Elmer E. Barner was hanged in the jail yard at Harrisburg at 10:10 o'clock Tuesday morning for the murder of his brother-in-law, Isaac Miller, in Halifax township, Dauphin county, January 15, 1900.
He and Miller married sisters and lived as neighbors in Halifax township for nine years prior to the spring of 1899, when Barner removed to South Dakota. While there, he formed an opinion that his wife had not been true to him and like all similar delusions, the more he brooded over it the more positive he became that Miller had seduced his wife. To set matters right, she agreed to come back to Dauphin county with him.
They arrived at Millerstown, this county, January 15, 1900, from where they went across the country to Miller's home. Barner unburdened his mind. Miller, entirely innocent as is generally believed, indignantly denied Barner's charges when the latter drew a revolver and shot him dead. He was arrested, tried and convicted. Nothing else than conviction could be expected, considering the unmistakable and unjustifiable nature of his crime.
His execution was without incident- save the indifference with which he met his fate. Barner walked to the scaffold, dressed in the same suit that he wore when he killed Miller. He slept well during the night and for breakfast drank a glass of mild and ate some ice. He made no dying statement and his death was due to strangulation, so pronounced by the physicians in attendance fifteen minutes after the trap door had been sprung by Sheriff Reiff.
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