, the crime of
murder.
The priest has not said that Becker de
nied being guilty of any crime against
Rosenthal.
The priest may not know that the Law
holds a man guilty of the crime of murder,
if in the course of a felonious design against
another's life or property, the intended vic
tim of the felony loses his life.
