Mississippi, J-L, 1857-1987, Undated

| "4 black, hanged Holly sorpings, Miss., 6/14/1915
JNKL INOG, munter, Dd Wie yg bdr dtes ev
eS TUS MN ail Al SE TTS YE
HUNTER JENKINS HARGER =

Pris Monday mornige the.
towds bean to assemble iO wites
ness the hanging of Huu tudes
Kis, Colored, who was gives is” ie
death sentence for the murders gy
his mother, Thousands“argvedpi
on horseback, in bugyies atid Wage
ons until court square washes

ty Ed

. and overflowed to.the'side strcpae

beside aa large crowd whicli:

eer?

tinued their way to Strick tangy
woods, the place.tor the exeéution

This huge crowd was in-itseif?

thousands of dollars were lost 3
the agricultural interests by a neg!
jJect of crops for a day at thistimey

of the vear, besides a hang'ng’al-!

Ways appeais to the baser mistindts *
lof humanity, and it is doubtialif
“the lessdn tuugnt offsets the harm.

Promptly at 10:30 Sheriff Ford

with Deputies Jones and Bledsoe

left the jail with their prisoner
andinade their way to the allows. :

Rev. Irwin attended Jenkins and

read a passage of Scripture and

Offered prayer for him. Jenkins |

offered no remarks with the excep-|

Honof saving: ©] have brought

this on myself, but lam net pre-

pared to dic” After Which the
black cap was placed and the tr;
ger sprune,

The murder for whiel he was
bune was particulariy horrible!
and little sympathy was expressed |
by his people. Ibis arciief tothe.
community that the CVent IS i
the past and it as hoped that no
necessity will occur again in Mar-
shall county to exaet. the extreme |
penalty of the law. :

(reo
So

2 pe na

hi et ae Se on


1 elr ra Y
KIN vEssG, DLeCK, Nahe
ws Sod hd dN ]

ae Qala ta the lant
Jenkins was aaim to the last, nd
Went fe the gallows without outward
ovidencd of fear, There were no fure.
welld on final sperchen The pexre
declared that he had mane ve ve
God, and did not: care to Tednlge fn}!
specch dising Dia Jent momenta.
At 36:28 o'clock Fheriv i. mh twat.
Bnd & Homme of Geputiog, with Rn
{Weeds y: BUumbler of Witnes@en, entered
‘Me Jail They were preeéted hy

King retponded tothe questions of tha
Mrlowt In a.ctaar Yolee, and during tha
marrh to the rullows, « Ulatancde of lene
than Sfieen feet. he way Chanting fn
Wield token, “Jeaus, Take fe Flome“
a Qulex Prince of Wark

Wherie Witifans ang bir neinianta|

woke cmiosey 6,
-, . SSHOWN BY crowns |

POG off the exeention awickly, Thief,
Noose was. in Feadinesa, dangtihgz fram ‘

Cohdenined Man Kings Hymn oath eget atteres a Bg

Be egg i - Fomte the trap. yt eg
White Blina Nerro Outside 3 nd Tce RB: Wels chancery elec]
rer foe ie . and: forer. pharitt. of- th county. @F
£7 Pa at lays Flate GROLI: Wiliams with the ®
St Se A | ce ene. While. mervipg. ne sherk
Heat Tonkine the herrn deaperaiio ‘Mr. Woltn ditectad a Prams
Wher Aeaavatyiated Johy Lyach, guard BEML. fet: Johvings covérin
“Ot the -Hitay county convict farm, on ir. bog jane Beatlag
4 Say Tepe: 4

CMlor Sch, Indt, wan hammond fnthe

ng dat j 4, ‘
*OuNte Sarl here at 10.39 aclock this $ ‘ w Laloa

Mornin, . ° 4 Ment of wounds nga

The exepution was the first that haw Ctlved = im « romainw Aght with the
taken piace im the Prement jail, and popes:
| WONt throush without a hitch. The whper ecrtidor of the Jalil wan

“See egk of tha condemned man was fark and atoomy. and in nl Justina
not Toke by the fall, ana nearly 2¢@ the straps abgut the lege of tha con.
fala tion: Hapoed del oe he. wane pres demned man it War hevarasary to KIrike
Rownced dead, Jethina wee &€ neerh A Match In @rder ta ney how to place
ef. Powerful phymtias, whic. Serle thy them propertly Hundeute and lee
atcounta to’ tha fact “Hat Vb omeryg. Irone were alae ured

oul, bertébrats Was wet mvored.


Ps Mathing ta Sny

“Hinke $Og anvthing to aay, Poane?”
naked Hhoril Willlarns just before the
Diack cay wan actjmered,

“Nothing,” renlted the negro.

At thia momant Rev. IL © ChaP
man, member of the negro Methodiat
clergy, rteoned forwnrn and askel
permiletion to *peak to the conlemned
taah, which waa wranted,

"gerne «do you feel you are poing
te be waved e he anhked, | Ss

“Fee, sir,” reptied the negra,

Theee were his ast wotda The
biack cap waar then adjusted, Jenkin«
was placed squarely In the eenter of
the trap. and BheriY Williams jerked
the lever that ¢hot him through to
the necond floor, en which the specta-
fora were gathered,

The gixuntio frame of the dyng man
twiched ecanvilaively xeweral times,
the bady turned slowly on the rope

‘wnuih the back faced the audienca, and
‘then all’ wan grill.

Three physictana, Dre WR Hamil.

ton, Wilite Walley and N. 1 Currte,

atepped férward , with waiches. nT

stethoscopes, watching for the moment
whon they Could offitially preoclatm
that Jéetae Jenkins was dend.

Otbde.printerra Locked Up,
Alithonwh the hanging took place tr
the mala corriior of -the jail, it wan

' not. witnexsed by the “thenty or more

Jeane Watta, cole

prisoners . now fn eonf{inement. AN
wera takén ‘trem their celle and chr-

hed. to the twa large felts ow the ent’

aard,- weet-a ings which has hold tren
eutee doors, It ta doubtful whether
bear-the clang of the trap

they, to
Os. de teem shot" onl eka to his death.

AMionge..the prisoners ‘In the jal) Is
ated murderer: ef
De. ait w Meliie eae a Vicksburg phy-

ne’ on heenjy interented

re the mareing: pregran, but had no

spportunity te. Winer , At. ;

rv ‘the de
treenuet ere at the Hinds coan-

—r

= The. Crime pf Jenkins:
The artim fof whlch Jeakina recely-
atatence was the murder

‘ef: John: Lynch, « yourg white (man,

wear. Raymotd, "y

> swank: ‘ot Lahh isis
4 for ‘liharty. SAftter
rpe’ €-Me. Lynch) and robbing |
mot ie wun, Jenkins then shot the
eat ine Poataer ied wnctpe,
eiiin him, “Capt oma, @
maith whore hé. oy ne neatwaceds,
{' hs priaoner :
«$5 wtitt at targa. ig
na Steers “that: Célowed Joankine
ahot eediaariyealy. wounded S{as Miil-
0%) Whey was. confined, (nthe Charity

 Hoepttal “Fst, wEverar woopths, and has
from.” aa

“pot. rer rtuby, Aeecere

' nd, St

iy, kaa as Mreught, tn a focal
Dooplter | Jed: three dpye lati,
: naka after the shodting Jen-
ic -Dhred Sin-w New Urteana
it Wee, oer sonvioted and
4 se torn: of
Bild yertiet

_

it gow °
A why
aioe

ZL


Jesse Senfins
Untonbrated tntrg dated 5°-A8-(7RO

JSacksin Clarion betyer SfAYd0 conbrans
Yhat he was Cxteuted there as jndiecated.

Please upgrade To Cortrmed status.


- Death penalty opponents e

Just a small, nagging question:
» In the account of the short, un-
happy life of Edward Earl Johnson
that was given last week by his
lawyers, on the eve of his execution!
murder in Mississippi, it was,

or
(rd that the 26-year-old black mani: -

had suffered severe brain damage
as an infant. :

. Born prematurely, Johnson had
spent weeks in an incubator, his de-
fenders said, fighting to recover
from a period of oxygen deprivation
during delivery. Later, he suffered.
neglect at the hands of a babysitter
who nearly starved him.

He became a passive child, his
lawyers said, who heard voices and
often slipped into trances.

Perhaps it was simply the skill
of Johnson’s lawyers in painting the
portrait. I don’t know. But I found
myself worrying. It seemed that
once again, a Southern state — Mis-
sissippi this time, though it could as
easily have been Georgia, any place
‘with a presumptive disposition
toward racial prejudice — planned

wT

Frederick
Allen

to execute an apparently innocent
black man, one with brain damage
at that.

So it was a considerable sur-
prise when I learned, in news ac-
counts of Johnson’s final hours visit-
ing with family members, that he
had spent part of the time playing a
game of chess with his uncle.

No doubt there is a perfectly
sound explanation of how someone
with severe brain damage can also
be a chess player. It is not my aim
here to invite debate with a psychi-
atrist. The point is that Edward

Earl Johnson’s lawyers left a clear .

and deliberate impression that the
state of Mississippi planned to exe-
cute someone who was impaired to

~- @ £N e@ @

such an extent that his only use for
chess pieces, presumably, would be

. to drool on them.

I have no quarrel with people

| who are opposed to the death penal-
‘ty, an issue whose overtones are ev-
ery bit as religious as they are po-

litical. But I am weary of the
tactics of some members of the
anti-death-penalty lobby, who work
overtime to make sure that each
and every execution is made to look
like the bloodthirsty slaughter of a
victim who is, 1) innocent, 2) re-
tarded, 3) unable to tell right from
wrong, 4) now rehabilitated, or 5) a
cog in a system totally corrupted by
racism.

There are times, as with John-.

son, when all five arguments seem
to be in use in a single case. And if
all five are demonstrably lacking —
as, for instance, in the case of Carl
Isaacs, the self-confessed, brilliant,
unrepentant, escape-prone, white
ringleader of the Alday murders —
it can always be pointed out that
the trial was flawed in some fash-

ion, necessitating a return to the
starting blocks.

Capital punishment is an emo-
tional issue, of course, so it is hard-
ly surprising when emotion finds its
way into the ongoing debate. -Sup-
porters of the death penalty, for ex-
ample, usually discover that their
easiest points are scored simply by
recounting the details of the murder
that led the murderer onto death
row in the first place.

Unfortunately, this sort of de-
bate tends to degenerate into a

stens Wednesday, May 27, 1987

te
PE

THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION

shouting match, with one side re-
counting and exaggerating the bru-
tal, depraved circumstances of the
original crime, while the other side
crafts a tale, usually even more ex-
aggerated, that seeks to turn a con-
victed murderer into a figure of
sympathy.

Frankly, I have now heard,
from defense lawyers turned hagi-
ographers, too many patently fic-
tional accounts of death row in-
mates who have been transformed
magically from murderous brutes
into saints or sacrificial lambs.

~T

mploy tactics that taint their credibility

No question a handful of genv-
ine cases exist. Last year’s execu-
tion in Georgia of Jerome Bowden,’
a retarded man who took and
“passed” an IQ test to make himself
eligible for the electric chair, comes
quickly to mind: It seemed to me
that poor Bowden proved dimin-
ished capacity simply by failing to
fail the test.

Mostly, though, the anti-death-
penalty lobby cries wolf. Its lawyers
are losing credibility, and with it
their chances of helping to spare
the lives of a deserving few. 0

JOHNSON, Edward Earl, black, asphyxiated, Mississippi (Leake) on
May 20, 1987.

UPDATES:

JOSEPH MULLIGAN (Alert 4-D) was executed. in Georgia on May 15 in the evening.

RICHARD TUCKER (Alert 4-D) is still pending execution in Georgia. The date has been
set for May 19.

EDWARD EARL JOHNSON (Alert 4-D) is still pending execution in Mississippi on May 20.
There are many doubts about Edward Earl Johnson's guiltys
1. The main witness against him was a woman who first said it was a young
light skinned Black man with an Afro who tried to break into her home. She had
originally said this man was the brother of one of her Avon customers. This man
turned out to have been in jail on an unrelated Charge at the time of this crime.
Edward Earl Johnson is a brown-skinned rather than a light-complected man, and had
had his hair cornrowed a few days before the crime and it was still like that
féilowing the crime. |
2. After the Marshal was shot, police brought many young Black men for the
witness to look at to try to identify the assailant. The witness knew Edward
Earl Johnson by sight and originally said that he was not the person.
3. The time of the murder was originally placed at 2 am. (Later it was moved

to later.) On the night of the crime, Edward Earl Johnson had been playing cards with

relatives and friends until 2:15 am. five miles away. Later that night his car
went dead on the road and a relative had to come and help him push it.

4. No physical evidence, such as fingerprints, linked him to the crime.

5. ‘Although he had owned a .25 revolver of the kind used in the crime, the .25

revolver identiféed as the actual murder weapon was not proved to have been his;
his had not had a grip and the murder weapon did.

6. The evening after the crime, police came to Edward Earl Johnson's house and

took him “for further questioning". They told his relatives that they were not
arresting him; buf on the drive to the Station, the police obtained a confession.

There is the possibility that this was a coerced confession.

7. Edward Earl Johnson had a completely cleam record, had graduatéd from high
school a year before, and was well known in the community as a hard worker; he had
been doing odd jobs for people since he was 8. At his sentencing, his attorneys
did not raise any non-statutory mitigating circumstances and did not put him on
the stand.

If when you receive this alert, Johnson's execution went ahead as scheduled, please
take time to write to Gov. Allain to express your concern, since he had the power
to grant a stay. With the McCleskey decision pointing clearly to how little hope
resides in the Supreme Court, it 4s more important.than ever to remind governors
of their responsibility and their power in these cases.

Gov. William Allain -

State Capitol
Jackson, MS 39205

atl 67 ighy ie y
Malin Zeer Leon’

Death penalty undermines justice
jor the most vulnerable of society

Somehow, the numbers stupefy. The death row popu-
lation in the United States now stands at about 1,790.
More people than at any time since our records have
kept tally of such things wait for the last meal, last-min-
ute appeals and, finally, a punishment that remains cruel
and unusual: execution.

Yes, many of them are guilty of heinous, unforgiv-
able crimes. The stories of those crimes easily dry up
any errant traces of sympathy for the criminals, even
among the tolerant. The tears, the sympathy, and the
sadness are reserved for those whom they have killed.

And, yet, the deaths of those murderers cannot re-
verse the crimes they have committed. The sentences of
death don’t pretend to ease the suffering of the victims’
families, either. Given the profound implications of de-
creeing the death of a human being — any human being
— one would suppose that the death penalty purchased
some great solace or some impenetrable protection. In-
stead, capital punishment is strangely empty of promise.

It does not deter crime. Several studies over the
years have shown that the rate of homicide in the 37
States that use the death penalty is little different from
the homicide rate in the 13 states that don’t. Some re-
searchers have even suggested that the death penalty
may actually aggravate the murder rate.

That’s not surprising. The death penalty does reduce
the state to a violence not remarkably different from
that of the criminal it wishes to expunge. Among indus-
trial nations, the United States keeps company only with
the Soviet Union and South Africa in current use of capi-
tal punishment. So why do we keep it?

Oh, yes. The death penalty punishes, right? Does it?
Perhaps it does, some of the time. But a review of cases
also suggests that sometimes it just kills.

Death is meted out capriciously and unfairly: the
death penalty is color- and class-conscious. Blacks are
approximately 41 percent of death row inmates. And
they’re not there for the crimes they most often commit,
the slayings of other blacks. The results of a study by
University of Iowa law professor David Baldus indicated
a black is far more likely to draw the death penalty for
killing a white than for killing a black.

And beyond the matter of the discrimination in valu-

Cynthia
Tucker

ing white lives more than black ones is the deeply trou-
bling and fundamental question of guilt. Consider the
case of Edward Earl Johnson, a young black man from
an impoverished background who was executed earlier
this week in Mississippi for killing a marshal.

According to a story by Journal-Constitution reporter
Raad Cawthon, the state’s case was quite suspect. The
marshal was shot after. going to the home of an elderly
white woman in Walnut Grove, Miss., to investigate a
burglary. After the marshal was shot, deputies rounded
up several young black men and took them to the elderly
woman’s house. At first, she said Johnson was not the
man who broke in her house. Later, told that Johnson had
confessed, she changed her story.

No one ever positively placed Johnson at the scene of
the crime; no one ever positively linked him to either of
the two murder weapons. Johnson, who doctors say was
brain-damaged by a premature birth, said two lawmen
threatened him and his grandparents if he didn’t confess.

Johnson was convicted by a predominantly white
jury of rural Mississippians. One of the two black jurors,
an elderly black woman, admitted after the trial that her
fear for the safety of her own stepson — who was await-
ing transfer from the county jail to Parchman, a notori-
ous maximum-security facility — may have influenced
her decision about Johnson. (After she voted to convict
Johnson, her stepson was not transferred to Parchman.)

The Johnson case suggests that a chilling cruelty con-
tinues: After sensational crimes in rural Southern com-
munities, local law enforcement officers still go out and
round up the poorest, least-educated, most vulnerable
black men as suspects. That’s criminal. 0

Tucker is associate editor of The Constitution’s edito-
rial page.

I743/0¢59 ABY 7

Day

s

|

(hie
f

4 ‘A,

‘a

4
a4

i‘ sf

at:

punish !

Ka


i 6 Phy ¥ lied fete mnare Pauutallyg Murdird a Lee.

22 - duro JURA UND foaid Te pruc | Thioir0 ntwiiees or?

: oe Soom Miss at ttre tray. ) LC MALAL Rae sete: ‘
Riga ph AageadQeo Ti Cty Iniretall Peta

freee Tht LA rl & :
sy Eee Loto Qo12,Lel nth,
of hot dh Zs Cha hag Whily |


during which the cell block TV set was
smashed.

Merkouris seemed determined to go
out of this world the hard way. But
maybe, in the long run, he knew what
he was accomplishing by his actions.

For on January 21, 1960, with less
than 24 hours to go before he was due
for the gas chamber, Governor Edmund
G. Brown commuted the death sentence
to life imprisonment “without possibility
of parole.”

In granting the commutation, Gov-
ernor Brown explained: “There are
grave and unresolved questions concern-
ing Merkouris’ sanity.”

Perhaps. But with the commutation in
hand, Merkouris could well have quoted
the famous line of John Armstrong Chal-
oner made many years ago in winning a
sanity case.

“Who's looney now?” THE END

FOOTPRINTS

continued from page 25

the case. They agreed that the man
who bought the shells was the
same man who had killed Rushton.
Also, that his presence in Mt. Olive

could mean that he onced lived
there, had relatives living in the
vicinity. However, his known fa-
miliarity with the woods around
the pistol range also led them to
believe that he had moved to
Laurel some time ago and knew
the place well.

In the meantime, one of the sus-
pects, Marvin Anderson, was found
to have been nowhere near the
murder scene when the_shooting
occurred, and was released.

Young Worthington continued to
dare the sheriff’s office to learn
where he was around eight o’clock
the previous Saturday night. Nor
could several hours of intensive
grilling get him to open up.

After he was removed to a cell,
Holifield said, “It’s a cinch he’s
covering up something or someone.
Maybe a few more hours in the
clink will cool him off.”

“How about sweating him?” sug-
gested Hopkins.

Sheriff Holifield vetoed the idea.
“He won’t talk; he isn’t the type.
He’s thin and scrawny, but he’s
tough, make no mistake. If he’s

guilty, we’ll have to pin something
definite on him. Browbeating him
won't do it.”

Meanwhile Ard Rushton was laid
to rest in a hero’s grave before a
large crowd of silent mourners,
among them his grief-stricken girl
friend, lovely young Mary Feeney.

In response to a plea by DA
Lawrence Arrington, the State
Highway Patrol and every law-en-
forcement officer in the state threw
the entire resources of their de-
partments into the investigation.

For two days the case lagged.
Police characters in nearby cities
and towns were rounded up and
questioned. Folks living in the
Laurel area were again questioned,
but to no avail. Miss Feeney, fully
recovered from her nightmarish
experience, was interviewed sev-
eral times without revealing any-
thing new.

Glenn and Gordon Holifield,
working around-the-clock on vari-
ous angies of the case, came up
with a surprising development
when they learned that a .22 cali-
ber Marlin repeating rifle had been

Today many sophisticated adults are unrestrained in
TALKING about sex. But, this is as far as it goes.
Deep down inside they feel the old frustrations. Deep
down inside they know and feel their own shortcomings.

A well known doctor said recently that most people
remain astonishingly misinformed on the subject of sex.
He found that only ONE out of FIVE really enjoys his
sex life to the extent that he is capable of enjoying it.
The doctor added that it is the rare person who realizes
that his sex life can be fuller and richer.

There are many things to know if one wishes to experi-
ence a deep emotional and freely sensual expression.
Few love partners know all that there is to know.

Jalart House, Inc.; Box 175; Port Chester, N. Y.

guaranteed. | am over 21.

A ee SS EP SP SS SS

Dept. 7
Enclosed find $3. Please send me a copy of AMERICAN HANDBOOK OF SEX and MARRIAGE. Money Back

Please do not request C.O.D. as it is too expensive . . . besides you are covered by money back guarantee.

For orders outside ‘the United States add 50c postage and handling.

Many people have bought the AMERICAN HANDBOOK
OF SEX and MARRIAGE. It has shown them many facts.

’ They have praised it. They have sent copies to their

friends.

Why not examine and read this book yourself? You
have nothing to lose. You have everything to gain! The
book costs Only $3.00 If for any reason
whatsoever you wish to return it, we will promptly
refund your two dollars. No questions asked.

Won't you order your copy today? You'll be glad you
did! Simply send $3.00 to JALART HOUSE, INC.,
P.O.B. 175, Port Chester, N. Y. Your copy will be
promptly mailed in plain wrapper.

ee a OO HS LS YS SE SN GD RN Ae SS SY SS SS OS OS SS OS GD GD YO AO ST OS OD Oe ee SF OS OD HY SS YD OD ey

SES EL EL Eee

STRAIGHT FROM THE
ORIGINALS
THOSE SHOCKING
\ BSA

SZ
VW

MANY WITH
“ARTIST. _
ILLUSTRATIONS

STAG
‘STORIES

od A fantastic opportunity

\y to obtain a daring, pri-
vitely printed edition
featuring those rare
stag story favorites you
used to pass along on

' typewritten pages.
Some you'll remember,
many you've never
seen, all in their orig-
inal form, Every detail
intact, every descrip-
tion vivid. They'll leave
you breathless!

~S

FABULOUS
PHOTOS
YOU'LL

NEVER iS
FORGET! THE MIDGET AND THE

DUCHESS *« THE YOUNG
LADY AND HER DOG « |
WAS CAPTIVE TO SIX
WOMEN “© DAY IN LIFE
OF A TRAVELING SALES-
MAN: * SHE STOOPS TO
CONQUER, and many oth-
ers, each more sensational

than the next. Guaranteed!

DULT
’ ONLY

Sent in Plain
Wrapper. Rush
cash, check or
money order; no

COD's!

SENSATIONAL

aoe 1%

LIMITED
EDITION _ ppd.

PRIVATE EDITIONS

Mailing Address
BOX 69856 Pyar

N-6
LOS ANGELE :

STAG PARTY
ORIGINALS
Authentic, unretouched ©
stags of well known gals
before they reached the
top. Rare thrillers all.
MOVIES, 8mm=—50'.. -.$3
MOVIES, 16mm—100’.: $6
SLIDES; 5—2x2sv 2.
PHOTOS, 8—4x5's...» $2

BERNARD OF HOLLYWOOD

Box 69977, Dept. W-8, Los Angeles 69, Calif.

STAG PARTY CLASSICS

A2 SETS OF 12 PHOTOS

BIG 504
TOTAL ALL 7 il
} FOR ONLY

Spicy photos for adults...
the kind that'll make an
artist blush. Full-blown
beauties. Front, back, top,
bottom... every position
revealed in breathtaking de-
tail. Why pay 500x more?
Satisfaction guaranteed or
money back. Rush $1 to:

Sensational Photo Offer
Box 69744, Los Angeles

69, Calif., Dept. 1710,

stolen from Carter’s Hardware
Store on Front Street a year be-
fore.

“Dollars to doughnuts it’s the
same gun,” said the sheriff when
he got their report. ‘It also means
that the man we're after has been
around here for some time.”

But if they hoped to capitalize

on the unexpected lead, they were
doomed to disappointment. Every
attempt to backtrack on the year-
old theft led to failure.

“We've got one card left,” Holi-
field told his sons and Investigator
Hopkins on Thursday morning.
“That’s the clothes the killer was
wearing when he bought the
shells.”

“T don’t see how that can help,”
said Gordon, dubiously.

“It isn’t much to go on,” ad-
mitted his father, “but how many
people do you see wearing a navy
peajacket and an old army cap
around these parts? In big cities,
maybe. But not down here.”

“How do you figure it’ll help
us?” asked Hopkins.

Holifield took his time lighting a
cigar. “If the killer is smart, he’ll
continue living the same kind of
life he led before he shot Rushton.
By doing that, nobody would sus-
pect him of the crime. But let’s
suppose he isn’t smart. Let’s say
that after shooting Rushton he got
panicky and took a powder.

“T get it,” said Glenn thought-

' fully. “You figure that if he’s still

wearing that cap and jacket, some
bus driver or train conductor will
remember seeing him?”

“That’s it, exactly,” nodded
.Holifield. “It isn’t much to work
on, but since we’ve got nothing
better up our sleeves, I think it’s
worth a try.”

Glenn and Gordon Holifield were
assigned to checking all the rail-
road terminals and airports within
a 50-mile radius of Laurel, while
the sheriff and Hopkins concen-
trated on the bus depots. When a
check of all Jones County travel
exits was completed without un-

covering a lead, the canvass was.

extended by Sheriff Holifield to the
neighboring counties of Covington,
Simpson, Wayne, Jasper and Perry.

It was tedious, backbreaking
work. Despite their doggedness, the
investigators drew blank after
blank. It wasn’t until they spoke
to the Greyhound agent in Magee
that they got their first nibble.

“Sure, I remember seeing a guy
with that get-up,” said the agent
when Holifield gave him the sus-
pect’s description. ‘He bought a
ticket for Texas.”

“Did he give a name?” pressed
Hopkins.

“No, but I’d know him again if
I saw him.”

“Can you tell us when he bought
the ticket and for where?” per-
sisted the sheriff.

The ticket agent said he could.
Checking his ticket stubs, he said
that the ticket had been purchased

‘around 10 o'clock Tuesday morn-

ing, and that the man’s destination
was Dallas, Texas.

Because the suspect had been
seen in Mt. Olive, the sheriff and
his aides began turning that town
as well as Laurel inside out for a
man answering the suspect's de-
scription who was no longer seen
around his old haunts.

That afternoon a man called.
Headquarters from Mt. Olive say-
ing that a man named James John-
son had not been seen around town
since Saturday night.

‘What makes you think he’s con-
nected with the Rushton case?”
inquired Holifield.

‘Because he’s got an awful tem-
per when he’s drinking and he
owns a-.22 Marlin rifle,” said the
informant.

“Who is this?”

The line clicked, prgaking the

* connection.

Checking the tip, Holifield and
his son, Glenn, found out that an
army veteran named James Dewey
Johnson, 30, lived with his wife
and three children on his father-
in-law’s farm on the outskirts of
Mt. Olive..

Delving still further, they learn-
ed that Johnson was seen in a bus
headed for Magee early Tuesday
morning. A check at his father-in-
law’s farm revealed that his de-
parture for Texas was unexpected.

Returning to Laurel, Sheriff
Holifield wired the Dallas author-
ities to comb their city for the
suspect.

Two hours later he received a
telephone call from the Texas
police that because of the suspect’s .
habit of wearing an old army cap
and a peajacket, they had little
trouble finding him in a rooming
house.

James Johnson was returned to
Laurel the next day by Glenn and
Gordon Holifield and lodged in the
Jones County Jail on suspicion of
murder. During the initial ques-
tioning, Johnson denied that he
had anything to do with the slay-
ing, or had been anywhere near
Laurel on the night of the crime.

However, his resistance faded
when a comparison of his right
shoe with a photograph taken near


‘““He‘s not home. | thought he was
spending some time with you.”

|
~YTNEXT WiNBOw ——
1A.

ALGTH

the murder scene, showed the sarne
broken leather in the sole. When a
couple came forward and said they
saw him in Laurel on the night of
the crime, he broke down and con-
fessed. |

“IT don’t Know what came over
me,” he sobbed brokenly. “For
months I’ve seen Mary Feeny on
the street and never got up nerve

to talk to her. That night, when I .

saw her get into the pickup truck
with that young fellow, I got crazy
mad. I followed them until they
parked in the woods and then,
without knowing why, I began
shooting at the car. When I heard
him trying to start the car, I kept
firing. I didn’t mean to kill him.
I thought I was_ shooting lower

than I was.”
“Did you know Ard Rushton?”

r

asked Sheriff Holifield.

Johnson shook his head. “I never
laid eyes on the guy in my life,”
he moaned disconsolately.

“And you never spoke to Miss
Feeney?”

“Never. I was crazy about her.
Everytime I'd see her talking to a
fellow I got mad. I don’t know
why, I just did.’’

“Where’s the rifle you used?”
cut in Glenn Holifield..

“Buried ,behind the barn on
my father-in-law’s farm,” replied
Johnson. “I burned it the follow-
ing day.’

Accompanied by the © slayer,
Sheriff Holifield found the murder
weapon without difficulty. The
mud-coated, fire-scarred weapon
was identified as the same gun that
had been stolen trom Carter’s
Hardware Store a year before the
time of the murder.

James Dewey Johnson was
placed on trial before Judge F.
Burkitt Collins in ttre Jones County
Circuit Court on Wednesday,
March 10, 1954. The sullen-faced
slayer was defended by one of the
best criminal lawyers in the state,
Humphrey Moynighan. The trial
was highlighted by Johnson’s fre-
quent attempts to attack one of
the state’s witnesses.

After three thrill-packed days,
the jury,found Johnson guilty of
murder in the first degree without
recommendation for mercy. Judge
Collins had no alternative but to
sentence him to die in the state’s
portable electric chair. Johnson
was put to death on November
10th, 1954.

EDITOR’S NOTE: In order to protect
persons innocently involved in this
case, the names Mary Feeney,
Clarence Worthington, and Marvin
Anderson are fictitious as used
here. ' THE END

“Your Husband Will

Never Know, Babe!’’

continued from page 21]

thought, just the right age for the
leading role in a TV drama.

He was compactly built, broad-shoul-
dered, muscular. He had dark hair and
bright-looking eyes—and a mind _ that
could think him into those beautiful
21-inch dreams.

The bartender wanted to talk about
baseball but Lemieux mumbled some-
thing and swung off the bar stool. He
had been working steadily for two
years in a bakery and it suddenly oc-

agai v

gru010 ton ew 8
osec \OWS

NO PRO eR SH

A THe DETR

ADVENTURE IN. BEAUTY.

Vig MOVIES

Really beautiful studies of lovely Holly-
wood cuties featuring many close-ups.
Packed with frisky, alluring routines to
tease and please. A different model fea-
tured in each film. For a treasure of view-
ing pleasure, order yours Today!

THREE 50 ft. 8mm reels for... $4.95
Special: Six for only $8.95

Learn about treatment for
epileptic spells! Write today
for free information.

Lakewood Neurophen Co., Station A,
Dept. CM3, Cleveland 2, Ohio

OPPORTUNITIES
FOR YOU

For ad rates, write PCD
549 W. Washington
Chicago 6

(MB-AUG.-SEPT, '63)
BUSINESS & MONEY MAKING OPPORTUNITIES

$100 WEEKLY POSSIBLE, compile mailing lists and prepare ‘

envelopes for advertisers. Home—spare_ time. Particulars
free. National Service, 81, Knickerbocker Station, N. Y. City.
MAKE $25-$50 week, clipping newspaper items for publishers.
Some clippings worth $5 each. Particulars Free. National,
81, Knickerbocker Station, New York City.

~ a AYPNOTISM _
HYPNOTIZE UNNOTICED, QUICKLY, effortlessly, or re-

fund! Thousands delighted! $2.00. Minter, Box 244-N, Cedar- ~

burg, Wisconsin, - .
FREE ILLUSTRATED HYPNOTISM Catalogue. Write:
Hypnotist, 8721 Sunset, Hollywood 69W, California.

INVENTIONS

INVENTIONS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY for manufacturers.
For additional information write Kessler Corporation, C-138,

Fremont, Ohio.

PATENT SEARCHES, $6.00! Free “Invention Record’”/ °
perermation.—Wilss Hayward, 1029 Vermont, Washington 5, -

AGENTS & HELP WANTED
BEAUTY. DEMONSTRATORS TO $5.00 hour demon-
strating Famous Hollywood Cosmetics, your neighborhood.

For free samples, details, write Studio Girl, Dept. 29C38, .

Glendale, California.

63

KENNEDY, William, hanged Clarksdale, Mississippi, on May 26, 1902

sy) We ses Ta

oS pate

F. x
cf ye ae fA 7 4 yt

, > oy eva ee yj
Vine Peay, rer gw as a

ee Ores. ‘ix a)
er RO he A ;
Ai ie th. PB! “
¥" Ri ani 33 wee

COAHOMTAN,
May

Friar8s Point, M5
31, 1902
(3:3)

AY Riera SN me ie tne eee i ee ae ee 1 Sen nee ee e

ea, a ty : -
Ee. Cane re _ ea is
vt SABE © @MBe B85) Oey 4

* Sas *
' id ed a fe mB ws
Vd ers

GP Yama a & ete ee ee
| The subject of. this sketch was jn
-his'thirty-seeond year, oa the mulat+
‘to order and was a tinan of very little)

lateligence... Through the. coartesy
of Deputy Montrey ‘we Weré. allowed
be sbort interview with Kennedy jest
'w few hours bef re hie finish. When
| we entered the jail he was eating his
breakfast, which be seemed to reltsh.

Whilo thete he toli’ns that he was
‘ready and willing to die; that he had |
[no ili will toward any éae; that he

believed his wife was still-living, and’
that he would iseet death without a
fear, We shonk hands with Kennedy |
when We leftthe jail and bade bien |
keep up his courage and meet death |
like a tian, witch he did. | |

Keunedy was convicted and sen:
tenced at the last tall term of our;
cirout court for stabbing to death his|
wife on the Caldwell place, a few |
miles from J.ula, in thiscounty. tils|
case was appealed to the ~apreme |
Cuart- and the decision of the lower |
court was ttistained snd Kennedy paid |
the penalty for marder lust Monday.
. Kennedy talked for nearly au hour
atter golog on the scaffortd aod his
talk was very disjointed and ramb-|
ling he wound up his address with oe
very appropriate song. aud then
he turned, in a cool nnd culfecied |
way, to Sheriff Shannoo: “\!r sitiors|
iff, lam ready.”” Rev. C. 8. Bowman |
ofthe A.M E church then prayed
fec Kennedy in most pathetic and.
touching manner.

Even after the black cap was nen

over his face he yelled ont “govuiy« |
everybody, I have no hard feeling io)
anyoue.”’
"Im his talk he led the crowd to)
think that a Nr. Wilson from bear |
Lula had treated him badly, bar said!
he forgave him. ’

He lived about fifteon minutes after
the trap was sprung. His neck was
not broken.

Thies is the second murderer who
has paid... the penalty for his crime
this year from tie same gallows, and
we trust there may be no more for
many.years to come _


“Batho-

Seat

a SF ‘ : he ws ey df Mer ohare been inde-

| brated | mass : “this morning at” 7
=fo'clock in the prison. Among those
+ who were present were Sister Mary
Mercides, Sister Mary Hilda, Mr.
John McElligott. jailer, and a few
‘others.’ Kirby was baptised by
Mi Father McCoakey nad also reesived
Tegal A coshton int iLloly ComMiniaion. ile

ae

g for> many -years took{ 0 apreinsp rRULY PENITENT

ard h I GRRIS “d-tu-histate. Kirby told.
Kirby, who had | Father‘ Pankey he was born in

m for about a year and! Kentucky and was about 40 years
and convicted for tof age. He showed evidence of a
the March term of the} contrite disposition and made all the
mart, “was-hanged in the | resopnses inadistinet voice, |
the officials and a some-} Sister Mary Mercedes has been
number of persons who} very attentive to Kirby ever since:
“admitted by special passes. (the time of his trial and sentence,
8 gallows, which was erected fand has helped bim to prepare for:
; 8 ago, Was a strong franfe | the fearful ordeal through which he
it twenty feet high, built had to go.
¢18-foot pine timbers, several! The sisters have been unceasing
sthick. The platform was |in instructing him and haye helped
ht feet square with a trap on one | to brace him up for the final effort.
le held up by a wooden slide. To THE CRIME,
at as attached a repe vom. The crime for which Kirby was
gauinicating with a cell through the hanged today was the murder of;
Inside this cell was sta- Mijah Wilson, colored, which oe.
Momed one of the Sheritf's deputies} varred on the ath of June 1890.
‘pulled the rope ata given sig-| Wilson was brought tothe hoasplta!
“A weight of 240 pounds rested | in this city ina dying conditioy on
tra and to this weight was ]the night of the Ah. His skull had

ie 3 pulley and came down | Qidgted that some heavy instrumen

“the: platform where the prison: | had BOF used. Theman was four
ood: The noose-at the end of fiving on the tracks of the AL & V
ee. ee 1 i ee ; ves 1
Tope was put around the prison: | Railroad pear. the twoamile bridge |
and when the slide was] oust of this City. He was in an un!

|
red the rope which went up] io crushed in. and the marks i |
i
{
Hi

$ went down and vonscious condition when found but
isted up in the da ttor yy ‘ching the hospital he ral-
. lied sutticiently to-tell of the desudly
ep began collecting around | assault tt vat had been made of him.
was ata an early hour, and a WILNON'S STORY.

x ‘the execution ap- Wi ison saide that he had been
ras quite au large | nocked in the head while walking
Seieecre 9 Inside the alony the public road near the spot
ed there were many repre-| where he had been found. He did

colored not know his Assailant, and be eing | in
a moribund condition it was impos-
sible to get further facts from hii.
It was surmised that his assailant
thought he had killed Wilson, and
‘| to hide all evidences of the crime
placed the bleeding, resistless body:
on the railroad track, knowlng that
.ithe pdssenger train from the cast
‘fwould soon be aloag. However so

‘pédestrians in _ pass ing

i

Sand an act of alacere:%

a “ea thas t€:was he who had murder.
hanged od Eitjah. ‘Wilson the previous June. |

for ho fotte “d¥ “entreaty bad been |
used to dause Kirby to make known

aside and there lay an oid maul,

: Vicksburg, but was on my wey to}

pinents or promises fromany person

whatever, WILL KIRBY

oe this tiest day of Atucust, bon

heame up before the Cirenit Court

fend the prisaner. \. trial was

sto the Suprenre Court _Which af-

fy. On arriv. |
Ki “the negro.
tevelation, He de- |
namie was Will Kirby, |

Those present were ‘much surprised,

his identity. Subsequently hesigned |
aunique statement telling his side of
the murder. This he did of hisown
volition, his guilty conscience, and i
bis wild desire to be rid of the hor- |!
riblo secret, being the only motives |
that prompted him to do so. The

signed statement read as follows: |
A UNIQUE DOCUMENT. a3
My name is Will Kirby. '

I was going up the railroad one:
evening on my way to Dr. Ouates’s
place; [ met Elijah Wilson. He pro--
posed 4 ‘game. of cards. We sat
down and played five up for 5. cents
per game. I won $£.50 out of a $5
bill. He jerked up the bill: we
tusselled over it and T got it away
from him. He pulled out a Barlow
knife. Twas aliith ahead of him,
5 ings down hill towards the rail-

oad. He cutat me, and>I jumped

which T picked up as he ran on ne
with his knife. As he cut at me I.
hit him on the neck and head with:
the maul; [struck him another liek :
en the head. Leaving him where.
he fell, TL came to Vicksburg where I
rennet Aon WwW oweek tte te

Dr. Oates’s place, hoping to tind my
wife, who had left her home.’

1 was acquainted. with Elijah Wil-
son before this occurrence.

The affair occurred e: arly in June,
Tsu’. on the A. & Vo Railroad near
two-mile bridge. [ am = the same
Will Kirby who was arrested and
sent to the farm from Justice
Groolme’s court, and was reheased by
Mr. Prank Maxwell. although | wus
reported as ese ape a.

f make this statement frecly and
voluntarily, without any induce:

Sworn ty and subscribed before

L. M. Lowsvnira. J.P.
THE TRIAL AND CONVECTION,

When in due order Kirby's case

for trial, Messrs. Feld and [icks
were appointed by the Court to de-

entored into atoance and the jury |/!
returned a verdict of cuiiny of mur-
deras charged.” Judge Pat Heury |
pronounced the sentence of the {
Court and fixed the day of exec ution

|
vn May 93. |
|

Messrs. Feld and Ricks made a
motion for a new trial which was
overruled. An appeal was tuken

firmed the judgment of the lower]
Court, and fixed be, day for hang-
ing on January 3°

The next move of elawyers hav- |
ing the c large was tq cir-:
cu ea petition asking the Gover-'
r tocommute the death sentence
| to life imprisonment, Dr, H. B,
Wilson and Dr. G. Y. Hicks certi-
fied |that Kirby was-a mental and |
i. physical wreck _ and would most.
likély live but-a few months should
he be sent tothe penitentiary. Jailor


| George Kelly was legally exe,
cuted by the Sheriff about 1° mile

‘from Kosciusko last Friday at 1:12!

[o'clock in the presence of no less
than 2.000 people. His neck was
‘completely broken by the fall
and he diced without .2 struggle.
This was the first legal execution
‘to take place in this county in 22
23 years, and it is ta- hoped
Peatat will have a pood moral ef-!
hot generally. ek

LE ES ee apo oes

6 rer eT

vv *o¥y
t06t/22/E ™


ALN yg i if) 9

Pe ae AMT RR atte RN gO hte Senne wi gnerneser,. a

a _ Manoenctea negro: man, Hin
King, spnvicted, ‘at the: Inst term of |

Se op

te if the marder of
irl Maytha;-was executed
Semmes on | Thursday Test,

murderer nfédsed, agile tie
that he had'a pertion-of tho

ny. thet, Was taken, and-that be
Sthing’ about thé killing

iT, Bat" Ss ronld not “tell it.”
4 sald:a Pe mm trom: this. that he
bad: sir’ aca Bocam Plice, or accomplices,

“and made {f,9 ‘phiit of horiur ‘not to
| divt ge ble or their names, « pe

ase very: large’ crowd,
voodigoaad: principally of -bis own
 eplor; to: witnesa-the. execntion: As
| werrerg not: present: wé cannot give
| fan har: partionlars of. ee: Fevolting.

i

yet NESEY COE EIS -. -

ANU SUG 44 | Wh
\

/}

mh ( ane


en ae

T REE TRADER,

=; Peers em: ed aaa ce ammrenl

Se ae ee ere i)

NATO PUB ZS |
mo mytligr nora i

ay ‘bY . Me a Fax rte

ersteeal

TLESD Ny a DECEMBER Bs 1857.

sy phate ape

ma Mins Wee DONALD, ‘Eoizon,

oye rte
. teem

eran

"ade ANPDDERHOFY |

yar ee ee) bal mat wall buidsarae CORE Clad

Tinh HP Osui hee Aeveny tet canter

*<¢ denny wee
wile in BRP

uvee eb ida tomes Moya Aeibs ;
{

da.

~

ead We tein fron Vet. ‘Sherif. ther, Gaver
Wir. MoM ihe. bas’ “gr anaed £. Pers be Jobin
aud Tou, saves m: Mac. 3. Fouks Esq, Who
Wet sentence bts he erccutel, om Fray, the

5 Sr ot December. Cor the pariow ot giv eg reir }

eviutheg in a hart Mt Tiaaben, Whey Was alee con |

Victed, dah of tained & new tril US wil be ce.
col: ected thas, dunn art Lom ont > ising their |
mentence mM ceath, — thet dn guilt, aed
gxanertes! Real urn entirely aed decered’ m open
Court, that“ Reanen had oe tuelas + lo 4o with the
taurder 4° et diace the i Thee gievsint ia their
‘declarat: wide B
“Theevitenceas painst Reulwm ‘was entirely cir-
cuwstaitiak . i i
Gove uot Me Willie? *yeeing the great import:
ance of John and Toa’s avidence in behalt of
Reubeo, ‘whom they declare ta be entirely inno-
scent, has humanely” grarigal a respite, ia order
that juvtice nay be done ta Reuben; ; after which
“they will Le hung according to law. The delay
in their execution is only [temporary, bat abso-
lutely necessary “for the cause of justice and right.
Tt would qa ingardonable and end, to bave de- ]
uled te Reade tee only wituexses, who, pmtest-
Ang his innecerce, have conte ssed) and. kriow ail

alout the marder of McBride. The respite, in
order ty be effectual. will have to be exteaded to
the next term of the court ‘|
' The temyoracy delay iu the execution of John
uni Tunm.can gave uorbad ¢tfect, as the reasons
for it are well known; the late execution of
three siaves in the nearest has furnished
full. evidence that public justice is certain. , >
7 i i Pao one eee oe j
ol On Jast’ Friday, the slaves Reuben! Hen-
derson, anit Anderton, yexpiated their criine ot
inurder; neat aud in sight of Mis. Sharp's plan-
thticn, on’ the gallows; in the preaerce of sume
250 spectators. |
* "The Adams Light Guard, inde eodomanl of
Lieut. Lindsley, were taken out in vehicles, as
escort, and attended the éxecutioniol the slaves,
Why’ cannot the w ealthy county of Adams
keep up a Horse'C bmpaoy:

lees et  . 2

! A nt a ween g
To-day, Reuben, Henderson and Ander. |
slaves of Mrs.Clarissa Sharp, will be ere.
near the spot where they deposited Mr.
ec after the murder.

e Board of Police, selected that place as be-
e tnost proper, where the slaves on all the 4
boring plantations; aa withess: the certain
ance of the Jaw,

xt Friday, the ISth, the slaves Joha anit,
the property. of Win... awles, will be
en the spot where McBride was murdered.

rose eee POR we pene tun —

The Mississppt Free Trader
(Natchez, Miss-
Dece mber = (357

p. ly <ol.

Cizfu nee)

P- 2, col.

Cuz jis column)


: Five blacks

: | (Need confirmation) . 7

3 "Two intéresting and long-continued trials of negroes for
the murder of their overseers were terminated at Natchez, _
Miss., om Nov, 22, 1857, by the conviction and sentence of
the prisoners. The first murder was that of Duncan R, Ski.
| BRer, overseer on Mrs, Clarissa Sharp's plantation, Three
negroes, Reuben, Henderson and Anderson, some time in May,
last, entered the room where the overseer was sleeping and
beat -him to death. They carried the body to the woods and
placed it at the.foot of a beech tree, throwing on the:
ground near thé spot the dead man's gun and shot-pouch, The}
also saddled his horse, led him to the ‘spot, rode over the

corpse several times and then turned him loose, to create
theimpression that the murdered man while hunting had been
thrown and killed by the orse, To render this view of the
Case more plausible, they wrung the dead man s neck until

a

a sa *. ” . . 0 ee i. . eee ad
°
-

it was dislocated, The secret was kept for séveral weeks °.
until the perpetrators of the deed let it out, Week before
last they were tried, convicted and sentenced to be hung on
Dec, ll, 1857, The other murder was that of T. We McBride
Overseer on the plantation of W A, Foules, He was waylaid
on June 7 last, a few weeks after the murder mentioned abovw
by the negroes Reuben, Tom and John, while returning from a
visit to a neighboring plantation, The murderers pulled.
him from his horse, beat his brains out witha club, and
sunk the corpse, weighted with a ploughshare and the pea of
a pair of scales, in a pond, Here it was discovered, and
clues obtained to the murderers, who had been sentenced to

be hung, with the exception of Reuben, who, on account of
some informality, was allwed a new.trial," TIMES, New York

12/23/1857 (3-1)

e®

Aisin.

“The Slares John une Tom Huag. 7
ied Tom, the s aves of Wm, B. ‘'Pooles,

5 ciate of the i murder of MeBride} exif.

heir crime oa a gallows, erécted oot scerie
Soars ‘murder, near, Kingston, on Friday ‘tae. |
‘Phgig last! words were thas Reuben, alee: convict. |
Sa but ts whom a thew. hin ‘has been: granted,

worand is ‘imaocest. | ec =

The Mississs ppt Free Tradey
(Natchez, Miss

february 5; 1358
p- 2, col. l

Double execution at Natchez MS
on January 21, (858

tarned to his eld bome, aad tofd his old
master thai he bad come te take awey
bis children and. leggage. Eat that be
hed no. ‘berse. of webicie,. ‘aod hed ae
money to bire any.’ “Hie old master
told bim, v4 be bad been a goed boy op
to that tiwe, be weald leas. his wagon
aod teem and seed a bey wub hiss te
adoest Biga.) and - brizg’’ the wazon and
team back, which ‘was dese. ° He had
contracted . to work this. year wah a
planwe pear. here,’ ‘at which place be
carried bis. childrea.: On: seetg the
chik'ren his emptoyer told Bien be coobd
pot gfe the. ‘wages pe bad contracted

some of his friends ‘te tebe his chitdven
ood taxe cere of them, fod m tev of

eee

oe ts

é., hollow, tree, and peeees” ‘alot
arib, ecer the trea, bet 2 shert d:azece

see’ ‘icey one. cold ‘Pentty thew.

) & FORD faz Coa)

Oye Ms P66
C4 3)


urder Secret

The whole family was there, Mr. and
Mrs. Sampson Cooley, the parents;
Gwen, the 20-year-old daughter;
Bennie Jean, the _ sixteen-year-old
daughter. Bleakly they stared at the
officers, not. speaking, their faces the
same shade of taut, shocked gray.

“All right,” said Goodson. ‘“What’s
going on here?”

Still they watched him, not speak-
ing, not moving. Both girls, Goodson
noticed, had been weeping.

Mack Cooley broke the silence. “You'd
better tell them, Gwen.”

A wave of fright passed over Gwen's
eyes and she glanced quickly at her
brother, then back to the officers.

“T can’t,” she whispered in a voice
barely audible. She put a handkerchief
to her eyes and a shudder shook her
body. “I can’t; I can’t!” :

Then she was sobbing uncontrollably.

Her father crossed to her and put an
arm around her shoulders.

“That boy was killed, Gwen,” he said
gently. “You got to pull yourself to-
gether and tell these officers what hap-
pened. You got to!”

For a minute or two longer she
sobbed and then, with a great effort,
she put her hand in her lap again, the
handkerchief balled up in it.

“All right,” she said, still in the grave,
trenrulous whisper. “I'll try.” -

Goodson felt sorry for her. “Maybe
if you just answer my questions,” he
suggested, “‘it’ll be easier. Who shot
him?” :

“I don’t know!” she cried. “I don’t
know! I never saw him before!”

“Some man?” Goodson asked.

“Yes. I never saw him before!”

“What for?” the deputy demanded.
“Was it robbery?”

“No. No—Oh, I don’t know! I don’t
think so!”

“Where did he come from?”

Gwendolyn, speaking slowly to avoid
sobbing again, said, “Down the lane.
He walked right up to the gate and he
had the gun and—”

“Wait a minute!” Goodson was con-
fused. ‘“‘There’s no lane or gate around
here. What do you mean?”

This time the girl’s voice was barely
audible. “It wasn’t around here. It
was over on Hillcrest Drive.”

Hillcrest Drive! Why, that was on
the opposite side of Laurel, more than
six miles away.

“Then how did he get here?” Good-
son demanded.

“I drove him,” she whispered. “I
pushed him aside and I drove the truck.

Oh, it was horrible! Horrible!” She
was sobbing again.
“Right through town?” Constable

Holifield asked, an incredulous tone in
his voice.
This time she nodded, not speaking.
But right through town! Then she’d
passed a hospital, the police station, the
county jail. With a dead or dying man
beside her, she'd driven past all these

. places where she could have found help.

“All right,” Goodson declared. “Now
this was over on Hillcrest Drive. May-
be we can still find the man. Where
did he go?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I was
afraid; I had my hands over my eyes.
I don’t know where he went.”

“What did he look like?”

Haltingly, she tried to describe him.
He was average height, she said, not
short or tall. He’d been wearing a hat
and a coat and something white, like
a scarf, around his throat.

‘THAT was about a half hour ago
° then,” Goodson said. “Maybe we
can find him. Maybe—”

“Mister Goodson,” Gwendolyn said
hesitantly. “It wasn’t a half hour ago.
It was about half-past seven.” And
then she was sobbing once. more.

Half-past seven! But it was past
10:30 now—more than three hours
later.

Three hours!

Slowly, gently, Goodson drew the
rest of the story from the girl while
Constable Holifield sent for the coroner.

Ard Rushton in a photograph
taken during his Army days

Gwen drove a dead man from the
lane at left to spot where car
is parked outside her-home, right


30, elec, MKKX at EKXKHAX Laurel, Miss.,
! °
ran

Behind Gwen's Three-Hou

All That Time, the Girl Told Laurel, Mississippi, Officers, She Had Been
Driving the Truck Alone Through the Streets Instead af Asking for Help—
Or Trying to Phone Her Brother When Police. Were So Much Closer. Why?

By Robert Froman, Junior

Special Investigator for

OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES

i ~

Gwen Cooley: She
went right past
the county jail
and the hospital

Mack Cooley, 23, owner of a gas
Station and cafe just outside
Laurel, Mississippi.’
“You'd better come out here,” he said
over the phone to Deputy Sheriff C. W.

T™ man who notified officials was .

‘Goodson. “I think there’s been a

murder.”

Startled, Deputy Goodson asked,
“You think? Don’t you know?”

“You better get out, here and see,”
Cooley replied.

“Here” was the section known as the
Blade community, four miles from
Laurel, where Cooley lived with his
parents and his two sisters. Goodson
and Constable Gordon Holifield drove
out. It was past dark then, after ten
o'clock on the Saturday night of Febru-
ary 13, 1954, and a. heavy drizzle was
falling. As their headlights pierced
the gloom of the lonely country road
Goodson told the Constable what he’d
heard over the telephone.

“Think we'd better call the coroner?”
Holifield asked. -

Goodson shrugged. “What for?
We're not sure of anything yet. Maybe
it’s just some wild-goose chase.”

They drove into the front yard of the
Cooley home, a pleasant, one-story
frame house which was in the process of
being enlarged. Parked near the door
at an angle was a panel truck, its nose
pointed toward the home. Goodson
pulled up near it and when he got out
he saw Mack Cooley waiting for them
on the porch.

“All right, what's this all about?” he
called out.

at
i

Cooley didn’t reply; instead he strode
past the officers, to the door of the
panel truck, and he yanked it open and
then he stepped back, as though expect-
ing something horrible to slide out.

Something horrible was in there, all
right. The body of a man.

He was lying on the seat, crumpled
up, his head covered with blood. Blood
spotted his clothes, too, and the
cushion. Obviously he had been shot.

Startled, the two officers stared grimly
into the truck as the light rain settled
on their clothes. The dead man—Good-
son recognized him—was Ard Rushton,
23, a local boy not long before released
from the armed services. No weapon
was in the truck, however, - unless,
somehow, it was concealed by the body.

Gently, Goodson closed the truck
door. ,

“All right,” he said again. “What
happened?” .

Cooley, his voice strained and tight,
replied, “You'd better talk to my sister.”

“Your sister?”

“That’s right,” Cooley said.

“Now, wait a minute, Mack.” Good-
son was becoming a little annoyed.
“You're the one who called us. You
know darn well it’s a murder. Why
don’t you tell us what it’s all about?”

Almost stubbornly, Cooley repeated,
“You better talk to my sister.”

He led them up onto the porch, which
apparently was to be enclosed, stud-
dings rising from the floor to the over-
hanging roof, lumber piled against the
wall, Across the porch he strode and -
into the front door.

. ‘
tie
‘ We. f “
«
mn /
a
* + ”
- ‘ 4 de
A Pia
ppcegme tp
‘ ” j # ¥
Boel ~
Nee


cov coe youasar caiia’ Ps ‘an!
0d ok Jchs, Baliowa. Wedvesdaz.

Hs woe hag. iA. «he YRAe Ge. ‘O-,
#1 ee acCk. Wore DES

2 a oa pod ie
Sic nantes aod atin: Bouse.
tong,: where shey bas tite so" bunnad
Ogazneda: waiting foreome./ae jwel
'to-dsen "The doomed: \mané- was.
‘calai‘aod collected }4iha> er, 030";
Speer

ab ehvaike had lived at busban
faite” Ho Filled) her. pene
nape ae tietarm: den nadelarr:

ey was porta te i ak
before’ he,cofaniltted: the geet
epeiagy. ality: “Tpuse, te ib

nifg: andy Bushecting: es ‘inens

thea hie too! oneried bia taute, Aad

there tis two, rivals: “eat: matching:
e he’

: oma
Ket ste evasoat os. iM A Vor Was

erent: ee =o

peed ta ies stoening. iret and’ with :

fortes ay her hee these: )
mone owed wilthitind do otaie!
oe aid Sohiisor co-rob é
if ate whoa testi fying
ws titlen se: Sobibeort made}

% 3 vet Gated

CNS rar SL ees


md of the
" to Ala-
first con-

te, and
t new re-

iB jon cotton seed ahipped to points within
ithe State, reguieting the rates accord-

Upheld.

ANOTHER IMPORTA

Bpeciai to the Birming

News,

jon handed down by the Supreme Court
yesterday afternoon in the case of the
Mississippi Ratlroad Commission ys.
the Gulf & Ship Island road is one of
the most tmportant rendered by that
tribunal during the present session.
Last September the Railroad Com-
mniasion. adopted a new mileage tariff

ing to distance bauled. Considerable

pcript to
kif
5 AID

gaa

{| Opposition to the rates was engendered
‘land vigorous protests were entered by

‘laippi Valley road obtained injunctions

ter
oft

‘the various roads. The Gulf & Ship
Island road and the Yasoo & Missis-

preventing the commission from en-
forcing the rates. The latter system
afterwards withdrew its legal proceed-

but the Gulf & Ship Ielapd stood by its
guns and won the case in the Chance-
ty Court on the ground that the char
granted the company by special act |

Jackson, Miss, April 23—Phe opie] =

jogs and adopted the-new-—schedules, PM

the Legislature yuve exemption | the

{ Another case of general interest. te
gio Pring Bobs Apres of the #

wr brought watt.

recover a $2.00 poll

ber hiehe add, te
the claim that the assured had otha
ed a policy on hin fe by fra rf
method, the applieation aa
he was b4 yours old, whereas he atgtel
to the regietrar of the county where |
latering his name as « qualified elée tor!

oniy a short time afierwards that “he
ef of 4 "hihi SH

oF gh

LIFE INBURANCE CASE, ;

f He aorkY
Jéina the tangs and makes them «vund

oe ae ll ol digit

ga Bsns Bran Ge Ais od

the State warrants the retirement frame,

this iseue, and at the same time there] - ‘
will be enflicient money left In thel
Treasury to pay the drafts made for the
construction of the new State House,
There never was a time, perhaps, in
the history of Mississippt, and ¢rr-
tainly not since the civil war. when
the financial condiian of tha enaTOn :
wealth was in better shape than at
present. The calling In of the bond ir.)
sue, however,'i# made possible by the| |
amount of back tax money received ‘dl
from the Illinois Central,. §- han

nfits fon, Rounder dnie- re
. . eighteen months . ago.) —
The seanebs tw betiaivente tet, the -

Moh ciremiated ” chy con
ma within oe ie,

mers wh ae to be ha RC,
slated thin” spring WW: | Boar ae Arm \
Oo, Sah a Chair,
Hs ; chair haa cod Eo .
tw foll epring fice
ganorted eolars. ef
The entice wilt he

exele

AN TA whieh atschgt®:

Adame Drug Co. and Wiein Bros, 320

Routh Twentieth street,
oT oe

Steedman Cigars

yest

“Withou

nity for mot

AE eT OR oer * EM CRM Ct it

il

”
.

}


: Ee and

and re
railroad |.

students an

. day will . Jubilee |
y of the onvention,
g will be celved at
by the g@yernor of

Following the receD- |

g the “pen of a)

ch Meet-.
associa-
the

| South Ch
e the Bost¢
rganized i

3 have occurred.

AINST MORMONS.

Zeitung
aie of a

far. 28.—Tom Johnson,

\ILED.

r. 28.—K enyon BY ca

in Wall street, has filed

inkruptey. Liabilities
nominal, a.
ET, P. A

Men of. ’ Georela
nvention.,

in

. March 28.—~—The | an-

an the Travelers’ Pro-
on of Geergia, ‘which
sity teday, was made

+ a great demonatra-
tors being’ present in|
| regularly ; acqredited | ¥

sesenting the various

year)

plague, indluding rel
reported today. Five |

{ iment.

lof Chanac M. "puree

J Xr Hil’ aoe

s Getcal ‘Reorganisation of ‘the
Executive an Operating Staff.
The Erie a Link: in = Great
_ Hil 1: Seen |

| graph, and at present from th gen
feral direction, because, as it hag
j Stated, the undersigned collector hag no| —

__ | the house of comomns today to a ques- |
{tion from Sir Edward ‘Sassoon, Union "

the issuance. of a ‘permit. =
can stockman by this office t has
necessary to procure the permit
the department of the treasur ¥

geese ae grant such Depmianign |
_INDIA'S RESORVE.

Soakon: Mar, 28: -
iiton, | secretary for

New York, March 28. Signs of James.

w. Hill's ascendancy in the Erie ail-

road management — are accumulating. |

1| Old employees of this railroad com- | not -
pany realize that. important — changes di
fare impending, a vd in ys than | Eng
}one they can feel the a
fence of the president
f who was shot by the | Norther.” |
mutlaws Tuesday gta

hte ue ts. not belie Ge:

a cbers ‘that will ment hin ne
the chief influences | ‘in-te” manage

‘The prospective transfer of E 3

idency to the a, eben bo of
York Central board eae a Spence

dontion | ‘of ach Fant a
‘pruning = in ‘ths ‘“Oifferen

the ‘New [

ist, paid that the gold 1
lated under the India :
.amounted, March 7, to 6,957.
| There . an additional |


through dry lips,
ee,” the girl said.
night. He shoved
she could see it,
nodded, her eyes
selves a time that
the fanciest cab-
mpets swelling in
waist in his arms.
1wned and stirred
ind left his room
he bureau top.
Eddie at 8. He
h fright, sure he
Then a linger-
e to him and he
smiled.
capitol that day
listening to the

ild knock an old
) the face?” one

away with... .’
saik says he got
er. And after her

iewspaper by the

valked away.

store hold-up,”
wner of the
‘es from her

steps and Eddie
He drove up

or for the judge

litics until they’d

then... .

ry. Read about

man who mur-
Kicked him to

ion?”
dman....
bout a check?”
{ come in earlier
They've got his
hat’s worth.”
ze said. “A person
gz women for his
o fool.the police
enough to stop.
men like that. It
was a red light!”
1. He gritted his
ead.
*n Eddie took the
He’d stood it as
have her again or
idn’t know desire
lash that burned
just anybody but
eyed, love-makin’
to his arms. His
nd it couldn’t be
without her until
ild, mindless need
go to her again.
“What you got
e man?” And no
zency in his eyes
: him if it
was both a
old night-
or tne Parchman
led little cell. But
exquisite anguish

”

in which a slim, nude figure wriggled through
his dreams.

The night came, as he knew it would, when
nothing else could possibly stand in the way
of his going to the girl and he set about
doing what he had to do. Later, when he
found her, dancing with a sailor in a smoky
basement joint, he waited until he could catch
her eye and she came over to him sulkily.

“T’m just making my pitch, man,” she mur-
mured. “What do you mean coming in here
interrupting me?”

He showed her the fat roll of bills he
had garnered and she squealed with delight.
“You’re my honey-boy tonight,” she promised
him. “Wait till I... .” She paused, scrutinizing
him in the semi-darkness. “You go clean up,”
she ordered. “You a mess, You a dumb little
man, sashaying ’round with blood all over
your clothing!”

He went to his room and washed and
changed and waited for her. Her soft steps on
the stairs set him wild in expectant urgency.

“C'mon,” he growled and her giggle in-
furiated him. He had something to forget—
something horrible to forget—that might be
erased by rapture. But even her slim, smooth
arms failed him tonight; there was a thin,
emaciated body flippety-flopping on the floor
and a pale, pain-set face staring at him
through mists of red and nothing could oblit-
erate them. The soft, stroking fingers, the
seeking lips suddenly filled him with revulsion
—it was for this that he had turned his life
backwards over the years. This faithless ardor,
this price-tagged intimacy was reawakening
the old ghosts of Parchman and they filled the
darkness around him. Suddenly he raised in
his bed and doubled his thin fist and struck
her and in the next flash of neon he saw the
shock on her pretty face and the trickle of
blood from the lips still wet with his kisses.
He jumped up and stood in the middle of the
room, his arms stiff at his sides, hands clenched,
body tense and trembling.

“Get out of here,” he moaned softly. In the
neon on-and-off flash he saw her eyes, bright
and hating. But her slender nakedness no
longer aroused him and she rolled quickly
from the bed and snatched her clothes from
the chair and hurriedly dressed.

“You’re crazy,” she muttered, wiping the
blood from her lips with the back of her
hand. “Don’ you come around me any more,
you crazy little man!”

The big fear was on him.

“Get out of here!” he screamed. “Get out!”

Her hand darted out and snatched the roll
of bills from the bureau top, then she fled.
As her steps pattered on the stairs, he flung
himself back on the bed and the warm smell
of her perfume sickened him. Parchman was
around him again, the tough, evil faces and
the cruel, twisting hands, the ‘bars’ and the
smells, the pain and the fright and the empti-
ness of time where days are eternities. He
cried softly... .

The next morning he picked up the judge
and drove him to the capitol. He expected the
crowds on the long steps and the yard and he
turned his face when he heard the judge mut-
ter, “What’s happened?” Someone came up
to the car.

“It’s Keary Cooper,” the man_ shouted.
“They just found him. Someone kicked the
hell out of him.”

Judge Etheridge got out and went into the
building. Eddie sat dumbly in the big car until
the capitol cop came along and told him to
go park it.

“The ambulance is coming,” he said. “They’t
need this space.”

Keeler nodded. He moved up to the place
where they parked official cars. The ambu-
lance pulled up to the capitol entrance and
Eddie sat alone and watched as they brought
the night watchman out on a stretcher. The
tall, slim body was motionless. Keary Cooper,
38-year-old spastic cripple, had really been
beaten bad. Eddie looked away. After the am-
bulance left, the other drivers came back to
their cars near Eddie.

“Did you see his face?”

“Stomp marks on him!”

“And his room... .”

“Yeah. Man, there’s two feet of blood all
over it.”

“On the ceiling, even... .

“T seen the tire iron. A cop had it. There
was Cooper’s hair sticking to it... .”

“They say he got the cash-box out of the
storeroom. . . .”

“Who’d beat up a poor cripple that way?
I ask you!”

Keeler waited, numb with a helpless sick-
ness, until the judge and a friend came out.
He couldn’t move to open the door for them.
He drove slowly, making every effort to do
things right. They were talking again, in the
back seat.

“They'll get him this time,” the judge said.

“You believe there’s a connection?”

“I’m convinced the man who attacked poor
Keary is the same one who beat up Mrs. Saik
and murdered Hutchins. Each case is one of
stupid violence and cruelty. Each victim was

”

‘beaten long after they’d lost consciousness.”

“They’ve: got some clues, I hear.”

“They'll catch him. Because he’s stupid.
Parchman Prison is—Eddie! What’s the mat-
ter with you, boy? You trying to wreck us?”

“Sorry, suh,” Eddie murmured. He hadn’t
seen the truck turning. He was seeing the wide
gates of Parchman.

HAT night he moved. He couldn’t stand
being around where he could see that: slim
gal all the time.

Once he passed her on the street, hanging
onto the arm of a bit trumpet player, and her
eyes, full of hate, caught his.

His nights, now, were intervals of horror.
Parchman was in every dream. All the help-
lessness, the fright, the pain and the hopeless
terror waited for him in the darkness and the
mumble of men’s voices, the brutality of their
reaching hands, the guard’s step in the long
corridor, filled his tortured dreams.

But the worst was seeing the judge each
morning, the kind smile and the “Good morn-
ing, Eddie,” as though everything was all right
again. But he remembered the same voice
saying, “They’ll catch him, for sure,” and this

man he worshipped was always right and now

it was only a matter of waiting until... .

He couldn’t finish even the thought of it.
His stomach tightened in a little sick ball of
fear. Every morning, after the judge got out,
he waited in the car in the parking lot, and
each evening when he returned to his room he
was weak with fright that the men who would
come for him would be there. It didn’t get bet-
ter as the weeks passed; it got worse. He
couldn’t fool himself that he was safer with
the passage of time. They could come for him
someday. He just didn’t know when.

In the morning of June 17, 1955, he let the
judge out and drove over to park. Two men
walked towards the car. He knew them.

(Continued on page 96)

SUFFERERS
FROM

PSORIASIS

(SCALY SKIN TROUBLE)

“DERMOIL

MAKE THE ONE

FREE book on_ Psoriasis
and DERMOIL with
actual ‘‘before—after”’
Photo record of results.
Don't be embarrassed os
with Psoriasis, the ugly, F
scaly skin disease. Try |
non- staining DERMOIL.
Amazing results reported
for over 22 years! Many ©
grateful users report the
scaly red patches on body
or scalp gradually Glas ppseted and they
again rauoyed the thrill

Write today LAKE LABOR . 130
Box 3925 Stcathmosr maden Saneh i Da

Our Reference Your own bank or ony merconlila egency.

Berman's Diamond Loan Bank
Dept. DM —BERMAN BLDG., BALTO. 1, MD.

a a ALE
TAN SKINS, MAKE UP FURS

& Taxidermist. We teach you at Home, Mount
‘our Ba ogra fea. dectrete eeee sy og SS
Nak KROME LEATHER and make ap © :
FREE OOK ff paxes-telle all about it
It's Now Free. Send post card. ‘State your AGE,
Ni. We 'scHoon OF FRestisia S| PT. AGE Omaha, Nebr.

$100 tte $75,000. BUSINESS

Order Business. Everything In-
tock To Carry—We De’ iver! Your

logs.
Nat. Adv. Mdse. Details 5 “ea.
DIRECT DIST., Dept. fim, wo wee ¥. Sen ye

BUY WHOLESALE

25,000 ITEMS—CATALOG 25¢

B. MATTHEWS, (478-P2 Broadway, N.Y.C., N.Y.

@ by re-ed
vocal muscies and speech poorer Mal
Scientific Home Method for adults
and children EX-STAMMERER

based on physiolo
to FLUENT SPEECH” —

Write:Dept.M11 VOCAL METH
* P. O. Box 5123, San Antonio, ty

|
|

|

|

UPTURE-EASER

&. U.S, Pat. Off. (A Piper Brace Truss)

Double...4.95
Right or left of

side $395 sting

A strong, form-fitting washable support. Back
lacing adjustable, aps up in front. Adjust-
able leg strap. Soft, flat groin pad. No steel
or leather bands. Unexcelled for comfort. Also
used as after operation support. For men, wemen,
children. Mail orders give measure around
lowest part of abdomen and state right or left
itso double. We prepay postage except on
U. 8.

: PIPER BRACE Co.
SII Wyandotte Dept.DD-115 Kansas City 3, Me.

me

ee ee nner

29 southern 1007.

KELLOY, George, black, hanged Kosciusko, Mississippi, “arch 22ng, 1901.

"GALLOWS FOR GEORGE KELLY: At the October meeting of the Board of Super-
vdsors, contract for constructing a gallows upon which to hang George Kelly,
under sentence of Circuit Court, was awarded to M. J. Gregory, said gallows

"GEO aGE KELLY TO HANG: The Supreme Court last week affirmed the decision |
of the lower court here in the matter of the State vs. George Kelly and

March cend has been named as the day of his execution on the gallows at

this place." ATTALA DEMOCRAT, Kosciusko, Mississippi, Tuesday 19 February
1901.

"GEO RGE KELLY HANGED: George Kelly was legally executed by the Sheriff
about a mile from Kosciusko last Friday at ....(balance of article un-
readable because of poor microfilm copy.)"..." ATTALA DEMOCRaT,. Kosciusko,
Mississippi, Tuesday, 26 March 1901,


a i a a a il ome a ka ac nt a Rm aaa mR a i BG i i kl 9 (Na la a i aR I aaa a a ial i a all

lo SOUTHERN (ond) 19.
18 SOUTHERN (2nd) 56; 19 SOUTHERN (2nd) 23.

KEHOE, J,hn, electrocuted, Marks, Quitman County, Mississippi, on December 1, 19h.

"John Kehoe, who paid with his life for the murder of Jack Atkinson at the Marks
courthouse this morning at 6:26 a.m, was the only calm person in the execution room,
according to an eye witness to the electrocution. Kehoe, walked unassisted to the
chair, smilingly told his friends good bye and expressed the hope that 'he would meet
them all in the next world,' Kehoe ate a hearty breakfast in the Marke jail this
morning and drank two cups of coffee. Officials said at no time did he appear nervous.
Shortly after he had eaten his breakfast, Sheriff K. L. Brunt and Deputy Ben G. Barringer
told him it was time to go to the court room for the execution, Sheriff Brunt then read
the death warrant and the party left for the scene of the execution. The execution was
witnessed by the sheriff's officials, state officers, representatives of the Press and
two physicians, The electrocution was in charge of Executioner Watson, who travels
with the portable electric chair, Thirty have been executed in this chair, 10 this
yeare Kehoe continued to smike as the black cap was pulled over his head, He did not
discuss the crime for which he was executed, At 6:25, 2500 volts of electricity were
turned on, After ten seconds the current was turned off for one minute and then 1200
volts were turned on again for two minutes. Dr. Ae GC. Covington and Dr. V. De Franks

of Marks, pronounced Kehoe dead, Kehoe is survived by his wife and two sons, Je De
Kehoe, who is in the navy serving in the Pacific; W. Be Kehoe of near Coffeyville and

a daughter, Mrs. Lucille Pitman of near Coffeyville, Kehoe had been engaged in farming
in Quitman County for 15 yearse

"Johnny Kehoe, twice convicted of the murder in Quitman County, died in the State's
portable electric chair in Marks this morning, being pronofinced dead at about 6:31.
Kehoe was first convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, On an appeal to the
supreme court he was granted a new trial, but the second jury found him euilty and he
was sentenced to death, He was charged with having stabbed Atkinson to death in an
argument over a $15 debt in which Atkinson had put up his truck as security for the
poker game losses. Governor Bailey granted a 30-day extension so he could study the casey
tut the stay expired today without any action by the Govemor,'t DAILY PRESS, Clarks-
dale, Mississippi, December 1, 19), (1:6, 7 & 8)

(f SHNRINGS Wants —
AtnovT SHOWING FRAN,

fos Custineead rem Fone fue). nen

» oe.
- nt ein

spent n good portion of the Yoreneot|
there der, ite the fact that it was py.
atceally Imposelble for them te wittedy
any feature of the execution. d

“nother crowd was assembled on
the west stepra of the court housa, and
Bhenit( Willlama aid the physicians
and legal witnesses had to almost fight
their way through this gathering,
Mnanv importuned the sheriff at the Inrt
motnent to be permitted to witness the
event, but were refused,

A Wlerd Inctdent

The cell oecopied by denkina faced
the Southern ate of the Jetl  Nbaut
thirty minutes before the pour cet for
the exectition he commenced singing
“Jesus, Lover of My Seoul" oy blind
negro flute player on the rtreet out.
ride took up the refrain cand followed
with the rendition of keverul) other re-
Hgiows tunes, the thin, piercing notes
of the thate wiving wome persona ip the
Vietnity Tittle tremor of nervousnens,

After finishingg bis sone, Jenkine
knelt to prayer, and was oon his knees
When Father Helok Npprouched the cell
to ndmintsater the last rites. Laxt night
he wae permitted by the death wateh,
Joe Briley, to talk eoroumsh hin cell
door to the ather pritoners, and gave
them some good advice, pointing te
himeelf ag an evample of where wrong.
duing will lead ao man.

Hing = New Suit
Jenkins wae attired In a neat navy
blue xuit, white ehirt, collar and hlack
bow tle when he was led from the cell
to the gallows, The clothing was pur-
chased for him yenterday by Rheriff
Williams, and the negro neemed: ‘to
Neeply appreciate the new raiment,
despite Che fact that he would wear it
on only one occasion. :
Jenkins  cammenced donning the
death varb shortly after breakfast, He
dressed slowly and with extreme care,
Prior to the execution it wan necessary
to remove the collar and tle he had
knotted with fantidiuun tarte. in order
te make room for the noose.

The Denth Warrant

In order to leave no doubt In. the
mind of the condemned man concerns
Ing bin fate, Rherif€ William read the
denth wnrrrant to Jenkins yesterday

afternoon, and frankly toh bim= thar:

there wan no hope for either a reprieve
or commutation. Jenkina received the
newr with silence, and when the redd-
Ing of the fateful document wun con-
cluded he slowly turned and walked
‘back to a chair in the corner of his
cell, .

The death warrant was a typewrlt-
ten document bearing the signnatite
of the clerk of the Supreme Court, and
the aeal of that tribunal, concluding
with the words, ‘He, the santa Jesse
Jenkins, shall be Ary the xmheriff of
Hinds county, hanwed by the neck un-
til he be dead.” ;

Wore No fhoen

An odd feature of the preparationa,
was the request of Jenkinn that he be
permitted to dle with hia hoes off.
“That's the way Jeaus died,’‘he told
Bheriff Williams, anc wan rather tn-
Sintent that he not be required to put
on the new palr of rhoen purchased by
tbe pheriff for the occasion. The re-
quest was «granted, and Jenkine made
hin short trip to the trap with his
feet encaned In a pair of white socks.

The prinoner declined his breakfast,
waying that he did not care for any-
thing to eat, and that hackneyed old
phrarke, “the condemned man Brove at
the usual hour and ate a hearty break.
fast’ missed fire for once, at least,

Shortly after elght o'clock Jenkins
wald he would like to talk with his af-
torney. Mre Charles Hamilton, and the
latter went to the death cell, and made
a _conrolitory talk to his client. Mr.
Hamilton wan appointed by the court
to defend Jenkins, and, although he
recelved not a penny tor hin service

made a good fight In behalf of the

murderer.

ister Claimn Body

After Jenkins had been pronounced
dead the body wan turned over to his
sister, who came here from Inglanola
on Wednemlay, and who puld everg)
visita to, her brotber, ministering to
his meagre wanta, s )

A colored undertaking establish.
/ment furnished the caske: and a pine
‘box In which it was enclosed for shipe
j Ment to Rolton. The casket wan of
quality muoh better than If Usually
used for such
when the body fs burlea at
penne, The slater of Jenkins tequbated
that she be allowed tq beer sat leant

a portion of the espensés for the “tax.
Ing off,” Heth nate p Wwall-to-do
negre farmer In Nowdy. oaurtty, -

occasions, especially.
Bile exe


22), oe

y : i oe seg a yo

$l
pet ea Rhee bce eee com ne ane
ek 2 FET TAS

oe

ra )

AJecee Seu Zon. So :
aid \

x be Zz. foi y “Lewd eae and fare!

| Ai Ay es or <c- cee che Biche < elckcA- !
| ; ‘ WG, @i~ co}T Lye 2 Be ’ pea 4
Cee G <7 bed *g i fof ore Cees arn nm .
Tigo : As OB Bapitowe mee

20)~ ve og


Ce cat 2 aoe “=. a

wo © —oe— =
ae ene AR net wate Bow et, emtte gy Spree [oe aod : amedl

oF ine ere .
e

ene og: mete Rat ees tee ee


: ‘Slave JIM, hanged Issaquena Co, MS 12/27/1050

Ll be of
ft pe ee i
4 Po 2x es gute

ace ae

fates of cote hod Bree Si

tec hz sa ene’ 4 a aan

“" | lta Coe Sy,
aes, eK x:

HULA GLE tones (Apap

we

ip bow, hang Bre FX Sot hee a
$d. 5 =

ge faed hkeBoe td! fs Ee KH Ae t Zee

oP . .
4 2-22 ‘VE. Sy adc Fg ee

Le ALE ee. ome
/FBC - OAs : aus
-, An~ /t

ao VA o mohs 2 2e—e 9 ah ts. Pits: Ze » Pa

¢

F

Dc ce ee ee ae ee gt D
mara, 2 rs

A office «= P.O. Box 1270 » Nederland, CO 80466-1270 » 303-440-0913 International Secretariat = 1 Easton Street = London WC1X 8DJ England

21 May 1987

Further Information on UA 132/87 ( 14 May 1987) - Death Penalty
USA (Mississippi): Edward Ear! Johnson

Amnesty International has learned that Edward Ear! Johnson was executed
on 20 May 1987.

Edward Earl Johnson, black, aged 27, was convicted in 1980 of the murder
in 1979 of a white policeman who was attempting to arrest him. He had
exhausted all available legal appeals.

This execution comes in the wake of the United States Supreme Court
decision in McCleskey v Kemp, that the use of the death penalty does not
violate the constitutional guarantee of racial equality. In its 5-4 ruling,
the court suggested that the legislatures were better qualified to evaluate
the statistical evidence of race discrimination in death sentencing. A 1984
study of sentencing patterns in Mississippi between 1976 and 1980, carried out
by Samuel Gross and Robert Mauro, suggested that white-victim homicides were
more than ten times more likely to result in death sentences than black-victim
homicides.

Background Information
This execution, is only the second in the state of Mississippi since

1964. The last was that of Jimmy Lee Gray, executed on 2 September 1983. The
method of execution is by lethal gas.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases as a
violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as proclaimed in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.

Recommended Action: telegrams/telephone calls:
- expressing grave concern at the execution of Edward Earl Johnson,

- urging that no further executions be carried out in the state of Mississippi
pending a state legislative inquiry into the race issue.

Appeals to:

The Hon. William A. Allain

Governor of Mississippi

State Capitol

Jackson, MS 39205

(telegrams to: Governor Allain, Jackson, MS 39205)
telephone: (central switchboard) (601) 359 1000

Please send appeals immediately. Please check with the Colorado office

weekdays between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM Mountain Time if sending appeals after
June 21, 1987.

Amnesty Intemational is an independent worldwide movement working for the international protection of human rights. It seeks the release of men and women
detained anywhere because of their beliefs, color, sex, ethnic origin, language or religious creed, provided they have not used or advocated violence. These are
termed’ prisoners of conscience. it works for fair and prompt trials forall: political.prisoners and works on behalf of such people-detained without charge or
trial. It opposes the death penalty and torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatinent or punishment of all prisoners without reservation.


Mississippi con executed

PARCHMAN, Miss. (AP) — Professing his innocence and
urging officials to hurry, convicted murderer Edward Earl Johnson

died in the gas chamber early today, the first inmate to be
executed in Mississippi in nearly four years.
“I guess nobody is going to call, I guess nobody is going to
call,” witnesses heard Johnson say minutes before his death.
Authorities dropped sodium cyanide crystals into a sulfuric
acid solution at 12:06 a.m., releasing poisonous fumes into the
chamber.

Santa Maria, Callf., Times, Wednesday, May 20, 1987—3

Briefly... |


J
e
j |
\
s
, ‘
.
; :
:
4
|
|
t
. :
2 — .
- .
>
4
| Aa
| . . :
°
‘
«
‘ , &
‘


wV FL

IND VU aN 9

isaac,

=

ewan a
ee on ee 4 *

fle

r)
mel
oS

{ bak: few wi! faersing:
Johnson: had been:
> preachers: for © some:

my

” Dl ‘
jim and paid. he. wag prepared” ic

lig demeanor. Was calm, : ‘and

nis coun tenance elieertat’ a8 be cami:

put Of thie jail, ‘bat le trembled vi isis


: |
Y outhful Neg ro _ According to the women’s state-

ments, the man held: a_ switch-

: a jblade knife on them, forcing them

Faces Serious i hag as he said. 4
ter giving statements to police
Charge At Biloxi the women were examined. hy a
A youthful negro was hustled off local doctor, who in’ a signed state-
|to an undisclosed | jail by police ment, said that the older woman
today to prevent violence on his showed definite signs of an assault.
person following .a' rape ,case in * Upon. receiving ‘the complaint,
|Biloxi Tuesday night when two police immediately notified military
white women were: molested. and other authorities, and. 40 min-
‘Walter Johnson, 17-year-old Kees- utes after receiving notHication,
ler Air Force Base airman, waived Keesler Air Police arrested Johnson
preliminary hearing before Justice at Gate. number one, - :
of the. Peace Anthony Anglada on Biloxi police had ‘furnished a de-
rape. and attempted rape chargés scription of ‘Johnson to military
this morning and was quickly taken authorities and the'alert air: police
to -an- undisclosed jail by’ Police took | Johnson into custody at
Chief Herbert McDonnell. . approximately 11:25 p.m. when it
‘Johnson. was bound over to the was noticed. that he resembled the

grand jury without bond by Judge description furnished,
Anglada. a Keesler ‘authorities turned John-
_ Biloxi police were:informed about son over-to Biloxi police, and in a
10:20 p.m. Tuesday that two white signed statement, the airman ad-
women, one 20 and the other 15, mitted raping one, of the women
had been attacked. The women and fondling the other, police said.
came to the police station and told Johnson’s home jis recorded. as
thin<story:: 6621 South Drexel Avenue, Chicago.

They had been to a movie and He has been assigned to Keesler
since January 1; 1954, as a radar’

were walking home, south on La- .
meuse Strect, when they were student in the 3409th Student Squad-
accosted by a man dressed in wo: Chi ¥ tet chatt | ogta ' a
man’s clothing. He asked them a best ie die toa can Rani ellie
hs s . of mili-
question, ‘then. permitted them to tary authorities such a quick arrest

walk on down the street, but came Sree x: :
up behind them and forced them could never have beeh Possible,

to walk into the back yard of a
house on Lameuse. '

Darcy HEROD


gassed

JOHNSON, Walter, black, 15, BXKMX Miss. (Harrison) 8/19/1955

1 4
/| PARCHMAN, | Miss., ||@—Walter
“jJo\.nson, teen-age rapi & died in

, the | state’s lethal gas
j|Shortly before noon tod.
;. Johnson, 18) dressed a
stopped two young wi
Jat |Biloxi. Helheld a kn
and raped one.|/He was Arrested 45
minutes later. |!) |
SET TIME | || |, (biome
Sheriff McDofinell set the'11 a.m,
death time. Other cond#mned men
have been plaged in the chamber
at/2 p.m. pie ar ae
Sheriff Edward McDonnell went
to} Perchman early Friday morn-
ing to witness the execlition as the
chief law enforcemnt officer from
the! county in which! the defendant!
was convicted po
Was accompanied, by
ackie Fojintain and
Frank Randazzo, They||plan to. re-

in «

turn to the, C ast’ this afternoon).

Li |


JUHNION, Walter, bl, 19,

asphyx, Miss. (Harrison County) 8/19/195

JOHNSON v. STATE Miss. §41
Cite as 76 So.2d 841

Walter JOHNSON
v.
STATE of Mississippi.
No. 39537.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Jan. 17, 1955.

Defendant was convicted of rape. The
Circuit Court, Harrison County, Leslie B.
Grant, J., rendered judgment, and defend-
ant appealed. The Supreme Court, Eth-
ridge, J., held that evidence sustained con-
viction.

Judgment affirmed.

I. Rape €=6

Actual physical force or resistance is
not required where female yields to fear
under a reasonable apprehension of great
bodily harm, and, where she so yields, there
is compulsive force and the act is rape.

2. Rape €=51(1)

Evidence was sufficient to sustain con-
viction for rape. Code 1942, § 2358.

3. Criminal Law €=517(1)

Where there was no evidence that de-
fendant’s confessions were not voluntary,
or that he had been overawed, frightened
or intimidated by officers, confessions were
admissible in prosecution for rape.

4. Jury €>131(10)

Where death penalty can be imposed by
jury, it is duty of judge to inquire of jurors
whether they have conscientious convic-
tions against inflicting death penalty.

5. Jury €=109

Where a juror in capital case, while
being questioned by defendant’s attorney
and after his acceptance by state, said that
he had a strong conviction against imposi-
tion of capital punishment, trial judge prop-
erly excused juror.

6. Criminal Law €=448(10)

Where defendant in rape prosecution
did not plead insanity, witness’ opinion of
76 So.2d—53%

defendant’s mental age and his peculiarities
was properly excluded.

7. Criminal Law ¢=46, 50

The test of criminal responsibility is
accused’s ability, at time of commission of
acts, to realize and appreciate the nature
and quality thereof and to distinguish right
and wrong, and the defense of irresistible
or uncontrollable impulse is unavailable, un-
less the impulse springs from mental disease
existing to such a high degree as to over-
whelm the reason, judgment and conscience.

8. Criminal Law €=958(6)

Evidence adduced on hearing for new
trial on ground of newly discovered evi-
dence supported trial court’s finding that
defendant was sane.

9. Criminal Law €=956(10)

Evidence adduced on motion for new
trial on ground that no Negroes had been
summoned to serve on panel from which
grand jury and petit jury were drawn in
case in which defendant was a Negro es-
tablished that there had been no systematic
exclusion of Negroes.

ee
R. G. Wigginton, Gulfport, for appellant.

J. P. Coleman, Atty. Gen., Wm. E. Cress-
well, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

ETHRIDGE, Justice.

Walter Johnson, the appellant, was con-
victed in the Circuit Court of Harrison
County of the crime of rape, and was sen-
tenced to suffer the death penalty. Code
of 1942, Sec. 2358. The crime occurred
around 10:30 P.M. on the night of March
30, 1954, in the City of Biloxi, Harrison
County, Mississippi. It is undisputed that
appellant committed the offense. The prose-
cutrix, a young white married woman, tes-
tified that appellant had a knife and threat-
ened the life of herself and her sister, with
whom she was going home, unless she sub-
mitted to his demands.

io
wet


with our coal,

few
labor. of

to every
Hgbtens the

Christmas dinner, and the
turkey will be brown, tender
and delicious. when baked

A brisk, tively fire’ that
burns without urging and
doen't have to be attended
minutes
the
honsewife — tremenduously |
We sell the kind of coal that |
makes that kind of fire, ©

Ty. Mo Andrews, A. T. Cain,
_Grovea, T.-M. Keemum, (.
gan, 7. Po Geotsby. C,
J: Oristopher and R
| Vhereday being Thankagiving Day |
| court Was aljourmed until Friday
‘morning when the task of exajatning
the Witnesses was taken up. This
; Work hae taken up the entire tine of
‘the court since that time and the case |
‘had reached. no. development until!

Dp. ¥,

tl Shackelford,
R. Miller,

j have been heard on both
| to this writing.
taken up this morning, but it will per-
/ haps be the latter part of the week |
before a cenclusfen af the case sal
oreached oe

: “AN OFFIC ER SLAIN.

News reached this clty a few dnygal

Aftesia, a little town on the Mobtte.
ahd Ohio’ fallroad ahout twelve miles
| West of this city. Young Piamukes;
i Was killed on last Thursday evening -
about dusk one tile north of Brooks.
le. Miss. where he hed gone {4 ,
TYe A Warrant charging his murderer |
| with the theft of a dog. Mr. T. ata
_ Smith of that section had had a valu:

had ms by 4 nag,
davit eguin the negro charging bim
‘with the offense before Jugtice Halbert |
i of Artesia, who sent r. Dismukes!

[own They arrived at the neyro’s
house about nightfall and {t was here
that the former met his death.

, himaelf under arrest and that the ne
i gro replied that no white man should |

re STOP Fatima

_HA ‘R

arrest him and reached for his gun. |
‘Dismukes attempted to draw his |
weapon. but before he could bring ft |
into play the negro fired a load of shor H
into hissbreast and throat. killing him /
instant A&s $000 as the news of the {|
killing reached Brooker! lle and Craw:

ford a posse started in pursuit of the’
| negro, but the murderer bad made! ff
good bis escape and at last information

{

| THREE | MEN TO BIE 4

For Murder.” er. Wilt

« OE.

Hang

ET

“es. 2. COLMANT,

errarer me i <r

Ordingace No.65.

ROSES ROSES Alo GRAPCVINES.

Siyton. Ale.

iE TO PROPERTY OWNERS.

Special to the Birmingham News:
Jackson, Miss, Dec 3.cAt tte
‘Tting yesterday evening the 8

W. Jern}: |

Inet night. Several important witnesses |
ahies up)
The case was agats |

: oe of the killing of Mr. Ernest Diw |)
“tiitkes, ao young man who resides at:

0 Mr: Broce Cook to serve the war. §

It is;
reported that/he told Bush to consider |

received he had not been heard from. |

| Richardson.
\ ghet was fired by one of the two sous
Fi ce

| there bed been a conepiracy for the

ithe ith day of inet March, The crime
abet |... ee

ie Ot coe
i :

sna Ota

{

goods, all cblors and black~

pee rae x
The New Idea

Wogens ea
gazine

Qmeten at the Partere

4

H

isi

‘‘ Patterao

|
i

| alc AGCUMULATION OF REMNANTS
Your choice of 100 different styles in plat
ndings eto, Maka the skirt complete—perfect &t guaranté

one rettae gtnertateieere st ama = alanine celal

SS norer me ie Excellence oe

Yea can Bay The New Idea Fashion Review Beaty at Bre

Suitable lengths fo
albeolors and bise <

in nd‘fancy dress
-we ra material, Uningsra

Sa

W IDEA PATTE

si pag eine hs aie

caps aire Me
*

ance for Seatns.

“of Missiasippi aflirmed taree|
Lpemtence cases, two being for
god op for criminal assault
the Zivt day of January was fixed
re ¢ date on which the wes hang-

P albert ‘Lowi, | a hears was ‘conics.
d'ta the Circuit Court of Harrtson
comity for the murder of City Marshal:
ef Gulfport. The fata!
who partictpated in the
showed that

‘Lewis,
The evidence

murder,

Tom Pollett was convicted in the
Clrentt Oetirt éf Yaxoo county for the’
myarder of James Taylor, committed on

wha oomunitted during a anise over
the
Harrison coanty Cireuit Court of com.

pitting criminal esaadit on hie 1)
year-old étep-daughter.

than neval, and evidences the fact that:
p ddan hydra.

{ Bros., 322 Routh 20th street.

le

a-town of the same saieiaton im dis.

sinaippl that can show .@ tetter health
record. Forty-three few prisoners
were brought in during the month,|
the number being somewhat, latger

ne coe-ssates

hester, m4.

. Lyadeb, Met
“| owe the }

¥OLEY'S HONEY AN

had membranous erpbap, 4

flose gave him relief. We

ite use and it soon brought him

danger” Adame Drug Co., and wie

BE WISE™ =
Use a Gas Stove...

THE ROYAL ance MawOxs ¢ er,

ih the cose of Moria Huff va. State, | here

3 On arriving at the pind ‘eee;

#4 the : ipreparations, tying his arms,
Pinioning bis” legs, putting on the
. ack cap, etc. Through it all the
‘Prisoner continyed repesting the

prayer ater theres, See, and

“DROP FELL J ar. 1:32- Pw

“weight - tame down. The
F was heisted’ up nearly to
eye the fra‘ne and came down
I" with a thod.’ He hung for about
| three minutes’ perfectly still and
' then” he quivered and kicked for
“nearly a minute, stter which be hung
‘still and moved no more. In five
‘minutes from the time when the trap
“was sprung Drs. Wilson und Haral-
'90n went up to examine him and
‘shey found his ° pulse about 100 and
weperted-that he was not dead. It
was about eighteen minutes before
ifs was.declared extinct. The Doc-
(tore thought at first that his neck
was not broken apd thus death did
Come as speedily as it was ex-
, a, “Finally when he was |
LY. ‘DECLARED DEAD
z in down at 5 minutes be-

rin‘ Which ‘the body was
den brought to ‘the jail office
bad mn maplon ‘wie madé by

\) icks burg

| Bberiff Brennan’ - went “through all]

ob LBS p.m.the signal was 4

em M.., and Wilson was

‘attoe being Sania ey to FP aber
tal Wilson continued tosi rapidly,

and save his one short spell of con-'
sciousness _in which he told the few
facts mentioned, he. failed to shed

further. light on the - mysterious

orime---He.-lingered--a few “days.
when his death.came.

POLICE MYSTIFIED.

The facts khown. ‘in connection
with the lonely wayside murder were
few, yet the police attenrpted to se-
cure some clew as to the murderer.
However, their efforts were fruit-
less. The facts in their possession
enabled them to come to no conclu-
sion as to the perpetrator of the
maurder. § The spot where the body
was found was examined, but there
were no externalevidences to put then
ofivers on any kind of a track. Af.-
ter further investigation, which all
ail came to ‘naught, the murder
ceased to occupy so much attention
and it’seemed that the murderer
would never be caught.

KIRBY'S ARREST.

On the night of July 3ist, about
10 o'clock, Deputy Sheriff Dick
Mozuin arredted a suspicious look-
ing negro man on Levee street for
carrying concealed weapons. The
prisoner offered no resistance, but
when guestioned averred that his
mame .was Tom Jones. The negro
was handcuffed and carried to the
county 5 here he was allowed to
remain" t ‘morning. _ Then

Deputy Moguin again went ‘to the
_| prison for the purpose of aa

Event
Miss

(Uicks Durg ;

Meee Lat. Bee eee EU May. 3. 1
*iigand was. quite a large knocked in the head while walking Meera Enid at ih ;
of. apectators. Inside the | giong the public road pear the spot | ; ee _ mee pore °
ed there were many repre-} where he had been found He did se re ee ae — _ tan
‘ _ and the colored not know his assailant, and being in ‘ SP} = "
*; ~ near a oy penin Peat :to the Supreme Court which af-
’ ’ a moribund condition it was impos meee
*. he gewtees eae A firmed the judgment of the lower’
Ba a TION. sible to get further facts from hi. Peirt ind fixed 1 the aay for h
ae Wok the *pri: _ It was surmised that his assailant or hang-
BS 1:30 Cree pee thought he had killed Wilson, and | @& 0" January 5
eam he “i ‘tt 8 tohide all evidences of the crime Wepeligtde wen cleprers et
‘peal meee fe 3 placed the bleeding, resistless body |" arge was tq cir-
walked © ON Comtav.; : cu 2a petition asking the Gover-
ed by~ Father Sree on the railroad track, knowlng that
panied by. F \pétiting the. ‘ . r to commute the death sentence
#he crucifix, in’ hantemtag . the. the pd&ssenger train from the east J indians ;
aR “Gur Father Sel Mary” “would soon be along. However sony, | t life imprisonment, Dr. H. B,
alan tote tk sre Bait | ‘pedestrians in_passing 5 wt Wilson and Dr. G. Y. Hicks certi-
Ae hich =--snapa ‘x rd ove the bleeding "This is hap-

““ | fied jthat Kirby was -a mental and
ahypiel_wrost_ and would most |

ly live but-a few months “should |
he be sent tothe penitentiary. Jailor
Oscar Huft made affidavit that-Kir-
by acted at times ins manner as if
he were mentally deranged. -
INDEFATIGABLE WORK’ OF 1

This petition, with affidavit t and |
certificate attached, was personally
presentad to ‘Governor Longino by’

Messrs. Feld and Ricks, who-urged+

upon him strongly that this Was a
case for. proper‘ exercise of =
Executive clemency.) ~~.

These documents yére placed bev
fore the Governor some ten days ago
when he took the mstter under his
consideration. In answer to a tele-
gram, sent by the attorfieys for the
prisoner, to Governor Longino, on
Thursday morning, calling his at-
tention to the matter and pressing
him for an immediate consideration
and decision, the Governor's private
secretary wired that the Governor
had declined to @nterfere with the
sentence of the Court. Representa-
tions had been made to the Gover-
nor by several influential citizens
who were interested in Kirby's be-
half. Ail this. however, was of no
avail.

The doomed man’s attorneys did
everything in their power to save
his life; they gave their time and
talents unstintingly, and all this,
too, in view of the fact that they re-
ceived nothing for their services.

The attorneys for, the defense
wired the Governor Friday mak-
ing a last appeal for theirclient, but
nothing was accomplished and so to-
day the ¢ondemned man. expiated
fe erime with which. the war

ng st

ah So” PO
raed

KIRK, Greene,

' N\inobile. He was arrested in Memphis,

w : to a,Memphis hospital where he died.

wee An A a et ae

: black, hanged at, Mendenhall, Mississippi, July 13, 1928,

Tor pPeTMiusows.--- -- 2
system for furnishing eleétric sigs. --

power to the unincorporated community | in ie

of Uriah; and for approval of a pro-
-posed schedule of service rates.

NEGRO HANGED rl
~ OFFICERS’ MURDER»

Greene Kirk Pays Penalty For
Slaying Of Two. Missis-
sippi Deputies

rm

Every legal means at his disposal in state
courts having been exhausted in a fu-
tile effort to prevent his execution,
Greene Kirk, negro slayer, of two Simp-
son County officers was brought here
early today from an unnamed city and
hanged on a scaffotd constructed in the

jail enclosure.

Kirk was pronounced dead at 10:46
@m., 11 minutes after the trap was
aprung.

Barely half an hour later Will Burdo,
siso a negro went to his death on a
scaffold in the Tunica County jail at
Tunica for the murder of Clarence O’Neal
of Duvall's Bluff, Ark., near Askew ‘in
1927. Burdo was dead in 12 minutes
after the trap had been sprung at 11:08.

Kirk had been shifted about to various
jails in the state by officers who feared
he would meet violence at the hands
of a@ mob. He was convicted of killing
Night Marshal H. W. Hemby, of Magee
and Deputy Sheriff Earl Nunnery, of
Simpson County to escape arrest.

Burdo, it was charged at his trial
killed O’Neal after the latter had given
him a ride in his automobile. After
stripping his victim of clothing and tak-
ing all valuables, Burdo is said to have
shot O’Neal and drove on in the auto-

enn., while disposing of the automobile

MENDENHALL, MISS., July 13.—()— | wp

Noartt by part.
e O’Neal, although mortally wounded,

reached’ a farm house and was taken

X New Gliding Record
Is Aim Of Experts

PARAS 29: ch Plo Attemnts | OF

ery, Alabama,


117 SOUTHERN 523
KIRK, Greene, black, hanged at Mendenhall, Mississippi, on July 13, 1928,

"Jackson, Mississippi, 2-1-1928, Green Kirk, negro, whas being held inthe county jail at
Vicksburg tonight pending the filing of charges in Simpson County for the killing of two
Simpson County officers, Sheriff J. E. Smith of Simpson County said over a long distance
telephone tonight. |
"The sheriff said the negro was moved from Jackson because he and Sheriff Tom Moore of Hinds
County thought it would be disreppectful to the family of Earl Nunnery, deputy sheriff of
Simpson County, one of the officers alleged to have been killed by the negro, to have Kirk
in the same town during the funeral here today of Nunnery. There was also a ‘rumour! of
possible mob violence, the sheriff said, whch he said also had something to dowith moving
the negro to Vicksburg, Kirk was arrested Monday and planced in jail at Mendenhall, but was
rushed to Jackson when news was received there that Marshal Hemby had died at Dio from
wounds alleged to have been inflicted by a pistol fired by Kirk.

"Sheriff Smith said that he had expected the district attorney to draw up the charges today,
but was almost certain that they would be filed against Kirk tomorrow, The shooting,
according to Kirk, occurred near Magee Sunday night when Marshal KMaHX Hemby attempted to |
halt him, Kirk said he was drunk at the time, Deputy Sheriff Nunnery was wounded in a chase
for the negro." TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, La,, 2-2-1928 (1/5)

"Mendenhall, Mississippi, 3-13-1928. = Green Kirk, negro, was found guilty of murder here
late yesterday by a jury and sentenced to be hanged April 13. The jury was out only five
minutes. Kirk is alleged to have slain R, ™ Hemby, Marshal of Magee, and Earl Nunnery,
deputy sheriff of Simpson County, in a pistol battle on the night of January 29, Since the
killing, Kirk has been switched from jail to jail for safekeeping, following an attempt made
to take him from officers: soon after his capture." TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, La., Mar.

Li, 1928 (22-12).

NJuly 12, 1928sGreen Kirk, negro, conde,ned to be hanged at “endenhall tommorrow forthe
slaying of Deputy Sheriff Earl Nunnery and Marshal R, W. Hembry, is being taken to the

scene of his execution from Natchez tonight by Sheriff Walter P. Abbott and Deputy Sheriff
C, P, Roberts. “ince thekilling of the officers the negro has been moved about from one
jail to another to prevent mob violence and was finally brought to Natchez. Kirk was visite
by a number of negro ministers today and other members of his race. “e said today that he
had hoped his sentence would be commuted to life imprisonment but that he is prepared to pay
thepenalty of his crime, The negro has not yet fully recovered from a gunshot wound in the
abdomen inflicted by Mr. Hembry, but this will not affect plans for his execution," TIMES=-
PICAYUNE, July 13, 1928 (2/6).

reppin te

NEEDLESS

846 28 SOUTHERN REPORTER. (Mise

Appeal from circuit court, Leake county;
J. R. Enochs, Judge.

John Bright was indicted for the crime of
assault with intent to murder, and from a
judgment of conviction and from an order
overruling a motion for a new trial he ap-
peals. Reversed.

The evidence shows that on a certain night
in August, 1899, some person shot into the
dwelling house of one Hugh MeMullen, in
which house his wife, Mrs. MeMullen, and
four other persons were at the time, with a
shotgun loaded with small shot, bullets, and
slugs; that some of the shot, slugs, and bul-
lets went through a window into the house,
and others st®uck the wall of the house; that
next morning after the shooting occurred
some shots, bullets, and slugs were picked
up from the floor of the house and from the
wall; some barefoot tracks were found some
distance off in the publie road. Defendant
was suspected by the investigating parties,
who went to defendant's house, and got his
gun, which was loaded, and also got his shot
pouch and ammunition. Defendant was car-
ried to the place where the tracks were found
in the road, and required to make tracks by
the side of them. The tracks were then
compared, and found to be similar. The gun
was unloaded at the committing trial, and
found to contain small shot, bullets, and
slugs similar to those picked up at the house
shot into. Defendant's shot pouch was found
to contain shot, bullets, and slugs also similar
to those found in the house. There was evi-
dence introduced tending to show that there
was some disagreement between defendant
and Mr. McMullen, the owner of the house,

in n settlement between them, of a few
cents. There is also some evidence tending

to show that there was some feeling between
defendant and Mrs. MeMullen on account of
a dog of defendant's biting a pet pig of the
MeMullens. Defendant introduced evidence
to show that at the time of the shooting he
was at home. Defendant was convicted, and
sentenced to the penitentiary for one year, a
motion for a new trial was made and over-
ruled, and he appeals.

. ‘TL. B. Sullivan, for appellant. Monroe Mc-
Clurg, Atty. Gen., for the State.

TERRAL, J. John Bright was convicted
in the circuit court of Leake county of an
assault and battery upon five persons, with
intent to kill and murder. The evidence
showed that some person had shot a gun,
loaded with bullets, small shot, and slugs, at
night, against the house in which the persons
assnulted were then living, and some of the
shot entered a room of the house through the
window, and other shot struck the wall of
the house. The defendant was convicted, and
sentenced to the state penitentiary for one
year, The act committed was a dastardly
and wanton wrong, and the perpetrator of it
deserves condign punishment, but we find in
the record no satisfactory evidence of the

guilt of the defendant. The evidence respers
ing him was vague and uncertain, amountig
to but slight suspicion, and his motion furs
new trial should have been sustained. Be
versed and remanded. }

—=—

KIRBY v. STATE.

(Supreme Court of Mississippi. Nov. 12, 103
JUDGES—TRIAL FOR MURDER—FORMER Te
TRICT ATTORNEY—INDICTMENT-—DI3
QUALIFICATION Ook JUDGE.

Under Code, § 919, prohibiting “a joie
from presiding in a cause wherein he may bew
been of counsel,” a judge who was formerly é&
trict attorney, and drew the indictment upée
which defendant was tried for murder, was
disqualified to. sit in the ease, since drawhg
the statutory indictment did not make him #
counsel in the cause.

Appeal from circuit court, Warren county
Patrick Ifenry, Judge.

Will Kirby was convicted of murder,
sentenced to be hung, and he appeals. af»
firmed. i

The judge who presided at the trial ¥#
formerly district attorney, and in that @
pacity had drawn the bill of indictmes
found by the grand jury; and defendas
asked for a new trial on the ground of
disqualification of the Judge, which was &
nied.

Ricks & Field, for appellant. Monroe Me
Clurg, Atty. Gen., for the State.

OCALHOON, J. This case is presented fi ®
appellant with marked ability by coun
appointed by the court, who deserves ae
eredit for his unremunerated services as
laborious and_ intelligent research, on @
count of which we regret we cannot con®
with him. The aecused had every possi
point made for him in the court below a®%
here. Code, § 919, prohibits a judge to p*
side where he is of kin to any party to &®
cause, or interested in it, or “wherein BR
may have been of counsel.” Does the wort
“eounsel” include a district attorney ve
has had no further interest in the case that

simply to draw the statutory indictmet
This is the only question in this recom
worthy of consideration or insisted on. *
district attorney need not be, and cw
never to be, in the grand-jury room, Um
invited to be there by the grand jury for
formation “in a case in order that the $
may be presented in the manner requis
by law.” Code, § 1556. Te need not inte
or even sign an _ indictment. Keithler
State, 10 Smedes & M. 192.
presented in open court, and marked “Fi
by the clerk, itis enough. We have no§&
statute as that of Texas, the decision wh
which is relied on by appellant. With @ pe
the district attorney “appears and prt
cutes for the state’ when there is 4
made, and proceedings commenced under
indictment. Because one may be the
eral counsel for the state or a private

If it is de

ad LOUIS GRUNEWALD CO. v. THOMPSON. 847

ea cannot disqualify him from presiding in
save Jp which he was not actually of
eeavel, did not advise, and was ignorant
we facts, as we must presume in the case
«ter. If it had been shown that the judge,
w dstrict attorney, had heard the facts,
wef advised and drawn the bill, a very dit-
aerat case would be before us.

ese record shows a deliberate murder for
eeoery, and no error is found in it, after
ee most careful examination. Brxecution of
ee eentence Is set for Saturday, January 5,
1, between 11 o’clock a. m. and 4 o’clock
« m, in the manner and at the place as
weecribed by law. Aflirmed.

=

/

ERMLICK v. STATE.
Sepreme Court of Mississippi. Nov. 12, 1900.)

OMICIDE—TRIAL—PRESENCE OF JUDGE.

The temporary absence of the trial judge
tem the court room during the closing argu-
eest for the state in a murder trial is not
geen’ for reversal, where it is not shown that
w was out of hearing, or that there was any
«teal relinquishment by him of the control
#@ the court, =

Appeal from circuit court, Warren county;
? iienry, Judge.

William Krmlick was convicted of murder,
fet appeals. Aflirmed.

Ae shown by the record in the case, while
® “istrict attorney was waking the closing
eee ent for the state, aS appears from the
eeeit of defendant in support of a new
®»: the Judge retired from the bench, left
%* room, and went into an adjoining room,
et no compctent person was left to preside
® Sis stead; that the proceedings were not
weeended; and that the judge was absent
®eet 10 minutes. Defendant was convicted,
xt eentenced to imprisonment for life. A
*ron for a new trial was made, and over-
**4 by the court; and defendant appeals,
®t acelyns, among other grounds of error,
© absence of the judge during the trial of
te rane, e

Yeller & Mounger, for appellant. Monroe

BeCarg, Atty. Gen., for the State.

CALHOON, J. It is not shown that the
Yetre was out of hearing, or that there
®e any actual relinquishment by him of
® etrol of the court, aud we cannot pre-
*e either. Aflirmed.

=—_—_—

BYRD v. McDONALD.

Mepreme Court of Mississippi. Oct. 29, 1900.)
MEXATION—TAX SALE—TIME—ACTION TO RE-
DERM—COMPLAINT—SU FFICIENCY.

a ay bere a complaint in a suit to set aside
_ sale shows that the complainant claims
~, the property under a former tax gale,
“as did not occur on the first Monday of
nd or on a day to which such sale was

sued, as required by Code 1892, § 8818, it

_* t :
tehject to demurrer, since such a sale con-

eet no title.

Appeal from chancery court, Neshoba coun-
ty; John Davis, Special Chancellor.

Suit by Edna J. McDonald against A. M.
Byrd to redeem certain lands from tax sale.
From a judgment overruling defendant’s de-
murver to the complaint, he appeals. Re-
versed.

Edna J. McDonald, who was complainant
in the court below, filed her bill in the
chancery court of Neshoba county against
A, M. Byrd, the defendant below, to redeem
certain lands described in her pill from a
tax sale, and to have defendant’s claim to
said lands canceled as a cloud on her title.
Complainant, in her pill, alleges that the
lands in controversy were purchased by her
father, John D. MeDonald, at a tax sale on
August 3, 1874; that her father died in 1876;
that complainant was the only heir, and suc-
ceeded by right of descent to the lands;
that at the time of her father’s death she
was a minor, and that she has recently be-
come of age; that during complainant’s
minority, and since her father’s death, the
lands were again sold for taxes; that said
defendant. now claims and holds said lands
by; under, or through some such deed or tax
collector’s conveyance, that the records of
deeds of Neshoba county do not show any
such conveyance. In her bill she calls upon
defendant to discover in his answer the
source and chain of title to his claim, and
offers to pay defendant all taxes paid out
by him on said lands, all damages provided
by statute, and reasonable yalue of all per-
manent improvements put on said lands by
defendant. To this bill defendant demurred,
setting up, among other grounds, that the
bill showed on its face that the said tax
decd to John D. McDonald was to convey
land sold at a tax sale which did not occur
on the first Monday of March, or on the day
to which such sale was continued, as re-
quired by Code 1892, § 3813, and therefore

she deed conveyed no title to the said John
D. McDonald. The demurrer was overruled,
and defendant appealed.

3rame & Brame and G, H. Wilson, for
appellant. Amis & Dunn, for appellee.

WHITFIELD, ©. J. It is clear that the
sale on August 3, 1874, was on a day not
authorized by law. The sale was, therefore,
void. The decree is reversed, the demurrer
sustained on this ground alone, apd the bill
dismissed.

(104 Lua.)

LOUIS GRUNEWALD CO., Limited, v.
THOMPSON. (No. 15,617.)
(Supreme Court of Louisiana, Aug. 18, 1900.)

SALES—LIEN FOR PURCHASE PRICE—DATION
EN PAIEMENT—PRIORITIES.

Under Rev. Civ. Code, art. 3227, giving an
unpaid vendor a preference for the purchase
price over other creditors of the purchaser, if
the property still remains in the purchaser's
possession, where a husband purchases property

W SdangsyotA pesuey SyoeTQ *TTHA “XGHIY

¥
ep
a
: 8
' &

>

on

nn

| end

*T06T *¢ Axenuep *tddtss


Sen ae
JOHNSON, EDWARD EARL, black, gassed, Miss. (Leake Co.) on 5-20-1987. 1.

WASH De fest 5Iaild-

i Mississippi Executes |
| | | Officer’s Murderer

United Press International

PARCHMAN, Miss., May 20—] -

Humming spirituals after he was

strapped into a chair in Mississip-

pi’s gas chamber early today, con-

ran en demned killer Edward Earl Johnson

told prison officials: “Let’s get it
over with.”

‘Five minutes later, at 12:06 a.m.
CDT, white cyanide crystals were
dropped into a vat of sulphuric acid
and Johnson began gasping in a gray
vapor. He was pronounced dead at
12:21 a.m.

Johnson was executed for mur-

dering Marshal J.T. Jake) Trest
when the officer responded to a call
about a break-in at the home of 71-
year-old Sally Franklin in June
1979, .
_ The Sth U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court
and Gov. William A. Allain (D)
turned down his plea for a stay or
clemency. “Looks like nobody’s go-
ing to call,” Johnson said as he was
placed in the chair.

Johnson appeared anxious to get
the execution under way.

“How much time? How much
time?” he repeatedly asked the phy-
sician who was monitoring his vital
signs.

Johnson’s final words, audible to
witnesses outside the gas chamber,
were: “Let him do it.”


=

' @ San Jose Mercury News @ Wednesday, May 20,1987 11A/

National News

in », BES Oy tt

EXECUTION: Edward Earl
Johnson, 26, convicted of
to death a small-town marshal in-
vestigating a burglary, died in the
gas chamber in P Miss.,
this morning, the first person to be
to death in the state in nearly
our years. Last-minute a Is
were turned down by the Us Su.
preme Court, the 5th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals and a federal
district judge. Gov. Bill Allain then

denied clemency.

- Mississippi Executes Cop-Killer

Associated Press

Parchman, Miss.
- Edward Earl! Johnson, who kill-

ed a small-town marshal investigat- —

ing a burglary, was put to death in
Mississippi's gas chamber last night.

Johnson, 26, was pronounced
dead at 9:06 p.m. PDT, 15 minutes
after authorities dropped sodium

cyanide crystals into a sulfuric acid
solution, releasing lethal gas into
the chamber at the maximum-secu-
rity prison here.

Johnson was convicted of mur-
der in the slaying of Walnut Grove
night marshal J. T. Trest on June 2,
1979. Trest was shot with his own
pistol as he investigated a burglary
call at the home of Sally Franklin,

“San Frandsca Grenite $2047

5
»
w~ .
“ee,

71. Johnson had entered the house
through a window, threatened to
rape Franklin and knocked her un-
conscious during a struggle.

In the unsuccessful appeals, de-
fense attorneys argued that John-
son had been born brain-damaged,
was railroaded into making a con-
fession and had inadequate counsel
at his trial.


Mississippi Man, Professing Innocence, Is Executed

PARCHMAN, Miss., May 20 (AP) —
Professing his innocence and urging
prison aides to hurry, Edward Earl
Johnson died in the gas chamber early
today, the first inmate to be executed in
Mississippi in nearly four years.

**] guess nobody is going to call, |

guess nobody is going to call,” wit-|

nesses heard Mr. Johnson, a:.convicted

murderer, say minutes before his.

death.

The authorities dropped sodium cya-
nide crystals into a sulfuric acid solu-
tion at 12:06 A.M., releasing poisonous
fumes into the chamber.

_ Witnesses said that seconds before
the pellets were dropped Mr. Johnson
said, ‘‘Let’s go with it, let’s go with it.”

Mr. Johnson, 26 years old, was pro-
nounced dead at 12:21 A.M., according
to a State Corrections Department
spokesman.

The prison superintendent, Don
Cabana, said Mr. Johnson maintained
his innocence as he was being led into
the silver-colored chamber.

py /4 7

Firs NEW YORK TIMES, THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1987

About 20 people sang hymns and
marched outside the prison. Another
group of about 50 held a candlelight
vigil outside the Governor’s Mansion in
Jackson. - ’

Bible Reading and Singing —

Mr. Johnson, who was convicted of
killing a town marshal, sang hymns,
read the Bible, talked and played chess
with relatives ‘in a cell about 30 feet
from the gas chamber as his lawyers
filed 11th-hour bids to save his life.

The condemned man’s appeals were
turned down: Tuesday by the United
States Supreme Court, the United
States Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit and a Federal district judge.
Gov. Bill Allain then denied clemency
rs minutes before the scheduled execu-
tion. : :

a marshal in Walnut Grove, J. T. Trest,
who was shot five times with his own
pistol as he was investigating a bur-
glary report on June 2, 1979.

In a 20-page opinion Tuesday morn-

Mr. Johnson was convicted of killing ;

ing, Federal District Judge William F.
Barbour denied a stay. Among Mr.

Johnson's contentions were that he had

ineffective counsel, that he had become
insane or incompetent and that Missis-
sippi’s captial punishment law at the
time was unconsitutional because it
limited consideration of mitigating cir-
cumstances. :

Several hours later, the Circuit Court.

of Appeals upheld Judge Barbour’s
decision and the Supreme Court then
voted 7 to 2 against the stay.

Mr. Johnson was the first person put
to death in Mississippi since Sept. 2,
1983, when Jimmy Lee Gray was exe-
cuted for murdering and molesting a
3-year-old girl. ~

Mr. Johnson’s mother, Bettye Lou,
pledged Monday to file a lawsuit
against the state if her son was execut-
ed. ‘‘If he had committed the murder, I
would have been more than happy to
say you have to pay your dues,”’ Mrs.
Johnson said. ‘‘He no sooner murdered
that marshal than I did, and I was
90,000 miles away.”

eww OQ err Ser

Sy et.

ows.

Mississippi Inmate
Maintains Innocence
Until His Execution

innocence and officials to hurry.
Inthe gas phagaber early Wednesday, the
ear, ’

ing poisonous fumes into the chamber.
Witnesses said that seconds before the so-
err ae pee pellets were dropped,

Johnson, 26, maintained his innocence as he
was being led into the silver-colored
chamber

“He was thankful that the process was

to a close for himself and his fam-

ily,” Cabana said. ‘“‘He stated he was not
guilty.””

Johnson, convicted of killing of a small-
town marshal, sang hymns, read the Bible,
talked and played chess with relatives in a
cell about 30 feet from the gas chamber Tues-
day, as his attorneys filed eleventh-hour bids

to save his life.

The a were turned down Tuesday by
the U.S. Court, the 5th U.S. Circuit
Court of and a federal district judge.
Gov. Bill then denied 90

minutes before the 12:01 a.m.

execution A Daily FowRWal

sie

He 5 2
Mississippi Executes

Officer’s Murderer
WA SHINS ov [57

United Press International

PARCHMAN, Miss., May 20—
Humming spirituals after he was
strapped into a chair in Mississip-
pi’s gas chamber early today, con-
demned killer Edward Earl Johnson
told prison officials: “Let’s get it
over with.”

Five minutes later, at 12:06 a.m.
CDT, white cyanide crystals were
dropped into a vat of sulphuric acid
and Johnson began gasping in a gray
vapor. He was pronounced dead at
12:21 a.m.

Johnson was executed for mur-

dering Marshal J.T. (Jaké) Trest
when the officer responded to a call
about a break-in at the home of 71-
year-old Sally Franklin in June
1979. ‘
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court
and Gov. William A. Allain (D)
turned down his plea for a stay or
clemency. “Looks like nobody’s go-
ing to call,” Johnson said as he was
placed in the chair.

Johnson appeared anxious to get
the execution under way.

“How much time? How much
time?” he repeatedly asked the phy-
sician who was monitoring his vital

signs.

Johnson’s final words, audible to
witnesses outside the gas chamber,
were: “Let hia do it.”


ess.

Sheriff Holifield and Andy Hop-
kins examined the piece of cloth
carefully. ‘Looks like it came off
a pair of blue denim trousers,” said
the sheriff.

Hopkins nodded. “We're gradu-
ally getting a picture of the guy,”
he said. “We know he’s fairly tall
and wears an old army cap, a pea-
jacket and blue denim trousers.
It’s still mighty sketchy, but if
somebody happened to see him last
night, we may break this thing
fast.” r

A further search of the area re-
vealed marks made by a man who

Bears

Innocent victim of killer’s anger.

had slipped and skidded down an

embankment about 300 yards from
the murder spot. Close by were
several clearly-etched footprints.
Because the tracks looked fresh,
Holifield had them photographed
and carefully measured.

Examining the impressions care-
fully, Hopkins pointed to one of
the indentations. “See that odd-
shaped mark in the sole?” he asked
Holifield. “That. was made by a
shoe with a broken place in the
leather.” —

“It certainly looks like it, all
right,” agreed the sheriff. “It could

be a good lead if and when we.

catch up with him.”

Returning to their cars, the of-
ficers decided to canvass the
sparsely ‘settled area in hopes of
finding someone who had seen a
man answering the killer’s descrip-
tion the night before. The search
Was systematically made, but noth-
ing came of it. Apparently nobody
saw the man entering or leaving
the lonely area. _

One man, who lived alone in a
shack above the pistol range, ad-
mitted hearing a car start up
around 8:30 P.M. the night before.
He said that it was apparently
parked in the woods about half a
mile from the murder spot.

During the morning, various tips,
reports and rumors drifted into the
Jones County Sheriff’s Office. Holi-

. field had them carefully checked

out, but in vain. Rushton’s truck
was taken to the Highway Patrol
garage where it was carefully
photographed and- inspected for
clues. A fingerprint expert dusted
the door which Miss Feeney said
the killer “opened, but could find
no legible prints on any part of

the car.
That afternoon, Holifield ordered

a general round-up of all police
characters living within the Laurel
area. The round-up was successful
in bringing in more than 15 sus-
pects. Most of them were able to
explain their whereabouts at the
time of the shooting, and were re-
leased. However, one youth, 21-
year-old Marvin Anderson, had no
alibi for the time of the murder,
and was held for further question-

ing.

In the meantime Holifield had
long talks with some of Miss Fee-
ney’s friends. All of them were
unanimous in their praise of the

popular, raven-haired girl. Sev-—

eral of them seemed positive that
the killer was an ex-boy friend.
The possibility of a love angle in
the crime appealed to the sheriff
and Andy Hopkins. Digging further
into the girl’s background, they
learned that a youth named Clar-
ence Worthington had once been
violently opposed to her going out
with anyone else.
_ Worthington was immediately
picked up and brought to Head-
quarters for questioning. Sheriff
Holifield was especially interested

' in the young man when he saw that

he not only fitted the general de-
scription of the killer, but that he
owned a .22 caliber automatic rifle.

Worthington vehemently denied
having had anything to do with the
slaying or being jealous of Miss
Feeney. “I was attending a movie
at eight o’clock last night,” he said.

“Anybody with you?” asked
Sheriff Holifield.

“No,”

“Did you meet anyone who can
verify your story?” cut in Hopkins.

“No,” snapped the suspect an-
grily. “Listen, I know what the
score is, so knock it off. It’s up to
you guys to prove I shot Rushton.
I don’t have to prove anything.”

“You’re pretty smart for a punk
kid,” said the sheriff. “Okay, we’ll
see how smart you are after you sit
in a cell for a while.”

After the youth’ was locked up,
Holifield shook his head. ‘‘He’s got
the motive,” he said, “but I have
my doubts that he killed Rushton.
Call it a hunch, but I think he’s too
much of an egotist to be jealous —
over anybody.”

‘Maybe you’re right,” said Hop-
kins. “In the meantime I think it
would be a good idea to start

checking everybody who bought

.22 caliber shells in the past week
or so. It’s a tedious job, but it
sometimes pays off.”

Working feverishly against time,

' Holifield and his deputy sons, Gor-

don and Glenn, started canvassing
the area for anyone who had pur-
chased .22 caliber shells recently.
Proprietors of gun shops and
pawnshops in Ellisville, Crotts,
Estabutchie, Soso and Sandersville
were closely questioned, but to
little avail. Nobody answering the
killer’s description had bought .22
caliber shells within the past
month.

Their persistence finally paid off,
however, when a Mt. Olive sport-
ing goods dealer admitted selling
the shells two days before the
murder.

Hurrying to the Covington
County seat, Holifield and Hopkins
questioned the storekeeper. The
latter said that a man in his late
20s or early 30s had purchased a
box of .22 caliber shells Thursday .
morning February 11th.

“He said he wanted the shells
for a Marlin six-shot repeater,”
the owner related

“Can you describe him?” pressed
Holifield.

The storekeeper frowned. “Let’s
see, he was about five- feet 10 or
11, and quite thin.”

“How was he dressed?”

“As near as I can remember, he
had on a navy peajacket, blue trou-
sers and an old army cap.”

The officers exchanged swift
glances. ‘“‘Have you ever seen him
before?” asked Hopkins.

“No, not that I can recall.”

Back in Holifield’s office, the two
men weighed this latest twist in

(continued on page 61)

electrocuted at Laurel, Mississippi,

on November 10, 195)
“by Tony ane
: POLICE ECTIVE, October,

DET

From

KET

eh.

re

6

in acarw

Seeing her parked

jealousy. He sent a bullet


{
‘

RD RUSHTON straightened
his tie before the mirror and
grinned. In less than 20 min-
utes he would be with Mary

Feeney, and just thinking about
the pretty, raven-haired girl made
him tingle with anticipation.

His tie fixed, he reached for his
coat. He frowned as he weighed
his chances of winning Mary’s con-
sent to marry him. True, they had
known each other only a month,

but he’d fallen hard from the very
first moment he saw her.

Ard Rushton had no way of
knowing that in exactly one hour
he would be lying on the floor of
his pickup truck with a bullet in
his head .. .

In his office shortly after 10 a.m.
on Saturday, February 13th, 1954,
Sheriff Morgan Holifield looked
over the reports on the case.

Rushton was shot while he and
Mary were parked on a gravel road
just off Crest Hill Drive, on the

outskirts of Laurel, Mississippi. The
time of the shooting was approxi-
mately eight P.M., that night. The
locale had long been popular with
the town’s younger set as a Lovers’
Lane. .

Holifield looked up as Deputy
Clarence Goodson entered. “The
girl’s able to talk now, sheriff,” said
Goodson. .

The two men walked into the
next room where a stunning, blue-
eyed girl was wiping her tear-
stained eyes. She:looked at the of-
ficers and shook her head sadly.
“It’s awful, isn’t it?” she mumbled.

Holifield nodded sympathetical-


ntti es ahem a Eto.

i il ES is, =

7.2782, 22a <2

rm

ly. “How well' did you know Ard
Rushton?” he asked.

“Not too well,” replied Mary
Feeney. ‘‘We’ve been keeping com-
pany only a month.”

“Tell me about tonight. Start
from the very beginning, when
Ard called for you.”

Slowly, gradually, she told him.
He had picked her up around seven
P.M. in his Ford pickup truck.
Their first stop was Mac’s Steak
House where they had sandwiches
and cokes. From there they drove
to the gravel road and parked.
They were sitting there only a few
minutes when a man materialized
from the darkness.

“Tt was terrible!” said the girl
hoarsely. “He started firing at the
car. I could hear the bullets rico-
chet off the metal. Then Ard sud-
denly sighed and fell sideways, his
head in my lap. I stooped over and
put my head in my hands and pray-
ed. I thought sure he was going to
kill me, too.”

She broke again into heavy sobs
and Sheriff Holifield waited fully
five minutes before she recovered
enough to continue.

“What did the man look like?”
he asked the young woman.

“T couldn’t see his face. It was
too dark. Besides, he had something
white tied around it, like a mask.”

By careful questioning, however,
they learned that the killer was
about five feet, 10 inches tall and
slim in build. In the brief glimpse
she-got of him before lowering her
head she thought he was wearing
an old army cap and a pea-jacket.
' Miss Feeney said that after the
man ran off she got behind the
wheel and drove the car to her
home in the Glade Community.
During the drive Rushton’s body
had fallen from the seat onto the
floorboard of the car.

Prodded by Sheriff Holifield, the
attractive girl once again went over
her harrowing experience in min-
ute detail. Two of her rambling
statements caught his attention.
She said that the masked man
seemed thoroughly familiar with
the area. Also, that after the shoot-
ing he opened the door on the
driver’s side of the truck and look-
ed at the crumpled figure of Rush-
ton before fleeing.

“That’s all for now, Miss Fee-
ney,” said Holifield. “I’m going to
have to hold you temporarily. Try
and get some rest. We’ll probably
question you again tomorrow
morning.”

After the girl was led away, the
sheriff turned to his son, Deputy
Glenn Holifield. ‘““You heard?” he
asked.

24

Glenn nodded. “It’s
story,” he admitted.

“You don’t believe her?” .

“It’s hard to say,” frowned
Glenn. “She certainly had no mo-
tive for wanting Rushton dead. At
least it’s not apparent on the sur-
face. Heck, she only knew the guy
a month.”

Holifield lit a fresh cigar and
nodded. “The fact that Rushton’s
wallet wasn’t touched suggests that
a more personal motive could be
involved. Let’s dig into his back-
ground. Maybe we’ll find out what
it was.”

quite a

and hadn’t an enemy in the world.

“Yet he’s dead,” grumbled the
sheriff. “As soon as it’s daylight
we'll drove out to that gravel road
and take a look around. Maybe
we'll have more luck out there.”

Accompanied by Miss Feeney, -

the officers drove to the lonely
Lover’s Lane section on the out-
skirts of the city. With them was
Chief of Police C. Wayne Valen-
tine and Andy Hopkins, a special
trouble-shooter employed by the
Mississippi Highway Patrol.
With a trembling finger, Miss
Feeney pointed to the spot where

Couple was parked in pickup truck when gunman appeared out of darkness.

Ard D. Rushton, they learned,
was the 23-year-old son of Mr.
and Mrs. Grady Rushton who had
lived in the Lake Boguehoma sec-
tion of the county for many years.
The victim, who was employed by
the Luther McGill Lumber Com-
pany, had only recently been
honorably discharged from the
army where he had served a tour
of duty in Germany.

Neither the slain youth’s parents
nor his many friends could think of
a single reason for the murder.
From what the sheriff and his men
could learn, young Rushton was
popular with everyone in town,

Rushtons’ truck was parked. It
was directly in front of a wire
gate which enclosed the police
pistol range. The officers fanned
out, careful to preserve any clues
that might be around. The ground
was mostly shale and sand, both
fairly impervious to footprints.

Following the direction in which
she said the killer fled, they soon
came up with two leads. About
100 feet from where the truck was
parked they found five .22 caliber
shells. A little further on, they dis-
covered a‘piece of cloth stuck to
the lower strand of a barbed wire
fence.

i
:
!
‘
:
f
4

a: Tt Re

aio

Bia Snape he Mg

sweetie /~

piles guaminetess ont ce
4

ther cities.
hukni, the
n San Jose
10 followed
e of money

working on
ler first re-
far as the
o was hav-
the Romni
t help her.
rouble was
savings. She
ve, and the
her safe de-

back to the
were getting
g renewed.
rey,”’ Rachel

more. But
r open that

opened the
< manager—
lippings and
at Newport
1954 pleaded
lony convic-
ad made
ears pro-
r profes-

ell, who had
bling in the
st couple of
ong the 200-
area.

they had set-
lated consid-
ikely on the
rted hokkano
cted

\| interviewed
varillo. They
became con-
The medical
ie’s condition
>ur months of
he was re-

Mother Mary
ith. But Bolis
stigation, and
latives Charlie
omplaint, and
cended on.the
auled the pro-
ipen
ain that there
sy who hadn’t
soon after the
one of them

9, 55-year-old
osperous com-
Norwalk. Mrs.
to the district
ast November,
to know she
uldn'’t give her

n which she

_k was even
harlie Pellanda.
»sy without her
vy of 1953, to

consult her in desperation about their two
daughters, who were suffering from some
disorders that the doctors couldn’t seem to
cure.

It was the same old tale of Gypsy legerde-
main and magical mumbo-jumbo. When Mrs.
Ghigo brought her some of the sick girls’
clothing, Butterfly made it rise in the air
to prove her supernatural powers. She tore up
three $500 bills and restored them whole (by
switching peso notes for them).

The illness, Butterfly assured the distraught
mother, came from the accursed interest
accumulating on the Ghigo wealth, particu-
larly on $38,000 the couple had recently
received from the state for property con-
demned for the Santa Ana Freeway. The
only cure was to bless the cash and never
use it. Mrs. Ghigo brought $22,590, all the
cash she could lay her hands on without her
husband’s knowledge, and the Gypsy duly
blessed it and sewed it up in a green handker-
chief, to be put under the daughters’ bed.

When the eldest Ghigo daughter died from
accidentally swallowing rat poison, Butterfly
said she must have opened the handerchief
and been poisoned by the money, so virulent
was the curse.

She blessed another $14,000. But the power-
ful malignancy of the interest was still work-
ing; the other daughter got worse and had to
be confined to Camarillo. In April of 1954,
Mrs. Ghigo said, she produced another $25,343
for the same treatment, still without Mr. G’s
knowledge.

In September Mrs. Ghigo’s sister and
brother-in-law came to the Ghigos with a
proposition for quick profit in a real estate
deal, and Ghigo told Mary to get their
$38,000 cash from the safe deposit box.

Still fearful of the curse but not knowing
what else to do, she opened the handker-
chiefs—and, as she testified, found them all
stuffed with child’s play money, Mexican
pesos, a few $1 bills and old paper.

The Ghigos signed a. complaint charging
the Gypsy with grand theft of $61,933.
Butterfly brazenly admitted to Sergeant
Bolis that she had pulled the hukni on
Pellanda and the Ghigos. How else is a poor
Romany to make a living, save by clipping
the trusting Gajos? And who could say they
didn’t get their money’s worth? She offered
partial restitution, but said the bulk of the
money was already invested or spent.

When Rachel Uwanawich finally came to
trial in Superior Court last July, Deputy
District Attorney Aaron H. Stovitz pulled
out all the stops, pointing out that the two
swindles differed radically from the usual

case in which the victim has larceny in his
own heart and is lured by promise of doub-
ling his money or bilking somebody else. The
victimization of Pellanda and Mrs. Ghigo
were particularly cold-blooded affairs.

Charlie and the Ghigos told their stories
from the witness stand. The nurse also testi-
fied.

The fat Romni bunco artist relied on legal
technicalities for her defense. Admitting: she
had switched the money packet on Charlie,
she claimed the Aukni had taken place in
October of 1947 and hence was outlawed by
the three-year statute of limitations. Charlie,
on the other hand, maintained the money
hadn’t been switched till August of 1954. Why
else, Stovitz asked the jury, had she kept
him on the string for seven years?

The defense produced a psychiatrist to
testify that Charlie had actually been men-
tally ill when he was committed to Camarillo.
The doctor recalled that the patient had
seemed very depressed. “Wouldn't you be
depressed if you had just lost $20,500?”
Stovitz asked, and the medico admitted he
would.

RACHEL admitted to taking $17,000 from

Mary Ghigo, but insisted that was all,
and that the switch had taken place at her
joint in Buena Park in adjoining Orange
County, and hence she couldn’t be tried for it
in Los Angeles. Mrs. Ghigo said most of the
money had been taken in Norwalk, in Los
Angeles County.

On August 4 the jury of six women
and seven men found Rachel guilty on two
counts, of taking $20,500 from Charlie Pel-
Janda and $22,590 from the Ghigos. They
acquitted her on the $39,343 Ghigo count,
on which testimony conflicted.

The corpulent Butterfly bade a_ tearful
farewell to her children as Superior Judge
Lewis Drucker refused bail and remanded her
to the county jail pending hearing August
26 on her applications for probation and a
new trial. She faced sentences of one to ten
years on each of the two counts.

Pellanda and the Ghigos filed civil suits
for recovery of their money, totaling $84,433,
and attachments were slapped on the apart-
ment house and store properties of the
Uwanawiches.

Charles Pellanda healing power has never
developed, and his hair is still silver, but he
is now happy working on a good steady
job as stock clerk with a manufacturing
concern, living again with his relatives, and
steering clear of the mystic but costly allure
of the Romany dukkipen traps.

For a Slim and Fancy Gal

continued from page 51

slim, fancy gals. They’d got him in big trouble
once and he wasn’t going to let them again.
Sometimes when he’d crawl into bed in his
room and get thinking about their slim bodies
and tight arms, he’d go nearly crazy with de-
sire and he could hear them laughing as they
passed below his window on the street and
he could imagine their slender hips and legs
swaying to the hot music that came to his
ears faintly from the little cabarets*nearby.
But he’d put his head under the pillow to

keep the sound out and make himself see the
bars on his cell at Parchman and the tough
faces of the other convicts around and imagine
that his arm throbbed from being twisted, as
it used to, and then the images of the slick,
fancy gals would tend to go away.

‘Not always, though. Sometimes they’d stay
with him, in his dreams, most of the night.
Nights when he didn’t think he could stand
it much longer. But he did—for quite a
while... .

In just 8 hours ...a mew FALSE
PLATE made from your old one!

Latest dental science method
saves you big money!

‘ow $4495

Let the Mid-West’s leading dental laboratory make
your old loose, cracked or chipped plate into a new
lightweight, perfect-filting plastic plate.

EXPERT, SCIENTIFIC WORKMANSHIP GUARAN-
TEES SATISFACTION OR YOUR MONEY BACK!
THINK OF IT! A beautiful, lightweight plastic
plate for half what you'd ordinarily pay! You'll
look and feel your best in a lustrous, eomfort- b4
able Dupont plastic beauty made from your old t
plate. All missing or broken teeth matched and
replaced at slight extra cost. No impression {
needed. 8 hour service, You never dreamed ¢
false teeth could look or feel so wonderful ! 4
SEND NO MONEY. Just send your name and ad-
dress for FREE details. See how you, too, can get t
the best false plate for less! Remember: your satis-
faction guaranteed or your money back. You can't 3
lose so write TODAY !

RESEARCH DENTAL LABORATORY «¢ Dept. 111
5713 EUCLID AVENUE © CLEVELAND 3, OHIO

le.

NEW TINYTONE RADIO

REALLY WORKS. NO TUBES, BAT.
JERIES OR ELECTRIC ‘PLUG

per
Red plastic. GUARAN-
fteo ro WORK on local stations
if used as directed or money
USE MOST ANYWHERE!

Send Only $1.00 <P. ck. mo.)

5; vo Meng lus eek e or send

4.99 tor ive OMPLETE
WITH EXTRA LONG BISTANCE AERIAL KIT AND PHONE.
Wonderful gifts. TED SUPPLY—ORDER NOW!

MIDWAY CO. Dest BDD-11 KEARNEY, NEBR.

UNCLAIMED WATCHES AT A FRACTION
OF REGULAR RETAIL PRICE!

Benrus, Bulova, Elgin, Gruen. for ladies and men, all
original, like new. Each watch on a 10 days approva! basis
Priced at $5.95 up. Buy for yourself and save or sell as our
agent at decent profits. Catalog with 200 illustrations free
upon request.

COSMOS SALES CO.

B81 East 125th St. Dept. 226 New York 35

OLD LEG TROUBLE

Easy to use Viscose Applications
may heal many old leg sores due
to venous congestion of varicose
veins, leg swelling or injuries.
Send today for a FREE BOOK and
NO-COST - FOR-TRIAL- plan.

D.T. VISCOSE COMPANY
140 North Dearborn Street, Chicago 2, HMinois

Men and Women STUDY AT
HOME for Business Success and
LARGER PERSONAL EARNINGS.
44 years expert instruction—
over 114,000 students enrolled.
LL.B. Degree awarded. All text
material furnished. Easy pay-
ment plan. Send for FREE
BOOK.

AMERICAN EXTENSION SCHOOL OF LAW
Dept. K-5, 201 North Wells Street, Chicago 6, Ill.

FREE BOOK — Gives
une Piles Facts

aes f

LIVER & KIONEY

WEAKNESS Semmes DISTURBANCES

oe NY | CONSTIPATION |

ARTHRITIS

me fem pace
Asscess

Piles, Fistula, and other rectal disorders
frequently cause such common associated ail-
ments as colon disorders, headaches, consti-
pase nervousness or stomach, liver and

ladder conditions, explained in a new 40-
page FREE BOOK. Write today. Thornton
Minor Hospital, Suite 1112, 911 E. Linwood
Kansas City 9, Mo


He hated that jail. The big break in his life was getting

out. He swore he’d stay out. Then he met that sashayin’ gal

by WILLIAM WARD

JACKSON, MISS., JULY 15, 1955 .

m Edgar Keeler is a skinny, runty little guy
who used to drive the big, black official car
for Supreme Court Judge W. N. Etheridge.
He had to sit on a pillow to see over the
long, gleaming hood. The two of them were
a familiar sight around the capitol building
in Jackson, Miss., the dignified and stately
justice and little Eddie Keeler in his beloved
chauffeur’s uniform as his grinning shadow.
But Eddie was a good driver, because the
judge and the automobile were two very spe-
cial things in his life.

He loved the car, just as he loved all fine
things that he knew he could never have in
his less fortunate life. If a smudge of dirt
got on the car, then Eddie—as he put it—
was humilified, just as he was if the judge
ever had to open a car door himself. It was
amusing to see him scurry around from the
driver’s seat trying to beat the judge to the
door handle. Some of the jurist’s friends
called Eddie “the judge’s fetch-and-carry
dog,” but Etheridge would only smile
benignly and tell them that Eddie was a
good boy.

Eddie’s adoration of the judge was a
movingly understandable thing. Eddie hadn’t
always been a. “good boy.”

Back in February, 1948, he didn’t have a
good-paying job, not enough to put him in
solid with the slim, fancy gals of the colored
section where he lived. They’d kid him about
his size, but they’d hint that a man’s physical
stature might be offset if his bankroll was
big enough. Eddie got some high-stepping
ideas, ideas he couldn’t support on his pay.
He yearned to take some slick Sue around
to the swank places and show her off. He
even practised the high-kickin’ dance steps in
his room. But" when he’d shuffle up to one
and ask for a date, she’d look down on him
in scorn and ask what he had in his pockets
besides his fists.

Eddie knew that if he could pull out a fat
roll he could get a date. So one night, he
stole a gun from a friend and went out to
hold up a grocery store nearby. The store-
keeper put up a fight and Eddie, in despera-
tion, almost beat him to:death with the bar-
rel of the gun. For that he was sentence to
12 years in the state pen.

Eddie wasn’t meant for prison. He tried
to put on a lot of dash, like most small fel-
lows do, but it was all show. He didn’t have
anything to back it up. He wasn’t the banty-

rooster type. He was a shy, scared kid—and
Parchman Prison, in Mississippi, isn’t meant
for shy, scared kids. Unless an inmate can
hold his own with the ‘tough convicts and
tougher guards, he’s in for a rough time. A
real hell of a rough time. And Eddie got the
works.

The little guy got kicked around by every-
body and there wasn’t a night that he didn’t
lie shaking on the bunk in his cell, holding
an arm that had been twisted or biting his
lips against the pain of a new wound or
bruise. The big guys took pleasure in kick-
ing Eddie around. There wasn’t much diver-
sion in a place like that and they enjoyed
making the little guy squeal. They told him
they were going to kill him some night and
he believed them. He was afraid to go to

sleep, and when he did he dreaded to wake

up to face another day. It’s an awful thing,
to be scared to death, day and night for
years. When his time came up for parole,
back in 1953, Eddie prayed for the first time
in his life that he could get out of that jail.

He stood in front of the parole board,
skinny and trying to hide his shivering.
They asked him if he had a job to which he
could go. Eddie didn’t. And he knew he
couldn’t get one. Nobody would want a
runty little man fresh out of prison. He
stood there and saw his hopes fading and
knew that unless a miracle was provided he’d
have to go back to more years in his cell,
more years that he couldn’t stand. He’d die.
he knew that. He tried to keep the tears
back in that awful silence, waiting for that
miracle to come, frightened of the eyes
watching him and knowing that he was
scared.

Then—“I need a driver,’ a slow, kind
voice said. “I'll give him a job.”

FPPIE looked across the room at Judge

Etheridge and almost died right then of
pure joy. One of the men, touched by the
scene, recalled it later for a friend. “I
thought he was going to get down on his
knees and crawl over to the judge to lick his
hand.”

That’s why Eddie adored the judge. That’s
why he wouldn’t even let him open a door
for himself or allow a spot of dirt on the
judge’s car. The judge was a great, big shin-
ing figure of gold standing between him and
that Parchman jail.

Eddie swore off the (Continued on pae 91)

ot pe


One afternoon in January, 1955, Judge Eth-
eridge came out of the capitol and Eddie was

waiting to pick him up in the car. The judge -

had two friends with him. Eddie scrambled
to open the door.

“What did you do to your hand, Eddie?”
the judge asked.

“T cut it a little, suh,” Eddie said, “working
on the car.”

“Better get it taken care of,” said the judge,
and they got in.

Eddie drove carefully off down the street.
Most of the time he didn’t listen to what the
judge and his friends said. It was high-brow
talk about the court and legal matters he
didn’t understand. Today, however, he did. He
couldn’t help overhearing.

“Beaten to death,” he heard one of the
judge’s friends say. “Guy named Hutchins.
Ran a men’s shop over on Farish Street.”

“What was the motive?” the judge asked.

“Oh, it was robbery, they think. Hutchins’
wallet was empty and his cash register was
cleaned out. Blood all over the place. Hutch-
ins was dead when the police got there.
Vicious thing; killer had kicked him and
stomped him to death.”

“Any clues?”

“Not yet. They’re taking an inventory to
see if any clothing is missing.”

“They'll get the killer,” the judge said. “A
man that violent is usually stupid. Something
will turn up. I’d like to see him in my court.
V'll wager that within a week—watch it, Ed-
die! You almost hit that car!”

Eddie Keeler grabbed the wheel and got
back on his own side of the street. The blur
of traffic cleared up.

That night he went out with the slickest,
fanciest gal in his part of town. When he
fell into bed at 1 a.M., his physical craving
appeased, he was so exhausted he instantly
went to sleep. Twice he was awakened during
the night, once by his own screams. The tough
guys at Parchman were reaching through cell
bars for him again.

Two days later one of the judge’s friends
brought up the murder again. The Jackson
papers had played it up big, a gory killing
where a human had been kicked to death.

“The killer got away with a rust-colored
suit and an overcoat,” the judge’s friend said.
“A clerk said they were the only things missing
that morning and had been there when he

went to lunch. There was no record of them
being sold.”

“That’s what I meant when I said a man
that violent would be stupid,” the judge said.
“If he’d been thinking straight—Eddie, you
drove right past the address. What’s been on
your mind lately, boy?”

“Nothing, suh,” Eddie said. He started
around the block.

“Death sentence for sure,” he heard the
judge’s friend say, “or at least life at Parch-
man. I don’t know which would be worse.”

Eddie stopped in front of the friend’s house.
He sat staring while the judge and the man
got out. The judge looked at him curiously.
It was the first time Eddie had ever let him

open the door for himself, ri

Something was bothering his driver, the
judge knew. Eddie’s grin was gone. His eyes
had the scared look they’d had when he stood
up for parole. But as the days went on and
a week passed, Eddie brightened up. He
jumped to open the door again. He became,
gradually, the careful driver he used to be.

“Looks like the Hutchins killer got away,”
one of the judge’s friends had said and the
judge had agreed. ‘

B‘cK along the street in front of his room-
ing house, Eddie began to notice the slim,
fancy gals again. Especially the one who had
gone out with him before. It was hard to get
her off his mind. She knew how to give a man
pleasure, that one did, even if her giving came
high. It almost drove him crazy to see her go
into one of the cheap hotels with another
man, or to walk down the street, her rubbery
hips swinging, hanging on some big fellow’s
arm. Eddie began to sweat in his bed again.
The hot music made him squirm and there
was a neon sign across the street that seemed
to come on and off with a strangely sensuous
beat. He couldn’t get the girl out of his mind.
He remembered every detail of the short hours
he’d spent with her; the soft, damp glistening
of her skin, the lips willing and eager, the
smell of her mingled with perfume and the
rhythmic compliance of her body. Trembling,
stammering, he stopped her on the street one
night early in the spring. He had to see her
again, he said.
“How you fixed, little man?” she laughed.
“You need a big roll to make up for your
little size.” ;

“I would say that was the man if I hadn’t found my money in my other purse.”

G LIDWAY

“Tl have it,” Eddie said through dry lips,
“tomorrow night.”

“It just so Happens I’m free,” the girl said.

Eddie found her the next night. He shoved
the roll of bills out where she could see it,
with trembling hands. She nodded, her eyes
cool and hard. They had themselves a time that
night—real Scotch whisky at the fanciest cab-
aret, the din of the hot trumpets swelling in
his ears, the feel of the slim waist in his arms.
It was dawn when the girl yawned and stirred
and got up and got dressed and left his room
—and the wallet empty on the bureau top.

The alarm clock wakened Eddie at 8. He
lay for a moment, stiff with fright, sure he
was back in Parchman again. Then a linger-
ing essence of perfume came to him and he
rubbed his aching head and smiled.

He drove the judge to the capitol that day
and hung around the steps listening to the
talk.

“Imagine any guy that would knock an old
woman down and kick her in the face?” one
man said.

“Wonder how much he got away with... .”

“Plenty, they say. Mrs. Saik says he got
everything in her cash register. And after her
cashing his bum check. . . .”

Eddie found a discarded newspaper by the
steps and picked it up and walked away.

“Woman badly injured in store hold-up,”
he read. “Mrs. Emma Saik, owner of the
Village Store, talked to detectives from her
hospital bed early today... .”

The judge called from the steps and Eddie
ran down and got the car. He drove up
quickly and opened the door for the judge
and a friend. They talked politics until they’d
cleared the business district, then. . . .

“Another stomping robbery. Read about
it?”

“The Saik woman. Yes.”

“Police think it’s the same man who mur-
dered Hutchins last January, Kicked him to
death.”

“Did they get a description ?”

“Not a good one. A colored man... .”

“Wasn’t there something about a check?”

“Yes. The same man had come in earlier’

and cashed a forged check. They’ve got his
handwriting, for whatever that’s worth.”

“They'll get him,” the judge said. “A person
who has to stoop to kicking women for his
money isn’t smart enough to fool .the police
for long. And he isn’t smart enough to stop.
Parchman Prison is full of men like that. It
won’t be long—Eddie! That was a red light !”

“Sorry, suh,” Eddie called. He gritted his
teeth and stared straight ahead.

It was nearly summer when Eddie took the
slim brown girl out again. He’d stood it as
long as he could—he had to have her again or
he felt he would die. He didn’t know desire
could be so strong. It was a lash that burned
him day and night, not for just anybody but
just that one red-lipped, cool-eyed, love-makin’
gal who came so casually to his arms. His
yearning was like a drug and it couldn’t be
denied. Nights were torture without her until
the craving built up into a wild, mindless need
and he had no choice but to go to her again.
Always she’d smile and say, “What you got
in your pockets tonight, little man?” And no
matter how burning the urgency in his eyes
might be, she’d turn coolly from him if it
wasn’t enough. His need for her was both a
torture and relief. Gone were the old night-
mares that had haunted him of the Parchman
tough guys and the fright-filled little cell. But
in their place was a more exquisite anguish

in which a slim, 1
his dreams.

The night cam:
nothing else coul
of his going to
doing what he h
found her, dancin:
basement joint, h¢
her eye and she ca

“Pm just makin:
mured. “What do
interrupting me?”

He showed her
had garnered and
“You're my honey
him. “Wait till I.
him in the semi-da
she ordered. “You
man, sashaying ‘ri:
your clothing!”

He went to hi
changed and waite:
the stairs set him w

“C’mon,” he gr
furiated him. He }
something horrible
erased by rapture
arms failed him tc
emaciated body flip
and a pale, pain-
through mists of re
erate them. The
seeking lips sudden!
—it was for this t
backwards over the
this price-tagged
the old ghosts of P
darkness around hi
his bed and double:
her and in the next
shock on her pretty
blood from the lips
He jumped up and ;
room, his arms stiff a:
body tense and trem

“Get out of here,”
neon on-and-off flas
and hating. But h
longer aroused him
from the bed and s:
the chair and hurrie«

“You're crazy,” st
blood from her lips
hand. “Don’ vou con
you crazy little man‘

The big fear was

“Get out of here!’

Her hand darted «
of bills from the bi
As her steps pattere:
himself back on the
of her perfume sicke:
around him again, t}
the cruel, twisting h
smells, the pain and 1
ness of time where
cried softly... .

The next morning |
and drove him to the
crowds on the long ste
turned his face when }
ter, “What’s happenec
to the’car,

“It’s Keary Coope:
“They just found him
hell out of him.”

Judge Etheridge got
building. Eddie sat dum
the capitol cop came a
go park it.

© ae

—

96

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS

D MONEY

AD MATCHES! Sell crag Designs—
20, 30, 40 and 240-light book matches.
BIGGER SPOT CASH COMMISSION :

es
Flowering Shrubs, Roses, V:
outfit Free. STAR)

‘TUNITY!

- MAKING OPPOR’ SONGS INTO $$$$$$$—S:
Take an orders for world famous | lion dollar yearly for Ne
‘arieti Fruit Trees ti

hare $29 mil-

‘Valuable U.S.A.! (1) Scarce gen-

» Vines.
K Bro’s, Desk 30156, popraisel

STO!
Ni G. Sales kit’ furnished. | Safet:
MATCH Corp., Dept. DG-32, Chicago 32, Roa: i

Cuts for all businesses and political par-

ARM, 11
ties. Free powerhouse selling kit, low | New York 16,

P THIEF
yY Box wi SONGWRITERS! Outs ,» ami

wild to business, viduals, | ing offer. HIBBELER, C-i2, 6808 Oleen. ieee
rs out loud alarm for § hours at | der, Chicago 31, Ill. is c

ADVERTISING Book Matches—Cash in | cash, valuables. p
on big demand; sell union label matches. eet Write for sample off

wood 28-DG, California.

. Also, ngs
Big Sales | promoted by largest firm. Information; | U.S.; ancient 19th
. Send to NORD

ection 30 all-different
century, valuable $5

e FPREE— )
w Songwriters, | uine stamp ede first U.S.A., issued in
ig co
n'

! Amazing new portable
th built-in burglar alarm

N YKE | stamp, etc. (3) Packet gor Com-

lishing Co., 6000 Sunset Blvd., Holly- | memoratives. (4) Large ifits U.8,
catalog; 64-page, four-color Collectors’

Guide; other unusual offers. Everything

az- | (OF only 10c covering mailing costs!

1 Transit Bldg., Boston

charge for melodies.

nurses, doctors, others. All popular miracle cago 7, Illinois.

fabrics—nylon, dacron, orlon. Exclusive

GET New Shirt Outfit Free: make FREE
$90.00 weekly on 5 average orders a day. words—
Famous quality MAD

E-TO-MEASURE Johnny Mack’
dress and sport shirts at $3.95 up sell fast Dep'
rience needed. Full paleo cid be

to all men. No ex

WILL You Wear New Suits and Top-

Match Co., Dept. JX-1155, 7530 Green- | coats without one penny cost and agree
to show them to friends? You

uP to on -0e in a day even in spare time,

ANYONE CAN SELL famous Hoover | without canv: .  STONE- » 532

Uniforms for beauty shops, waitresses, | South Throop Street, Dept. J-926, Chi- pee "G, t60o "Vista Det Hollywood

ois. 4 Mar,

28, Calif. .

$1,000 each unt ). Sen
> lustrated folders showing Amazing prices
styles, top quality. Big cash income now, aid for old stamps and coins. BAKER
real future. Equipment free. HOOVER, SONGWRITERS WANTED Complete Songs and lyrics AMPS (DM-511), 50 Berkshire, Rock-
Dept. W-110, New York 11, N. ¥. for consideration by nationally advertised | Ville Centre, New York.
rate with
RECORDS of your song—Your | poser of music who’s in a position to VENTRILOQUISM
melody. Free tntOAALION, assure you of a recording contract—
094 est

Melody Mart, 1 Placing your songs on the market. C.

SONGWRITERS: Large recording com- | Lovely Flower ‘Trinner . Pirst
4 East 33nd St er, Meme. Ee wants new songs. Royalty basis. | Big % * Gremniand
at] " » ational sales, promotion if selected. No Dancer, etc. Free with approvals. CAPI-
Send songs, ns TAL ST. Rock 20, Arkansas.

fox wei, Moliyoo Cates

STAMPS WANTED (OLD)

can make

OLD STAMPS Wanted. I will pay 100.00

SONGWRITERS: Song fs wanted.
Songs published. $1200 advance royalty | each for 1924 l-cent green

label. Also co-ope

D. Los Angeles 37. ISABEL MAYER,

or part time. write: PACKARD Shirt
Co., Dept. 109, Terre Haute, Indi PO:

MEN! Here's $1000 a month making | tion. Imm

midget Presto Fire Ex er to homes, | Boston.

WANTED for musical setti
Amertca's lar;

Oregon.

VENTRILOQ)
. Box 3896, Portland 8, ite book 25c. G

JUISM Selftaught — com-
REENVIEW, Box 61-EP,
testone 57, New York.

EMS bi
gest songwriting organiza- WATCHES & WATCH REPAIRING
ate consideration. FIVE SPECIAL SERVICES
3-second demonstration of powerful, | Star Music Masters, 231 Beacon Building,

offices, factories, car owners, garages,

farms, etc. New chemical beats expen-
sive ig Only $3.98 with big | poems
profit. ITE, 114 East 32nd Dept. Music Com
50-A, New York 16. York City

- Immediate consideration. CROWN
pany, 1478-D Broadway, New

POEMS Wanted for New Songs. Send Arizona, 25c. CHARLIE’S
na.

Avenue, Phoenix, Arizo

MEN WANTED to sell our established
line of nationally known MEN’s hygienic
products to physicians and druggists. Ex- | Poems.

1 's - | consideration. SONGCRAFTERS,
toler Fg mn oe gg pene Arcade Station, Nashville, Tenn.

mers waiting salesmen. Free price
list upon request. Send $2.00 for sales-

man’s sample kit including actual sam-

Free
ples and prices of merchandise to be sold. | examination. nrg! Agee McNEIL, Master FIRST U.N. Set. Among World’s Pret-
PEDERAL PREMIUM SUPPLY, 4307-D o ae 510- . Alexandria, tiest. Only WELLES,
ois. geles 5, Calif.

Lawrence Avenue, Chicago 30, Illinois

POEMS Wanted to be set to music.

WATCH and cl e
information. NORTH AMERICAN, Dept

remailed from anywhere in | 55-K, 2320 North Mil aukee, Chicago 47,
314 North 1st | linois. —

| WEARING APPAREL APPAREL
STAMP. COLLECTING MEN’S Athleti rters, und
ZOEMS Wanted For New Songs. Send } sawn couserne | pire yprige list, POLY Shop, Box 320,
2724

50,000 STAMP Grabbags

25c each.
ANDERSON, Box 1, Reading, Pa. WHOLESALE APPLIANCES

Fort Worth 5, Texas.

Los An-

10c. Approvals.
Box 1246-DM, New York City 8.

BUY WHOLESALE—25,000 items—Cata-
jog 25c. MATTHEWS, 1474-D2, Broad-
way, New York City 36.

—

(Continued from page 93)
One was Detective Foster and the other De-
tective Mitchell. He knew what they wanted.
He began to shake. His teeth were chattering
when they got up to him and his eyes felt like
they were popping out of his head.

“Hello, Eddie,” Foster said.

Eddie nodded. He just couldn’t talk.

“We want to ask you some questions.”

Here it came. No, he’d say. He tried to
form his mouth to say it but his throat felt
closed. Foster took out a piece of paper and
waved it before his face.

“You ever see this, Eddie?” he asked.

The “no” wouldn’t come out. Eddie shook
his head. His hands ached on the steering
wheel. He’d seen it. It was that check. The
forged one he’d written and cashed at Mrs.
Saik’s place.

“How about a tire iron, Eddie?” Detective
Mitchell asked. “You ever use one of those?”

“No,” Eddie yelled. The word hurt his
throat as it tore free. He’d keep saying it over
and over. Maybe then they’d go away.

“Eddie,” a voice said. It was the judge.
Eddie’s hands fell from the wheel, limp. He
could lie to anybody and keep on lying, but
he couldn’t lie to the judge. He drew a deep,
quivering breath.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “I used a tire iron.
On Mr. Cooper, I did. I’m sorry, Judge Eth-
eridge, suh.” That was his own voice sobbing.
“I’m sorry—sorry—sorry,” he wept.

He nearly died that first night, with the
bars around him again, the bunk hard under
his thin body and the dimness filled with the
awful sighing of caged men.

The next morning, sitting limply in Assist-
ant District Attorney McClendon’s office, with
Detectives Foster and Mitchell and Bennett
and Harrell around ‘him, he told them all
about it. He was glad the judgé wasn’t there.
He could never forget the judge’s face the day
before, when he turned and walked away. He
couldn’t talk then, but now his voice seemed
oiled. :

“IT seen this rust-colored suit in Hutchins’
window,” he said. “I liked the color and the
way it was made. There was a sign, ‘Closing
Out, Going Out of Business.’ I went in and
tried it on.”

He didn’t mention the girl.

“I just decided to rob him. I don’t know
why. He was wrapping it up, his head down,
and I hit him a rabbit-chop on his neck.
He leaned down and his head dropped and I
chopped him again.” :

Hutchins fell to the floor and then tried to
get up, raising his head.

“I kicked him on the chin. I guess I went
crazy kicking him. I hit him once with my
hand and his teeth cut my fingers, so I keep
kicking him. I drug him to the back of the
store. I thought he was done for but he
grabbed the side of a cot and tried to pull
himself up, but the cot turned over and he
fell. I kept kicking at his face until he didn’t
move no more. I got his billfold and the
money out of the cash drawer... .”

He stopped: He didn’t want to tell them
about that night, how the dead man’s money
had gone to ease his craving for a slim, high-
stepping girl.

“T GIVE Mrs. Saik a check,” he said, going
on to the next story, “with a name I just
made up. She told me to come back at noon
and she’d have the cash. But when I did she
started asking questions abaut the check, and
when I couldn’t answer I got mad. She ran to
the phone but I pulled her away and hit her.
She fell down. She started screaming so I
kicked her in the face. I kicked her until she
shut up. Some people started running across
the street to the store, so I run out the back.
I scooped up the money in her cash box as
T left... .”
A hundred dollars for a slim, soft gal... . .
“I hated to beat up on Mr. Cooper. I... I
had to have some money for . . . for a friend.
I knew there was some money in the store-
toom. Everybody knew Mr. Cooper keeps some

there. I got a tire iron out of a truck parked
by the capitol. I snuck in and hid it by a
water cooler on the second floor. That night
I went back.”

He’d sneaked in and heard the spastic night
watchman talking to a friend. He waited until
the friend left.

“I started for the stairs. Mr. Cooper came
out of his room and we was face to face. I
lifted that tire iron and Mr. Cooper turned
and tried to run, but his crippled legs wouldn’t
take him no place. I hit him on the head. He
fell down and tried to get up, so I hit him
again. He stayed down that time. He was
breathing hard, making funny noises, so I
kicked him a couple of times in the face. He’d
fell back into his room and it was slippery
with blood. I busted into the storeroom then
and found the box full of cash.”

There was $139 in it, and some change. He
hid the change and took the bills. He got kind
of carried away, telling about this.

“She took it all,” he wept now. “I hit her
and she got up and took it all...”

“Who ?”

“Nobody,” Eddie Keeler said. “I’m just
making that up... .”

“She must have been the one who tele-
phoned,” one of the detectives said.

The next month, in July, Edgar Keeler was
arraigned before Judge Leon Hendrick. The
prosecutor oltlined briefly the chief points in
the case. A mysterious phone call had put
them on Eddie Keeler, shortly after the beat-
ing of Keary Cooper. They’d compared the
writing on his chauffeur’s license with the one
on the forged check. They’d gone to his room
and found the rust-colored suit taken from
Hutchins and the overcoat. A pair of shoes
were covered with old blood. They’d taken
the proof to Judge Etheridge.

’ “Ask him,” the shocked and disappointed
man had said. “He won’t lie to me.”

His signed confession was introduced to the
court, and, at this writing, Eddie Keeler is
awaiting trial in the Jackson, Miss., jail.

MACHINE

ONE issue
than the cos
NEWER TH

so little you

MOST FRO\
Bargain off
that THEY}
and buying

every dollar :
DON'T TAKE

Here's Whot sut
| GAINS" After

) oof $40.00
| ‘Alabama

{ Saw
} @very bit of
} Paper. "—M™M

b hay
ful, —W AP

Reve
nuch, Ht is or
—F.D., lowa
- | was the
days ago am
| periodical. | also w
tion to you for havir
| able to me. 1 shal
} subscription as lone
| able.”’"—W.S.. Wast
PLUS MA

THE ABOVE LETT:
| ITED IN ANY W
| ARE IN OUR OFF!
| enthusiastic reacti
| seeing their first

neeaeaaeeaeN
LET’S FACE IT
to make, on paper
hat we I

u

von beat a money bh
STRAIGHT-FOR\W
MONEY BACK IN

Join this ple«

him. and hia belief that in a little
while he would be with Jesus.

Lang Grew fiyntedtien!
¢ When Mostey had tafd’ his fhrewell,
Lakg stepped ‘to the windéw and -be-
gaa:to talk. His voiee too, at the
start was under fine control and it was
toward the last’ that his nerve gave
i Way. Lahg was Bitter tn his d@in-
‘elation of Carte McCarty who he sald
was the cuuse of ‘the whdle thing. He
was sorry he'said-she was net te hahg,
and he would die happy if first he
could see her die. ° He complained of
the treatment his wife had given him.
‘That she had not been to see him since
he was put'in jail. She. Lang said.
Was guilty too, thd ovyht ‘to xo the
penitentiary for life, “at least.” He
told how several days before McCarty
was killed Carrie and his wife had put
poison in his f6od"'and the old man
would bave eaten it had his little boy
not told him what had Beesi ‘done.
Liig pleaded with the j young men in
_the crowd to beware of woinén. Ti,
will break your neek hé Vaid, “ng one
is breakikg’‘nlin&:” “HH ''you love a

another man--don’t kill that man; just

run away off with the ree aes

you ‘won't, liave ho trou

loved' Mosley, he dectared. ‘atid’ fsa

loved Catrie, Ohariie McCarty‘ wae

an old. ‘man and Carrie; wanted | a

younger man thd ‘that was why the

miorder wastione -He-sdid he was a
poor tetiortiht bey whe e@oudld not reall

or write and Mosley had told him that

being @ soldier he would not be ‘Doth-

ered for anything he, did «© He,

God had forgiven him ‘all ‘hfe sins, and

he was ready to die,» '

Mosley Dids Slowly. 4
Wheer~Lang had ‘finishéd his talk
eased Shmontae’ placed Mosley on the] to

ahr st

1

seston ye a nn

_ lever releasing thé trap, and the negro
‘ dropped six feet, the tightening noone

with a sharp jerk
minntes Strangely enbugh, nitheegh

womem,’*' he tald, “sat belongs to]:

etter: dogtuald of water; which tid drank

trap The negro stood silently as,
deputies tied hands and feet aad |

placed the bick cap over his head At.
10:39, Sheriff Sfmmens pulled. the

, about hie heck bringing his body up
Mostey’s neck was
‘mot brekén, howtVver) dnd he lived 37

he died of strangulation. his face was
hot disfigured. and as he tuy in his
coffin he looked ‘as if he Nad died
naturally.

Lang Talks Again

Meanwhile, Lang was standing in
the death chamber waiting for Mosley
todie The strain on the young negro
must have been fic, and to relieve
It Sheriff Stmomms permitted him to
go to the window and again address
the crowd. This time, Lang's nerves
were plainly at the bresking poimt;

—————————

his voice was husky, and his words
came haltingly He went over and
over the story of the crime. and over
and over again he condemned the
woman For ten or fifteen minutes
he talked, and at last his voice drop-
ped into the wierd chant of a negro
in deadly peril. Me spoke in most
commendatory terms of the treatment
he had had revelved in jail ahd anid
Shétiff Sitdmons had been good to
him, afd Bre Simmons had' sent: tim
obd thitiys to’ eat. “Why.” he eried,
“that pore wotiiwe done bent me cake
‘witat I fever séen before.”

Lang Realsted te'the Last

Finally, ’ Mostey :'Wite protiolinced
Quad and Sheri Sitametis told the
peavo that his timirWils 0p. Bly Wals|

iat enone wialtow; atl ‘Wavea hiv Hettid’ fa
IareWell "ie tia omedns Wed ‘hie back
‘39 thé trap. “Due Leta! faltered at
the: instrami@et of delstiy and réfilte}!
to step upon it He clutched

‘at the ‘éell Bara,’ ‘utd! it reqtlred the
‘atremt§th '6f SHVONd fitch th ebsed

Hold. Cita fie Watftrt this boat a
and/‘of a ‘déyre' pader-: neat,
“wald the préachdt BAd td fet dut' bf hls
coat to get ‘Joosd: font the pitsotilly
frightened mien By' ‘nti férce, Lang
wad’ of the titi, Bat te réfuded

to stand, falling in a heap. At: hist

@

the Sheriff and his deputies got the
negro bound and the black cap ever
his head = Then: with deputies sup-
porting him upright on either side, the
‘trap was released and Lang shot
‘downward to hia death ,
: When the bodies of the men wera
| placed in the coffins, they were taken
| outside and the crowd permittéd to
| look upon the features of the men who

‘ (only a few minutes before had been
@Hive and well, Then the coffins were

loaded on a Wagon and taken to 2
negro graveyard south of town and
buried
Sheriff Simmons Did Well
Sheriff Sandy A,
foomsnee of the most
Try sme duty

Simmons’
Tepails

per-
ve and
the law pon a
He was cool

and te went. ;
With the orden}

Ta
‘herotl was ae:

sane SOUT penn iqncds ti
throusrh
| tremor.

Neeley,

*ihout a!

ae
i
i] Oe eee '

STORY OF THE CRIME

The crime. in expiation of which.
| Mosley. and Lang died on the scaffold:
riday

* WAS one’ of the most brutal
ever occurring in this section.

It was the outgrowth of THE
ETERNAL TRIANGLE... hy. faith- .
lessness of a Woman to her husband
and her infatuation for Another man.

Carrie McCarty and Rugene Mos-
ely—desperately ‘in love—planned to
get rid of Carrie's husband. Chas. Mc-
Carter. Lang. a returned soldier was
hired with a Promise of $100 cash to
Assist in the bloody work.

On the night of March 25, :}
came to the: McCarty eabin Bite icce:
ed McCarty ‘to wo With him and Lang
to purchase some corn of a white man.
Out in dense woods, Mosely felled Me-
Carty with a club, and the two men
jumped on him, and while Lang held
him down, Mosely wrapped a piece of
rope four times tightly about Mc-

Carty’s neck and choked him to
death.

(se

| horse.

‘They left the dead body and re-

turned to the house, Where Carrie was
told what had occurred. Moffit. a
half-witted negro, was there, and later
in the night the two murderers, ac-
companied by Moffit, returned to the
acene of the murder with McCarty’s
They. tied the body on the

|horse. and had started to the place

rial,

they had agreed upen for its bu

whi they encountered Tom a.

another negro cemiag through :

woods with a terch. Collins did no

see them. but the fwneral horse

frightened by the light, pranced about

until the body fell off. This shatter-

ed the already high -ensioned map

of the negroes, and they ran 4

About daybreak next morning, ubder
compulsion of Mosley, Lang and vase
returnéd and completed the work
burying the old negro. ice eted

Slbeky ‘at once took up his abode |

in the McCarty house with the d ;
man’s wife. In explanation of his

disappearance, they told that he had

gone to see his relatives in another

Carrie
. A week or two later,

Roar to have received a letter a
ing that her husband had died of
n Had not Gre half-wit Moffit, beeo
mixed op in ‘the affair, it might never
have céwid to Hyht. As it-was, sev-
eral weeks Glapued: before he told “
story, and the trie were arrested. :
jail. at Tylertown, Lang’s nerve gav
way ,and he made a full confession.
and he and Moffit led Sheriff —
and a number of titisens to the np
Aut tthé dense thicket “whete er |
buried McCarty. ! :

g oaes iy. ts thes meron

3 yen bepdrate tilits, ‘eich edn-

queda hd WtebeSd tb Ge dag
Crear 2, tT! ae .


—

Stated that the tirst execution wi ity
the other as soon afterward ag 3

: SS Sy ww ara

The Executions thii

i

ments by the Cotdemned Men

et A ee Se oe a

at,

ad Walter Lang are condemn
- Sherif’ Simmons yesterday
@ place about :0:30 a. m. and
¥.be practicable. The Sheriff
said to The Times editor that of couskpe this could not <3 otherwise
than disagreeable, but he looks upon it purely as a punt of bis of-
ficial duties as Sheriff of the countyf and does not werry about it.

The executions will be Privates*within the jail, ca the second
Hoor—aad cannot be seen at all fro M% the outside.

MOSELEY AND LANG

Mtlio, pastor of sna Methodist
ows, the editor cf The Times
Wednesday afternoon called upomigsagene Moseley sad Walter
Lang, Who are condemed to be hangéd today. ang Carrie McCarty,
who has appealed her case, at the County jail.

Walter Lang, whose cell ig cara to vhe entrance, was cailed

Two negroes, Eugene Mosele
ed to be hanged xt Tylertowao todate

upon tirst, but manifested no desite to say anything for publiva-
tion. The others were visited in turg, aod Lang called upon a sec:
ond time. He ts an entirely uned@Wated, “corn-tiold nigger,’’ evi.
dently not in good health, present AD appearance that would re
mind anyone of pictures of the un Mothe
Africa.” ed

When the party returned to Lanw’s Cell he spoke haltiogly and
in a low voice, saying he wished ta ank especially Ruyg. Gatlin,
Walkerand Mr. Arthur Williams foritheir kindl> Ministrations to
him, and to express his thanks for Blindness shown lun by several
ladies of ‘l'ylertown, and to everyome whu had bsen king tu hiw.
He then stated that he had recently given Marshal Meadows a true
account of the crime. Mr. Meadows repeated this confessiun
Slowly, and Lang affirmed that it true. This, in brief, was that |
he and Eugene Moseley turned Charles McCarty's horse out of the!
lotand then reported to McCarty. that the horse was out. When:
McCarty returned with the borse aad was putting the animal into.
the lot, McCarty was knocked down by Mugene Moseley, ‘Then,
Lang sat upon McCarty’s feet while Moseley put a rope around |
his—McCarty's—neck and strangled him. The two men dragyed |

d inhabitants of ‘darkest

the body into the woods and buried ft. Lang said that he was Jed |.

into the crime by “the woman” and Moseley,

Neither Eugene Moseley nor Carrie McCarty had apything to
Say other than to express thanks for kindneys shown them by the
winisters, several ladies, and all of the o&cials who have occasion
to Come in contact with them. Each and ail of them were especial-
ly appreciative or the Kindly attentions shown by Rey. Gatlin, Rey. |
Walker and Marshal Meadows, and Mose'ey and Latig expressed |
belief that their sins had been forgiven. Eugene Moseley said |
that was preparing a statement in writiny. and would deliver it ty!
Mr. Meadows when complete, Tharsday afternoon he delivered |
fourteen pages of manuscript to the Marshal. This matter inay |
be published next week if it seems proper.

bey : |
Moseley and Carrie McCarty are more or less educated and |
intelligent. Moseley has five sone in the army,

/

(47) 1919

TYLER TO”

LANGFCRD, Joseph, blaék, hanged Vicksburg, Mississippi, Jan. 18, 1866
|

re ee ee ee
dered ae: aise sly eae

DATLY CLARICN,
Séokiber., Mississippi, February 13, 1866, (2:4)


JOHN & TOM, Slaves, hanged Natchez, MS, Jan. “29, 1858.

The following is from the Mississippi Free Trader, Natchez, MS
February 3, 1858, p2,;e1.

"The Slaves John and Tom Hung.-John and Tom, the slaves of Wm.
B. Fowles, Esq., convicted of the murder of McBride, expiated
their crime on a gallows, erected on the scene of the murder
near Kingston on Friday last. Their last words were that Reu-
ben, also convicted but to whom a new trial has been granted,
was innocent."

The following is from the same paper, Dec. 16, 1859, p2, cl,

"We learn from our Sheriff that Gov. Wm. McWillie has granted a
reprieve to John and Tom, slaves of Wm. B. Fowles, Esq., who

were sentenced to be hanged on Friday, the 12th of December, for
the purpose of giving their evidence in behalf of Reuben, who was
also convicted, but obtained a new trial. It will be recollected
that John and Tom on receiving their sentence of death, confessed
their own guilt, and exonerated Reuben entirely, and declared in
open court that Reuben had nothing to do with the murder at all.
Since then, the persist in their declarations.

"The evidence against Reuben was entirely circumstantial.
"Governor McWilliams, seeiong the great importance of John and
Tom's evidence in behalf of Reuben, whom the declare to be entirely
innocent, has humanely granted a respite in order that justice may
be done to Reuben, after which they will be hung according to law.
“The delay in their execution is onbly temporary, but absolutely
necessary for the cause of justice and right. It would be
unpardonable and cruel to have denied Reuben the only witnesseswho,
protesting his innocence, have confessed and know all about the
murder of McBride. The respite, in order to be effectual, will |
have to be extended to the next term of the court. |
"The temporary delay in the execution of John and Tom can have no

bad effect, as the reasons for it are well known; and the late

execution of three slaves in the neighborhood has furnished full
evidence that public justice is certain.”

Slaves Joe and John, hanged Bolivar Co., MS Dec. 9, XABKRX 1859
C Wertns Couct Minutes
dol bax Co, Rosedale

>

\

a a Soak
’

cee) —

1 Cbeyute Cebdie Cae (LO 0 pil sec

| : ie Once Or; amen iia 2) esa cy 2¢2

ee ee

Ml ar laches

“Ly HE bias iz
A Shrecbelatn ienice) Lieve Jobe OS SI a a rie
ee GEDoe Lec FG
| z Fs ethene ©. 3 a ss . es S24, a
' ie : Z 2
ee a> POG Z
A Baie Gilt, |

Vio. Dp. 6 ame ao poe ee: ‘@ Pr :ipaen oS hoe
ee AMevict lecles'nd Ge trF
Pate AlbiweH Aired prebite Ce reliHle en oc Se ten ey

as | Bele ie ee Sa a Pea uNie Sates 00" r= SO

Mao

i. og eal pee ae aes baie Fic Deere.
ee EE
fies ‘i Bane Son ae

a3 oe Dee Locus de ae)

tie Oph pt phe

| yy lactee mae ae : Se. og

ete Hace oe was es onnie er
Be ee Vg, ak ie ye ee ei
A
i:

a Gpetee tie

Coursn... os (Alara tas Pein Fd Le thg a

reo


Wud, 2. V ¢

: a
BP Jow and Vick, the two negroes |

recently convicted of capital offenses. |

were hanged at Lexington, Miss. on

Saturday last, Joe was found yu ity |
of being accessory te the attenin: to,
kifl the uvers@er, named Chas. Wiser
and Dick had been comvicted of rape.

A great crowd was present at the

banging.

Sm ee et a etter...


ramen 1 aed oon emarenens seins te + poy

Ty ZA Scat: |
. xe. a ek, | ,
2 loan a,

Lore, A Se Cue /

ny er a el anki meena
Lg ene

—_——


“I'm dying!" a junkie would plead.
‘Honest, if I knew I'd tell-you! I got
o have a shot, but I never saw this man
vefore!"”

And down the list they went, one
vfter another. Until, finally, a weaz-
ned, gray-haired, little old man sat
ditiably before them.

“T got to have a doctor!” the old man
sried. “I’m old and worn out and my life
s just about over. Won’t you let me die
n peace?”

T= Chief plopped his drawing on the
desk. “Who is he?”

“Get me a doctor!”

“Who is this man?”

The junkie’s voice dropped into a
noarse, grating whisper. “Will you get
ne a doctor?”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Jimmy Valentine,” the
ld man allegedly replied in his gravel-
like whisper. “He’s a dish-washer.
Now call the doctor, please!”

Jimmy Valentine? It sounded like a
dhony if ever the detectives had heard
mme—a name the little old man had
dredged out of the depths of his tor-
tured mind, from a story he had read
years before.

Nevertheless, they had to follow it
out. The little old man was returned to
a cell and detectives went to the restau-
rant he had named on Skid Road.

There they showed the drawing to
the manager.

“Hey,” the manager said, “this looks
ed Jimmy. The dish-washer. It sure

joes.”

“Where is he?” demanded McKeown.

“He ain’t on duty now,” the manager
replied. “Maybe you'll find him in his
room.”

They rushed to a rooming-house a’
First Street and Main. :

There they found Jimmy Valentine
sprawled fully dressed, on his bed. The
detectives declared later that the man
was so much under the influence of
narcotics he couldn’t be questioned.

In the room they found a pair of tan
trousers and a blue-gray, zipper jacket,
and in an adjoining room a Mauser
automatic. But they were unable to
locate the distinctive red, white and
blue cap that had been worn by the
kidnaper. :

Chief Purcell announced that Valen-
tine was unable to be questioned until
late in the evening when the influence
of the narcotic began to wear off. In

the meantime, a search of the police
files, according to Chief Purcell, re-
venled that Valentine had numerous
arrests and convictions on narcotics
charges.

WHEN Valentine was in condition to
be questioned, he flatly denied
knowing anything about the attempted
kidnaping of the Brice boy or the ab-
duction of Mrs. Brice and her maid.

“The first I heard of it was when I
was eating breakfast that morning and
I saw a headline in the newspaper,” he
declared.

He told the officers that he had re- .

turned home from work in a cab‘at
three o’clock Friday morning. He got up
at nine and went out for breakfast
sometime after ten. At 11:30 he had
been in a barbershop on Third Avenue.

He gave the name of a woman who
could place him in town around eleven
o’clock but could not give an alibi for
the actual time of the abduction of Mrs.
Brice and her maid or for the time of
the shooting at the school, according to
Chief Purcell.

The following morning Valentine was
placed in a line-up of men and viewed
by Mrs, Brice.

“That is the one,” Mrs. Brice de-
clared, Chief Purcell announced.

Placed in another line-up, he was
identined by Lixvio Mae Brown and

when she asked him to step forward she

claimed she could recognize the shoes
he was wearing, according to Chief
Purcell.

The Chief declared that Muriel Bab-
ler, assistant to the principal at the
school, made a positive identification
of Valentine while Principal James An-
gell and Manvel Schauffler declared he
resembled the kidnaper but they could
not be positive.

District Attorney John B. McCourt
filed two charges of kidnaping and one
of attempted kidnaping against Valen-
tine. Taken before Presiding Circuit
Judge Lowell Mundorff on March 26, he
was indicted on the three charges. :

ALENTINE declared a few days
later, on April 1, “I’m not guilty,
that’s all—that’s all I can say.”
At this writing, he is being held in
lieu of an aggregate of $75,000 bail
pending further legal procedure.

The name of Orin Graves is fictitious
in this story.

Behind Gwen's Three-Hour Murder Secret (Continued from Page 43)

But how?

The first thing Deputy Holifield did
was dispatch the five empty .22 shells
to the FBI in Washington, D. C., and
asked them if they could determine
what make rifle the cartridges were fired

rom. /

Holifield then drove to the area sur-
rounding the murder scene and talked
to people who lived there. He asked
them if they knew anything that might
help the investigation.

And in this way they came up with a
name! P

A number Of the residents told
Deputy Holifield’ of a farmer who
owned property near where Rushton
was killed. This farmer, Jack Green-
field, was rumored to have chased
many people off his land with a rifle.

Holifield, pressing further, located
scme youngsters who had been camping
in the area a couple weeks before.
Someone had fired on them—and they
suspected Greenfield!

Was this the break the officials had
been looking for?

Deputy Holifield drove to Greenfield’s
house. The farmer was a rugged man,
in his 60’s with a seamed, not ungentle
face, and thick work-worn hands. He
had his arms folded on his massive
chest as Holifield questioned him.

“Sure I heard of the murder,” Green-
field said in answer to the officer’s
question. “But what does that have to
do with me?”

“Where were you last night?”

“Home. Right here.” And he
affirmed it with a nod.

“Was anyone with you?”

“Sure. My wife and one of my sons.”

Holifield said, studying the man, “I
understand you don’t like people on
your land.”

“Why should I?”

j® THE same tone, “I understand
you've chased ’em off at the point of ©

a .

The farmer said nothing. He stared
unblinkingly at the officer.

- “In fact,” Holifield went on, “I heard
that you fired on some kids who were
camped out here a couple weeks ago.”

“That’s a lie!” the farmer retorted.

“You didn’t fire on 'em?”

“J” the farmer seemed to go limp—
“well, what I mean is that I fired, but I
didn’t fire at ’em. I fired in the air to
scare ’em, I wasn’t going to hurt any
of those kids.”

ont did you have to use a gun at
all?”

“Because that’s the only way they get
scared. Mister, if people were going
around damaging your property, you'd
get sore, too, wouldn’t you? Those kids

62

were tearing down my fence! Further-
more, only a few weeks ago someone
stole my gate! Look, there’s only so
much a body can take!”

Holifield said quietly, “Your gun. Is
it a rifle?”

. The farmer nodded wordlessly.

“What caliber?” the deputy ques-
tioned.

“A twenty-two. A twenty-two auto-
matic.” ‘

caliber as the death
weapon!

Holifield told him he wanted to see
it, so the farmer went for the rifle. The
deputy examined it. Then he asked
the farmer if he had ammunition for it,
and once again Greenfield left the room.
He came back with a small box.

They were long—the type the
murderer had used!

And now for a test.

The deputy took the gun outside. He
fired it twice into the ground. Then
he picked up the shells.

The .22 shells found at the death
scene had had a round firing-pin im-
pression in the center.

Would these?

Holifield looked closely. And his
hopes sagged.

The firing-pin mark was oblong, and

it was on the edge of the rim, not the
center. Definitely this was not the
death weapon.

Weartly Holifield handed the rifle
back to the farmer.

“Did you hear any shots around here
Saturday night?” he asked.

“No,” Greenfield replied. “Where
that happened is too far away from my
house to have heard them. But I did
see something that might help you.”

“What's that?”

“I was driving home from the city
last evening. This was a little after
seven. I’ve got to come up that road
there, you know. Well, anyway, a car
was parked there. But as soon as I came
close to it, the driver started up the
motor and pulled away. I didn’t think
too much of it at the time, of course,
but it sure seems suspicious now.”

The farmer described the car as being
probably a Ford: A 1940 Ford. But,
to the officer’s disappointment, he
hadn’t had a look at the driver.

Returning to Headquarters, Holifield
contacted the Mississippi Highway
Patrol, alerting them about the car the
farmer had seen. Shortly afterward,
the deputies who had been searching
for the murder weapon at the death
scene, returned—empty-handed.

The following morning, hoping that
perhaps Gwendolyn Cooley would recall
something that would further the case,

Deputy Holifield spoke to her again.

And it was in this way that a former
boy friend of hers was brought into the
case.

Reuben Comstock.

In answer to Holifield’s questions,
and as though shé didn’t realize the
potential importance of what she was
saying, the girl told him that she had
been seeing young Comstock before
she’d met Rushton. But she had brok-

en off with Comstock when she started

going out with the victim,

Holifield knew Comstock. He was a
young man of 24, who clerked in a hard-
ware store. Although the officer hated
to think it, he knew that Comstock, be-
cause of his job, had access to .22 shells.

FEW minutes later, Holifield was
-questioning Comstock.

“These are questions I don’t like to
ask you, Reuben,” the officer said, “but
I’ve got to. I’m sure you understand
that. Now. You used to date Gwendolyn
Cooley, didn’t you?” ,

Comstock wet his lips, nodded.

Holifield said, “Why did you stop?”

Hesitantly, “Didn’t she tell you?”

“Then you didn’t break it off. She
did, right?”

_ Again a nod.

Holifield .said, “It was because of
Rushton, wasn’t it?” :

“I don’t know what it was because
of. But I guess—” this seemed hard for
him to say—“I guess she just didn’t
like me enough.” *

“And you?”

No answer.

“Do you own a rifle, Reuben?”

Reuben Comstock’s gaze lowered.
Softly, “Yes.”

“What caliber?”

“I—” But he didn’t seem to know

how to finish. Then, “A twenty-two.”
_ Holifield told Comstock that he
wanted to see his rifle. During the drive
to his heuse, the young man kept pro-
testing that he hadn’t killed Rushton,.
that he couldn’t have killed him. He’d
been home until about eight o’clock that
night—and after that he'd gone to a
movie.- Ask his mother; ask her, she’ll
tell you.

And, a few minutes later, Comstock’s
mother did confirm his story.

The rifie should tell the story. And
Holifield, holding it in his hands, loaded
it with the long shells that Comstock
also owned. He went with it into the
back yard and fired a couple times into
the ground.

This time the firing-pin mark was
square, and between the center ard the
edge. It was not dead center—as on
those other shells.

The deputy handed the rifle back to
Comstock.

The next day Holifield assigned some
of his men to check hardware and sport-
ing-goods stores in Laurel. He in-
structed them to find out who had
purchased .22 rifles or .22 rifle cart-
ridges prior to the murder. Holifield
then walked across the street to the city
Police Station and conferred with
Police Chief Wayne Valentine, whose
men were working hand in hand with
the Sheriff’s office.

“What I’ve been thinking,” Holifield
told him, “is the killer might have been
using a stolen weapon. Could you look
over your offense reports for the past
few years and see if a twenty-two was
reported stolen?”

Chief Valentine nodded. “In fact I’ve
got somebody doing that now. Takes
time though. He’s in the ’fifty-two rec-
ords now. Takes about a day to go
through one year’s file. I'll let you
know if we find something.”

Holifield thanked the Chief and re-
turned to his own office. There a spe-
cial-delivery airmail letter awaited him.
It was from the FBI crime lab in Wash-
ington, D. C., informing him that the
shells found at the murder scene were
fired from a Winchester automatic rifle.

Holifield, armed with this informa-
tion, ordered a new canvass of sporting-
goods and hardware stores to see if he
could find a clerk who had sold a Win-’
chester .22 rifle recently—even though
his men already had covered most of
these stores. But it was fruitless. None
of the clerks recalled having sold one.

TRE following day Holifield sent four
deputies to surrounding towns and
counties to make the same canvass with
stores there. Holifield then decided on
a ruse. He had been told that in the
past two days Gwendolyn Cooley had
had a steady stream of visitors and so,
thinking she might reveal something of
importance to a friend, he managed to
plant a microphone in her room, which
was connected to a tape recorder in
another room. :

For two days the conversations Miss
Cooley had with visitors were recorded.
But nothing new came out. -

By Friday evening, Holifield’s men,
who'd been checking stores in adjoin-
ing areas, had completed their job—
but, they reported, their search had
netted nothing. .

After his men left, Holifield wearily
lifted himself to his feet and reached
for his hat on the rack. He would go
home, eat, take a hot bath and get
some much-needed rest. When he got
to the door, the phone rang. He walked
back and answered it.

“This is Valentine. Come on over.”
The: Chief of Police sounded excited.

Holifeld hurried across the street and
» the concrete steps to Chief Valen-
1e ‘s office.

“We've got a nineteen-fifty burglary
cord,” the Chief announced. “Two
on broke in a hardware store and stole
mé saws, Planes, other carpenter tools
and a Winchester automatic rifle.”
Holifield's weariness vanished. He
inned the record Valentine held out
him. A man named James Dewey
hnson had been convicted of the
rglary and had been released. But
e loot never had been recovered.

“I know him,” Holifield said. “He’s
en hanging around town with a friend
his, Cecil Andrews.”
“Let’s split up,” the Chief suggested.
fy men and I will look for Andrews.
»u look for Johnson.”

Holifield hurried out to his squad car.
hnson had worked at a service sta-
m when he’d been arrested on the
rglary charge, and the officer went
2re now. From information he learned
ere, Holifield located Johnson’s es-
—_— wife, who worked at a cotton
She told him that Johnson and An-
ews were living in a house near Mount
ive, about 34 miles away. Johnson
d been working in Florida in recent
mths and had returned three weeks
fore, she said. When Holifield re-
rned to his car, he got a radio call
Chief Valentine's office. When he
rived there, he found Valentine and
veral of his men with Andrews, whom
ey'd just picked up.
Andrews, however, denied having had
ything to do with the crime.
Holifield said, “Where were you tans
turday night?”

“I was in Mount Olive.”

OT there was something about the
way he said it—a nervousness—that
oused Holifield’s suspicion. He de-
led to try a bluff.
“You know you're not ee the
ith, Andrews,” he said.

“What do you mean?”
“Just that someone saw you. Some-
e saw you in Laurel.”

‘But I didn’t have anything to do with
y murder,” he replied.

“Then why did you lie?” Valentine
manded.

“Because I didn’t want to be blamed,

at’s why!”
“What about Johnson?” Holifield
ced quietly. “Did he kill him?”

“I don’t know.” Andrews was staring
the floor.
“What does that mean?”

"She Died Here—She Died There—"

‘aret factories on the waterfront. De-
tives were promptly dispatched to
: if any worthwhile information
ild be picked up at ‘this place.

HE systematic questioning of Mil-
dred’s friends and relatives brought
v results. No one had seen her with
Air Corps emblem. No one knew of
y justification for the complaints her
sband had made in his letters.
Five separate teams of detectives,
untaining a persistent canvass in the
ighborhood of Seventeenth and Jay,
m questioned students and teachers
an elementary school a block away,
t failed to dig up any sign of the coat
d purse which officers believed Mil-
-d had carried the night she died.
Thus, at the end of the second day of
ensive probing, the investigation had
led to progress.
Chen, shortly after ten o’clock the
lowing morning, came a wire from
: Illinois State Police. It read:
‘Reference’ investigation George
wnes. Provost Marshal advises Pvt.
wnes transferred 9 February 1954 to
tt Leonard Wood, Missouri, to report
February. Capt. W. H. Morris,
nois State Police”’.
‘February ninth!” exclaimed Wright.
hat means Townes could have made
© Richmond in time!”

“T was with him that night, but 1
don't know if Johnson did the killing.”
“Let's have the whole story,”

CCORDING to Valentine, this is the
atory Andrewa told: "That evening
Johnson asked me to go to Laurel with
him. He'd. been drinking. I said all
right, We started off. He began to act
up the way he usually does when he
drinks. He said he couldn't get a job.
He said he was three hundred dollars
in debt and needed some money. We
got to Laurel and he parked in a ceme-
tery next to the highway.

“Johnson got to complaining again
about needing some money,” Andrews
continued, according to Police Chief
Valentine. “He said he was going to
get it somehow and he didn’t care if
it was dishonest. He said he was going
to find a parked car in a lovers’ lane, put
the gun on them and make them throw
their wallets out and I would go pick
them up. I told him I didn’t want any

part of it. He threatened me if I didn’t -

help him. I kept begging him to let
me go. We drove to a cafe on the high-
way and had a soda. He drove through
town and let me off. That’s the last
time I saw him.”

Holifield summoned two deputies.
The three of them, with Chief Valen-
tine and Police Lieutenant Jeff Mont-
gomery, drove to Mount Olive. They
called the sheriff there and told him
they wanted to talk to Johnson.

The sheriff sent a deputy and the
town marshal, both related to Johnson’s
father-in-law, to the father-in-law’s
house were Johnson and Andrews had
been staying.

“The family won't be suspicious if
they go,” the sheriff said.

An hour later the deputy and the
town marshal returned and reported
that Johnson had left two days before
to visit his sister and brother-in-law
in Dallas, Texas. The officers had the
name and address there. Holifield im-
mediately placed a call to Sheriff Bill
yr in Dallas, requesting Johnson’s
arres'

Two hours later, Sheriff Decker called
Holifield and told him he had arrested
Johnson.

Holifield took Deputy Goodson and
City Patrolman Reid Flowers and drove
to Dallas. They left early Sunday and
at 6:30 p. m. Monday, they were back
in Laurel with Johnson. Holifield. had
taken Patrolman Flowers because he
was Johnson’s age and had known
Johnson all his life. Holifield hoped
Flowers could learn something from the

“Yes, Sir,” replied Harwood Pettis,
the Major’s civilian assistant. “He
could have. . But did he?”

For the next four hours, Wright,
Wakefield and Brown kept the wires
hot to the Missouri State Police at
Joplin and to the CID office at Fort
Leonard Wood.

Townes, they learned, had been
moved in a contingent of soldiers direct
from Fort Sheridan to Fort Leonard
Wood. He had not had an opportunity
to make a detour to Richmond. More-
over, several soldiers were willing to
testify that on the night of February
10, Townes was aboard a train bound
for Joplin.

JX A follow-up series of messages, the
husband revealed that the police
inquiry was the first news he had had
of the slaying. He had applied for a
leave to return to Richmond and said
he had no idea who might have killed
his wife.

“That finishes that,” commented
Major Wright wearily. “Unless he re-
members something when he gets here.”

Despite nearly three solid days of
unbroken activity, all the police knew,
really, was the name of the victim.

True, they had found one man with-
out an alibi. And they had two slender
clues—a crumpled cigaret package and

suspect on the return trip. But John-
son refused to implicate himself in the
crime,

When they arrived in Laurel, Holi-
field spent several hours questioning
Johnson, Johinwon still denied the mur-
der, He admitted coming to Laurel the
night of the murder, but said he was
nowhere near the death scene, He said
he didn’t have a rifle any more,‘claim-
ing it had been stolen from him a year
before.

ETTING nowhere with the man,
Deputy Holifield asked Sheriff Holi-
field, District Attorney Arrington and
County Attorney Sullivan to take part
in the questioning. But they, too, could
not get a confession from him.

Deputy Holifield called in Andy Hop-
kins, special agent in charge of the Mis-
sissippi Highway Patrol Identification
Bureau, to aid in the questioning.
Johnson continued to deny the crime.
Holifield and Hopkins played Cecil An-
drews' story, which they’d recorded, to
Johnson. They repeated the part where
Andrews told of arriving at the ceme-
tery and where he said Johnson told
him he was going to rob someone. They
played it over and over and over. John-
son broke down and was taken back
to his cell.

And that same night he confessed
the crime, saying he’d been drunk and
hadn’t known what he was doing. He
abselved Andrews of any part in it; and,
as a result of his confession, Andrews
was released from custody.

Gwendolyn Cooley, too, was allowed
to go home from the deputy’s house,
where she’d been kept as a material
witness.

Johnson was Indicted on a charge of
first-degree murder, and on March 10,
1954, he went on trial before Circuit
Judge Burkitt Collins, with a court-ap-
pointed attorney to defend him. The
four-day trial was a stormy session.
Johnson’s defense was that he was
insane when he fired the shots. The
case went to the jury the night of
March 13, exactly a month after the
murder. .

The jury deliberated one hour and
seven minutes and returned a verdict
of guilty as charged. Under Mississippi
law, this meant the jury fixed punish-
ment at death and as this issue goes
to press, the execution is pending.

The names Jack Greenfield, Reuben
Comstock and Cecil Andrews are ficti-
tious in order to shield the identities of
innocent persons.

(Continued
from Page 27)

a tarnished Air Corps emblem. But
how good were these? The emblem
could have belonged to the girl and
might have fallen from her clothing
as the killer had carried her into the
truck. The cigarets were of a very
popular brand, used by thousands of
persons.

The detectives went back to Pryor.
And the burly truck driver led them
nowhere. He insisted that he knew
nothing about the slaying. And be-
cause they could not show that he did,
the officers had to drop this line, too.

The Pawnshop Detail reported two
questionable transactions on women’s
coats and, later, one on an expensive
leather purse. But these could not be
traced to Mildred Townes.

Chief of Police O. D. Garton called
in Major Wright and told him bluntly:
“We can’t afford to tie up half the de-
partment any longer. Put Wakefield
and Brown full-time on the case; that’s
about all we can do right now.”

Wright sent for the two men—Wake-
field, suave, polite, mild mannered;
Brown, blunt-spoken, restless, excitable.

“There’s only one thing I can sug-
gest,” Wright told them. “Somewhere,
somehow, a witness must have seen
Mildred after she left her home that
night. Find that witness and you may
get somewhere.”

» Without missing a single meal!

* some, tasty delicious Kelpidine Chewing Gum eon-

KEEP SLIM AT
HOME WITH
RELAXING, SOOTHING
MASSAGE USE YW

SPOT REDUCER

with or without electricity. Also used as an oid
in the celief of pains for which massage is
indicated.

With the SPOT REDUCER you

TRY THE SPOT REDUCER
10 DAYS FREE
IN YOUR OWN HOME

re, is coupon with ont

Li
Pay postman ha on plus delivery—or
ars yt
fe ten ive in our own 7 ™
SPOT Rebvcen™ for full purchase price relund.
= — = = — oe oe oe oe oe oy
fo BODY MassAcER co... Scot, 8 8-567
8 Market St., groped Jersey :
ri Reducer for 10 days trial
period, ine St tpon arrival Ewrill. pay paatene |
1 only §8.: bs n plum postare pont handling. de-
Hzhied i may return SPOT REDUCE within 10 days
| GT r'encione'S 12:08. Send DeLuxe Model. |

| NAME cece c eee se reverence ceveseesssceeeesees |
| AGOTORE cece cece cece eee nereereecenseeeeeese
+ | ne ris Beate... eee ee cane 1
I o wich‘coun > eran rac aa [od “ponte pel teins charnen,
Le t onciane & ee Rend 1 fadet.
—— = —_——

Comfort With Improved

RUPTURE * "RELIEVER

NO FITTING REQUIRED
NO LACES _NO SNAPS NO STEEL

TOO f
TION SUPPORT, Order by Mail. RIGHT
RIDE 84.00, 0 LEFT SIDE S208” C’DOUBIT: Ba ;
ININCHES Ist ene eer SENT oO oN Pied a
AvoID GREMIOUS “DELAY eve ar)
WRIGHT BRACER CO. a
Dept. 123, 316 Market St.. Newark, New Jersey
wus an cn tmp ealos tpt a ene Chee eee eet ee ne nia

CHEW IMPROVED FORMULA

CHEWING GUM!
REDUCE

Up to 5 Ibs. a week
with Dr. Phillips plan

Reduce te ‘a slimmer, more graceful, figure the
way Dr, Phillips recommends, without starving,
Here for you ~
Now, a scientific way which guarantees you can

lose as much welght as you wish or you. pay

nothing! No Drugs, No Starvation, No Exercises
or Laxatives, The Amazing thing is that It is so
easy to follow, simple and safe to lose those ugly,
fatty bulges, Each and every week you lose pounds
safely until you reach the weight that most he-
comes you, Now at last you have the doctor's new
modern way to reduce, To acquire that dreamed
about sill an » exciting,
more graceful figure. Simply, chew delicious im-
proved Formula Dr, Philips: Kelpidine Chewing
Gum and follow Dr. ‘Phillips Plan. This whole-

tains Hexttol, redwecs appetite and is sugar free.
Hexitol Is a new discovery and contains no fat and
no available carbohydrates, | Enjoy

ie this : 1
: I2-day
supply

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED or "MONEY BACK

Mail the’ coupon now! Test the amazing Dr. Phillips
KELPIOINE CHEWING GUM REDUCING PLAN for 10 “days
at our expense. 4 after 10 days your friends, your
mirror and your scale de not tell you that you have lest
weight and look slimmer you pay nothing.

AMERICAN HEALTHAIOS goureny, Beet. cusses

8 318 Market St., Newark New Jerse:

‘ Just mall us your name, and inarone, and $1.00 cash,

@ check o will receive 4 2-day sup

aly of KELI RIbINE curio GUM ‘improved Par:
mula), ing Plan postage prepaid.

SWAN Kec iin tied ADDRESS.........

H STATE
fo x Send me Special 24-day su supply jand TRIAL 12-1
@ pack y not de
' Vintec” with KELPIDINE, CHEWING GUM. na Kelpi
dine Reducing Plan, TF can return in 10 days for full

@ burchane price refund, |
2 SO © SS © 8 SS OS ee ee ee es

63

—_— - RSE

——_ #86«(«

ned slug. It appeared to be a .22. He Mack Cooley's cafe, above; at

peer » regen’ hole in the left door, on tight, Chief Deputy Holifield
e driver's side. bid . :
Holifield next examined the five .22 with the telltale .22 shells

ells Goodson had uncovered at the
ene. They had a distinctive marking.
the center was a round firing-pin
ipression.
Where the shells had been fcund,
»wever, was only a few hundred yards
om.the police firing range. Citizens
om all over the state, who were wel-
me to use it, came and fired on the
nge and all up and down the road.
1ese shells could be from anyone’s
in; the foot-prints could be anyone's.
Holifield got a .22 automatic rifle ®
om the Sheriff's office and drove the
tal pickup truck to the crime scene.
1ere he tried to visualize the murder
id to reenact it. He fired a long rifle
ulet into the door beside the hole made
’ the killer's gun. Holifield then
amined the two holes closely, using
pencil to gauge their size. They
emed to be the same.
Feeling certain that the murder
2apon was a .22 and that the shells
und there were from the killer’s gun.
olifield returned to the office and dis-

Deputy Sheriff Goodson, below: “We

don't have a murder for sure yet"

.

' Two who cooperated, Chief
Valentine, Sheriff Holifield

. Your story’s fantastic. I don’t know

patched four deputies to search the lov-
ers’ lane area for the murder weapon.
He next went to see the doctor who had
examined the body. The doctor had re-
covered part of a slug from inside the
head. But it was too shattered to be of
any use in a ballistics test. The slug,
he said, had entered the left eye, struck
a bone and split in two, part of it going
into the brain and the other part com-
ing out behind the right ear.

Deputy Holifield drove next to the
Cooley home and took Gwendolyn to
the Sheriff’s office for questioning.
There she repeated the story she had
told Goodson and Constable Holifield
the night before.

“Miss Cooley,” the deputy said to her,
“I’m going to be honest with you.

what to make of it. For the life of me,
I can’t understand why you'd drive
eight miles with a dead man in the
truck. You drove past the county jail,
past Police Headquarters, past the
hospital, within a block of the police
chief’s house, within four blocks of
your brother's cafe, and past numerous
doctors’ offices. You drove through
town. Just to get home and call your
brother. I can’t understand it.”

“I know it sounds crazy,” Gwendolyn
replied. “But all I can say is that it’s
true. I just wasn't thinking. All that
came to my mind was to go home and
call Mack.” :

HOLIFIELD, shaking his head in be-
wilderment, called District At-
torney Lawrence Arrington, of Hatties-
burg, and County Attorney Pershing B.
Sullivan, asking them to come to the
Sheriff's office and question the girl
with him. He wanted their opinion of
her story.

A half hour later, Gwendolyn Cooley
repeated her story to those officials, who
had it taken down on a recording
machine. But Arrington and Sullivan
were as bewildered by her version of
the crime as the others had been. The
officials, after a conference, decided to
keep her in custody—as a material wit-
ness to the murder. Holifield told
Deputy Goodson, who also was the
jailer, not to put her in a cell as a com-
mon prisoner. Instead Goodson, who
lived with his wife in quarters on the
first floor of the jail building, gave her
one of the extra bedrooms,

The officers’ job now.was to attempt
to prove—or disprove—her story. “

(Continued on Page 62)


She'd had a date with Rushton that
night, she told the deputy, but at the
last minute she'd been asked to work
for her sister as a waitress in her
brother’s cafe. So, before she reported
for work, she and Rushton had driven
in the panel truck—it was his—to Hill-
crest Drive and they'd parked there.

Then this man, this strange, vague
figure of a man, had appeared, walking
down a lane to a gate that closed it off
from the drive. He’d had a gun—ap-
parently a rifle—and without warning
or reason he'd fired it at Rushton. Not
just once but often, four or five times
or so.

She didn’t know where the man had
gone, Gwen told the officers. She
didn’t know why he’d shot Rushton;
she didn’t know if he’d attempted to
rob the body... All she could remember,
she said, was that after awhile she'd
pushed Rushton aside and climbed
under the wheel and driven off.

To her home. Right through the city
of Laurel, past the hospital and Police
Headquarters and the county jail to—
of all places—her home.

The house was dark and empty and
locked when she got there, she said,
and she’d had to climb in a window.

“I tried to call Mack,” she whispered.
“I don’t know why; I just had to call
him. I tried and tried and tried and he
wasn’t there and I sat here and tried
again.”

Finally, she said, she’d reached him
and he’d hurried home and seen the
body and notified the sheriff’s office.

And that was all.

The room was strangely, completely
quiet_when she finished talking. No one
stirred, no one said a word. -

Then headlights flashed through the
window of that room and a car pulled
into the front yard. The.coroner had
arrived. Abruptly Goodson and Con-
stable Holifield walked out.

In quiet tones, they told Acting Coro-
ner Tony Parker the incredible story,
and he examined the body. Rushton
had been shot in the head, he said, and
judging by the coagulation of the blood
he’d been dead for at least two hours.

The youth's wallet still was in his hip
pocket and in it were eighteen one-dol-
lar bills. In his trousers pocket was a
silver dollar. ‘None of his possessions
apparently had been disturbed.

Goodson and the Constable got back -

into their car.
a do you think?” the deputy

42

Holifield shrugged. “I don’t know. I
honestly don’t know.”

“Maybe,” Goodson suggested, “we
can find something out there on Hill-
crest Drive. That’s my idea now, at
any rate.”

They found the spot without any
trouble, a lonely spot along the gravel
drive, beside a big iron gate that closed
the private lane to casual motorists.
With their flashlights, the officers
looked around.

“Inside the gate; in a rough circle
about one yard in diameter, they found
five empty .22-caliber shells, wet from
the rain that was falling even then, but
unrusted. How long had they been
there?

A man’s blurred foot-prints crossed
the lane and stopped at a four-foot de-
cline and on the decline was a mark in-
dicating that someone had slid down it.

But once again rain had obliterated

Into this window Gwen climbed,
leaving bloodstains on the frame

DA Arrington: He played

the record over and over

any positive trace of the size of the man
or the age of these prints.

Their next stop was an unhappy one.
It was to the slain’s youth’s home. The
family already had been notified of the
murder; and a man with tear-reddened
eyes—Rushton’s father—spoke to the
officers. None of the other members of
the family was in condition to be
questioned.

But the father could give them no
help. Ard, he said, had been so happy
before he’d set out for the date: He'd
been whistling while he dressed, and
he’d rushed out of the house to the pick-
up truck, saying he was in a hurry and
didn’t want to be late. He was a good
boy, the father went on, without a single
enemy in the world.

Yet someone had killed him.

Who?

“I can’t believe this happened to him,”
the father said. ‘He always used to tell

me, ‘Pa, I'm lucky. I can’t help but be

lucky with this charm.’ He used to carry

one with him all the time, you know.

A silver dollar. It was his lucky piece.”
Lucky piece?

BoTH Deputy Goodson and Constable

Holifield were thinking of what had
been found in the slain youth's pockets.
Eighteen dollars in bills, and a silver
dollar,

The next morning, Sheriff Morgan

Holifield—a distant relative of Con-

stable Holifield—put his son, Chief
Deputy Glenn Holifield, in charge of the
case. Deputy Holifield, who’d been out
of town the previous evening, was Chief
Criminal Investigator for the Sheriff's
office, and a graduate of the Federal

Bureau of Investigation school for law-

enforcement officers.

Deputy Holifield had Rushton’s pick-
up truck pulled in beside the jail and
roped off. He knew he could not tell
anything from finger-prints that might
be found on the door handle because
Several] persons already had handled it
since the murder. He searched the in-
side of the truck and found a bullet hole
in the paneling. He dug out the flat-

County Attorney Sullivan:
He didn’t see any motive

wat eta


842 Miss. 76 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

She unequivocally identified Johnson as
the culprit, and she had ample opportunity
to observe him on the occasion in question.
Her sister also definitely identified appel-
lant. Dr. W. A. Tisdale, who examined the
prosecutrix shortly after the rape occurred,
testified concerning the condition of her
body after the rape, and his examination
fully confirmed her statements. Appellant,
a Negro, was a soldier stationed at Keesler
Field. Corporal Zike arrested him when he
returned to Gate Number One around 11:05
P.M. that night, and took a knife from him.
Appellant made an oral confession to Ser-
geants Etheridge and Hill of the Air Force
Police, in which he admitted the crime and
the use of the knife which was taken from
him as the instrument of coercion. Assist-
ant Chief of Police Walter Williams and
Captain Charlie Comeaux, of the Biloxi
Police Department, testified that appellant
signed two separate written confessions of
the crime, one dated March 30, 1954, and an-
other April 7, 1954; and that these confes-
sions were wholly voluntary and made with-
out any coercion or promise of leniency.
They admitted appellant’s premeditated,
criminal rape of the prosecutrix. Appellant
did not testify, either on the preliminary
hearing concerning the confessions or on
the merits. He offered no evidence and
made no issue as to the admissibility of the
confessions. Since there is no dispute as to
the facts, we will not undertake to outline
the repulsive details of appellant’s crime.

[1,2] Appellant argues that the verdict
of the jury is against the great weight of
the evidence. However, this record con-
tains no dispute of the State’s testimony
and Johnson’s two confessions that he com-
mitted the crime. Apparently the argument
on this point is the claim that the prosecu-
trix did not offer sufficient resistance to
the commission of the crime. But the rec-
ord shows that she and her sister, who was
present at the time, were rendered incapable
of physical resistance because of the fact
that appellant had with him a large knife
with which he threatened to kill both the
prosecutrix and her sister if they resisted
or cried out. Where the act is accomplished
after the female yields through fear caused

by immediate threats of great bodily injury,
there is compulsive force and the act is
rape. Actual physical force or actual physi-
cal resistance is not required where the fe-
male yields through fear under a reason-
able apprehension of great bodily harm.
Here the threats were made before the act
through the exhibition of, and threat to use,
a deadly weapon, a knife. Actual physical
resistance by the female is not required in
such circumstances. 75 C.J.S., Rape, § 15;
Milton v. State, 1926, 142 Miss. 364, 107
So. 423; McGee v. State, Miss.1949, 40 So.
2d 160, 171.

[3] The trial court committed no error
in admitting into evidence the two confes-
sions of appellant. It is undisputed that
appellant was fully advised as to his rights
and that he made the statements voluntarily,
without coercion of any kind. Appellant
did not testify upon the preliminary ex-
amination as to their admissibility and of-
fered no evidence that such statements were
not voluntary. There is no evidence that
he was overawed, frightened or intimidated
by the officers, as appellant asserts.

On the voir dire examination, the juror
Scarborough had been accepted as a juror
by the State. He had testified that he had
no conscientious scruples against the im-
position of capital punishment. While be+
ing questioned by the defendant’s attorney,
Scarborough changed his prior testimony,
and said that he had a strong conviction
against the imposition of capital punish-
ment. The court then interrogated him and
was advised by him that he did not believe
in capital punishment. Thereupon the trial
judge excused Scarborough as a juror, and
stated that he wanted the jury to understand
that the court was taking no part in the de-
cision on the facts, that whether appellant
was guilty, and, if so, the type punishment
he should receive, were questions for the
jury, but that since Scarborough did not
believe in capital punishment, that was a
disqualification in a capital case. Appellant
says that the effect of the court’s action
was to advise the jury that their readiness
to inflict capital punishment was their most
important qualification, and that this action
prejudiced the jury against appellant.


S44 Miss,

In rebuttal of this testimony, the State
offered the chief of police of Biloxi, the
assistant chief of police, and a policeman,
all of whom had talked with appellant on a
number of occasions since he had been in
custody, and all of whom said that in their
opinions he was entirely sane and knew the
difference between right and wrong; and
that they had discussed the crime with ap-
pellant, and he appeared to realize that what
he had done was wrong. In overruling the
motion for a new trial, the court stated that
in view of the testimony of the State’s wit-
nesses, the psychologist, and his own ob-
servation of the defendant, he was satisfied
that the net result of their testimony and
of the evidence is that defendant knew right
from wrong and was and is sane.

[7] We think that this conclusion of the
trial court is amply warranted. This Court
rejected the “irresistable impulse” test of
sanity as early as 1879, in Cunningham v.
State, 56 Miss. 269. To the same effect
are Garner v. State, 1916, 112 Miss. 317, 73
So. 50; Smith v. State, 1909, 95 Miss. 786,
49 So. 945, 27 L.R.A.,N.S., 461; Eatman v.
State, 1934, 169 Miss. 295, 153 So. 381;
Annotation 70 A.L.R. 659, and 173 A.L.R.
391; 14 Am.Jur., Criminal Law, Sec. 35;
15 Am.Jur., Criminal Law, Sec. 327; 22
C.J.S., Criminal Law, § 58. We apply the
test of the leading English case known as
M’Naghten’s case, which is the majority
tule. 14 Am.Jur., Criminal Law, Secs. 38-
40; 22 C.J.S., Criminal Law, § 59; Rogers
v. State, Miss., 76 So.2d 831. It is sum-
marized in Eatman v. State, supra:

“In this state, as generally in the several
states, the rule of law is that the test of
criminal responsibility is the ability of the
accused, at the time he committed the act,
to realize and appreciate the nature and
quality thereof—his ability to distinguish
right and wrong. Smith v. ‘State, 95 Miss.
786, 49 So. 945, 946, 27 L.R.A.,N.S., 461,
Ann.Cas.1912A, 23. And the defense of
want of inhibitory powers or as otherwise
expressed, the defense of irresistible or un-
controllable impulse was declared in that
case to be unavailable, unless the uncon-
trollable impulse spring from a mental dis-

76 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

ease existing to such a high degree as to
overwhelm the reason, judgment, and con-
science, in which case, as the court adds,
the accused would be unable to distinguish
the right and wrong of a matter.”

[8] The testimony of appellant’s own
witness, Dr. Deabler, fails to meet these
criteria. In fact, Deabler applied the so-
called irresistible impulse test, which this
Court has rejected. On the contrary, the
testimony of the State’s witnesses, who have
had opportunity to form an opinion about
appellant’s sanity, amply justified the trial
court’s finding of sanity and its overruling
of the motion for a new trial. Considering
the entire record on this appeal, including
appellant’s two signed confessions with their
logical and intelligible descriptions of his
crime, we think that the trial court was cor-
rect in this respect, and certainly it can-
not be said to be manifestly wrong.

[9] Appellant also argues that there has
been a systematic exclusion of, and a dis-
crimination against, Negroes in serving on
the grand jury and the petit jury, in viola-
tion of the rule in Patton v. State, 1947,
332 U.S. 463, 68 S.Ct. 184, 92 L.Ed. 76, 1
A.L.R.2d 1286. Without detailing the testi-
mony of the only witness offered on this
issue, which was not raised until the motion
for new trial, it is sufficient to say that the
testimony of the Circuit Clerk of Harrison
County, Ewert Lindsey, shows without dis-
pute that there has been no systematic ex-
clusion of Negroes from juries in Harrison
County, and that, in fact, at practically
every term of court Negro jurors are drawn
out of the box; and that no effort was made
to discriminate either in selecting jurors
for the box or in drawing jurors. No Ne-
gro jurors served on the particular grand
jury and petit jury involved in this case,
but appellant makes no showing whatever
that there was any systematic exclusion of
the names of Negroes from the jury box or
panels. In fact, the evidence offered by
appellant is to the contrary and negatives
his allegation.

For these reasons the judgment of the
circuit court is affirmed.


' LANKFORD-v. MAGEE.

Miss. 845

Cite as 76 So.2d 845

Affirmed, and Thursday, March 3, 1955,
is fixed as the date for execution of the
death sentence in the manner provided by
law,

All nine of the Judges concur,

© © KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

“«anms

Franklin LANKFORD

v.
Pearline MAGEE et.al.
No. 39420.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Jan. 17, 1955.

Suit to determine boundary line be-
tween plaintiffs’ land and defendant’s land
and to enjoin defendant from building a
fence which would encroach on plaintiffs’
land.. From adverse decree of Chancery
Court, Covington County, Neville Patter-
son, Chancellor, the defendant appealed.
The Supreme Court, Arrington, J., held
that the evidence was sufficient to sustain
finding with respect to boundary as found
by the chancellor.

Affirmed.

{. Boundaries €=37(3)

In suit to determine boundary line be-
tween plaintiffs’ land and defendant’s land
and to enjoin defendant from building a
fence encroaching on plaintiffs’ land, evi-
dence was sufficient to sustain finding with
respect to boundary as found by the chan-
cellor.

2. Boundarles €=3(4)

In suit to determine boundary between
plaintiffs’ land and defendant’s land, chan-
cellor was justified in taking aid from old
fence built about 40 years previously and
in disregarding a recent survey in deter-
mining the boundary line.

John K. Keyes, Collins, for appellant.
W. W. Dent, Collins, for appellees.

ARRINGTON, Justice.

This suit was filed by the heirs of Tom
Magee to determine the boundary line be-
tween their lands and lands of the appel-
lant, and to enjoin appellant from building
a fence encroaching on lands that they and
their predecessors had occupied since 1939,
and which fence, if run, as threatened by
appellant, would take in a strip of land on
which their home was located and all out-
buildings used in connection therewith.

The facts briefly stated are as follows:
Tom Magee bought the lands described as
“all the land lying west of Burton’s Creek
in the NEY of NW, Section 5, Town-
ship 8 North, Range 16 West, containing
22 acres, more or less, in Covington Coun-
ty, Mississippi,” from P. C. Turnage on
March 6, 1939, and the same year he erect-
ed his residence and outbuildings on the
portion involved in this Jaw suit. On Sep-
tember 12, 1939, the appellant acquired the
NW% of the NW1%4 of the same section,
township and range, by forfeited tax land
patent, the lands having been sold for de-
linquent taxes on September 17, 1934,

P. C. Turnage, from whom Tom Magee
purchased the land, had acquired it in 1905,
and testified that in 1906 he had the bound-
ary line between the NE\%4 of the NW1,
and the NW14 of the NW% run by a sur-
veyor, and he put a fence on said line that
remained there for over twenty years, until
it rotted down, a few posts of which still re-
mained at the time of the trial. There was
testimony of other witnesses that this fence
was the established boundary line between
the two tracts. Turnage also testified that
after appellant acquired the NW14 of the
NW, he built a fence, beginning at the
old established fence corner and running
along the same line until he got to the home
of Tom Magee, where he curved out and
made a crescent so as to give Tom more
room in front of his house; that the fence
followed the old line except where it made


JOHNSON v. STATE Miss. 845
Cite as 76 So.2d 841

[4,5] In cases where the death penalty
can be imposed by a jury, it is the duty of
the judge to inquire of the jurors whether
they have conscientious convictions against
inflicting the death penalty. Phenizee v.
State, 1938, 180 Miss. 746, 178 So. 579.
A somewhat similar case to the instant one
on this question is Lewis v. State, Miss.
1847, 9 Smedes and M. 115. The court was
performing its duty in this respect, and
committed no error in acting as it did. We
find no prejudice to appellant resulting from
this incident.

[6] Appellant made no point either be-
fore or during the trial that he was insane
and incapable of distinguishing between
right and wrong as to the particular acts
with which he was charged, or at the time
of the trial. He filed no suggestion of in-
sanity nor any other pleading raising that
issue before or during the trial. He did
not testify in his own defense, and the only
witness he offered was Captain Robert W.
McGill, the commanding officer of the Stu-
dent Squadron of which appellant was a
member. He testified that appellant came
to the squadron on January 1, 1954, and
that_he. is-17-years of age. (18 now.) He
knew nothing about the alleged crime. Ap-
pellant’s counsel asked McGill his opinion
of appellant’s mental age, and what pecu-
liarities he displayed. Appellant’s attorney
stated that he was not pleading insanity.
After that statement the trial court sus-
tained an objection to those questions. If
appellant had pleaded insanity, they would
have been proper. In fact, the district at-
torney on the trial conceded that. How-
ever, since in the trial on the merits appel-
lant’s counsel advised the court that he
was not pleading insanity, the court was not
in error in sustaining that objection to the
stated questions to McGill. Appellant asked
for and obtained no instructions on the
question of sanity, and did not submit that

issue to the jury.

Appellant filed a motion for a new trial,
which set up two new points not previously
raised by him: (1) Newly discovered evi-
dence which would show that appellant was
insane at the time of the crime, during the
trial, and subsequent thereto, and that Dr.

H. L. Deabler, a clinical psychologist, had
examined appellant and made this diagnosis ;
(2) that no Negroes were summoned to
serve on the panel from which the grand
jury and petit jury were drawn.

On the hearing of this motion for a new
trial, appellant offered, to support his con-
tention of insanity, Dr. H. L. Deabler.
He is the chief clinical psychologist at the
Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Gulf-
port. The substance of his lengthy testi-
mony is that appellant has a gross over-
development of the sexual impulse; and it
has resulted in his taking on feminine ways
and being attracted to feminine things. On
the occasion of this rape, appellant was
wearing women’s clothing, including under-
wear. Dr. Deabler said that appellant had
failed to develop a sense of right and wrong
or a “healthy conscience”; that appellant
at the time of the rape had “a strong un-
controllable compulsion” and therefore was
not conscious of right and wrong. His acts
are characterized by transvestitism and
voyeurism.

However, he stated that he had made a
psycho-diagnostic test to determine appel-
lant’s sanity, and that this test showed him
to be “sane in our sense, in contact with
reality.” He was not psychotic and was
not insane, from a psychologist’s point of
view, but Dr. Deabler thought that he was
legally insane, since he thought that appel-
lant had such an uncontrollable compulsion
that he did not know the difference between
right and wrong. Appellant’s intelligence
is average for a 17-year-old boy, in terms
of ability to think, to handle school work
“and that sort of thing.” Dr. Deabler had
not read appellant’s confession and had
gained his data largely from a two-hour
conference with appellant, and from talking
to his attorney. The fact that after appel-
lant originally approached the prosecutrix
and her sister, he walked away from them
temporarily when a truck approached, in-
dicated a fear of being caught, but the doc-
tor did not believe it indicated a sense of
doing something wrong. Appellant is not
suffering from any mental disease, but a
psychological disorder.


Lt 4 / 1 ( det LA be SS f
VaALUGCL Ww Moh. r Ae

XRXXKBKR June 27, 1919.

. n
Zz) ra

COURT.
Because they murdered a cold blood
Chas, McCarter and old negro, in the
morthera part of Walthall county on
the night of March 25, Etigehé Mudey,

county jail at Tylertews Pridsy tntorn- ae of the” lower floor through

‘ing. which tha's wingh g bodies ‘of, the law-
Rone cee own | [Sea calm
The woman—widow of the murder. bricked : Cat ‘thy would fave ‘op-

of whites and’ teyrves ‘surrounding ability by ‘his talk ‘tind {¢ Was “easy

the dédth-tiouse kitw of the actiial oc- tosee which was the Master mind that
curerhes Was the harsh’ ‘nétaitic sound planned the murder of McCarty, and
of the trap, as the trigger was spite, the shrewd explanation of the dead
And the litthy body of the Tah upon it man’s disappearance. He made no

shot ‘to ‘the "Hléininiods dedith ‘bitew. direct’ reference to the crime, and

‘An itttense'evétrd gatheted iW ty. while he did not protest: his innocence
lettéWin’ dairly’ Prittay: morhtiid!” bm neither did he admit his ‘guilt His
hear’ kid “far, Beopld ‘begkin' ‘pouting speech was more if the nature of a

inte 'the Wahtalt eapttal uritil bythe {sermon . than anything else, and
tithe tie Roi? or hd AHH Hed abounded ‘a quotations: from the
: . and" icks ; Scriptures. He closed by expressing

Meehhen Gaesrae b
MMA 6A oL pA, MissisE(P 41 [ /

Jone 28/977 CH SH)


Wd ke ok 3

black,

rere ee
lite iieeti eee titer eee eed

Will Lane“ Hangeds~~

Will Lane, the negro who shdt-and
Killed R. P. Faulkner, neat’ Blalne,
last year, was hanged in the’ ¢otin-
ty jail here last Friday, Sheriff A. C.
Cox springing..the trap that sent the
murderer's soul into eternity, =. “==:

Will was calm and brave withont a
particle of -braggadocio or resentment
during bis.last hourk....He expressed.
wish that his neck be broken go that
he. woyld Not. have.ta_struggle, and his
wish was granted,’ for if &. Bh Over.
suffered a painless death he ‘aid Ther?
was not even the contractien of anv of
thé limbs or contortion of the body:
death coming to him painlessly aud
lnstantaneously, ea
Promptly at eleven o’clock Sheriff
Cox assembled the legal witnesses and
went to the jail but not hurry matters
as Rev. McGehee and Rey. Bolling.
were praying with the condemn3d man. |
Deputies Weissinger and Smith sup: |
ported -Will-to the trap, but the assis |
tance Was unnecessary as he was calm:
and faced death gamely. The sheriff.
asked him if he.cared to make a atate-
“ment hes ee he did not.. He
vas then asked if he was ready to go
and he snid that he was, Then with a
brief “good bye Will’? Sheriff -Cox
pulled.the. trigger. and..the Jcondemned
man went down }o his death.
~ The trap was sprung at 11:08 and at

Allen and Crowder. His body was tak.
.en by his relatives: who.provided-a-pas-
‘Aet and throud-for him and buried him

well to do negro - farmer, of the Blaine
neighborhood, was. with him on the
scaffold. The ‘crime for which Will
ne paid -the extreme penalty was
thé*shooting jnto an auto and k)ing
R.. P, Faulkner, who with Mr,
and Mra. R.A, Miller and others
wera returhing from a picture show kt
Rylevilie, ‘Will, was very drunk thas
night oh #dine pélsondts’ drug’ afd. i
not know ‘he had killed anyone until
informed of it by his companion«next
morning. He escaped and for several
weeks was not caught, but he tired of
dodging the officers and returned to his
home and then started out toward Itta

11:21 he was pronounced_dead by Drs, |

near Shaw. His father, E. C. Lane, al

Bena where he was captured.

uv

o " cae WA AaAKN ‘ it f Vi W
Nal CQ. ana iano Lé 9 MD LY

1920

&O,

The hunt for Lane was the subject
of some sensational writing in the
northern press, Articles being sent
from thia county which created some
feeling, indicating that the Southern
people hunted negroes. as, they_would
wild animals, all of which was so
palpaply false tbat it aroused bitter
comment. The editor of the magazine
in which the articles appeared has
agreed to reprint the excellent edito-
rial the Commercial Appeal in arfswer
to the misleading article  ~° -

He made a statement for the Tocsin
which we pnblisned last week, and we
here reproduce it for €hé good advice
contained in it, hoping that it will re-
strain some criminally inclined.

Wednesday, May 26—Today and to-
morrow are my last day’s on earth. It
seems very sad indeed, but it is surely
God's will that I go, and the best and
sweetest of allis that I am going to
meet my Lord, face to face, asd live
with him. forever and ever. I am per-
fectly willing to go, but I want every-
body to know that I don’t know that I
killed Mr. iauikner. Butas I am ac-
cusee of it. lam willing to bear the
blame, and die for it. But God being
my witness. I don’t know that [ kille4
Mr, Faukner, for this reason. That
night I was druk and I don't havé
any remembrance of anything that
happened. There was another boy
with me, or he says he was with me,
and also say’ that 1 killed the man.
Ikknew nothing of the killikg until 9
o’clok next morning, .when the boy
that was witn me told me that I killed
Mr. Faulkner, and that is the only way
that [ know I killed him.

Justa few words to the speople of
the world, I[f you will leave off strong
drinks and gombling and loose women
and take the Lord for your guide, there
won't by any killings and haugings, |
bave nothing aginst no per3:n on
earth, and [ hope to meet you in heav-
'en for I am going home to hive with
) my Lord whu died for me and tor you,
Guod bye kind peop!

Acta men so WE DANE.

Sun ELOwErE [ocSrJ


Uréene,

~ RIRG IB BANGED
‘FOR TWO MURDERS
ocr, Juv t2—Greens
rk has answered ior the Bevin, !

VERS OF 3-

SHORNING

of two Simpson county ¢ '
The sryra. who peli oek ioe inate
-aliguor, ehct ‘down Nitht Merrsa! B.!

i i. Herabyoof-Mapes, and Ister de-!
! :aivered .e tetal wound. t9-D-naty ;
| “Bherlff Ear. Nunnery, when Nun:
| thery~-atteropted--to- arrest: tor!
“the first assaulf, was sent to desth?
—Rt_10:¢9 by Sheriff John Smith.!
| oe eenaing phystetans pros:
pbc 3 m dead we ae
... Deciaring -that-he had nothing {9

posed anc showed no aigrs of emi
tion 2s he was p: > his]
Beth . preapred fo: el

Pay. Kirk walked to. gallows com-].

{. Today af the hour appointed-for ;
! the-execution, the small company

assembied—in—the smal corridor. of .
the jail, on the second floor. :
The scaffold had been built ee

terday over the well of the stair-!

way. giving a_Srop of nine feet. The,
‘death cell is off to the right of this!
i corridor, and here
p eantines {or the hour following: his,
| arrival_in_custory of the, officcrs |
irom Jackson. ae :
} <Gheriff John. Smith came from:
the cell bringing Kirk properly at-;
| tired, and the condemned negro |
\ was placed on the trap, given ab:
; cpportunity to make his Tas? speech. °
and the trap was sprung. Dr. R. B.j
| Giles. the official physician, pro ;
} nounced life extinct, and thus the’
4 lives of two brave officers were}
| paid for insofar as humanity and.

2
'

Green Kirk, a negro tarm-hand4. '

: ; the Jaw can the debt.
8am Nunnery, travelilng sergean? | r 3
‘of the penitentiary. and father ot |

Murderers of Simpson Of-;

shot R. W. kemby. night marshal

ficers and Arkansas Man . MUbere and Nowe aaa of the, ‘of the town of Maree. a miles «
° ‘Hemby familiea: were: itsouth-of- ; the might of Jane |

Go to Doom Quietly +l the at the execution, besides! | osry o9 last. Kirk, in _ company |
sedis cht ct | b ute ahd vucnts iene physicians, I with some other negroes, had been.
. Wi ; tes - at: scers, news “laced under arrest charged with;
Tie few minutes Of. each r men. peat avin iIntoxrcants and misbehave)

“ang. Kirk ran from the officer

er, two Diiasiss ; ae
, ippi necroes hang-! ‘Sare pcior to Searing his ceil!
. ‘and fired two shots, which took ef-'

cad i gtd the murders “HA, & ved on questioning that ne-
them. There was en Urmondea] Ne dnow who he was shooting: “fect, causing the death of Mr;
ton. the i Set weg J night, when he fred! i Hemby = the following day. Tne
Oreen-Kirk. who kiled- Deputy; | fall. ° which caused his down-, "negro. made his escape, and a
Sherki-Eart Nunne “and pay . “He said he was crazy from’ w large posse of c{ficers and citizens
Marshal RW. Hemey "at sshnee say Nik oly whiskey. “hd " ptarted tn pursuit, About two.
lest January was the first ef seiae Teports that he had: 4 nours later he was fcund several s
GBheriff’ Join Smith. ot Rind T's i-"H--the-twe white men die.! "miles north of Magee and when
. ot Simpson "ve sent {ive men across the river.” ! | Deputy Sheriff! Earl Nunnery ¢e-

county, wprung the trigseP, at the away, “Hos case was advanced on! | card. ME bpd tg ye
j um, inflicting wounds which caus-

rm

‘fall In Mendenhall at 20: Kirx| |. the docket and
. ; . ° ry ' he waht tried ,
was pronounced dead by fhe four! | ult court and found in Cire | 1{, a lsey sets
we Jninuter! [Sentenced to be hangri:bas April 13 1 eral ne Stier fee
“ Pollowing-at 31:08 Wi . oe appeal was taken, which stay- "ims negro escaped in the conft-
“chek CifSuen the a) Budo was A gaan ype i An Bt ‘sien following the second shootin. .
yl, re me pee st the. te = affirmed the sentence and ‘but had been badisrwsounded a

om "ek one bs 13 minu Bur- ‘ag ea for the execution. ‘surrendered carly tne next mern-
once Neal ¢ te pi of or \ ieee sentiment was again ing. He. barely escaped being mob-
“after O'Neal of Duvalle Bice. (oc! | eal ite the appeal, and it bee bod at the time. and a little later
vide ] had given his 2 free Bernat xsary to remove Kirk at owing to the coolness and straegs
BaF aoeed taaliapunl iNepetnngn s+” faa rae emote, aight t. A large number of men {ol- ‘et Sherif Smith was sp:rited

perenne ae mere mes Oot lowed the ahberiff and hts deputies ‘ phere

‘) , y -
‘ Saeker Sl]
\ - | |
/ / / 3 / } 7 ’ ? x
/


° . ° ‘ r 418
LANE, Ed, black, hanged Jackson, Mississippi, on December 17, 1880

A ‘negro bamed Ed. Lane, was
hung in Jackson last Friday, for
the murder of Titns Rogers, also
colored. Before the black cap was
drawn oyer his eyes he mae a full
confession; said that he murdered
Rogers ‘because his, wife agrced to
‘Tun away with him if he would;
.that he had made his peace with
God and was ready to die.

LEDGER, Brookheven, Missussippi
December, 23, 1880, p3,c1

Execution in
PARCHMAN, Miss. — Cony;
murderer ee Earl tage y UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL 4 ~ 20-f ¥
bt a ve into.a . 2 -
pma'-town marshal itivestigating a NY PARCHMAN, Miss. — Edward

was pronounced dead at 12:21 a.m.

Mississippi Ni Mississippi killer executed
:

Earl Johnson, who defense attor-

& neys said was born brain-damaged,
=) was executed in Mississippi's gas
3 ; S chamber early Wednesday for
d sodium cyanide © shooting a small-town marshal in

¢ acid solution at _ © 1979 with the officer's own gun.

Johnson, whose final appeals for

a stay and clemency were rejected

S late Tuesday night by the US. Su-

Is were turned ial
the U.S. Suprem down Tuesday C preme Court and Gov. Bill Allain,

EDT (9:21 PDT).

The high court voted 7-2 not to
halt the execution — the 33rd in
Mississippi's gas chamber at the
sprawling state prison in rural
Parchman.

Johnson, 26, was convicted of
killing Walnut Grove night marshal
J.T. “Jake” Trest when Trest an-
swered a call about a break-in at the
home of 71-year-old Sally Franklin.
Johnson was 18 at the time of the
crime.

i i i i A

The

PARCHMAN, Miss. — Ed-
ward Earl Johnson, who pumped
five gunshots into a small-town
marshal investigating a burgla-
ry, was put to death in Mississip-
pi’s gas chamber early today in
the state’s first execution in
nearly four years.

Authorities dropped sodium
cyanide crystals into a sulfuric

Slayer of marshal executed in Mississippi
Otklend 7R/BUNE S-20- 87
Aseoccisted Prees

acid solution at 12:06 a.m., re-
leasing poisonous fumes into the
chamber, and Johnson was pro-
nounced dead 15 minutes later, a
prison spokesman said.

Johnson, 26, had waited quiet-
ly in a cell 30 feet from the sil-
ver-colored gas chamber at the
maximum-security prison here
as his lawyers pushed eleventh-
hour bids to save his life.


Dallas Times Herald
TEXAS ROUNDUP.

Williams put to death
HUNTSVILLE — Convicted

Fane d_ killer Anthony
st alr
i iy asles Williams was =
val in death early Thursday ot ae
ian mother of his 13-year-o
et waited outside the peeen.
con terly complaining she wa ni
hs allowed to watch the execu eet
ton Williams, who was 18 w .
ad convicted of abducting, a
ling and raping aciahu .
ie Wright smiled as he cil
‘jon :
i the gurney
st aver lliams, 27, asked ne
pee mother for forgiveness 1n 1 i
a nal statement and laid foes
nae s lethal drugs flowed ne ‘
ee vrata He was pronounce ea
sai at 12:22 a.m.
irs
| wus F
99, 19
p-4 Friday, May J
DALLAS ROUNDE™ | |

Dea THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION

Thursday, May 21, 1987 Peers 3

A

Convicted Miss. killer
says he bore ‘no ill will’

By Raad Cawthon
Staff Writer

PARCHMAN, Miss. — Edward
Earl Johnson was executed in the

gas chamber Wednesday after say-
ing he bore “no ill will toward any-
one” and proclaiming his innocence
in the 1979 shooting death of a
marshal.

Johnson was pronounced dead at
12:21 a.m., 15 minutes after sodium
cyanide crystals fell into a bucket
of sulfuric acid and distilled water.
Witnesses said a grayish cloud of
cyanide gas rose from the recepta-
cle, engulfing and choking Johnson
as he sat strapped to a heavy metal
chair inside the chamber.

In his last statement, Johnson
said “he was innocent and that he
regretted the situation but that he
bore no ill will toward anyone,”
said Donald Cabana, acting commis-
sioner of the Mississippi Depart-
ment of Corrections. “He said he
was thankful that the process was
coming to a close for him and his
family,” Cabana told reporters after
the execution.

Johnson, 26, was executed for
the 1979 killing of J.T. Trest, a
night marshal in Walnut Grove, a
small town 48 miles northeast of
Jackson. Johnson shot Trest five

ohnson claims

Edward Johnson was executed
in the Mississippi gas chamber.

times when confronted by the mar-
shal after breaking into the house of
an elderly Walnut Grove woman
and threatening to rape her.

_ His attorneys have said there
were many errors in the way his
previous lawyers handled the case.
His attorneys claim that Johnson’s
confession, which was the primary
evidence in his conviction, was
tainted because it was obtained by
Leake County Sheriff Max Taggard
after he threatened Johnson and his
family with violence.

“He died with his left fist
clenched,” said Rafael Abramoritz,

innocence at execution

a re orter who witnessed the
execution.

Clive Stamford Smith, one of:

Johnson’s attorneys, said he told
Johnson’s family of the execution.

“When the family asked me
why, all I could say is, ‘It’s a sick
world. It’s a sick world.’”

Courts repeatedly rejected the
attorneys’ arguments and refused to
grant Johnson a stay of execution
or a new trial.

Witnesses to the execution said
Johnson’s last words, as he sat
strapped in the chair, were, “Let’s
get on with it.”

Johnson, who ate boiled and
fried shrimp for his last meal Tues-
day, died wearing denim prison fa-
tigues, attire different from the red
jumpsuit he had worn during his
eight years on death row. He was
the 33rd prisoner to die in Missis-
sippi’s gas chamber since 1954, the
year the state changed its form of
execution from the electric chair.

Johnson’s death leaves 47 others
on Mississippi’s death row.

His last hours were spent with
his family, who claimed his body af-
ter the execution. He was described
by prison officials as being “calm”
as he played a game of chess with
an uncle and joined relatives in
singing hymns and reading passages
from the Bible in the prison’s visit-
ing area.

oeTq *Tue

*)96T-02-5 (9H80T) *SSTH

eon

:

OL

paempg * NOSNH

a

‘x

ww

vt ete “St Mt

_— ie

IN THE NATION
om Wicker —

Death
And

Disparity

here is only one crime on the

record of Edward Ear! Johnson,

a 26-year-old black man of Wal-
nut Grove, Miss., and there are sub-
stantial doubts that he committed
even that one.

He will die for it nevertheless, early
next Friday, May 22, in the gas cham-
ber at Parchman prison — the first to
be executed following the Supreme
Court’s ruling that even a demonstra-
ble pattern of racial discrimination
does not make the death penalty un-
constitutional.

This ruling in a Georgia case was
applicable to hundreds in other
states — including that of Ear! John-
son.

His story began eight years ago, in
June 1979 — nothing is less ‘‘swift
and certain’ than capital punish-
ment — when a white woman in Wal-
nut Grove heard a post-midnight
knock at her door. After she an-
swered, a black man assaulted but
did not rape her.

The town marshal, Jake Trest, an
armed white man trained in martial
arts, was passing and. intervened. A
struggle ensued in the yard of the
house. Mr. Trest was shot and killed,
but not with his own gun, which was
taken by the killer.

Earl Johnson, then 18 years old, a
graduate of South Leak County High
School, and an employee of Green
Acres Poultry Company, had an auto-
mobile breakdown that night, in the
vicinity of the crime. Because he
made a telephone call for repairs, his
presence in the neighborhood was
quickly established.

Mr. Johnson had been reared by
his grandparents, and he and they
were favorably known in Walnut
Grove. The youth had no criminal
record, save a minor traffic viola-
tion. Yet the sheriff went at once to
his home, picked him up and took
him to the house of the woman who
had been assaulted. Mr. Johnson's
grandmother insisted on accompa-
nying them.

Within hours after the assault and |

in the presence of his grandmother,
the white woman said that Earl John-

son was not the man who had at-.
tacked her. Mr. Johnson was re-|

Jeased.

Two days later, on a Sunday, the |
sheriff again came to Mr. Johnson's

home, saying he wanted to take the
youth to Jackson, Miss., for a lie-de-
tector test. His grandmother again
protested; but this time the sheriff
took Ear! Johnson alone.

According to Mr. Johnson’s later
accounts, consistently repeated,
he was not taken to Jackson but
to a place in the woods where
the sheriff and other officers threat-
ened both him and his grandparents
with physical violence. Under this,
duress, Mr. Johnson contends, he
confessed to the shooting of the town
marshal.

At first , he recanted his
confession and charged that he had
made it only in fear of violence
against his grandparents. But after
the confession was made, the white
woman changed her story and identi- |
fied Earl Johnson as the black man
who had attacked her.

Earl Johnson
is to die for |
a crime he
may not have

committed. Ep

The disavowed confession and the
white woman’s changed testimony
were enough to convict Mr. Johnson,
who appears to have been inade-
quately represented and was sen-
tenced to die. Until the Supreme
Court’s recent ruling, however, there
was some possibility that his and
others’ capital sentences might be
found constitutionally invalid. .

The Supreme Court had accepted
as evidence a detailed statistical
study of more than 2,000 murder
cases in Georgia in the 1970’s. The
study found that a black man con-
victed of killing a white — as was
Earl Johnson — was 4.3 times as
likely to receive the death penalty as
a white who had killed a black. But
by 5 to 4, the justices held that this
study showed only ‘“‘a discrepancy
that appears to correlate with race”
and that such “apparent disparities
in sentencing are an inevitable part
of our criminal justice system.”

So the death sentence of Warren
McCleskey, the Georgia defendant,

and those of Earl Johnson and hun- |
dreds of other blacks on death row |

were upheld, despite what Justice
Blackmun, in dissent, called ‘‘a clear
pattern of differential treatment ac-
cording to race.”

Appeals asserting substantial
doubts about Mr. Johnson’s guilt still

are being pursued but he is likely to |

be executed next week unless Gover-
nor Allain of Mississippi grants clem-
ency.

As Justice Powell wrote for the Su-
preme Court, ‘‘apparent disparities
in sentencing,” whether or not racial,
will happen. They always have, they
always will, they can’t be prevented
— and no better reason exists for
doing away; With the one sentence that
canns ‘bere¥oked or redeemed, once
it has carried out. {4

THE NEW YORK TIMES, SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1987


yp tak
aa
t% of

- SILOS
corgi. f,
} . al
age «git
Ve an) a
bgeatas? ‘e
iets. a
Ne ah) tad gamey
May iia sR INAED
Fe tts lode!
“ay
a af wf ¥
bi ‘ah eS
- i Wag
, fae? TS a
oo ge fo ee 5
hy f
bs Pan Py
4, ‘+
* ye Bs)
' of
ay GOT IPO
‘s BLY "4
: heim gt
,
weg ar
s 4s Si Oe 7 “3
hy achtny fea anetry he
f een ba
; hint an
‘ i
“A
. See thom eS
wrt aed Bie
i ae Ne ;
‘ 4
i Sa, ‘
>
Ry eg NTs
rs .
” oar at
, 3
aK fae ee
Prtactaies arr tant® 2
a se
t)" ben
ee ad 7
'
- ,! ¥
=i
a
bes pe Metal Si
%
tyo@e hk 3
7 »
tes
red Ag
a
Bi eS Tae ltt
sown, +:
¢ ahi >
aren wy the
ad ae
4
” yn

FF

7


seen taken
oung, chief
satient was
d was still

is received,
or the rep-
iken before
ta Lebron,
ro and Irv-
sted on ten
questioned
and threee
‘ted on five
kill and five
ily weapon.

for each

sd a report
med to have
‘s in Puerto
he Congress
ung plot to
nent by as-

for assassi-
ervice, were
tary Dulles
cding to the
a and Com-
to Rico were
nation could

York police
m-American
of 300 men
ections with
Meanwhile
: of Chicago
op members

were Jorge
ina, 34;

o John
ronzales
nor, Chicago
search for
er of Lolita
he leader of

m to some-
1 routine in
ts-came from
e subversive
In a surprise
en and U. S.
nded up 91
for question-
1 Manhattan,

stant District
: County that
id been sub-

», the police
eged Nation-

from Puerto
s, wild-eyed
eme head of
is located in
1. More than
‘rounded the
Albizu Cam-
hem meekly,

several win-
» swiftly re-
“s henchmen
that they had
unition. They
nd fired back
| home-made
m.
ver—tear gas.
| found their
od. Breaking
overpowered
iptain Dudley
rome by gas,
‘e taken
id.

Reporters who visited Albizu Campos in
jail reviewed the frustrations of the em-
bittered man’s life. A graduate of Har-
vard University, he had applied for a
commission in the U.S. Army during World
War I. His application had been denied,
and he had instead been drafted into a
Negro regiment that was training in Puerto
Rico. This treatment seems to have been
chiefly responsible for his violent hatred
of the United States—a feeling he has had
very little success in instilling into his
countrymen.

Shortly after Campos’ arrest, New York
City police and the FBI located and
swooped down upon the hideaway of the
local leader, Julio Pinta Gandia, previously
suspected of connection with the attempt on
Truman’s life. A subpoena was served on
him and he was brought before the Federal
grand jury in Manhattan.

The wiry, 45-year-old Puerto Rican de-
fied the grand jury, saying he refused to
answer questions “on the basis of a gentle-
man’s code of honor, of which I can only
be relieved to answer by the people con-
cerned,”

He went on to say, “The Nationalist
party is not responsible for terrorist acts
of its members any more than the Republi-
can party is responsible for the acts of
Senator McCarthy.”

Upon refusal to answer several more
questions, he was brought before Judge
Henry W. Goddard in secret session. It
was announced that he had refused to
answer 15 questions and might face con-

tempt action. The type of questions asked
was not revealed, and he is still being
questioned about the possibility of a wide-
spread plot to assassinate high govern-
ment officials.

Meanwhile, one by one, the wounded
Representatives began returning to Con-
gress. Each was given an ovation by
other members as he resumed his seat.
Representative Clifford Davis of Ten-
nessee, still limping badly from his leg
wound, received a particularly warm ova-
tion.

At a news conference on March 19th,
Representative Alvin M. Bently, having
undergone three operations, said he ex-
pected to be out of the hospital by the end
of the month. He is now completing his
convalescence at his home, feeling lucky to
be alive.

He told reporters he believed that, if
necessary, Congress should enact legisla-
tion to outlaw the Puerto Rican Nationalist
party in the United States. “There is a
perfectly legitimate independence party
in Puerto Rico which advocates indepen-
dence by non-violent means,” he pointed
out.

At this ertting Lolita Lebron and the
other three alleged Congress terrorists
remain in a jail on charges of attempted
murder. Their attitude remains one of
fiery defiance.

Their trial starts on June 2nd. The
courts will then determine whether or not
they are guilty of the grave charges that
have been placed against them. oo¢

The Frightened

Blonde

(Continued from page 42)

Gwendolyn had told of dating other men
before she began to go with Rushton.
Deputy Sheriff Glenn Holifield talked to
them. One, Lester Phillips, a carpenter,
admitted that'he had resented Gwendolyn’s
recent refusal to see him.

“We used to be pretty good friends,”
Phillips said. “We went out a lot and I
thought we were hitting it off pretty well,
but then she began to go with A.D.”

He had felt slighted, he said, but he rid-
iculed the suggestion that he would resort
to violence to appease his deflated ego.

“You can explain where you were last
night?” Deputy Holifield asked.

“Sure, I had a date. I had supper down-
town and then went calling on a girl.” He
supplied her name and said he had arrived
at her home at half-past seven.

At the morgue an autopsy confirmed that
the fatal bullet had entered Rushton’s
head at a point between the eyes and
emerged behind the right ear, death prob-
ably being instantaneous.

Search of the pickup truck yielded the
fatal slug, a .22 caliber bullet, imbedded
in the upholstery, but fingerprint tests of
the truck were futile.

On Monday, a check of Gwendolyn’s em-
ployers and associates at the garment man-
ufacturing plant elicited no further infor-
mation and no lead to anyone who might
have wanted to harm her. Her reputation
was excellent.

About two and a half years before, the
girl’s parents related, the family moved to
the Glade community from Clara, in
Wayne County, a few miles to the south-
east. They said that Gwendolyn had the
usual number of boy acquaintances, but
they insisted they had met all of them and
thought they were clean-cut youths. Sher-

&
ay.

iff Holifield sent a deputy to Clara to

_ check on the girl’s friends.

Over and over, the sheriff and the dis-
trict attorney questioned Gwendolyn, hop-
ing she might recall some seemingly in-
significant detail of the ride to and from

.Lovers’ Lane, but not once did she deviate

from her story.

Arrington issued a plea to the public for
help, an appeal that was carried on the
local radio station and in the newspapers.

“There may have been another couple
in the vicinity of the murder scene,” he
said. “They may have heard shots fired or
they may have seen a man with a rifle.
If they have any information I promise
their names will be kept confidential.”

Again, every person who already had
been interrogated was quizzed. From a
young woman who occasionally had dou-
ble-dated with Gwendolyn, Deputy Glenn
Holifield learned that Lester Phillips hadn’t
just forgotten the attractive blonde.

“I was downtown on Sunday night, Feb-
ruary 7th, and saw Lester and Gwen ar-
guing on the street,” she declared. “I
heard him say she wasn’t going to throw
him over like that.” She couldn’t explain
what Phillips meant by “like that,” but
said Gwendolyn made it clear she would
have nothing more to do with him.

“He said she’d regret it, and he walked
away.”

Gwendolyn confirmed the story, but she
asserted that Phillips had not threatened
her. She said she had told him she was
not going to see him any more, and that
was all there was to the incident.

“He’s not the kind who’d go around kill-
ing people,” Gwendolyn declared. “Be-

sides, the man who shot A.D. was a lot:

taller.”

Moreover, Phillips’ statement about his
Saturday night date proved true. He did
not own a rifle and never had fired one.
Ard Rushton’s killer had.to be a good
marksman.) Phillips was cleared of any
suspicion.

District Attorney Arrington called on
Gwendolyn at the county jail and asked
her’ to go} with him on, gpother, rae

MIDDLE
AGED!

Frequently Are Tired—Worn
Out—S uffer Aches, Pains,
Urinary Trouble and
Loss of Vitality.

These symptoms may be caused
YA Glandular Inflammation. The
ansas City Clinic has just pub-
lished a new free booklet Gaeribing
more fully the symptoms of
Glandular diseases. Write for your
FREE BOOKLET that tells about a
mild treatment. It may save you
years of suffering. Write today

Address Desk P-5.

The Kansas City Clinte

920 Oak St., Kansas City 6, Mo.
FREE SALES KIT: Send name and address

on postcard today for
amazing FREE sales kit. Discover easy way to make
money as magazine sales agent. No experience. No
ie i oN om True Detective, 205 E. .42

INVENTORS

| Learn how to protect your invention. ‘‘Patent Guide”

containing information on patent protection and pro-
cedure with ‘‘Record of Invention’ form will be
forwarded to you upon request—without obligation.

CLARENCE A. O'BRIEN & HARVEY JACOBSON

Registered Patent Attorneys
431-G__ District National Building
Washington 5, D. C,

WORK HOME OR TRAVEL
DETECTIVE Particulars FREE
Write!
NATIONAL INSTITUTE
810 Holland Bldg.

St. Louis, Mo.

wie S MOST AAATING BARGAIN CATALOG

Packed with SENSATIONAL
Bl Vatues in WAR SURPLUS,
| FACTORY CLOSE-OUTS and ff

GENERAL MERCHANRISE! []
I Fully Illustrated. Thousands of [J
g items in Hand & Power Tools, if

Outdoor & Sporting Equip- fy
I ment, Hardware, Photo Sup- %
i plies, Foam Rubber, industrial [7 = ¢

Tools, Aircraft Ports, Metals, Q Qa: 07; Saat.
I] Plastics, Gadgets, Hydraulic’ i eee fe
I Supplies & many, many more.__

1 Only 50¢ For handling and mailing —

REFUNDED with first order.

PALLEYsuppLy co. (Reape ene
SoM ; a:

’ Prove it yourself no matter
d how pene you havesuffered

or what you have tried.

Bertita book on psori-

asis and Dermoil Pwvith

amazing true photo-

graphic og of Fesults

al) sent FREE. Write for it.

a
for the stubborn, ugly D OR
embarrassing scaly skin ¢
disease Peoriaaie. Ap- C) DO

ply non-stain

report e scales hav é .
gone, the red foal adually ais: fer 9
a) and they enjoyed th rill of clear skin.

again, Dermoil is us many “abe id is backed by a
positive agreement to give de nit 2 eks <=

money is refunded without qu
in) for erous trial bottle

ame *
stores and other leading Oru ogi KE LABO ATOR IER
Box 3925, Strathmoor $ aon opt, 7605, ' etroit 27, Mich:

1

aie ses Hint

as

stopped for several seconds. The girl stared
at Johnson, who sat on his cot, his head
buried in his hands. She waited patiently
for Johnson to move, and when he looked
up she gazed intently at his face, but did
not recognize him. She turned and walked
away from the cell.

Several hours later, Goodson heard a se-
ries of bangs on the cell door. He rushed
there. Johnson was screaming:

“Get the sheriff. I can’t stand it any
longer. I’ve killed an innocent boy.”

Goodson hurriedly notified the sheriff
and soon he led Johnson into a room
where Sheriff Morgan Holifield, Deputy
Glenn Holifield, County Prosecutor Per-
shing Sullivan and several other officers
were waiting. District Attorney Arrington
had been called out of town.

Johnson was shaking. “I haven’t been
able to sleep,” he said. “I killed that boy.
It’s been like a bad dream.”

He said that early in 1953 he stole a rifle
from a hardgyare store, but he asserted, “I
don’t know “why, because I’m a bad shot.”
He added, “The D. A. was right. I was with
Pete Grant.” However, he declared, ‘He’s
wrong about my suggesting sticking up
people. I didn’t say anything like that.”

He took Grant home, he stated, and was
driving toward his own home along Route
84, but something made him turn south
along the gravel road when he got to Hill
Crest Drive. He parked his car and took
his rifle out with him. “I’d been drinking,
I don’t know why I took the gun,” he
muttered.

He said he crossed over a gravel pit
area through a field and started down an
embankment. “I slipped and fell. I got up
and I walked along that dirt road. I fired
a couple of times in the air, then I fired
some more.”

“You were there to rob anyone you
could, is that it?” Sheriff Holifield asked.

“No, no. I don’t know why I was there.
I was just drunk.” He insisted he didn’t
mean to hurt anyone.

After he had fired several times, Johnson
related, he climbed through a barbed wire
fence, opened the truck door and heard a
man “breathing hard.”

“All I could see was his legs. I slammed
the door shut and ran away.”

He never had seen Rushton or Gwendo-
lyn before, he declared, and he insisted
robbery was not his motive.

He accompanied officers to the scene of
the crime and reenacted the murder.

“I think I had a rag around my face and
I think I wore an army cap,” he said. He
pointed to the barbed wire fence and said,
“T think I went through there. My britches
were torn.”

It was after midnight when the party
returned to the jail. District Attorney Ar-
rington was back from his errand and had
been filled in on the events of the evening.
He opened Johnson’s suitcase, lifted out a
pair of blue denim trousers and asked,
“Are these the pants you wore that night?”

Johnson nodded. Arrington pointed to a
torn place on the inside of the left leg.
The tiny scrap of cloth that had clung to
the barbed wire fitted the tear in the
trousers.

Completely broken, Johnson cried, “I
want to die for it. I never killed anybody
before.”

“What did you do with the gun?” the
sheriff asked.

“T don’t know, I can’t remember,” John-
son replied. However, he changed his
mind. “I remember now. I'll show you.”

A half-dozen officers went with him into
Covington County, driving 36 miles to a
field near Johnson’s home in Mount Olive.

“On Sunday morning I took the rifle
from my car and hid it in a barn,” Johnson
said. “Monday, I took it into the woods
right about here. I dismantled it and
burned the sections and ,then I buried

#4
Say

them.” He glanced around, trying to locate
with the aid of a flashlight the spot where
he had hidden the weapon. Suddenly, he
pointed. “Right there.”

Officers dug in the soft earth and soon
their shovels struck something hard. They
quickly unearthed the pieces of fire-
scarred, mud-coated, dismantled rifle.

“I guess that’s it,” Johnson said. “I’m
ready to go back.” They were only a quar-
ter-mile from his home, but he pleaded,
“Don’t take me there, I don’t want anyone
to ‘see me.”

Johnson was driven back to the jail and
lodged in his cell, still crying.

The next morning Arrington and Sher-
iff Holifield visited Gwendolyn Cooley’s
parents.

“You can take your daughter home with
you now,” Holifield told them. “There’s no
chance of Johnson’s getting out. She’ll be
safe now.”

Deputy Glenn Holifield, who was fa-
miliar with guns, examined the dismantled
rifle and observed that the firing pin was
peculiarly rounded. The five shell casings
found at the murder scene all appeared to
have been fired by such a rounded pin. He
sent the shells, the .22 caliber slug that had
been found in the pickup truck and the
sections of Johnson’s rifle to the FBI in
Washington.

Meanwhile, Judge F. Burkitt Collins or-
dered a special Grand Jury panel to meet,
and after evidence was presented the
Grand Jury handed up an indictment for
murder.

“I want to get it over with,” Johnson
pleaded. “Try me right away.”

George A. Bereley, firearms expert for
the FBI, subjected the rifle and shells to a
series of microscopic tests. He reported
that markings and impressions proved that
the shells had come from Johnson’s .22.

Johnson was brought to trial in Circuit
Court before Judge Collins and a jury on
Wednesday, March 10th. He kept his head
buried in his hands as Gwendolyn told her
story of the night of horror. He did not
speak as a parade of witnesses testified—
until officers began to repeat his confession.

“Lies! Lies!” he screamed.

When Andy Hopkins, who had been in
the room when Johnson confessed, stated
that the prisoner had made his statement
voluntarily, Johnson shouted, “He’s a liar!”
and surged toward the witness chair. It
took four men to restrain him. ~

After he had repudiated this confession,
defense witnesses testified that Johnson
often appeared irrational. However, an at-
tempt to prove him insane failed and the
jury deliberated only an hour and 47 min-
utes, before returning a verdict of guilty—
a verdict that made it mandatory under
Mississippi law to impose the death penalty.

Judge Collins received the verdict on
Saturday night, March 13th, exactly one
month after the crime, almost to the min-
ute. He sentenced Johnson to die in the
electric chair on April 30th.

On hearing the sentence Johnson staged
another demonstration, fighting the guards
as they led him from the courtroom.

For Gwendolyn Cooley, who had gone
through a frightful ordeal, life now began
anew. .

“Fate plays queer pranks,” said Sheriff
Holifield. “If that pair of nice kids had gone
to the movies as they had planned, two
lives might have kee». saved—-Ard Rush-
ton’s and the life a jury doomed.”  $@@

Epitor’s NOTE:

The names, Lester Phillips and Pete
Grant, as used in the foregoing story,
are not the real names of the persons
concerned. These persons have been
given fictitious names to protect their
identities,

Shrinks Hemorrhoids
New Way Without Surgery

Science Finds Healing Substance That
Relieves Pain— Shrinks Hemorrhoids

For the first time science has found a
new healing substance with the astonishing
‘ability to shrink hemorrhoids and to stop
bleeding — without surgery.

In case after case, pain was relieved
jeohwes ie. And, while gently relieving pain,
actual reduction (shrinkage) took place.

Most amazing of all—results were so
thorough that sufferers made astonishing
statements like “Piles have ceased to be a
4 al .

[The secret is a new healing substance
(Bio-Dyne®) —discovery of a world-famous
research institute.

Now this new healing substance is offered
in ointment form under the name of
Preparation H.* Ask for it at all drug stores
—money back guarantee, “Trade Mark

EROISaAT

PAYS BIG! SEND FOR FREE, BIG

TRATED CATALOG NOW! Graduates renert

making substantial incomes. Start and run your

own . Men, all ages,

be eg babar sovens ig rs get
ppraisin, an:

related sub ects. STUDY AT HOME OF th clan:

WEAVER SCHOOL OF
Suite 300 Law —" Saing A, ROTATE Ot, 30g0)

Inventors

Send today for our instructive booklet, “Patent
Protection for Inventors” outlining preliminary
steps to take toward patent protection, also for
convenient ‘“‘Evidence of Invention” form,
VICTOR J. EVANS & CO.
922-H MERLIN BUILDING, WASHINGTON 6, 0.C,

YOUR aie tt
improved in 3 hours or
corrected to your satis-
faction in 10 hours’ prac-
tice with my DEFINITE

HAND CONTROLS. WEW WAYS

WRITE
Bx665 sT. LouIs
oa OZMENT “G1-N mi5S0URI

Investigator Training
Experience unnecessary. Many oppor-
tunities. Send for Free particulars.
Free credentials.

Exchange Secret Service System
4360 Broadway Chicago 13, Ill.

High School Course

iness di ’t be
posite. ‘Be a High, Schoo! graduate. Start your
on
American School, Dept.HB69, Drexel at 58th, Chicago 37
Tccstete Connie .
Genadien arican School, 1610 Sherbrooke Bt. West, Montreal.

1 Will Train You at Home for

“2” RADIO-TELEVISI

good pay, a bright future, security, get into
Ro. Sow RgKADIO-TELEVISION, You can train
at home, Start soon to make $10, $15 a week
extra fixing sets in spare time. Get A

qualified veterans under . Mail coupon NO

MR, J. E, SMITH, Pres., Dept. 4GJ7
National Radio Inst., Washington 9, D. C..
Mail me Sample Lesson and book FR: i

NAMO.cercecerercceeecnrende
 AAAPOSB. <5 se seven sevese ‘

exporience with equipment T'send, Avaliable 2 ;


“You’re sure you didn’t see the man’s face?” Holifield
asked. “You saw nothing except the rifle and his covered
face?” .

“I’m positive,” the girl insisted. “I saw he was wearing
dark pants and I think he wore an army cap. That’s all I
remember.”

“You heard the truck door open and close.
have been A.D. who opened it?”

The girl shook her head. “No, he was hurt—he couldn’t
have opened the door. It must have been the man with
the gun.” .

Holifield asked, “Did you hear anyone speak?”

“No, sir, not a thing; just the door opening and closing.”

The desolate spot, where only a few hours earlier a’
young couple had sat and talked and where many other
young folk were wont to spoon, now was illuminated by
the bright headlights of the two official cars. Officers
climbed the iron gate and scanned the ground looking for
some clue to a killer.

Just to the north and south of the padlocked gate were
barbed wire fences, and inside the gate was a soft, dirt
road, almost a cowpath. Automobile tire tracks were
visible in the dirt and as the officers crawled on hands and
knees, aided by rays from flashlights, they noted some

Could it

On courthouse steps Chief of Police ‘Valentiac (1) and
Sheriff Holifield discuss clues

which convicted killer

ejected shells—five of them within twenty feet. The cas-

. ings were small; they might have come from a .22 caliber
. rifle.

Sheriff Holifield, Arrington and Valentine made their
way carefully to a point about in the center of the dirt
road, directly in line with the left window of the sheriff’s
car. It would have been possible to fire into the open win-
dow and hit a person in the. driver’s seat, they agreed.

Holifield went to the barbed wire fence just to the left of
the car’s front bumper and tried to squeeze through. In
doing so, he ripped his jacket sleeve and scratched his arm.
He played his flashlight along the barbed wire, to see if
anyone else had tried to get through the fence and ripped
his clothing. .

Arrington signaled to an officer on the gravel road and
the latter moved the second car so that its bright head-
lights played on the barbed wire.

Two minutes later, Sheriff Holifield exclaimed, “I’ve got
it.” He had found a tiny scrap of blue cloth clinging to
the wire. . ; .

He put the piece of cloth into an envelope with the shells,
instructed the officers in the second automobile to look for
a discarded rifle and headed’ back to town with Gwen-
dolyn, Arrington and Valentine. He was convinced that
the girl had told all she could remember and he realized
that a young woman under tremendous emotional shock
might think of only one thing—to get home where she
would find a haven in her trouble.

He wondered, though, whether she might possibly have
known her escort’s slayer and whether the mask was used
by the gunman to keep her from recognizing him. When
the cars reached the courthouse, he talked to Arrington
and Chief Valentine, suggesting the possibility of the mur-
derer’s striking again. : .

They decided that, for Gwendolyn’s protection, she
should not return home. If Rushton’s death was the work
of a jilted admirer, he might seek her out, to silence her.
If the killer thought there was a possibility she might talk,
he would feel safer with her out of the way.

The officers were puzzled by the rifleman’s action in
opening and closing the truck door. They wondered if he
had set out to kill Gwendolyn, as well as Rushton and had

,gone.to the truck to make sure he had accomplished his

mission. Seeing the girl crouched down, he might have
thought she was dead. But with the news of the murder
in the papers, he would learn that the girl was alive and
he might go gunning for her.

. The sheriff suggested that, for her own safety, Gwen-
dolyn should remain as close to the authorities as possible,
and the safest place he could think of was the county jail.
Clarence Goodson and his wife had comfortable quarters,
and would take good care of her. :

The girl dazedly agreed, and she was placed in the care
of the Goodsons, free to go anywhere in the building.

Meanwhile, one thing appeared certain—the person who
shot Rushton was not a stranger to the territory. He had
found his way onto the dirt.road in the deserted section.
He already was there when the couple arrived. The mo-
tive could have been robbery, the officers knew, for men
frequently lurked in secluded places to prey on petters.
And in many cases, they would be relatively safe from
arrest because men and women victimized by Lovers’
Lane bandits seldom reported the incidents for personal
reasons.

The jealousy motive sounded reesonable. Gwendolyn
had said that the killer opened fire while about 50 feet
from the truck. There was no resistance to a robbery and
the man waiting there apparently had shot to kill.

Arrington was not satisfied that the murder stemmed
from either motive. ;

“T’m not sure,” he said. “It could be a case of mistaken
identity. The door was opened and shut—it had to be the
killer who did it, to make sure he had done his job. He
could have mistaken Rushton or Gwendolyn for somebody
else—some other couple.” (Continued on page 83)

Spee

Pre

TW

can

and Jo
Broad,
It di
violenc
foresee
be rew
right it
At le
only th
to happ
Ups occ
employe
It wa:
quick g]
stickup,’
—and bk
Facing
felt like
appear f)
floor beh
“Drop
Insteac

Smith 0;
to stand u;
young thu.

fired point.

Luckily ,


wanted to cover once more the route taken
by her and Rushton on Saturday night.

They started from the little cafe in
Meridian Street and went to Nub’s Steak
House on Ellisville Boulevard, where
Gwendolyn had said she and A.D. stopped
and drank Cokes. They continued to the
padlocked gate. Arrington asked count-
less questions, but invariably the answers
were those she had given before.

But there was one change in her story.
As they drove away from the trysting
place and moved slowly along Hill Crest
Drive, Gwendolyn suddenly cried, “There—
there—I remember now.”

She pointed to a spot at the side of the
road. “I told you I saw an automobile.
It comes back to me now. It was parked
right there—a dark, two-door sedan.”

“But you said you didn’t know just
where it was parked,” the district attorney
reminded her.

“t didn’t. But I’ve been reading the
Bible and praying, every minute since Sat-
urday night, that I’d remember—and when
we just went over the bump in the road I
recalled that I saw it as the truck hit a
bump.”

“You just said it was a two-door sedan,”
Arrington noted. “The other night you
couldn’t describe it except to say it was a
sedan.”

“I can’t help it. I seem to picture it
now. I was too dazed and shocked be-
fore. I couldn’t remember clearly.”

In response to Arrington’s appeal to the
public, two teen-age boys appeared at his
office Wednesday afternoon. One seemed
shy, the other self-assured.

“I don’t know if this means anything,”
the latter said, “but we live over in Soso
and Saturday night we were going to the
movies. I was driving south along that
gravel road and we noticed a pickup
truck ahead of us going slowly in the op-
posite direction.” The truck stopped near
the iron gate,” he said. “We looked, but
couldn’t see who was in it. Then, as we
drove along we saw a car parked,” he con-
tinued. “It was a green, two-door Ford
sedan with an Alabama license.”

“How do you know the color?” Arring-
ton demanded. “It was dark.”

“I had my brights on and I was going
slowly,” the boy answered. “I was look-
ing to see if anyone was in the car, petting,
but it was empty.”

He estimated the time at 7:45 and his
companion nodded agreement.

A few minutes later, Arrington and the
boys were at a point along the gravel road
about 300 yards south of the iron gate. It
was at the place where Gwendolyn had
said she had seen a two-door sedan.

The district attorney noticed a gravel
pit area a short distance north on Hill
Crest Drive. He walked toward a field of
sage brush beyond the gravel. He went
through the field and almost tumbled down
a steep embankment.

“You’d have to know about this to avoid
tripping,” he muttered.

He looked down and noticed a dirt road,
wide enough for a truck, but hardly broad
enough for two vehicles to pass. Careful-
ly he clambered down the embankment.
The road curved slightly and there was
a slight grade as it led directly to the iron
gate where Ard Rushton was slain.

Arrington squeezed through the barbed
. wire and walked down the gravel road to
swhere he had left the two boys in his auto-
obile. Now he knew that Rushton’s
ayer was thoroughly familiar with the
area. .He. was. satisfied now that Gwen-
jolyn’s recollection of the two-door sedan

= efboys’ description of the green
na registration tied in.

1 “He returned’ ta, his office, talked with.
"Chief, Valentine ; eriff' Holifield and.

then broadcast a me e to authorities in

Jones and.nearby counties to look for an

Alabama two-door green Ford. He called
the Alabama motor vehicle bureau to en-
list its aid in finding green two-door Fords
listed in that state. He realized it was a
tremendous task.

He realized, too, that if the murder
stemmed from a robbery motive there was
a good chance that the car had been stolen
or that the plates had been removed from
another vehicle. Yet he couldn't afford to
pass up any angles.

It now was Thursday, February 18th,
and more than 200 owners of green two-
door Fords had been checked over an ex-
tensive area. Andy Hopkins, head of the
State Bureau of Investigation for the State
Highway Patrol, was working with the
Jones County and Laurel officials and men
in radio cars were assigned by the Patrol
to help in the search.

In their methodical coverage, they ques-
tioned every man, woman and child.
They canvassed homes and stores, restau-
rants and gasoline filling stations, garages
and offices. They went from the center of
town to the suburbs and finally one officer
got what he believed was a red hot lead.

In a cafe a man admitted that on Satur-
day night he had driven along Hill Crest
Drive with a woman and had seen a two-
door sedan near the Pistol Range.

HOT CHARIOT

The boardwalk at Atlantic City was
wide and pleasant. It lured one visitor
to a trip that ended with a sentence
of 60 days in jail. This was the first
case on record of a person being
sentenced for drunken driving—in a
motorized boardwalk chair.

—Morris Bender

“It was a little after seven o'clock,” he
said. “I can’t be sure but I believe the
car belongs to someone who lives over in
Mount Olive. I’ve seen a car just like it,
with Alabama registration, over there.”

The man explained that he drove over
Route 84 as far as Collins every day, then
took Number 49. “I’m a salesman and I go
as far as Jackson a couple of times a week,
but I hit Arbo, Mount Olive, Magee and
the rest of the places more often.”

Two radio cars sped to Mount Olive,
about 35 miles to the west, and there mem-
bers of the Patrol talked to filling station
attendants and storekeepers.

“It sounds as though it might be young
Johnson’s car,” one man _ stated. “His
name’s James Dewey Johnson but every-
one calls him J.D. He lives with his in-
laws.”

The officers headed for the address given.
In front of the house they saw a green
two-door Ford sedan with Alabama plates.
Two men went to. the door while two
others examined the automobile.

Johnson was not at home, a relative said.
He had left on Tuesday to take care of
some business.

“What kind of business?” the officer
asked. )

--“He was going to try to get a job.”
“Any idea where he went?”

bats hs 5

“Why, yes, I think he’s in Dallas, Texas.
He’s got friends there.”

“That his car outside?”

“Yes, he went by bus. The car needs a
little work.”

The men who had been examining the
sedan found nothing incriminating in it.

A few minutes later a message was on
its way from Arrington’s office to Texas,
describing the 30-year-old Johnson, sup-
plying the names of his friends and asking
that he be picked up. Meanwhile, the
members of the Patrol checked local stores
and soon learned that Johnson had bought
a quantity of .22 caliber bullets in a Mount
Olive shop the previous week. And in Ma-
gee, a few miles to the northwest, two men
reported having seen Johnson, on Tuesday,
board a Texas-bound bus carrying a suit-
case.

To spur the hunt for Johnson, Deputy
Sheriff Glenn Holifield, Jailer Goodson and
Laurel Patrolman Reed Flowers were sent
to Dallas.

On Friday night, police of that city
working with the Mississippi men found
Johnson, badly in need of a shave and a bit
unsteady from too much liquor, in a bar.
He readily admitted his identity but de-
manded, “What’s the reception committee
for?”

Told that he was wanted for questioning
about a shooting back home, he exclaimed,
“You’ve gone a long distance for nothing.
I don’t know anything about it.”

Nevertheless, he agreed to return with-
out being extradited, declaring that since
he had finished his business in Dallas he’d
be glad to get free transportation home.

He was held overnight and then the trip
back to Laurel began. Throughout the 650-
mile journey he remained silent, speaking
only when he had to and answering only
the most general questions. The murder of
Ard Rushmore was not mentioned.

Back in Laurel, District Attorney Ar-
rington told Johnson, “It will save a lot of
time if you tell us about the shooting.”

“I’ve got nothing to say about any shoot-
ing,” Johnson retorted. “You've got the
wrong man.”

“All right, if that’s the way you want it,”
Arrington said, “but I’m charging you with
murder.”

Johnson stared at the district attorney.
“You're crazy. I didn’t kill anybody.”

Arrington asked casually, “How good a
friend of yours is Pete Grant?”

“I know him. Why?”

“He says you tried to get him to go with
you Saturday night,” Arrington said. “He
claims you told him it would be a cinch to
stick up couples parked on lonely roads.”

“That’s a lie!” Johnson shouted. “I
haven’t seen Grant in a couple of weeks.”

It was through a persistent check of all
of Johnson’s acquaintances that Arrington
had found Pete Grant, who reported that
on Saturday, February 13th, he and John-
son had been together near a cemetery on
the western fringe of Laurel and that
Johnson had broached the idea of getting
some easy money by robbing spooning
couples. Grant said he thought he had
talked Johnson out of the plan.

Arrington turned Johnson over to Jailer
Goodson and the suspect shrugged his
shoulders, then reached for his suitcase.

“You won't need that where you’re go-
ing,” the district attorney declared.

Johnson was arraigned on.a murder
writ and ordered locked up pending a
hearing. Se

On Wednesday morning, February 24th,
Sheriff Morgan Holifield stopped outside
Johnson’s cell and said, “It might be easier
on your conscience if you talked. Why not
get it off your chest?” But Johnson said
nothing. Twice,’an hour apart, Holifield
repeated the visit.

A little later, Jailer Goodson and Gwen-
dolyn Cooley 4 proached the cell and

stopped
at Johr
buried
for Joh
up she
not rec:
away f)
Sever
ries of
there.
“Get
longer.
Good
and so
where
Glenn
shing |
were \
had be
John
able to
It’s bee
He s:
from a
don’t k
He add
Pete G
wrong
people.
He t
driving
84, bu’
along |
Crest °
his rifi
I don’
mutter
He
area t)
emban
and I
a cour
some }
“Vou
could,
“No.
I was
mean
Afte
relate:
fence,

pointe
“T thir
were
It v
return
ringto
been f
He op
pair «
“Are t
Joh
torn ;
The t
the b
trouse
Con
want
befor:
“W)
sherif
“T ¢
son
mind.
At
Covir
field }
“Or
from
said.
right
burn«


JONES, William & MILLER, William (J white & M black), hanged Aberdeen, MS

March 3, 1882

ming, March A, 1882,

em ee mee eg: Bre te we ig cee ee ee oe we ee

OA rN ee ne I a a te ee ee oe ee eee

THROUGH A TRAP.

oo + 4 @

'Exccution of Five Murderers Yes-

cop terdey.

Robert Jones and Willlanm Miller Hancel at Aber.
doen, Aline, for the Murdor of the Walker
Hrutoermn—A Verio of Apache Scouts Seut
to the Happy Hunting Grouads.

, etnaielinesteaeliicndionee ae a

Speclal Dispateh to the Globe-Democrat,
AWHKDERYN, Mise) Mred So) The exceentlon
Of Wok Jotew, white, aie Ueavtusther, aabboam Pood
Miller, celored, for the qurcderot tha three
Wilkers, Novernber Just, took pltce bere at
Noon today, Phiri Cor footy Cliotraseried Jreerprdes
Witnessed the hanyding. Nefther amen ninde
Any statement on. the seeffoid, Jones falnted
and had to be held up uti the digep fu. The
trigger Was pulled ut 10d p.m, Taey fell
shuuituneously and both necks were broken,
nO struggle belong perceptible fa efther cise, is
Geath way dnstunmtaneous, After lihaptedniy thirty
Minutes the bodles were cut down, Jones!
furndly sent for odile vemiuins, wrmed ME:
ler’s Wore tuken ch: Eg of by
the medieal fruternity for scse ntptie purposes,
They were trled af a special teri ot the Ofreult
Court, on January £0, and sontenced to be
bung on this adnate. The criine Whis commill tod
three miles west ot thie Wace On) the 26th of
Noveinber last, whila their Victhing were asleep
in camp. An ax was used and the hend of
Gach split open by Jonos, while: Miller helda
lht. The deed. wo done for the purpose of
Ketting money trou the! Vietinny, Miler was
Arrested next duy gn puspieion, Jones fled
but wug captured three weeks afterward {hn
Alabama by Rt. O. Bann, Doputy Puttoa Stites
Murshal, of this plage.

{
i

LL pew

Li

Cone ~ DEMO REA 7


SRT Tee U Ra Oe Ee eRe re
NO APPEAL |

KEATON, James, black, 22, hanged at Columbus, Lowndes County, Miss., on May 25, 193h.

"Columbus, Mississippi, May 25, 193 (Special,) - His nerve holding steadfast, James
Keaton, 22-year-old negro slayer of a Columbus business man, went to his death on the
Lowndes county gallows here today at 2:0, asm. A cwod estimated at 500 gathered at
¢he jail despite the early execution hour, which was kept secret by Sheriff Harry

West. Keaton, asked if he had anything to say, said 'Goodbye, everybody,' and as
Sheriff West adjusted the baack cap repeated the phrase. In his last hours he had
listened to spirituals sung by negroes gathered at thejail, He showed little con-
cern and chatted freely. The trap's drop did not break Keaton's neck, tut Dre de We
Cox pronounced him dead at 2:17 aem. Keaton was convicted April 1 of the murder of
Fred Me Hayskett, 5, Columbus filling station operator, He shot Hayslett bo death
last March when the man surprised him in his establishment which the negro reputedly
was attempting to rob, The negro SX#4X escaped from several companions who accompanied
Hayslett but was apprehended a short time later. He was sentenced to death after a two-
ek and a three-hour jury deliberation." DAILY NEWS, Jackson, MS, May 25,

193 (1s a

"Columbus, May 2h. - (Special.) - 'I'm thinking about nothing but heaven,' James Keaton,
negro, who dies on the gallows here tomorrow for the slaying of a Columbus filling

s tation operator today showed no apparent concern over his impending end as he gazed

at the scaffold from the ddathcell, ‘It can't do nothing but break my neck,' hes aid.
Keaton is the slayer of Fred Hayslett, well known Columbus business man who was shot to
death last March when he surprised the negro in his filling station. Keaton quickly
apprehended and tried, has been held at Bberdeen for safekeeping but was returned to the
local jail Tuesday." DAILY NEWS, Jackson, Mississpppi, Nay 2h, 193k (1Lshe)

7

KEELER, Edgar, bladk, gassed MSSP (Hinds)

ac would turn jo staré if” ”
runty little Eddie came shuffling ‘hack ;

[ nee |

; ica

FOR A SLIM AND
FANCY GAL

~~  aeee &

INSIDE DETECTIVE, November, X98 1955


JONES, T. Le, white, hanged Louisville, Miss., 12-22-1882,

"A DEAD DESPERADO: T. L. JONES EXECUTED AT LOUISVILLE, MISS., FOR
THE MURDER OF A NAMESAKE, (SPECIAL TO THE COURIER-JOURNAL),

"T, L. Jones, who murdered Thomas J, Jones, the only support of a
widowed mother, paid his final penalty at the end of the rope, in
Louisville, Miss., at 3 S@XX##XK o'clock p.m. This murder was
committed on the 3rd day of July last, within a few days of the convening
of the Circuit Court. The accused had a fair and impartial trial

by a jury selected from the best citizens of the county. He was
defended by the most eminent lawyers that could be obtained, and
everything possible for his relief was urged, but without avail,

Not being satisfied, he applied to the “upreme Court of the “tate,

which sustained the lower court. He has been confined in the jail

at Macon, Miss., and was brought from that place Monday. He died

game and seemed to have no fears, He told the officers not more than an
hour before he was hung to give him two good pistols and le& him go

an hour , and then he would die cheerfully. Jones leaves a wife

and two children in Alabama, whom he had abandoned several years

since. The facts connected with the hanging I have given from the

best information obtained, but be it saidto the credit of both men,

if it had not been for parties interfering, both would be livine

to-dayl T. L. Jones was a member of the Catholic Church, and was
baptized by Father J. &. Vanhover two days before his execution,

He was hung in the jail yard,and only a few persons were allowed

to witness the same, He was buried in the Yatholic Cemetery in
Louisville." COURIER-JOURNAL, Louisville, Ky., Dec. 23, 1882,


LANIER, Will, hanged at Aberdeen, Missisd ppi, March 19, 1902,

"Jackson, Mississippi, Mar. 18, 1902-Mrs, Lanier, mother of the celebrated Monroe county
murderer who is to be hanged at Aberdeen on Wednesday arrived in Jackson today for the
purpose of making a final appeal to Governor Longino to commute the sentence to life
imprisonment in the penitentiary. Governor Longino on a previous occasion refused to grant
a similar request and notwithstanding the numerously signed petition in this instance he
will decline to interfere with the death verdict which has on two occasions been affirmed
by the supreme court, Mrs, Lanier has made one of themost desperate efforts on record to
save the life of her erring son. Only a few days since she sent a pie to him at the Aber-
deen jail and when the toothsome morsel was examined it was found to contain 6 fine saws.
The condemned man is constantly under the surveillance of an armed guard and nothing short
of a miracle will prevent his execution Wednesday morning," NEWS, Pensacola, Fla., March
19, 1902 ( Qeli, )

"(Special Dispatch to the JOURNAL). Jackson, Miss., Dec. 18, 190l-Governor Longine has
offered an ex$ra reward for the cappure of Will Lanier, but his whereabouts have not
yet been discovered though the officers have been very diligent in their esearch, This
is Lanier's second escape from KWM&XJ4iXX this jail. Since his return from Georgia he
was confined to his bunk and the utmost precaution taken to prevent his escape, but he
seems able to defy the Aberdeen authorities, and has made well his escape, He was
sentenced to be hanged during the middle of January,"' JOURNAL, Atlanta, Georgia, Dec,
18, 1902 (2:h.)

"(Special Dispatch to the JOURNAL.) Newnan, Gae,y Nove 7, 1901. = Sheriff M. G. Ridings,
of Monroe County, Mississippi is in the city waiting requisition papers from the Governor
of Mississippi on the governor of Georgia for the return of Will Lanier to that state.

The crime for which Lanier is wanted, and for which he was convicted and sentenced to be
hanged, was perpetrated near Aberdeen, Miss., on August 29, 1900. He, with his father
and two brothers, killed the Biddle boys, the father and brothers holding them while Will
deliberately shot them, The youngest of the Biddle boys was fourteen years of age and
only looked on at the murder, He was shot for no other cause than shedding tears at the
sight of his brothers' death, The Laniers were tried and convicted, the father receiving
a five-year sentence, the two brothers ten years each wile Will was sentenced to be
hanged and the day of his execution fixed on April 18th, but on the 12th of that month he
succeeded in sawing out of jail and has since been at large. The capture of Lanier was
made by Chief of Police J. D, Brewster. There was a $300 reward for his arrest,"
JOURNAL, Atlanta, Georgia, November 7, 1901 (1:2.)

LANIER, Will, hanged Aberdeen, MS March 19, 1902

CC erin?

LANIER, Will a [F / '1G DO 2—

"Aberdeen, iss., }-AL-1900-08121 Lanier, murderer of the
Biddle brothers, met death on the gallows today. He was
firm to the last and made an address in which he stated
that the cause of his downfall was gambling and illicit
whiskey making, When the rope stretched, the spectators
were horrified to see his head leap fran his hody severed
as completely as though cut with an ax, A large crowd
gathered to witness the hanging but perfect order pre-

vailed," ‘a Are h / G / 7 b ie

PIRMINGHAM NidS, Birmingham » Alabama 3+19-1902
WORKSHEET PREPARED - MISSISSIPPI - NWU - Bound

Visas MELT pyr

Cen n ae

LANIER, Will, hanged at Aberdeen, Missisad ppi, March 19, 1902,

"Jackson, Mississippi, Mar, 18, 1902-Mrs, Lanier, mother of the celebrated Monroe county
murderer who is to be hanged at Aberdeen on Wednesday arrived in Jackson today for the
purpose of making a final appeal to Governor Longino to commute the sentence to life
imprisonment in the penitentiary. Governor Longino on a previous occasion refused to grant
a similar request and notwithstanding the numerously signed petition in this instance he
will decline to interfere with the death verdict which has on two occasions been affirmed
by the supreme court, Mrs, Lanier has made one of themost desperate efforts on record to
save the life of her erring son. Only a few days since she sent a pie to him at the Aber-
deen jail and when the toothsome morsel was examined it was found to contain 6 fine saws.
The condemned man is constantly under the surveillance of an armed guard and nothing short
of a miracle will prevent his execution Wednesday morning," NEWS, Pensacola, Fla., March
19, 1902 (2-h.)

"(Special Dispatch to the JOURNAL). Jackson, Miss., Dec. 18, 190l-Governor Longine has
offered an ex$ra reward for the capfure of Will Laniér, but his whereabouts have not
yet been discovered though the officers have been very diligent in their eearch. This
is Lanier's second escape from KHHXJAXX¥ this jail. Since his return from Georgia he
was confined to his bunk and the utmost precaution taken to prevent his escape, but he
seems able to defy the Aberdeen authorities, and has made well his escape, He was
sentenced to be hanged during the middle of January,"" JOURNAL, Atlanta, Georgia, Dec,
18, 1902 (2:h.)

"(Special Dispatch to the JOURNAL.) Newnan, Gae, Nov. 7, 1901. = Sheriff M. G. Ridings,
of Monroe County, Mississippi is in the city waiting requisition papers from the Governor
of Mississippi on the governor of Georgia for the return of Will Lanier to that state,

The crime for which Lanier is wanted, and for which he was convicted and sentenced to be
hanged, was perpetrated near Aberdeen, Miss., on August 29, 1900, He, with his father
and two brothers, killed the Biddle boys, the father and brothers holding them while Will
deliberately shot them, The youngest of the Biddle boys was fourteen years of age and
only looked on at the murder, He was shot for no other cause than shedding tears at the
sight of his brothers! death, The Laniers were tried and convicted, the father receiving
a fiveeyear sentence, the two brothers ten years each wile Will was sentenced to be
hanged and the day of his execution fixed on April 18th, but on the 12th of that month he
succeeded in sawing out of jail and has since been at large. The capture of Lanier was
made by Chief of Police J. D. Brewster, There was a $300 reward for his arrest."
JOURNAL, Atlanta, Georgia, November 7, 1901 (1:2.)


act ili

To: ‘BE Hanaep.—Joseph Lang:
ford, colored, was convicted of kill-- |.
ing another ‘negro, in. the low er part,
of the eounty, some three years ago,
at the late term of the Circuit Court,
and sentenced to be hung ¢ on ‘the 9th
day of February next, in -

The. boy Harrison, ‘convicted ‘at
the last term of-the Criminal Court,
for killing his, fellow-servant, is to
be hung, on the 12th inst. :

ot Er ee, Annem

VICKSBURG HE RALD, Vick: sburg
NI LKABURARERA LD
tinksburgyxMiasixsippi
January 3, 1866

2%

MS


a

 witkiimteye te

gig A
ey teed

ae ae

os igh rete ina S ie Ny

t ie pang. ta88

WEEKLY PANOLA STAR, Panola, Mississi

enn

thetiay

peonstuted, ey, wt atte De aie Sir

edgo-gho So:
eae ‘slave | wo-

Fab, eon ae State.
mu mony of absent fy hts

Pe eed

ar pay Sau ip

ia coaed

aude +2 a Nt
Sok: janie re —

, 5/24/1860, p2,c2)

May 25, 16
(2/1)

Hlanoman's Day.—On Friday last,

a very large crowd of peuple attended

at an early hour to witbess the lan:

ing of “Jeff.” a slave belonging to
Doctor Laird. At about 12 o clock

M. Sheriff Jones brought the prisoner
out of the jail, and conveyed hitn to
the guliows. When the Sheriff place:
the eap over Ins face, ‘Weff.”” slid of
the platform and bung himself with.
out breaking bis neck. Tle was ie
duced to do 80, no doubt. by the in-
atructions of the doctors, as some five
or six of them endeavored for more
than two hours to bring him to bie.
The Sheriff was as smart as the doc

tors, and let him hang forty-five

minutes before he cut him down.
cccstatt est Beni dil :

April 18, 1861
3/1)

WEEKLY PANOLA STAR, Panola, Mississippi


Or ales degre |
ce ne tv0e of the 01h of March}
‘papa yaad

a te ee

Ba We understand that a negro
belonging to Col. Juia Ballentine, |
some ten days since mede an as- |
seat apoo bie master; with-s knife;
and cut bim sererly, The dare,
made bis caape, but has since been
arrested. ‘This is the. same negro,;
killed a negro of Dr. Leary Laird,
the Inthes-in-lawyol Me, Bahentipe, |
Be Wein desperate negrdgand azght|
to be confved iw jait watil edurt.
Why bare act the Jutticns’of thal
Pease inthe neighborboed of Beir,
~M0Ut, attended te this matter, -~Gee!
lees isis done so as to prevent this)

———

—

. Ragre from being recoved stecin fhe | were alraid the boy would bit
county before osars, we hope the of thelr negroes, of woaid so tea
tact Gragd. Jary wilf indiet hese | “ome serious injury. It was i conse:
officers ox owpéra fora egieet of ‘Ibence of tila kind of imformation thas |

by we felt Juutified in calliog pablic at.
to. ihe etlinatantaismwnisaite: -”* * tention to thé matter”: Since thast

time, however, We havedound thet the
5¢ ‘hat be had “beag WBBtied 2d plied |
(2/1) Seog te MOM ts NG “cauditicg |

we of removal. We are{

v

‘ntend:to do Injastioe ty any ous,

> re ot erry,
——- = oo ees

April 13, 1859
(2/1)

WEEKLY PANOLA STAR, Panola, Mississippi


6. George's Mississippi Reports, Vol. 37 Pages 321-326. October Term 1859,
Appeal of Negro Jeff. Panola County. Slave of Dr. Laird. Aggravated
Assault on a white person. Slashed his master's son-in-law, John Ballentine,
as he was preparing to whip him for insolence,. Conviction reversed on this

appeal. Retried. Reconvicted. Recondemned. Reappealed per Vol. 39 pages
993-612, October Term 1860. Conviction affirmed. EXECUTED 4-12-1386)

STMOI'T pge) AdgpaAlipy, &FUuNnvy 9ouyttavuyy bane at 3 we eee we Sn nein — Ss

tttser se toy


\

.

| While responding to a burglary-in-progress call |
from a local residence, the 52-year-old Walnut Grove, oR

Mississippi, Town Marshal .was~shot and killed. When arriving

at the residénce, the marshal, who had less than 1 year's

law enforcement service, observed a male running from the

house and followed him. As the suspect approached his

vehicle, the marshal ordered him to stop, whereupon the 18-

year-old subject allegedly produced a .25-caliber handgun

and shot the victim three times in the chest. When the

marshal failed to fall, the subject reportedly struck him on

the head with the weapon, knocking him to the ground, and 7 7

then ictim's .357-ma on and shot
™m twice in the back of the head. “The subject was arrested
the following day and charged with murder.

Nevada -


75. MILLS, William P. Jr. -— Maryland State Police - June 8, 1979

76. MOBLEY, Robert A. - South Carolina Highway Patrol - July 19, 1979

77. MORGAN, John T. - Marion County, Kansas - May 22, 1979

78. OLIVER, Johnnie L. - FBI, Cleveland, Ohio - August 9, 1979

79. ORTIZ-CASTILLO, Maximo - Police of Puerto Rico - December 5, 1979

80, PETERSON, Robert L. - North Carolina Highway Patrol - May 31, 1979
81. PEEPLES, Willie E. - South Carolina Highway Patrol - June 8, 1979

82. POCCHIO, Joseph A. - Essex County, New Jersey, Park Police - August
4, 1979

83. PORTER, J. Robert - FBI, El Centro, California - August 9, 1979
84, ROWRY, Thomas Jr. - Union Point, Georgia - May 16, 1979

85. RUSSELL, Michael - New York, New York - August 2, 1979

86. RYBKA, Joseph - Bergen County, New Jersey - January 7, 1979

87. SANCHEZ, David R. - Lake County, Oregon - December 1, 1979

88. SCHAIK, Roger Van - Chicago, Illinois - March 3, 1979

89. SCHIMENTI, Thomas Jr. - New York, New York - August 17, 1979
90, SIEFFERT, Robert T. - Cincinnati, Ohio - March 6, 1979

91. SMITH, Earl - Pike County, Kentucky - May 15, 1979

92, SNIDER, Charles A. - Charleston, South Carolina ~ March 2, 1979
93. STEVENS, Larry D. -— Richmond County, Georgia - January 24, 1979
94. TAMBURRO, John - Essex County, New Jersey - October 1, 1979

95. TEMPLE, David E. - Alabama State Police - September 13, 1979
96, TOMASZEWSKI, Kenneth - Lorain County, Ohio - July 3, 1979

97, TREST, J. T.»-sWalnut Grove;{Mississippi - June 2, 1979

98. VASQUEZ-SANTIAGO, Rafael - Police of Puerto Rico - October 25, 1979

99, WADFORD, William - Madison County, Mississippi - March 8, 1979

HEALED TAGS 8 SLOSS I PP


|
|
|

MISSISSIPPI :
SA7V-B8Y

JACKSON — Execution set
t - for marshal’s slayer: Murder-

er Edward Johnson, 23, is to be
_ executed July 11, the state Su-
Preme Court riled. He was
convicted of killing Walnut
Grove Marshal J.T. Trest. The
Court threw out the death sen-
tence of Attina Cannaday, 19,
convicted in the 1982 stabbing
death of her boyfriend. ...


JOHNSON, edward Earl, black, asphyx, Miss,

DSP 5-20-1987

Death of a Murderer?

| knew him as “Chui” (chewy), but to
many people, Edward Earl Johnson was
many things.

To the Trest family, Edward was the
author of unquantifiable grief, the focus
of intense feelings of revenge. He was
these, and more—not because the Trest
family knew that he had killed their family
member but because they were told that
he had.

The only certain “crime” that Edward
committed on the night that town marshal
Jake Trest was killed was to suffer an
automobile breakdown in the neighbor-
hood where an unnamed white woman
was attacked and Trest subsequently mur-
dered. A telephone call Edward made for
repairs made known to authorities his
presence in the vicinity.

To his family, Edward was “Squeaky.”
He was a grandson, a son, a brother, a
nephew, a cousin, a friend. He was a
good child, a big brother, a help to those
in need, a loving and caring person, a
nonviolent person who would “talk it
out” or even run rather than fight.

Edward was reared by his grandparents,
and he and they were favorably known
in the Walnut Grove, Mississippi, area.
He was eighteen years old at the time and
had no criminal record, save a minor
traffic violation. Yet the sheriff went at
once to his home, picked him up, and
took him to the house of the woman who
had been assaulted. At her insistence, his
grandmother was allowed to accompany
them. The white woman said that Edward
was not the man who had attacked her,
and the sheriff released him and his grand-
mother.

Two days later on a Sunday, without a
warrant or probable cause, the sheriff
again came to Edward’s home, saying he
wanted to take him to Jackson, Missis-
sippi, for a “lie-detector test.” Edward,
having never been involved with the law,
did not know of his right to counsel. The
only “right” he knew was the right hand
of the sheriff that would be used brutally
upon him if he refused to go along. His
grandmother again protested and insisted
that she accompany them, bur this time
the sheriff took Edward alone.

In the eight years that elapsed up to
and including the night of his execution,
Edward consistently held that he was not
taken to Jackson but to some woods
where the sheriff and other officers threat-
ened him and his grandparents with vio-

lence and death. Edward knew that they
were capable of it if he didn’t do as they
asked. (The fate of Emmet Till and the
Freedom Riders were local stories.) Under
fear and duress, he confessed to shooting
Trest.

Ac the first opportunity—months later—
he recanted and explained that he had

confessed only in fear. But after his con-
fession was made, the white women
changed her story and identified Edward
as the black man who had attacked her.

The coerced confession and the white
woman’s dubious testimony were suffi-
cient to convict Edward, who was inade-
quately represented at his trial and
through his appeals process. When coun-
sel finally was appointed to represent
him, it was so deficient that he couldn’t
have done worse attempting to represent
himself. His attorneys admitted that they
“ineffectively represented” him and that
he didn’t receive a fair trial.

But in the United States, inadequate
and ineffective representation is not
enough to prevent an execution. (One of
his attorneys presently sits on the bench
of the Mississippi Supreme Court and had
to excuse himself from voting on Edward’s
motion for a stay of execution.)

On the morning of May 20, 1987, from
12:01 to 12:26 am. Edward was slowly
and agonizingly murdered in the gas cham-
ber here at Parchman by those to whom
the people of Mississippi have granted a
“legitimate” right co kill.

Earlier, we’d hoped and prayed that
Edward’s and others’ death sentences
might be found unconstitutional. The U.S.
Supreme Court had accepted as evidence

a study of more than two thousand murder
cases in Georgia in the 1970s. The study
showed a black person convicted of killing
a white person was 4.3 times as likely to
receive the death penalty as a white con-
victed of killing a black person. (In Missis-
sippi a black person receives a death
sentence for killing a white approximately
eleven times more often than a white for
killing a black.) By a five to four decision,
the justices of the Supreme Court held
that this Georgia study showed only “a
discrepancy that appears to correlate with
race” and that such “apparent disparities
in sentencing are an inevitable part of our
criminal-justice system.”

So the death sentences of Warren Mc-
Cleskey, the Georgia defendant, and of
hundreds of other blacks (such as Edward)
were upheld. Despite what Justice
Blackmun, in dissent, called “a clear pat-
tern of differential treatment according
to race,” Edward’s legitimate murder was
carried out.

Eaward was indeed many things to
many people. A black child, caught up in
Mississippi's racist system, he was one of
the many Americans who are afforded
few, if any, of the many rights constitu-
tionally guaranteed them.

Yet, to me, “Chui” was a man who
rose above his tragedies and environment.
He was a Christian who daily gave real
meaning to love. As much as is humanly
possible, he personified our Lord. He was
the “kid brother” I never had.

When a good person dies, it is not their
words but their deeds that are remem-
bered. I loved and love “Chui” for the
person he truly was. If you had known
him, you would have loved him too. |
grieve for him. I grieve also, as he did
during his life here on death row, for the
Trest family and the pain they suffered
and will always feel upon remembering
their loved one. I grieve for “Chui’s”
family and their pain. I pray for both
families. 1 pray, too, that all who haven't
will learn how to forgive. “If we cannot
forgive, we cannot expect to be forgiven.”

Was the death of Edward Earl Johnson
“the death of a murderer”? I think not.
The murderer is the death penalty. Ir sits
patiently, with its sardonic grin, waiting
to touch you directly or indirectly through
a family member or a loved one. No, the
murderer did not die; the murderer lives.

—Samuel B. Johnson

L
NOW

FIUSISGFUTT OTe

MARCH 1988 25

Jaa 94l

*‘Aaeyuawndop

sAep uaaquno4,
“3JGIS YFHLO FHL Suotsstwuad y LM paqyuLuday

uf kew ul

[4ejy Puempy ynoge Sst
‘reyudtape,ttud'3s Aalsdy'M OOE

LLLM 2] ‘“uosuyor

72 uMOUS ag

"Wd

“pret

t

4


pe
Wena lee ee

Prisoner lunges angrily at cameraman taking exclusive photo five minutes after his death sentence was pronounced


JOHNSON, James Dewe white. ele 7 i i il ;
vs te, elec, Laurel, M3 on Nov. 10, 1954,

A shot in the night—a terrifying ride with a dead man beside her

made the stray wisps of ‘Gwendolyn Cooley’s blonde
hair dance in the moonlight.

Twenty and attractive, she leaned back on the seat of
Ard D. Rushton’s little pickup truck, parked in a popular
Lovers’ Lane 300 yards from the Police Pistol Range four
miles west of Laurel, Mississippi. She drained the last
bit of Cola from a bottle and handed it to her boy friend.

Rushton, a good-looking ex-GI, took the bottle and set
it on the floor. It was twenty minutes before eight o’clock,
Saturday evening, February 13th, 1954. Only about five
minutes earlier Gwen and A.D., as everyone called him,
had arrived beside the iron gate separating the gravel road
from a dirt lane. On either side of the gate a three-
strand barbed wire fence extended for a considerable dis-
tance.

IT WAS A NIGHT meant for romance. The breeze

“You know, A.D.,” Gwendolyn said, “my parents and the .

rest of my family.like you.”
“They do? I’m glad of that,” the youth said.
As Gwen faced Rushton, who was seated to her left,

she noticed a figure coming up the road on the other side’

of the gate.

“A.D.,” she whispered, “‘there’s a man.”

She watched*the figure approaching the truck swiftly.
“He's got a gun—there’s a mask on his face,” she blurted.

Petrified by fear, she crouched down in the seat and cov-
ered her face. Rushton reached for the ignition key and
his foot moved toward the starter. At that instant, a shot
rang out—then four or five more.

Gwendolyn still crouched. It was a warm evening, but
she was chilled to the bone by terror. ;

She heard the door of the truck open, then close, but she
dared not look up. After what seemed a long time,
though it really was but a few seconds, she lifted her head
and looked outside. There was nobody -in sight. She
stared at the young man next to her; his face was covered
with blood. He toppled into her lap, his head on her left
leg. :
“A.D., let’s go,” she pleaded, but there was no answer.

The girl noticed blood on her light green blouse and her
black and green checked skirt. She felt her escort’s face,
and her hand was smeared with his blood. Panicky, she

- put her ear to his heart; there was no beat. She felt for

his pulse, but could find none.

For three or four minutes Gwendolyn sat there, frantic,
desperate, praying for help: She did not know what to do.

Finally, realizing that there was nobody to help her, she
slid over, moving Rushton’s body away from the driver’s
seat. She had to drive home. Her parents would help
her. :

She backed the truck, turned around and headed for
home, gripping the wheel tightly, anxious to get away
from the lonely section as quickly as possible.

Then, as she applied the brakes suddenly to make a

‘right turn, Ard Rushton’s body fell from the seat onto the
floorboard. Gwendolyn stopped the truck, moved him -

Jo FRIGHTENED

D2EL

away from the accelerator pedal, then drove swiftly on.

It was eight miles to her home in the Glade community,
but she. made the journey in a little more than fifteen
minutes, despite stops for red traffic lights and slowdowns
at intersections. At five minutes past eight, she was home.
She jumped from the truck, screaming, “Vom! Dad!”
But the house was in darkness and there was no answer.
She tried the door. It was locked, and she had no key.
Then, for the first time she broke into tears.

She noticed an open window at the side of the house,
and somehow she managed to climb through, shuddering
as she saw the blood from her skirt and blouse stain the
ledge.. Once inside the house, she ran to the telephone.
Her older brother, Mack, would know what to do. She
would call him at his little cafe in Meridian Avenue.

In the rural areas of Mississippi, private lines are few.
Almost all residents have party telephones, as many as
eight families using a single line. And Gwendolyn
Cooley’s wire was busy. She hung up and tried again a
minute later. It was still busy. :

. The girl paced the floor. Her brow was hot and she was

shaking with fear. She went to the kitchen and gulped
a glass of water, then returned to the phone—still busy.
She unlatched the door and went outside, looked inside
the truck. A.D. lay motionless. She darted back to the
telephone. At last the line. was free and she called the
cafe—only to get a busy signal.

Gwendolyn pleaded with the operator, “Is there some-
thing wrong with the phone? Are you sure it’s busy?”

“They’re talking,” the operator answered.

Gwendolyn hung up. Again she paced the floor. The

thought occurred that perhaps she should drive the truck

to the police, but now she had lost all power of reason and
was more frightened than ever. She had thought only
that her parents would know what to do—and they
weren’t there. Now she could think only of her brother—
he would help Her.

The minutes dragged into an hour.
was talking—either on her line or on the cafe’s pay phone.
Several times, Gwendolyn went outdoors, almost decided
to drive to the courthouse or to Mack’s cafe, but in her

panic she could not bring herself to do it. Finally, a few. ©

minutes past ten o’clock, her own phone was clear and
she got through to the restaurant.

“Mack,” she stammered, “something terrible has hap-
pened. A.D. is dead.” She explained, almost incoherent-
ly, about the shooting.

Mack Cooley tried to calm her. “Take it easy,” he told
her. “I'll get the sheriff right away.”

About fifteen minutes later Sheriff Morgan Holifield,
Deputy Sheriff Glenn Holifield, Laurel Police Chief C.
Wayne Valentine and Jones County District Attorney Law-

rence Arrington were at the Cooley residence. They were ~

followed quickly by Mack Cooley and Acting Coroner
Tony Parker.
Terror was obvious in Gwendolyn’s eyes as she stood

i

Always someone .


- road was resumed, with Sheriff Holifield

7 “Had you been dating him long?”

© jealousy angle. He asked, “You had other
"— boy friends, of course?”

Chief Valentine, who had been trained in the FBI school,
was going over the truck carefully. He noticed a hole in
the left door near the handle, apparently the mark of an-
other bullet.

Parker estimated that the fatal bullet was a .22 caliber
and the officers knew that a revolver or pistol discharging
that size bullet would be more likely to be a woman’s
weapon than a man’s.

“Unless it was a rifle,” the sheriff added. .

“It was,” Gwendolyn exclaimed. “I thought I told you.”

Parker reported, “No robbery. There are three one-
dollar bills in his. shirt pocket, and here’s his wallet with
fifteen dollars and some papers.”

The sheriff turned to the weeping blonde and asked,
“Did you have a purse with you?” ;

The girl nodded, pointed toward the house. “It’s on the
table by the phone.”

Chief Valentine examined it and announced that it con-
tained $25, the usual assortment of items carried by a wo-
man and no keys.

Sheriff Holifield whispered to District Attorney Arring-
ton, who nodded and then said to the girl, “We realize what
an ordeal you’ve been through, but you’re the only one
who can help us. You were a witness to murder and we
want you to tell us everything you can.”

“Tm trying,” Gwendolyn sighed.

“We'd like to have you go with us now—show us exact-
ly where it happened and describe all the details you can
recall,” Arrington went on. “Will you do it?”

The girl nodded. “I’ll try, but I think I’ve told you
everything.”

A hearse came and the body was transferred from the
truck, to be taken to the morgue for an
autopsy. Other police also. arrived.

Sheriff Holifield instructed some of the
men to remain at the house, one to wait
for fingerprint experts, two others to
make a thorough search of the dwelling
and two more to scour the grounds. Then,
with: Arrington, Valentine and the girl he
got into one automobile, while Deputy -
Glenn Holifield and two municipal police
went in a second car. The party headed
for Lovers’ Lane, the frightened blonde
indicating the course of her ride.

They followed Route 15, came to an
underpass and turned into Teresa Street.
Soon they were within sight of the hos-
pital and a few minutes later the cars
stopped at the courthouse. There, the sher-
iff instructed a deputy to notify Rush-
ton’s family and to talk to everyone he
could find who knew the dead man and
his young companion. Next the sheriff
went into the county jail and asked Jailer
Clarence Goodson to see that the pickup
truck was removed to the jail’s parking
lot after. the fingerprint men were
through with it.

A moment later, the ride to the gravel

continuing to question Gwendolyn.

“Who knew you and A.D. would be
parked?” he asked.

“Nobody. We didn’t even plan to go
there. We were going to the movies, but
. decided the picture didn’t sound too in-
teresting.”

“No. Only about a month. I think I

F only had five or six dates with him.”
* The sheriff was pondering a. possible

“Oh, yes, but never anything» serious..

A dance, a house party, the movies, an ice cream soda.
You know, there isn’t too much to do in a small town.
And I wasn’t serious with anybody.”

The automobiles reached the Pistol: Range and Gwen-
dolyn asked the sheriff to slow down, explaining, “It was
right near here,” She strained to watch the road and as
the:car reached ‘the iron gate, she said, “Stop right here.”
She directed the sheriff to pull off the road and maneuver
the car into position with the left side of the vehicle a few
feet from the gate.

“Open the window wide,” she told him. -

This done, the sheriff asked the girl to reenact the scene,
telling him everything she could remember. Once more,
she told her story, sobbing as she re-lived the agony.

“I saw the man coming,” she said. “A.D. was looking
toward me. I could see a tall figure hurrying toward us.
I told A.D. to look. He did and then he reached down to
turn on the ignition switch. Just then the man started
shooting. I covered my face and crouched down. I
heard five or six shots.’ I didn’t dare look up. I heard
the door open and slam shut. When I finally did look up
I didn’t see anyone. A.D. fell over into my lap.”

When she first saw the man, she said, he was about 50
feet from the truck. She never saw his face. “It was
covered by a scarf or mask,” she said.

“On your way back to town, did you see anyone?” the
sheriff asked °

“Not a soul. Only an automobile parked a little dis-'

tance away.’ I saw it as I headed out of here.” She could
not recall exactly where the car was parked and she
couldn’t describe it except to say it was a dark sedan, ob-
viously not a new one.

Gwendolyn Cooley, in voluntary custody in jail, reads Bible for comfo tg

%

~— =


ee Oe

“

o We

(insert) was parked, Man i

Car shows where pickup truck.
ran down road behind fence, shot driver of truck, fled a
Or
me
gan Holifield asked. “You say it was then about 7:45.” an.
The blue-eyed blonde sobbed tearfully. “I couldn’t. I wi'
didn’t see anyone.” got
“So you drove home?” the sheriff stated. “You could Gk
have walked the eight miles in two hours and a quarter. we
What delayed you?” ; for
| “I got here a little after eight. .I tried to call my brother, inc
but I couldn’t.” She explained about the busy lines. ; 5
; Mack Cooley said that as soon as his sister told. him 2 un:
with the officers near the black pickup truck which held Rushton was dead he instructed her to hang up and he Sox
1 the lifeless body of her friend. She fought to control her- telephoned the sheriff at once. pit
A self and told the officers of the events of the evening. What his sister had said about his line being busy was sto
if At five o’clock Saturday afternoon, she said, Rushton, true, he asserted. A man had been in the cafe and had _ } iff
i who was employed at the Super Truck Stop in Meridian used the telephone almost continuously for more than an j ton
rs . Avenue, called her and asked her to go for a ride. She ex- hour. : col
(| : plained that although she worked as a seamstress for the “On your ride from the scene of the shooting, you drove | his
at Reliance Manufacturing Company, she occasionally he'ped through downtown Laurel, didn’t you?” Sheriff Holifield | we
her brother, Mack, twenty-three, and her sister, Bennie asked. t Cle
| Jean, eighteen, who jointly ran the little cafe. The girl nodded. tru
“AD. picked me up at Mack’s cafe at seven o’clock and “Then you passed the courthouse and the county jailon | lot
| we took some bottles of Cola along. We thought we’d go Fifth Street,” the sheriff commented. “You could have f thr
\} to the drive-in theatre but as we rode along we decided stopped. And when you turned north into Magnolia Street é
iM the picture didn’t sound too good, and maybe we’d go you were within a hundred feet of the Laurel ‘General Hos- roa
i back to work after a while. We rode out Ellisville Boule- ‘pital. You were driving the truck, your boy friend dead & con
yard, headed south and stopped at Nub’s Steak House,” °F dying beside you, and you were going for help. What. “
she told them. ; more logical place than the hospital? Didn’t you think of par
They didn’t get out of the truck, she said, but sat a while taking him there?” : i “
drinking Cokes and talking. They remained there about “No, I didn’t,” the girl sobbed. “All I could think of was t the
twenty minutes and then rode west along Lee Street and getting home. I figured the folks would know what to do.” } dec
south into South Sixteenth Avenue. Coroner Parker, who had been examining the body, re- i tere
“We went as far as Airport Road and took that road to ported that Rushton probably had died instantly of a bullet “¢
the crossing at Hill Crest Drive—the gravel highway that that penetrated his brain.” “
runs north from the air base to Highway 84,” the girl. “It’s a small hole, would be a small caliber bullet,” he : onl:
\ continued. “Then, AD. pulled off the gravel and parked.” declared. “It struck him between the eyes and came out T
She told of the shooting, her ride home and her discov- the right rear side of the head—just one shot.” jeal
ery that her parents were out. ; There were no powder burns, proof that the weapon had boy
rt it right away?” Sheriff Mor- not been fired at close range, he said. “

“But why didn’t you repo

f tie .


ew So ae. a ae ae Oe ee ae

the,
Cot Zi)
Bp NL DD, Wiig 09 Llrnacase, Die
bu SY Sldd 2 yer the Giirde of Ptr2lhire Paweg—_
lather Hea. hor. ba 2h fl Eb fb ath At tactanKy,
wiesiteing Ay eel . With.
RY FIORE


17) SOUTHERN 5),6
JONES, Robert, black, hanged Sunflower County (Indianola), Mississippi, on July 1, 1937.

"Jackson, Mississippi, May 2h, 1937 - The state supreme court today affirmed the death sen-
tence of Robert Jones of Suflower County, convi ted of the murder of George Dodd, planta-
tion manager. ‘The date of execution of sentence was fixed by the court for July 1. (notes
two dissents.)" DELTA DEMOCRAl TIMES, Greenville, Mississippi 5-2-1937 (1/5.)

"Indianola, Miss., July 1, 1937 - Robert Jones, Sunflower County negro, died on the gallows
here early today for the mrder of George Dodd, Delta plantation commissary operator, The
trap was sprung at l:)3 a.m, by Sheriff A. B, Clark, and the negro was pronounced dead

about four minutes later, Only a few witnesses were on hand for the execution and there was
no demonstration of any kind, Jones, prior to mounting the gallows in the Sunflower County
Jail, said he had nokstatement to make, He offered a prayer before being led into the death
chamber. Dr, J. A. Alexander was with him as the Sheriff placed the noose about the negro's
neck, he stood on the trap outwardly unmoved, Jones was convicted of killing Dodd when the
Latter attempted to disarm him at a plantation commisary near Indianola, The trial court
record disclosed that the negro had beendrinking and that when Dodd attemted to take a
weapon from him, the shooting resulted. Jones contended that he was fired upon first and
that he shot Dodd while lying on the ground wounded, The case was appealed to the State
Supreme Court but affirmed and an effort to have the sentence commuted by Governor (Hugh)
White proved fruitless last Monday." DELTA DEMOCRAT TIMES, Greenville, Mississippi,

July 1, 1937 (1/3.)

"Indianola, Miss., 9-13-19 %-Mob violence was threatened against a negro here today who is
charged with having shot and killed George Dodd, 3h, his white landlord, The ngro was
booked as Robert Jones, The shooting, officers said, occurred at Baird, near here, Satur-
day nicht, at a gmhocery store which Dodd operates on the James Baird plantation which he
managed. Officers said Jones came to the store carrying a gun, and when Dodd called upon
him to give it up, the negro fired, Two shots struck Dodd in the abdomen, Before dying 5
minutes later, Dodd shot the negro once in the thigh, but the wound was not serious, Depu-
ty Sheriff Johnny Reed, who took the negro in custody during the nizht and brought him to
jail here, said several messages were sent to him at the jail last nicht and this morning,
demanding the prisoner, Extra cuards were stationed at the jail, and though a number of
persons milled about the jail today, it was not believed that an attempt would be nace to
force entrance. Funeral services were held today for Dodd, He is survived by his widow,"
TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, La., 91-1936 (22=8,)

nll

YU ING

Ruffin,

ble

Cin y

HANGS MONDAY

—— oe

Ruffin Jones Will Go to the.
Scaffold June 14.

|

1

4

{

|

ro

| The sentence of the caur: that he be

hanged by the neck until dead will be
lexecuted on the negro, Ruffin Jones,
who on the morning of May, 3rd_ last
| shot and killed Chas Lamb, one of the
most honorable and prosperous young
| planters of the county. The negro
murdered young Lamb because he had
been ‘logged for smoking cigarettes in
the gin house. after being told not to do
$0. Resenting the whipping that he,
had received, he secreted himself and |
as Mr. Lamb came by killed him with
ashot gun.

Preparations for the execution will
be begun by Nott & Ward today, and
everything will be in readiness by
Monday. Sheriff Wray bus placed
the order for the rope. The hanging
willjbe in the apper part of the jail
building, and tbe execution will be

private. a
It is hardly necessary to add that
the negro has become reconciled to his

fateP and says that He is prepared to
gohence. He has-taken on a goodly
quantity ot religion and is firmly of:

\the belief that the portals of glory will |

awing wide to welcome nis: murderous ;
‘gou!l.

eo
On rey


ands Slt akepbotare ‘the’ death
Neindi G; #Bey gad tite tears
few of these, “a “d2ath-
pe BERT "was over ‘the _ entire
; gain efep ta lter the ‘body was
inenyeed it Rosir Age: Jail gd the funeral
f y the lips of those who
turbed deraye were damb.° ‘Atwas the
fangat” quiet.’ pad. orderly Jot of negroes
lever.asuembled jin the county, -and we
Keamnot tut. believe that the. molseiess’
| and certith death that had been meted
out-to Jones—a death. tbat they could
nor behold; ‘yet feel, will have the ef-
fect af «causing them to respect the
i majesty. of the law formany.a day to
“Phe rope with which Jones was
baw wat ‘applied by. {he sheriff of
Grote 22, ANDY» Tegmetes 4 and’ taiing
here labeled ‘'110.men bave met death
‘at the end of thie rope.”? There was
‘geome hesitation in the Memphis sheriff
‘loaning it for the occasiot, and the
‘Memphis bouse that secured it, had to
\become responsible in the sum of £190
ibefore it was sent,
The scaffold and trap in tbe jail,
which were coustructed by Nott &
Ward, contractars,of (his city, wil! be-
‘come permanent @xtures there. At
ithe last term of court three were given
ithe death aentenoe, and it may be that
‘after the supreme court passes on one
of the cases, they will be needed
agalno.


LaNlan,

Will,

hanged Aberdeen, Mississippi

The.; ay ethan’ Mead decked
< Nody ‘hy ‘the: Drop:

Spee i ul w the Titties: Le moe rial se -

‘Aberdeen, Miss., March 19. u, no
' similar “occasion ‘has. ‘such™ ‘aD ‘im:
mense throng‘been attracted to Aber-
| deen as was here today to witness the
, execution of William Lanier... It Was
‘much like the crowd that gathered at
the hanging of Jones and Miller in
1430 for the massacre of* the W alker
brothers while emigrating ‘from Ala-
bama to Arkansas. Even the “lament:
ed" Rube Burrows boasted of his pres-
ence incog ut that event, though a
large reward was hanging over his
head. ‘They came afoot, on hors bick,
in vehicles, some with camp equip-
ments, from all directions aod © Gls:
|. tances fo Mississippi and Alabama... ye

. During the last several days, as it
became evident to Lanier that there
was no possibility of escape, his tone
and conduct changed greatly. from that
by indifference toa state of ‘ejection,
' and he realized thut his “fate was seul.
| ea: Duriog the furenoon _ Revs. Rich’
ard Wilkinson aod Wilson spent some
time with’ him, administering thoir
spiritual. offices and attended him to
‘|the gallows, where Mr. Wilkingon of-
fered a prayer. All the males of the
Bittle family were spectators. Lanier
walked to the gallows and mounted
the platform withoutatremor. A few
moments were accorded him to speak
and he said: a td

Mar. 19, 1902

| “Gentlemen and Friends—I have
come to pay a penalty which should be
a warning. I would be the happiest.
man on earth if I knew I would meet
wy friends in Heaven. All those who
expect to meet me there make it
known by saying ‘aye,’ (to which there
was a gémeral response.) I warn you
against drinking or violating any of
the laws. .. ee
“After this short talk he called Po-
liceman Sallivan and whispered a re-
quest that he take charge of his body.
Then the death warrant was read by
Sheriff Crosby, the noose was adjusted,
the black cap was placed abd the trap
was sprung at 1:06 p.m. The fall was
seven feet, the same as that of the
negro Calvin Williams on the same
gallows a _week ago. The fall broke
Lanier’s neck and completely severed |
his head from the body. The head
fell a: little to the northward, while the
body dropped westward, entirely sep-
arated, and the noose on the rebound
landed back on the floor of the scaf-
fold. The execution was attended by
Drs. Wm. Paine,J. Alworth, C. P.
Hamilton; Frank Paine, E. R. Wren
and Tabb. As to the. decapitation,
the doctors accounted for It by his
long term in prison, and to the fact
that he was a fleshy person with smal!
bones. They thought that . fall of
four feet would probably have been at-
ended by the same result. The ec}
ad hey in a plain coffin by She na
Crosby and delivered to friends, who
took it to a country bariel. groand for

interment. pet : yee Pe
an ara ake

yk
_t Based SS ree, 4


andadienilaly te V odd r

(Sen _ ia he “7 pag, 3
VEOreEe, Dlack,

na Ne ed

+ ORE. CORN 1 | Ste tN

HANH

: roynty eat:
Taw vs {RE DT» rennet
a a Bat sey:

“ab ads tee ewrne,

ert gndy degra: Wottw
som for da o. poled RY *
bina he ager of, isketesaen te et
; : . One Double | t

the  donble haeaing Sie Ba
aite Wae the Urkt qa ubey ¥
Sreena county. Ann Kaleht,

for the death journey,
1y Ganied ber quilt amtth: tee ¢
idmute. She prayed ‘and: oa
tere she waa hanwed,.. 5,
“White folks and. black. fel)
exhorting Wil Green at the jaik
lows thirty minutes after the,
an dad been hanged... “don’t

<truag

Da

esr nt

women, wae rat to be eumuTee
he. LT

aweat: ‘wordr of a workan leap

ui

ane nay

ay oe Renee %

am An

“yy aS

oe Hi gall: for the murder of
et tS A CORE

He followed . the. woman “wien
“sweet words’ had led him
ond danced his dance of death”

the air of the -Greene county mip
The eandemped negra had adm

hip pudit, die, ton, chanted a ay
Sad prove) berere the Diack» eee
obacured dbs yision and bid Ate 6 i
from the Watching crowd an aS.
prim-vixaged eherl reached, fos, ye

iever of the trap dour. Se ee
Two white mén had been J. rf by
damn
pang *

[am thle same

Jacob. ¥F. nie
whal DOnnkam of Riesian ince: .
, anes over a Greene seunty BL
gate Cheated)
pl adap aie

a Metered

Bites iganta Me throa®,
Lake ke; gousty Jatt Sheet ly Soe
Fis KAO ne

The hows
‘ied at ie own hands,
Henry Band, condemned - wid
he was taken on,

shiner, bevore

proposed @egth trip te Lea amytt
mortally SSoupiaed Reweet an eh,

Jailer, in the Hinds county jall
sadn aren wae, ehdk to desthe 5
the officer. “

Thine twe men wen to t
4euths before the haneman's nae
sould be adjumted = around 4:
ueens, Dut today the twa néy
dangled at the en® of hemper-
from thin jail and paid tha. ta
renalty for thé death of anothety
Jim Lang, searo, too pray e@-§ne
vhanted Ae MWe others a religtee
sonia before Ba atecpiped won,’ Oe
ifap door in Waynesbora, He We
‘ne cagdomplice of Lester R,
vhite, who wee hanged April a
1saF . fof the murder Of Nia Hoy hase
pasymoate, .. Cleyeland Rowe. 38
Wayne county, pepe

Tho | hankings, ‘In Jackrow .
Waynesbotas were on .tirae at
minnion afer A@ o'clock. “a
enonan. we. MINGH te)
abt ny. ANGE 4S
. Siietog ih act r Wit (lone,
bo One® Unthanging Hand.”
Leavell, ‘nexre, convicted otays i
the Tt Peso, Ragr ’* ty

hontag Inet ‘Spring, was tht:
eRernisy BE 10:38 mt tae HI
ed fajl thivvhorninr. ~
At 9:50,' Shori William, 2
panied by Dr. W.

HW Maperna,

1cyY AJEWOS

AAS

(6/13 /142>

(1/5)


anwodbinas

oY) the” BY. Andrawa’” RpISMGG
eherch, nee 3. K anae shen et

wf the Central -Mut beodint-
in the and & Pavcdite Fr hian wie
in. the jail wad up to the death ee

here Leavcll wae awe rte he f
moments 5

Tr, Capers. talked to ‘Lenwelt
afew momenta, speaking ot.q
Promtine that all’ sine shall be
wtyem, Leavell: Hatened cal
terrupting the: winister . fr
wh.) exchamatioas, *y
“That's the tenth." The hig |
showed (tremors at ell, evi
being W it raconclied ta Ao te

Rev. Motwen. mada’, ui
ttatemént.. “For God no lnveae “
world that he gave Hin only’, 7
cetten son Chat whoawerer Y
oth on Hiro showld nat pe : wa
have overtasting Ufe” Joka ee
« At 10:09, he wan taken from (tye
cell by the fuller. handented :
tnken to the tran whieh te eet ed
same floor of the a Bis COlh. wal

tor
te

ay
: ”
A ark
aA

Leavell’s face and head ad
began win nying fount before. the 4 ’
was place ‘here was pe ‘BR #2
save the voice of. the.

strong an@ clear und Aled salt ag

lei

negro plintivegesn aw ke : ys
“Haid your. hope on thing tn 94
nal, hold te Goda we a,
Hand.” He edntinue stanteg, hal

while the Adal tes
nhon wad one nn

ro sae
a fe

FOUR ARR HANGED |
- FRIDAY THIRTEENTH

© eatin
(Cont'nved frem page sas)

tt was taken in charge by Fraser, a

At 10:10 he «te n the | is negro  wodertaker, prepared for |
Whon asker {f red to wna burial gad will bs shipped to h
A wtatement he veutee that he. | | beopte negy Tp oeatontas, -
ready to od hin debt “Wea x f hewed ae Fear
haye to ¥ 4 dqdt nometing Be ‘Lavell — shoves al absolutely no
tam rea ah Ning to ney me fe aay,” + az BB
at this time.” . my fOr, Walking atéeadily a»
: pumgwenneg (rom tht loath cell to thetra
the acriplures and prayed nsnie tim wade no reference to the kj
the rhia condoet, the Bande ay ike Hubbard save wh
Offern Ristors y eh ry iter akXed hiss what hie erime
Leavell ean lt meee ray And be replied, “murder.”
When told that £ =a wy | A large number of necro
the bie negtm deit ha. aracom ksthered craund tbe tromt >¢
eloquent Detitton ta the Faiheg cad Jail drawn by morbid |
all, asking that Me wonld pened white a number of white’; ;
promise and be. with Kite im” racy Were also standing arewnd iis)
ovr of trinhk The prayer Rab There were about twenty pter mY
couche?! in the negro @ialect agg tie fail...” Doetorn, county wétiteg
filed with the imagery ef the‘) ahs NT newspaper men, ‘ER Nee
ored race wre o henrt touching H8a tereamn-opGamemwe nee
peal for faith bad #y t@ance. fire: “4
Neurat trish aed, berg
my frith,” wan ne surden of
nexreo's ple, at bs
Mierk Cap Ftxe@ we
At 18:16 Deputy agg : Tite sik
ndyaneed ta the slfe of he. et
nnd placed the black cap |. ewes


Lkk, Joseph, black, hanged Columbus, Lowndes Co., Miss. 6/28/1898

na

MISSISSIPPI. |

COLUMBUS, pe
| Lee Made a Full Confession of His
Crime.’ '

Colcmbus, Miss., June 238.—Joe » the oe.
gto who kHled Mr. John Roberts at Artesia on
] Dec. 31, 1896, paid the death ty for his
‘| crime bere to-day. The ezecution vap public,
and ‘was witnessed by about 1500 le, nine--
Poent of whom were negroes.

panied by Sherif Donnell aad bis
a Degro preacher, mounted the sca
J o’elock, aod fifteen minutes tater £

and

Sprung. The bangman’e kot, had
been mmproperly tied, aad Lee :the air
| for twelve mipetes before be 5 died of
| strangulation. Before leaving ¢ Lee

made abfull. confession of the erim . and. aleo

t he was
eloon when the marder was com itted. The
sory. omever te doutked ae magy, "y Baad
Rote a @ dying ma at,| wa hat
these were two mea, and Loeb . When
Arcot arrested, stated that Begtv gamed Wiil
Was intpiicuted in tno trime, but
when the trial came off refused! to testity
against din. i '

ED |

ae