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Chapman, Geo Henry murder Commonwealth v. Chapman

20240707GHLn-
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Commonwealth v. Chapman
359 Pa. 164 (Pa. 1948) • 58 A.2d 433
Decided Apr 22, 1948

Appeal, No. 84, Jan. T., 1948, from judgment of O. T., Potter Co., Dec. T., 1947, No. 1, in case of Commonwealth v. George Henry Chapman. Judgment affirmed.

Proceedings upon a plea of guilty to an indictment charging defendant with murder. Before LEWIS, P. J., without a jury.

Sentence of death entered upon finding of first degree murder. Defendant appealed.

James S. Berger, for appellant.

Walter Pierre Wells, District Attorney, for appellee.
______
Appellant, a wood-cutter, lived with his wife,
Minnie, in a one-room shack in Bingham
Township, Potter County. John Downey, a
neighbor, on Sunday evening, August 10, 1947,
found Minnie Chapman lying on the floor of the
shack with her dog beside her. Both had been
killed by bullets from a .22 caliber rifle. Chapman,
lying on the ground outside the shack, told
Downey, "She will never speak to you again,
Johnnie." About 10:00 P.M. that evening Deputy
Sheriff Carl Butler and T. B. Wise, a Pennsylvania
State Police investigator, having been summoned
by Downey, found the wife lying on the floor at
the foot of the bed, the body of the dog over her
left arm and appellant lying on the floor and
across her right arm. Believing appellant to be
asleep, they handcuffed him and then aroused him.
Wise testified: "we examined Mr. Chapman . . .
and found that he was living, apparently was
asleep and probably intoxicated to the best of our
knowledge." He stated further that appellant
"seemed to be in sort of a stupor from intoxicants"
and that the odor of intoxicants "was pretty
strong." Dr. R. W. Gage, who accompanied the
police officers, examined Mrs. Chapman and
pronounced her dead. Death was caused by a .22
caliber bullet through the heart. Appellant was
forthwith taken into custody and, without
hesitation, freely made a complete confession,
reciting in detail the facts and circumstances
surrounding the killing.
167
On Saturday, August 9, 1947, the day before the
killing, appellant and his wife had been in
Wellsville, New York, accompanied by John
Downey and his wife who reside about 30 feet
from appellant's shack. That evening wine and
whiskey was purchased by the Chapmans, some of
which was immediately consumed and some on
Sunday morning. The exact quantity consumed by
appellant is unknown. In his signed confession he
states that on Sunday morning he borrowed a .22
caliber rifle and shells from Downey, saying that
he was going woodchuck hunting. He returned to
his cabin and asked *167 Minnie to bring him a
clock hanging on the wall behind her so that he
could re-wind it. He was standing at the door, the
only entrance to the cabin. She was standing at the
far side of the room. When she refused to bring
the clock to him, he shot the clock off the wall. "I
1
told Minnie: Mommie, if you don't bring the clock
you're going to get it. Then we argued some more.
Then I said: 'Mommie, if you don't do what Daddy
tells you, you're going to get it.' Then I shot the
other clock, which was hanging on the wall above
the bed. Then I pointed the rifle at Minnie. She
was still standing in the same place. She said,
'Daddy, please don't.' I said, 'Honey, will you say
pretty please?' She said, 'Daddy,' and that was all.
The rifle was aimed at her heart, and I pulled the
trigger." As deceased fell to the floor appellant
ordered the dog to get on the bed and then said:
"Peggy, take a good look at Mommie. Then I shot
Peggy and set the rifle in the corner near the door.
Then I took the dog off the bed and laid her on
Minnie's arm . . ."
1 T. B. Wise testified (N.T. 50-a): "The
Miller 8-day clock was stopped at 1:55
o'clock."
168
A plea of guilty to the c

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