CHARLES BECKERS FINAL HOURS

Throughout the day of July 29, Becker inquired about the whereabouts of his wife. He knew she was trying to track down Governor Whitman; but he also realized there was no chance the man who had successfully prosecuted him twice, would ever lower himself to commute Beckers death sentence to life imprisonment. However, Becker did receive courtesies on July 29 that no condemned man had even been afforded in Sing Sing Prison. Becker was permitted to receive visitors, not in the usual visitors room, but in the office of Warden Osborne - a room usually reserved for prisoners meeting with their counsels. With a prison keeper standing guard, Becker was allowed to grasp the hands of loved ones and even embrace them if he wished. While meeting with his brother John and his brother-in-law John Lynch, Becker suddenly inquired as to what time it was. When he was told it was 20 minutes past nine, Becker said. This is remarkable! To the minute, it is now three years since Ive been arrested. It wasnt until 11:30 p.m. that Helen Becker finally arrived at Sing Sing Prison to see her husband. Helen was with Charles for one hour, alone in the wardens office; except for the two guards present in the room, under orders not to take their eyes off the married couple. Both guards disobeyed that order and diverted their eyes, while Becker and his wife embraced their last embrace. It wasnt until 12:30 a.m. that Helen Becker tore herself loose from her husband and bid him her last goodbye. She was led from the room sobbing heavily, and in the state of collapse, by her husbands co-counsel, John Johnson. Charles Becker was led back to his cell, where he paced the room the entire night. In his company was Deputy Warden Johnson, who had promised Mrs. Becker her husband would not be alone in his final hours. Mrs. Helen Becker arrived at her home at 2291 University Avenue in the Bronx at about 3 a.m. She was so worn out with grief, she had to be carried up the steps to the entrance of her home. There she stayed with family and close friends to await the news that her husband was indeed dead.