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Conviction & hanging Then another former Birger gang member, Art Newman, was located in California and charged with murder. On the ride back to Illinois, Newman confessed to taking part in the murder of Lory Price. Price had been a state policeman and acquaintance of Birger, and witnesses indicated Price had been at Shady Rest the night it was burned. Price and his wife mysteriously disappeared shortly after. Newman was indicted along with Birger and four other gang members. Newman's account of Price's murder differed significantly from Birger's, each essentially claiming the other party committed the act.  Lory Price's body was found in a field by a farmer, and Mrs. Price’s body was later found in an old mine shaft near Johnston City, where Newman said it had been thrown. The exact truth as to the nature of the killings was never revealed. Birger was arrested for the murder of Joe Adams on April 29, 1927. During the sweltering summer of 1927, while several members of the Birger gang were being tried for a murder in Williamson County, Birger, Newman and Ray Hyland went on trial in a crowded Franklin County courtroom for the murder of Joe Adams.

In late July, after 24 hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict. Birger was sentenced to death, Newman and Hyland to life imprisonment. Birger was granted a stay of execution as he appealed for a new trial.  In late February 1928, Birger heard that the Illinois Supreme Court had denied his appeal and he would die on April 13. Appearing somewhat relieved, he is quoted to have said he would rather be dead than live through another 10 months in jail.

Franklin County Courthouse in Benton, Illinois

Birger laughing at the gallows

On April 12, another appeal for stay of execution was denied by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. Birger’s lawyer rushed that day to Benton and, in the name of Charlie’s nephew Nathan Birger, filed a petition for a sanity hearing. The hearing began April 16, with a full day devoted to selecting a jury. Birger made a desperate attempt to escape death. He cursed newspaper reporters, cowered, rolled his head from side to side and did his best to convince the crowd that he was insane. The jury took just 12 minutes to find him sane. He was to die on April 19.

To the end Birger denied involvement in the crime he died for. But he showed no resentment. “They’ve accused me,” he said, “of a lot of things I was never guilty of. But I was guilty of a lot of things of which they never accused me. So I guess we’re about even.”  After being led to the gallows constructed next to the jail in Benton, a smiling Birger made the comment, "It's a beautiful world." Minutes  later Charlie Birger was executed.  He was the last individual to die at the gallows in Franklin County, and the last to die in a public hanging in Illinois.

A hooded Birger immediately prior to hanging

Read visitor stories about the era

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Last updated August 8, 1999.
Please send comments & suggestions to Curt Westra: cwestra@oocities.com