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BECKERS FINAL DAYS On July 29, the day before Beckers scheduled execution, Becker was awoken at 7 a.m.

He was taken from his cell, given a bath and a brand-new set of underwear. At 8 a.m., Becker was taken to the prison barber and administered a close-cropped haircut, so the metal helmet hed wear in the electric chair would make close contact with the electrodes. When Becker returned to his cell, he was dismayed to discover that all his personal belongings, including his clothes, a few articles of furniture, and most importantly a picture of his wife - had been removed from his cell. On a new cot lay a heavy black suit, white shirt, and a black felt slippers; the clothing he would wear when he was executed. On that same morning, John Ford, the Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court, issued a statement denying Beckers last bid to stay alive. This appeal had been presented to him in an affidavit written by Beckers lawyer Bourke Cockran, after Cockrans appeal had been turned down by United States Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Hughes. Cockran tried throwing a last-second Hail Mary to Justice Ford, but the pass fell incomplete. Justice Ford said he had labored for several days and several nights on briefs for and against the application of a new trial. He then called the newspapermen into his chamber, and as his secretary handed them his written decision, Justice Ford said, I have denied the motion for a new trial. And this is my birthday. Its a pretty rough way to spend your birthday, isnt it? Upon hearing about Justice Fords decision, Governor Whitman released a statement saying, Justice Ford did the only thing he could do. The evidence was conclusive. If I had any doubt to Beckers guilt, I would pardon him. When Becker was informed that his last appeal had been denied, and that Governor Whitman had refused to commute his sentence, he told Sing Sing Warden Osborne, Well, Ill die like a man anyhow. Becker also spoke to prison chaplain Father Cashin, who was spending Beckers last day with him in order to get Beckers spiritual affairs in order. There is no justice here, Becker told Father Cashin. I am confident, however, that I will get it in the next world. I know that the truth will come out, and that the world will know that Becker told the truth and is not the murderer he is accused of being. These are hardly the words of a guilty man speaking to a man of God shortly before hes about to be put to death. Becker also told Father Cashin, I do not fear death, but I feel the stigma attached to the name Becker, and I feel the distress and sorrow it will cause my wife.

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