People ex rel. Johnson v. Murphy

The petitioner, John Johnson, was convicted of murder at the October term, 1898, of the circuit court of Vermilion county and was sentenced to death. He was twice reprieved, and on February 23, 1899, the day before the expiration of his last reprieve, on his petition for a commutation of his sentence to imprisonment for life, the Governor ordered the sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State penitentiary for life. On the same day the Governor issued his warrant commanding that John Johnson be taken from the jail of Vermilion county and be delivered to the warden of the Illinois State…