Crawford v. Commonwealth

Opinion op the Court by

Stanley, Commissioner

Beversing.

The question presented by the appeal is the right of a private citizen to slay one whom he has arrested in order to prevent his escape from custody or1 to recapture him.

The appellant, Tom Crawford, killed Frank Steele, a colored man, and, upon conviction of manslaughter, has been sentenced to serve twenty-one years: in prison.

The motive for the killing’ deduced by the commonwealth from a rather vague and shadowy basis is that the deceased had stolen wMsky .cached by the defendant, who, as admitted, was engaged in the illegal handling of…