ELADIO JILARIOS TRIAL

HEADQUARTERS DIVISION OF THE PHILIPPINES,
Manila, P. I., May 24, 1901.

General Orders, No. 106.

Before a military commission which convened at Iloilo, island of Panay, P. I., pursuant to paragraph 2, Special Orders, No. 2, Headquarters Department of the Visayas, January 3, 1901, and of which Lieutenant-Colonel Charles J. Crane, 38th Infantry, U. S. Volunteers, was president, and Captain Edwin F. Glenn, 25th U. S. Infantry, was judge-advocate, was arraigned and tried Eladio Jilarios, native.

CHARGE.—" Murder."

Specification.—" In that on or about the 18th day of July, 1000, then, as now, a time of insurrection, at or near the pueblo of Cabatuan, island of Panay, P. I., a place then, as now, a part of the territory of the United States and under the military government thereof, one Eladio Jilarios, a native, in company of one Placido Hebia, a native, did willfully, feloniously, and with malice aforethought, kill and murder one George O. Hill, private, Company H, 18th U. S. Infantry, by then and there cutting and stabbing the said George O. Hill with bolos held in the hands of the said Eladio Jilarios and Placido Hebia, natives, and in the hands of each of them, then and there inflicting mortal wounds on the body of said George O. Hill, private, Company H, 18th U. S. Infantry, to wit, in the neck, stomach, and leg of said George O. Hill, from which wounds so inflicted as aforesaid the said George O. Hill then and there died."

PLEA.—"Not guilty."

FINDING.—"Guilty."

SENTENCE.—And the commission does therefore sentence him, Eladio Jilarios, native, "to be hanged by the neck till dead, at such time and place as may be directed by the reviewing authority, two-thirds of the military commission concurring in the death sentence imposed."

In the foregoing case of Eladio Jilarios, native, it appears from the record that the accused was a policeman of the pueblo of Cabatuan, which was under the government of the United States and the protection of a garrison of its troops; that, making use of his friendly relations with the soldiers of said garrison, he, with other members of the police force, treacherously connived at taking advantage of the known weaknesses and habits of one of the soldiers to get him drunk and to entice him at night into the country to see a woman, with whom he had friendly relations. The accused and one companion accompanied the soldier, and, taking a bottle Of vino with them, succeeded, at a convenient time and place, in getting him helplessly drunk, when they tied his hands, took away his rifle, hacked him to death with bolos, robbed his pockets of a few pesos, and, leaving his lifeless body lying on the ground, they returned to Cabatuan and reported to the sergeant of police—with whom they had conspired—the accomplishment of their crime. Opposed to these facts, clearly sustained by the evidence, the accused set up as his sole defense the fact that he had acted in obedience to the orders of the presidente. But the evidence reveals conditions making it unmistakably plain that the accused was under no compulsion, and that by refusal his own life would not have been in danger.

Conceived in treachery and executed in betrayal of official trust, this crime was also carried out with such alacrity by the accused that there is left no ground for the exercise of clemency.

The sentence, approved by the department commander, is confirmed and will be duly executed at the pueblo of Cabatuan, island of Panay, Philippine Islands, on the fourteenth (14th) day of June, A. D. 1901, under the direction of the commanding general, Department of the Visayas.

By command of Major-General MacArthur:

THOMAS H. BARRY,
Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers, Chief of Staff.