COURTHOUSE HAS HISTORIC TREES

Photo of painting of "the hanging tree." Painting and story can be found in Prosecuting Attorney, Morley Swingle's office, located at 100 Court St., Jackson.

It's obvious that efforts have been made to preserve historic trees on the grounds of the Cape Girardeau County courthouse. It puzzles me that their are no plaques identifying their significance, identity or even their age. I suppose the metal rods driven into some trees are for support. A particularly interesting tree has a fairly thick limb lying on the ground with a cement slab beneath it. With a little research, I found out that this is called the "hanging tree." The following story is taken from a plaque hanging in the office of Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle at 100 Court St. in Jackson:

The hanging of John Headrick occurred on June 15, 1899, next to the old courthouse in Jackson, Mo. The old courthouse was replaced by the existing one in 1909.

Convicts receiving the death penalty in 1899 were executed by hanging in the county where the crime occurred. Missouri ended this practice in 1937. John Headrick was one of the last criminals hanged in Cape Girardeau County.

An article running in the Jackson Herald on the day of the execution proclaimed John Headrick's crime "one of the most brutal murders in the history of Missouri." Headrick, age 19, had killed James M. Lail, age 44, by shooting him to death in front of Lail's wife and teenage daughter at Lail's farm three miles south of Jackson. He also shot Lail's wife in the back when she threw herself over the body of her husband, then pistol-whipped and knifed her. Headrick had formerly worked as a hired hand on Lail's farm. The motive for the shooting was disputed at trial. State's witnesses claimed Headrick was angry with Lail for saying bad things about him. Headrick claimed he shot Lail in self-defense, after Lail caught him romancing Lail's daughter and cornered him in a corncrib, attacking him with a currycomb. Prosecuting Attorney Thomas D. Hines scoffed at the currycomb defense during cross examination, exclaiming, "You want this jury to understand that you are afraid of your life when a man assaults you with a currycomb?" Headrick replied, "Yes sir, when I am in a place where I can't get away," Hines responded, "He aimed to curry you?" Headrick announced, "No sir, he did not. He struck at me mighty hard." Rejecting self-defense, the jury found Headrick guilty of first degree murder.

The wheels of justice moved much faster a century ago. The murder was committed on July 1, 1898, the five day jury trial began on November 15th, 1898, the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the conviction by written opinion on May 9, 1899, and the execution was carried out on June 15, 1899, less than one year from the date of the murder.

The fact that 100 years ago a murderer was legally and lawfully hanged by the neck until dead, within 50 yards of this painting ... reminds those of us in law enforcement of the importance of our work. Criminals should be punished for their crimes. A person is responsible for his choices in life. When a criminal chooses to commit a crime, there should be consequences. Punishment will rarely be a death sentence, but it should be swift and sure in every case. Justice demands no less.