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Reason First: Casey and Cora’s Punishment

Two criminals met their fate in 19th century San Francisco.

By Skyler SaundersPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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The bodies of Charles Cora and James P. Casey swung in the San Francisco wind for an hour. Their crimes consisted of murdering United States Marshal William H. Richardson and of gunning down 34-year-old James King on Wednesday May 14, 1856, respectively. King, a failed banker embarked on a second act in life with his Evening Bulletin newspaper.

The disgraced financier discovered that his readership would be willing to follow stories that delineated seedy actions. By offering tales that gave rise to the worst in human behavior, King set out to show that Casey indeed served time in Sing Sing, in New York.

Casey confronted an unarmed King and shot him down with malicious intent. King later died of his wounds.

A Committee of Vigilance provided a slice of justice to this cluster of lawlessness. The pair received a trial and the jury found both men to be guilty. At his last few moments on earth, Casey addressed the crowd and said that he was “guilty of no crime.” He implored implored to the people standing about to not to throw dirt on his name upon his demise. Cora waited for his fellow felon to finish his words before the two of them hanged together.

When it comes to cases like these, it is important to keep in mind how emotion played such a big role. Both Cora and Casey brought it upon themselves the evils of murder. Their system of values and virtues became besmirched once they stole the lives of US Marshal Richarson and King. the entirety of the story is devoid of reason. For the men to go out of their way and murder the other two men, they should forever be condemned for their ill actions. Casey wished to avenge an insult by settling the matter with King with a revolver. This is not the moral route to take in relation to human interaction. When settling of disputes comes at the cost of a gun or knife, then those talks have fallen through the floor.

Casey’s yelps for mercy should have been thought about before he raised the revolver and pulled the trigger against King. The way that he dispatched the man should always be remembered as opening the pits of hell on earth. Viciousness drove both men especially Casey who struck down King who possessed no weapon to defend himself. Unreason and the inability to discuss the matters in full led Casey to take this man’s life. Without a firm base in ethics, Cora and Casey found their fates. All that they had to do was to talk out their differences with the Marshal and journalist. Rather than see the gallows, they could have struck up alliances with the men who they killed.

Morality didn’t fail. The two men failed to be virtuous. Their dark deeds set a template for future murderers to come in San Francisco. Both of them put together equalled a malicious pair that was hell-bent on destruction. Firstly, it was self-destruction and as a result they snuffed out the lives of two men with better standing than they represented.

Their awful behavior showed just how wicked human beings can be against each other. Their actions led them straight to the hanging platforms. Each person who has been guilty of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt like Cora and Casey should feel the sting of death. For their failure to reason with their fellow man, they lowered themselves to be like beasts in the streets. They sought to devour the lives of the two men and succeeded in their evil. The cost remained a noose around their neck for the both of them. Let that be a lesson to all would-be murderers. As sensational as King’s paper was, did he ever consider that he would be a part of the news himself?

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Skyler Saunders

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