17 while escorted by Sheriff Malley and prison warden George W. Cowing. Mircovich parted with the statement: "They will treat me to a shower of cold lead." He became nauseated during the trip and begged his captors to shoot him right away, not understanding that attorneys would pursue appeals on his behalf. Attorney J.E. McNamara argued to the Nevada Supreme Court that Sanders unfairly prejudiced the jury with the statement: "Why, gentlemen of the jury, if you cannot pronounce by your verdict the death penalty upon this defendant, I say, let's resurrect old Casey [that killed Mrs. Hislop in Goldfield] and let him live again." However, the appeal was denied and the lower court decision was upheld, with Justice Pat McCarran abstaining from the opinion. Execution Nevada State Prison had been the state-designated facility for hangings since 1903. At the urging of the Mormon population, the Nevada Legislature passed a statute in 1910 that became effective in January 1911, which allowed condemned prisoners to choose between execution by shooting or hanging. Only Mircovich and one other inmate selected shooting. However, the other prisoner's sentence was commuted. Warden Cowing tried to talk Mircovich out of his decision. Mircovich did not want to be hanged and insisted on being shot, claiming it would be quicker. Cowing was faced with a predicament in meeting the scheduled execution date of August 29, 1912, because he was unable to find five marksmen willing to participate in a firing squad. The shooting machine The state then ordered a rack of rifles that was to be set up on a frame by an Eastern ordnance foundry. The 1000-pound (450 kg) execution machine, which was called the "shooting gallery of steel", included three Savage Model 1899 .30-30 caliber rifles with Maxim silencers. When the device arrived at the prison, Cowing no longer wanted to have any part of the execution and resigned. Denver S. Dickerson, a former Nevada governor and prison reformer, was appointed as the new warden. On May 13, 1913, Prison Chaplain Lloyd B. Thomas of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Carson City, Nevada, made an unsuccessful appeal for commutation on Mircovich's behalf with the Board of Pardons. The "shooting machine" was designed to be loaded with two lethal rounds and a blank cartridge, each connected to a coiled spring mechanism. The device could be fired by cutting three strings, only one of which would fire the