Tennessee, T-Y, 1883-1960, Undated

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TRIAL

[ APPEACS

LAST WORDS

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EXECUTION

Meskicerl dais ot / WU GLTI A Lali stigta (afAOf[1 Ui

at Sweetwater, Monroe County, Tennessee, thirteen miles west of Loudon, two of John Tay=
lor's brothers, Bob and Andy, boarded the train without been known or suspected by the
officers. When the train arrived at Philadelphia, 6 miles west of Loudon, in Loudon:
County, Tennessee, the boys moved unobserved on the sheriffs from the rear, gnd in the twink-
ling of an eye shot Deputy Sheriff Conway in the head, killing him instantlys: Andy:Tay=
lor then shot ShePiff cate. Bob at once took the handcuff keys and pistol from Deputy
Sheriff Conway" s pocket, released John from another prisoner to whom he was handcuffedm
ahd gave him a pistol. After this all‘three renewed their fire on Sheriff Cate, who,:in
defending himself, shot John Taylor in the arm, At length a bullet struck the unfortunate
sheriff in the right lung and killed him outright. The bandits:kicked his body on to the
track and ran the’ train to Lenver, where they stopped, forced a surgeon to dress John's
wound, and after stealing three horses, rode off, Sheriff Foute chased them in vain with
a force for several days, but on October 13, or about a month later, he succeeded in lo-
catihg Bob‘in Laclede County, Mo.‘ In the fight accompanying the surprise of the bandit,
Bob was’ killed and his body brought to Loudon for interment, Andy was not captured until
April of this year, when some of Fonte's detectives found him in Kansas, Brought to trial
last May in Loudon,‘ Andy was’ sentenced to death, He is now in Loudon jail awaiting the
result of his appeal," NATIONAL POLICE GAZETTE, —— 29 1883 (3=3,)

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This tragic scene ~
shows the funeral
procession carrying
the remains of the
three Gouge chil-
dren to the grave
as crowds watch.

“A FRONT PAGE STORY

4 ABOUT TENNESSEE

Taunnn it Tua MTT THU
* nnd mn eR RMN nee SP ae Eye

HE PICTURESQUE hamlet of Hampton slumbered
peacefully on the breast of, Tennessee's Great.

Smokies. Stars gleamed coldly’ in’the wintry sky.

Unbroken quiet lent a feeling of ineffable contentment

and security. '

It was 3:45 a.M., the morning of January 7, 1938.

Suddenly the deep ca
deafening explosion rockéd the town.

From over on Lotus AVenue a shouting and frenzied
screaming jerked every resident of the town into stark
wakefulness. Minutes later, half-clad neighbors had raced
to the scene of the explosion to find a living nightmare of
indescribable horror. Death had struck in its most hor-
rible and vicious form—death by dynamite!

Flashing torches began to play over the shattered,
twisted wreckage of what had lately been the newly-built
home of Harmon Gouge. Neighbors commenced digging
frantically within the debris as the choking wail of a child
was heard above the sobbing of the womenfolk.

Cars began to choke the street as virtually the entire
population of the village rushed to the scene of horrér.
Willing townspeople dug feverishly in the mountain of
debris, seeking to find life within that tomb of plaster and
splintered wood.

“I KNEW THEY “WERE our

was shattered as a, terrific, :

«. By SHERIFF J. M. MORELAN
Carter County, Tennessee”
As Told to Clarence M. Ares

‘Soon the mangled, lifeless body of a blonde-hai
‘Blue eyed little girl was lifted from the ruins. i
Sonia, nine-year-old daughter of Mrs. Harmon Goug
Then came the crushed little body of Roma Jean, age
six. Luena, seven, her face a gruesome mask of pl
dust and blood, was next lifted from the wreckage.
Dr. J. B. Hardin, Hampton physician who had raced
the scene, detected life in the little body, and ordered
girl rushed to the Elizabethton hospital, five miles dis
Mrs. Gouge was next extricated, and, as Dr. Hardi
swiftly ascertained she still lived, was placed in t
family car. “There might be a time-bomb in that—
her out!” a neighbor shouted. Mrs. Gouge was quic
removed and sped to the hospital in another car.
News of the fiendish crime was relayed to me at
home twelve miles from Hampton. I immediately c
Pat Bowers, at the county jail, and ordered him to row
up every available deputy and dispatch them to the sc
Arriving at the dynamited home in about fifteen mi
utes I found over a thousand persons milling arou
quickly roped off the area and ordered the throng
curious to leave the premises.
Presently three of my deputies arrived, C. E. Mer
Roy Asher, and Lewis Heaton.

TO KILL ME,” HE SOBBE

siid. His voice was like his father’s.
I looked at him. This was not my

darling. loving Michael. It was a
strange man with none of the kind
boyishness that I had loved in

Michael.

“I've had nothing but trouble since
I started going with you,” this strange
man snapped. “I’m leaving you, leav-
ing you cold.”

“You can’t!” I screamed, tears rac-
ing down my face. ‘After what you
did to me! After all you promised!”

“That's nothing,” he said. ‘“That’s
happened to a lot of girls.”

“You can’t mean what you're say-
ing.”’ I sobbed. His face looked hard
and cold in the glare from the street-
lights we were speeding past.

“T certainly do. If you don’t leave
me alone, I’ll go out of town,” he said.

My heart was breaking. The pain
was deeper than any physical pain
could ever be.

He stopped the car in front of my
house. I didn’t wait for him to open
the door. I ran as fast as I could. I
had to be alone with my grief. For
me the world had ended.

I didn't dare leave my job at the
Rich’s home. I needed the money.
Where could I get another at $30 a
month?

And, too. I still believed that
Michael loved me, hoped that he'd
come back to me. That faint hope was
the only thing that made my life

worth living.

Once when I happened to meet him
alone. I said: “Michael, I know in my
heart that you love me. Won't you
Just say once more that you do?”

He wouldn't answer.

Cy cold Winter evening I begged
Mr. Rich to reconsider his decision
about Michael and me. I told him that
if he'd only let us marry I’d work
just as hard as ever and he wouldn't
have to pay me a cent. He pretended
not to notice me.

Worst of all, Michael began to in-
sult me in front of his sister and
brothers. He began to treat me as
though I were a maid—nothing more
than someone to do the work.

I knew that he was going around
with other girls, and that hurt worst
of all. When I washed his shirts I
often found lipstick on them. The red
smears were so large that I began to
think he put them on the shirts him-
self just to hurt me. One morning I
found the eight-dollar pen and pencil
set with his name on it, which I had
given him for his birthday, lying on
the floor. Over his name he had
written: “$1.98.”

The situation was growing intoler-
able. I felt as though I would go
crazy if Michael didn’t give me some
indication soon that he still loved me

vessel, investigates the disorder and
quells the insurrection.

Mrs. Hazel Cornwall’s conscious
mind certainly was dominated by her
subconscious desires. Even when the
suspicion arose that her Francis might
be carrying on a love-affair with her
friend, Betty, she pushed natural
wifely jealousy aside and only sought
new means by which to appease
Francis and influence him to return to
her. In other words, not only did she
fail to reproach him but also she stole
more and more money to buy back his
love. She bought him a new automo-
bile, new clothes and liquor which he
drank with her rival, Betty.

Under the same neurotic spell of
blaming herself and absolving her
husband of all wrong-doing, she moved
into a new home and spent more
money, which she stole, in furnishing
it. She states that almost as soon as
Francis managed to obtain a position
and was transferred to Omaha he de-
cided to leave her. In fact, he did
desert her and was not heard from for
several months.

On Christmas Eve, 1937, he returned,
visited Hazel’s rival, Betty, whom he
took to a party. Then he left Hazel
again. This time he took the car along

—as I was sure he did. Why was he
doing all these things to hurt me? Had
he really ceased to care?

On~the morning of February 3,
1939, just after ten o’clock, Michael
walked into the kitchen. I was iron-
ing one of his shirts. I always spent
extra time on his shirts because I liked
him to look well.

I glanced up at the tall, handsome
young man who only a few months
before had sworn that he loved me and
would love me forever.

“Michael, Michael, dear,” I said.

“You’re a bad woman,” he said,
sneering at me. He walked out of the
kitchen, slamming the door.

room. I knew where he kept a gun.
I pulled the weapon from his dresser
drawer with trembling fingers. I had
never touched a gun before. It felt icy
cold—but I picked it up. and carried
it from the room.

I had no intention of shooting
Michael. All I wanted to do was to
make him realize that the time had
come when he must marry me. I was
going to scare him.

A few minutes later he came into
the kitchen again.

This time, when I said, “Michael,
you have to talk to me,” he grabbed
me by the shoulders and, twisting me
towards him, seized my throat with

For All | Gave,”

March 12, 1939.
Michael

fornia’s lethal-gas chamber.
OF WOMEN

been covered.

Up to the Minute

A NORLING MARAVOLA, who tells her own story, “His Life—
on Page 8 of this issue,
charges resulting from the shooting of Michael Rich, Junior, Friday,

Hermanowski, who killed his mother and father last
May, was electrocuted In Sing Sing for his double crime. This story
was entitled “One Mother Who Loved Too Well,” and appeared in
White Miller Tollett, a Tennessee
mountaineer, also died in the electric chair for his part in the death
of the three little daughters of Harmon Gouge, as recounted on these
pages under the date of April 6, 1938... Jesus Herrera, who attacked
- and killed little Hope Elizondo in Texas last Summer, was sentenced
to die in the electric chair. This story was called ‘“Clew of the Open
Nail-Hole”’ and was in the issue of September, 1938...
February, 1939, issue was a story entitled “Please Help Me Find My
Mother!”, recounting the murder of Rose Spinelli by her husband,
William. March 20 William Spinelli was sentenced to death in Cali-

the issue of November, 1938...

This department appears in ACTUAL DETECTIVE STORIES
IN CRIME from time to time, to enable readers to
keep up with the latest developments in cases that already have

was acquitted of

In the

“A bad woman!” So that was what
Michael thought of me! But if that
was true, wasn’t it his fault more than
mine? What of his promises? What
of his pleas?

Burning anger sent the blood rush-
ing to my face. How dare this man,
this man with the strange hard face,
talk to me that way? I saw now that
I couldn’t remain a backstairs wife.
I made up my mind that he must
marry me so that no one, not even he,
could call me “a bad women” again.
If love couldn’t make him marry me—
maybe fright would. I was half-
crazed with anger—and fear...

I ran upstairs to Mr. Rich’s bed-

the Psychiatrist Sees

which had been given him by his still
loving wife. It had been purchased
with stolen money, but Hazel did not
protest. Her love for Francis remained
so great that she kept right on sacri-
ficing herself.

' About three months later, while di-
vorce proceedings were under way,
Francis again returned. He _ had
changed his mind and told Hazel he
loved her. He also stated that Betty
had been in Oklahoma to visit him but
that he had informed her that he was
going back to his wife. Again Hazel
immediately forgave him and he
shipped their furniture to Oklahoma
City. At last everything seemed to be
progressing towards a happy ending.

All this was possible because of the
forgiving attitude of Hazel. Such tol-
eration is mere laxity and can only be
construed as weakness. Affront after
affront was calmy pocketed. We are
dealing with a psychopathological state
of mind which can be interpreted only
on the basis of a neurotic desire for
exquisite self-punishment.

And now that the end of the road
of mental torture has been reached,
Hazel’s mind, mixed so full of ideas of
inferiority, must devise new forms of
castigation. Her thefts begin to obsess

one of his big hands. But his hand
was not gentle now. It was strong and
terrifying.

I tried to twist away. With one
hand I grabbed the gun from the table.

“Let me go, or I'll kill you,” I
screamed.

He saw the gun.
against the table.

“You won’t kill anyone,” he said,
laughing at me.

He walked to the telephone and
called someone.

I was frantic. While he talked I
shouted: “Don’t you know what you’ve
done to me? Don’t you realize what
will happen if I tell my father and

He pushed me

brothers what
Michael!
me!”

He slammed down the telephone re-
ceiver and started toward me. As I
looked at his face, I grew afraid with
a nameless fear. He grabbed me by
the shoulders’and with one hand tore
my dress in a clean rip down the
front. Then he began slapping me.

I had the gun in my hand. I picked
up a pillow somewhere and tried to
hold it in front of me. He kept hit-
ting me.

And then I must have fired the gun
—two or three times, maybe four. All
I remember is seeing Michael fall to
the floor. I stood there, the gun in
my hand, staring at him...

Suddenly I realized that I had shot
him—shot the man I loved He
mustn’t die. He couldn’t die.

I tried to lift him from the floor.
He was still breathing. But I couldn’t
move him. He was too heavy.

Terror overcame me. I had to get
help. I thought of my brother. I ran
from the house, down the street to my
home.

I can't remember much of the hap-
penings of the next few hours. I’m

ld that my brother got Constable C.

Shingledecker. I don't even re-
member much of the long hours of
questioning. I had nothing to hide. I

d them everything.

B hing only words of that entire day
that meant anything were the words
that told me Michael was dead

Nothing since then has meant much
to me. I am locked in the prison of
myself, a prison in which over and
over is repeated the fact that Michael
is dead and that I have killed him

The other poor families in the
neighborhood where I and my family
have lived for so many years have
tried to help me. My father, now a
WPA worker, had no money to spare
for an attorney to defend me. But my
neighbors have contributed their hard-
earned pennies to a defense fund. At-
torneys Edwin K. Logan and Samuel
L. Clark have offered to represent me
in court.

I am glad that those neighbors re-
alize Iam not a “bad woman.” I think
that they know that my mistake was
to give in to love. And I hope that
they realize that I am telling this
story only because it may help
some other girl to avoid that mistake.

I have had only kindness here in
this county jail. The wife of Sheriff
M. M. Ingham, who takes care of me,
will never know how much it has
meant to me to realize that she, in
her kindness, looks at me not as a
“bad woman” but as a girl who has
been betrayed into tragedy—by love.

Another illustration with this story
may be found on Page 4].

you've done to me?
Michael! Please listen to

It (Continued from Second Cover)

and encompass her entire soul and she
confesses them first to her husband
and then to the bank officials. In
court she blames herself solely for the
whole rotten mess. All this even after
Francis finally has deserted her.

Perhaps some readers will assume
that she suddenly felt truly contrite
because of her sins against Society,
which, of course, would have been a
normal attitude. Indeed, if Hazel had
not been neurotic, and if she had been
trained to a deep respect for honesty
and social duty, this is precisely what
she would have done. However, she
would have confessed her crime and
made proper restitution of the stolen
money in the very beginning and not
after she had embezzled thousands.

If we assume that she is a common
criminal type, then we must expect the
usual reaction of a criminal. Ninety-
nine times out of 100 a thief will deny
his guilt and when it is proved be-
yond a doubt, blame his plight on
someone else. Even the statement of
Judge McKinley, who likened her hus-
band to a parasite, never deterred her
from stigmatizing herself with all the
odium and all the disgrace. The story
does not contain a vestige of the re-
venge motive. All the blame is heaped

on the head of this woman convicted

of embezzlement—by herself. This
makes the story extremely bizarre and
again characterizes her as a psycho-
pathological case.

From the psychiatric standpoint
there are, therefore, many attenuating
circumstances. Hazel Cornwall had an
unfortunate childhood replete with
frustrations and blows of fate. She was
intelligent, but her earning capacity
Was never very great. She was in a
position of trust and handled large
sums of money. The temptation was
very great. Her extreme neurotic fixa-
tion on her husband was the outgrowth
of her unfortunate experiences during
childhood. Her moral training, though
not apparently of the worst, was nev-
ertheless subject to constant changes
in authority. In brief she developed a
typical neurosis.

Her light sentence was just. It is
very unlikely that she will become a
criminal repeater. When she has
served out her period of punishment
in the Illinois Women’s Reformatory at
Dwight she will emerge with a dif-
ferent and more moral outlook. I ad-
vise a psychiatric treatment for her
neurosis, which is the root of all her
trouble.

4D—1

’

There was White Martin Tollett, who, i And Ulysses Walling, believed to have | And hata Lester, who, gps sit above
carried the dynamite to e house

Walker said, “carried the fuse” Si “placed the wires on the light pole”

ee ED

‘ & eri Aa ay! : : g
"yes Pe atovanin
Soranncnapmeasnrirernt menace

me
sa wha

Srey

weeks later, Just before trial at which White Tollett and:
Church Lester were condemned to death; Walter and Ulysses *
iy» Walling sentenced to prison, Crave Tollett exonerated completely”
a, Vet ce eae - * % r

| | Sheriff W. E. Walling, according to Moreland, tried to establish 12 —some

alibis for several Tolletts and their friends. Mrs. Gouge was ye
Injured so seriously she didn’t learn of the funeral of her children until

ADSa ‘ Ash sts ¥ 2 ae”

a wi

% Myrtle Ferguson, who confessed that the slayers
had sought to gain her aid in framing an alibi as to
their whereabouts at the time of the murder.

Questioning Fletcher Gouge, brother of Harmon Gouge,
those home next door had been partially wrecked, I
‘armed that the father of the children was away in John-
en City.

“What is he doing there?” I demanded of the brother.

“He's running a restau-
raat over there, Sheriff,”

Sheriff Moreland stands amid the wreckage of the
Gouge home on the day following the mysterious
dynamiting that took the lives of three children.

dren. I knew they were out to get me—but why couldn’t

they have left my family live!” Once more the heart- .

broken man began sobbing.

“Who was out to get you?” I demanded. “Pull yourself
together, Harmon. If you know, tell me! We’ve got to work
fast!”

“T don’t know. I used to
get all kinds of threats,
anonymous telephone

RELAND Metcher Gouge answered. La!
i ‘But he’s not there be- Mrs. Gouge, bereaved
essee ~# cause of the restaurant! mother of the murdered

He went there to stay so

children, who miraculously
escaped death,

calls, unsigned notes.
They told me they had

A. Ayers @ those fiends wouldn’t

“HE bother his wife and chil-
dren!” Gouge added in
trembling tones.

“What do you mean?”’
I demanded.

“Go talk to Harmon.
We've called him at John-
wa City. He’s probably at
the hospital in Elizabeth-
fen by now,” Gouge ad-
tiged.

ie-haired, ©
is. It was”
mn Gouge.
ean, aged
of plaster)]
age. ay
d raced to”
‘dered the |
es distant,

ry. Hardin ;

ad in the mm Leaving orders with my

hat—take gm Sputies to secure as
jam *xch information as pos-

ickly!
s a eee: Ome thle at the scene, I

me at my feped into my car and

We teed for Elizabethton.
~ re called @ found Harmon Gouge ns a or
the scene, gam "Ping beside the bed of*his ‘inconscious wife at the
teen mine gam Mepital. ; ie » Dees
around. {agm_!drew him aside into thé corridor . “Harmon,”. 1 began,
throng of ame “4 You expect this?” eam ree
9 Gouge shook his head, as. tears: agaiim filed: his, eyes.
Meredith, age “ting as terrible as this—as killing my. wife and.chil-—
4 £ ia Re ae dae “

Pe
<

BBED

tried once to get me and
had failed, that they
would not miss this time.
That was over a month
agg, and since then I’ve
heard nothing. You re-
member when my car was
dynamited?”

I remembered well the
vivid incident. Harmon
Gouge one day drove his
car into a gasoline station.
He opened the door,
stepped out, and started
for the station. Suddenly

“he was hurled to the
driveway by a terrific ex-
plosion. The car in which
he had just departed was
blown to pieces, the radiator landing on the roof of a house
a quarter of a mile away.

In investigating the mysterious explosion I found that
Harmon Gouge had ridden with death for. approximately
three days, so had the commonwealth's attorney of Carter
County,,and ‘several prominent citizens of Elizabethton,

‘f.
ea

‘SUT WHY (COULDN'T THEY LET MY FAMILY LIVE!”

“TURNER, John, and WORLEY, Fred

John Turner end Fred Worley werehanged for murder
at Jasper, Tennessee, on February 16, 1893.

Undated 189) Chicago TRIBUNE, sent by’Massey &
containing listing of 1893 executions,

| Atlanta Constitution 2-19-7893 1:6

Both nero. Beth Contessed to the W!-A3-I2 Slaying of Gee. Dawson.
0 turther oleTai/s .

| ROY A. SCOTT, PATROLMAN

; Died February 20, 1936 of gun shot wounds.
On Thursday, February 20, 1936 at approximately 5:45 PM, Patrolman R. A,
Scott and his partner, Charlie Zanone, went to 1409 Britton in search
ae of a male black names James Turner who was believed responsible for a
ees series of streetcar robberies in the Evergreen and Chelsea area. Officer
: HN Zanone knocked on the front door while Scott covered tle back. When

Patrolman Zanone entered the front door, James Turner jumped-out a—

a OM

window on the north side of the house. Officer Scott ordered James

Turner to halt or he would shoot. James Turner fired several shots at

the young officer striking him in the Stomach. Patrolman Scott staggered

and fell on the snow covered ground while James Turner fled into the

darkness. Minutes later Patrolman Scott was dead. Five hours later Pe.
: detectives received information that James Turner was hiding at 382 i
i 5. Wellington. They Ment to Ende address and found the suspect hiding ES
; under a bed | James Turner admitted killing the officer and was executed -

a year later in the electric chair. Patrolman Scott had been a police

TEST

officer exactly 51 days before his death.

%
ae

Es
-MO0dnos: pots pquen tun fsqpecy

Spa |

sues

WE ee ca aa tease Bee age re tee od Kin

we Bee ae La ‘
TESS Sine) C.N. FRAZIER RES. PHONE 2091 COURT SOU
sete ae “SHRBTEP FRAZIER, RES “PHONE Wathen Rs at

~ Hon. Herbert H.Moses-atty-
“yp oe tS LD oe ae ge ee
= _ Nashville, “enn.

Ny “s

soos asth In re to matter ofJ.¢.Turner-

ENN «AES,

| I now inglose you petition signed by coun | )
‘cheif of police here-and also letter-in behalf of this young Nearp-
Su for your files-You al-ready have the letter from Senator Lockhart and
. Roy lie ton here-to the Governor-which you can use=! Poe
: of aenator Lockhart was sent direct to ‘the -G er
| - I believe this will aid you very much
they boy from the chairs i gh i :
; wa voasiet me hear from you at van itl can eid you:

along with this further+I will do so- >

you

weet

SPER aE Te eo ‘ once

a Very sincerely, —

‘ye thys. the: eanelie
indiana hilt: and was pre-
an fort > an
Shave; that. bt

1 80. amend-
Aa nine r tha,

K gitteenship ott
elviised. tribsd: of. Indians; by
: ie and calitog’ the this
{ + *: ‘oars
uptis’ eou t! ta ntécrapt:
fore tha. ant Senator hed
Saterbosed: ‘the Kansan, “your
‘j@ mnder the control] of the.
y of, the Interior. and, you know

ee, a ih e2

wot 'retorted Me, ms
“Trthal

tte insisted: upety

aa ’of the Ontahome’

‘eottend -

ator. from benediag Gs

rode a mwa or | =. the
4,

Bars

x gir
*

a®

Owen

aak

nibs A

eege fo controvarey by oh
Outils thas.) Ries:

tha part« of]

‘quested: ‘thet, Ale p<
Shoulder: Binde, Ry.
his mother’ and father; sho 0, dled’
;tertousty nany years ego. oh cy
» Im Dele ial ad der. glemency,:
‘Teeited ‘ajeohg other

ae
ther.
jthings, that he

es@ country,

ale

Bias “ deapera

thet ia’ weiter aha.

that father wa. aed
bet

ma the: attention. of the’ na
was called to:the atias

: * Taent ana inquiry: ‘was bexsun: ‘with 3
‘by. the” ‘Side’ eely

j result at the Heutenant left. the »
a reds “ey te > A al ys ‘ wee

- Shortly after this ‘the young lady to
Hadientghde name of Gladys Hodgdouw s
appeared In) numerous | productions!
a dancer with Zola Fuller. bee pla
ing in’; Worcester, Masa, sha‘ beoa
facquainied with | William’. carta
Boston ralliinery salesman and a Uti
later they. were married at Bowbus
port, ‘* For @ while they. lived

@ hotel ag’ ‘Mr, ana; Mra. Southei

bine

Saree fn. 1894. ‘they: established - the:

selvee in::' “Watertown. “After ».a. &
months - realdence: in’ Watertown,: 3
and Mra: Southern’ departed ‘and t
young. woman: in ‘Beptember, 1094, 5
sumed ‘her position as ied occupant
a@ home, ta Portsmouth.” Be Se

y hicer’s Praontnand emo anecked: tit’ grips yrs Pear eee
]
car cy heard the shot and rush-d outside with his pistol in hand.

Batrolman McCarthy fired one shot which struck Lorenzo Young in the
— ght leg. Young fired two more shots, one of which struck Patrolman
McCarthy in his left arm. The negro then jumped into his wagon and fled
north-on McLean. Three civilians passing the location began chasing the
suspect north on McLean. The store owner called Central Police Head-
quarters and a general alarm was sounded. The three civilians lost
control of their car as zthey neared Jackson Avenue and got stuck in a
ditch. The suspect proceeded west on Jackson from McLean. When the
suspect reached N. Waldran and Jackson he was stopped by a police car
from Headquarters. In the car was Chief J. L. Burney, Assistant Chief
Edward Pass, Chief of Detectives Hulet Smith and Sgt. John C. Brinkley.
The officers engeged the suspect in 8 running gun battle. During the
gun battle Detective Chief Hulet Smith was wounded in the left hand and
gt. Brinkley was mortally wounded in the face and chest. The suspect
ran east on Jackson then north on Lewis and then back west through a
Field toward Breedlove. When other officers arrived in the area they
received information that the suspect was hiding ina barn at the rear
of 711 Breedlove. The suspect was captured by Chief J. L. Burney and

Detective John Long in the weeds behind the barn at 711] Breedlove.

When faced by a shotgun held by Chief Burney the suspect gave up without

any further fighting. During the running gun battle with police the
suspect was viounded euice in the right leg and once in the groin. One
of the bullets shattered the bone in his right leg. The citizens of
Memphis becameso inflamed over the death of Sgt. Brinkley, which came
exactly two months after Patrofman A. L. White was.

murdered by Eddie Standard, that +t was necessary to take Lorenzo Young

to Nashville for safe keeping.

¢¢

‘SM6TUAL DETECTIVE STORILS OF WOMEN IN CRIME Magazine, April 6,

§ ne

oe
f . 4 4

ens

sensi, 2 mir WIth Senngntng

i
4
}
‘

“1 “Although thei )
I ldefanee” me heat pied cut on bond for shooting his business partner, Arnold Tollett, in “self -
be other: Sonia Bike. nine etichtie heniae te had nothing to fear when they posed for this picture with their
LL orphione ; de eside Mrs. Gouge; Roma Jean, six, and Luena, seven, are in front of group

ag nd

\E
m,

igent legisla-
iding to curb

prison regu-
ig of inmates
isant place to

me and crim-
in all books,

‘reasingly
ales and regis j

iify country’s
lized national

tics out of the
political ob-
ederal offense.

officer-heroes
idents of men

rigorous cam-
criminals from

iform codes of /
o cut red tape /

irate a federal
ill prospective
®

5
monthly -by Country
isville, Ky. Entered
e at Louisville, Ky.,
additional entry at
501 Broadway, New
S$ AND PICTURES
AUTHOR'S RISK,
‘AGE ADDRESSED
ice 15 cents a copy;
possessions; foreign
1 U. 8. A. Copyright
sing forms close the
of issue, Advertis-
ay; Chicago, 360 N.
in-Reilly, 1014 Russ
ld Bldg.
CULATIONS

LBERT WEINER, alias “Kid”
Ketchel, was dropped by quick-
shooting Edmund W. May, when

Weiner and another bandit staged an
unsuccessful holdup in the New York
coin and medal store of which May
is manager. Veteran of 18 arrests and
four convictions since 1919, Weiner lived
long enough to send a bullet crashing
through his own brain. He preferred
suicide to a life sentence, the terin pre-
scribed for “three-time losers.”
* *” *

Arthur “Doc” Barker, former co-leader
of the Barker-Karpis gang, was fatally
shot when he and several companions at-
tempted to escape from Alcatraz. The
men sawed their way out of their cell
blocks and reached the water’s edge be-
fore they were discovered and fired upon.

* * * %

Three murderers from New York’s
East Side walked the last mile at
Sing Sing prison when they were ex-
ecuted in the electric chair. Dotinick
Guariglia, 19, Arthur Friedman, 22, and
Joseph O’Loughlin, 24,
had been convicted. of
the slaying of Detective
Michael Foley in a cafe
holdup. Twocompanions
in the holdup were
spared the same fate
when a late reprieve
came through from the
executive mansion. Ef-
forts to obtain clemency
for the three killers
failed when Governor
Herbert Lehman, after reviewing the
case, refused to commute their sentences
to life imprisonment.

* * *

Tennessee’s electric chair ended the ca-
reer of White Tollet, slayer of three little
daughters of Herman Gouge, on Jan. 11.
Tollet was convicted of the dynamiting of
the Gouge Home, in which the children
were killed and Mrs. Gouge critically in-
jured. The condemned man protested his
innocence to the last.

* * *

Vincent Forti, 20, was executed in the
Sing Sing electric chair after being twice
convicted of.the murder of Berle Wolko-
witz, Brooklyn grocer.’ Forti eased the
tension of his last hours by playing swing
records on a victrola which prison au-
thorities permitted him to use.

x ok Ok

Gangland’s slugs put an end to the ca-
reer of three members of its own ranks
recently. John Minogue, described as “one
of the toughest hoodlums in Chicago,”
refused to name his assailants before he
died in Holy Cross hospital. Robert
“Fat” Lewis was taken for a one-way ride
and dumped alongside the road a few days
after John Balma, alleged head of a slot-
i hijacking gang, met the same

ate.

“Triggerman”
O'Loughlin

wt q

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500 S. Paulina St., Dept, 49-31,

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500 S. Paulina Street, Dept. 49-31,

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also your ‘‘Pay-Tuition-After-Graduation”
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2 Weeks:

TOLLETT,, White M., white, elec, Tenn. (Carter) 1/11/1939...

~~,

| 4

’ °

» ig
d
d
y
g

j
d
e

< All that remained 4

2 ‘of the Gouge 4

_ home, after the :

a ’ fatal blast, was a 4

7 mass of wreckage :

;

g Harmon Gouge q

(eft), father of fi

r the little . victims, 8

was away from
home at the time
of the explosion

(Above) Mrs. Gouge, who was injured, is pictured with her
three daughters, Sonia June, nine; Roma Jean, six, and Luena, i
seven, all of whom lost their lives in the mysterious blast

ILENTLY, in the still, dark hour before dawn, a phan-
tom skulked about. the mountain home of Harmon
Gouge near Elizabethton, Tennessee. Noiselessly the
shadowy figure placed a heavy charge of dynamite be-

neath the house, uncoiled a snake-like length. of fuse. With
calculated cunning the murderous fiend halted, then, and
looked about as though to make sure no human eye had seen
what he had done, that there would be no witness to what
he was about to do.

Satisfied, the killer stooped, struck a match, held the tiny
point of fire to the frayed end of the long fuse. The flame
caught, sputtered, smoked a bit, then sped hungrily down the
60-foot, tinder-dry trail toward the diabolical engine of de-
struction planted beneath the house.

Nearer and nearer the spark leaped toward that inanimate
cache of dynamite which needed only a slight impulse to turn
it into a mad, death-dealing monster. And as the curling
wisp of smoke marked progress of the spark along the
slender fuse, the phantom vanished into the night, intent
upon escaping before the peaceful road was turned into a
scene of crimson carnage.

The blast, when it came, tore the humble dwelling into bits,
caved in the very foundation, shook the countryside for
miles around.

Beneath that pile of twisted wreckage, neighbors, roused
from their beds by the sound and shock of the explosion,
found Mrs. Gouge seriously injured, two of her little daugh-
ters dead on the tattered mattress beside her, a third so
badly hurt that she died before she reached a hospital.

They found, too, the charred, serpentine length of fuse
along which the tiny, death-dealing spark had passed. From
the location of the fuse and a study of the wreckage, investi-
gators attempted to reconstruct a picture of one of the most
diabolical crimes in the recent history of the South.

As he and other officers sought the secret of the tragic

blast, Sheriff J. M. Moreland recalled that Harmon Gouge,
father of the slain children, was the only member of the

family who had escaped death or serious injury in the holo- .

caust. But Gouge was not a stranger to violent death—even
as his little family was almost wiped out, the Elizabethton
man was at liberty under $10,000 bond pending trial for the
fatal shooting of Arnold Tollett, his one-time partner in a
roadhouse enterprise.. The tragedy occurred in 1936. Shortly
afterward Gouge ‘surrendered to: officials, declaring that
Tollett threatened him with a knife and that he fired in self
defense. =

More recently-——only two months before the fatal blast—
Gouge narrowly escaped death when, immediately after get-
ting out of his automobile, a charge of dynamite, beneath the
driver’s seat, demolished the car. Since then Gouge had not
been staying at home. He was in Johnson City, where he
operated a restaurant, when his children were slain.

As investigators attempted to piece together the loose ends
of-the strange case, they expressed the belief that the dyna-
miting at the Gouge home was an effort by some of the
friends or relattves of Arnold Tollett to. avenge his death in
the manner of southern feudists; that, since the previous
attempt on Gouge’s life had failed, the avengers determined
to strike at those near and dear to him.

Regardless of motive, regardless of whether he was. or was
not justified in his admitted shooting of his one-time business
associate, even southern feudists abhor the wanton and dia-
bolical murder of three innocent children. The honor of the
South and of the entire nation demands that the mystery
of their deaths shall be solved and that the person or per-
sons responsible for this unspeakable and cowardly outrage
shall pay the full penalty prescribed by law.

For complete details on the Gouge death case, watch
Truz Derecrive

2 - tle

Unafraid even with their father absent in Johnson City, the children went to
bed happily in their Carter County, Tennessee, home on the night of January 7,
1938. At 4a.m., suddenly and with a roar, the house blew up and was demolished

Neighbors and friends who ran to the splintered wreckage searched for the
whole Gouge family, thinking Harmon had been there with his loved ones.
They found Mrs. Gouge critically injured—the bodies of three little girls

ADe®

CURRENT
CASES
IN
PICTURES

Sheriff J. M. Moreland of Carter County “Keached ‘the =
dreadful scene at 4:35 a.m. After surveying the wreckage _
he wondered about the pees of “mountain vengeance

r-morning
his three
--14 the
ne of
reless
ams and
ove. Mrs,
escaped
1ster.

“Sane.
* ag ee,
ae 4
‘ng?

Rs.
ee

Tortured by the memory of a fiendish crime
which horrified Tennessee, Church Lester,
right, penned a note to his wife and then
chose a cowardly method of escape.

SELF - ees
EXECUTED!

YING awake in a bedroom of her
Elizabethton, Tenn., home, attrac-
tive Mrs. Harmon Gouge felt a
sudden, chilling warning of danger. It
was nearly dawn. In an adjoining room
her three small children slumbered peace-
fully. But even as she listened to their
muffled breathing their mother sensed in
the dark silence an ominous brooding
note of impending disaster.

Suddenly a terrific, ear-splitting de-
tonation shattered the early morning
stillness, Like a cardboard house kicked
by a petulant child the frame dwelling
seemed to leap into air, then collapse into

a shapeless mass of broken beams and
taagled wreckage.

Probing amid the debris neighbors and
police found the dead, mangled bodies of
the Gouge children: Sonia, 9; Luena, 7,
and Roma Jean, 5. Their mother was still
alive but seriously. injured.

Reconstructing the tragic explosion
detectives discovered that the house was
deliberately dynamited in a monstrous
bomb plot to kill Harmon Gouge, father
of the dead children. Gouge, who had
narrowly escaped death only a few days
before when his automobile was mys-
teriously dynamited, was not at home.

es)

Arrests followed quickly. Two months
later White Tollett, 26, and Church Les-
ter, 44, were sentenced to death for the
bombing which snuffed out the Gouge
children’s lives. Their accomplices, Lee
Walker and Ulysses Walling, were given
21-year prison terms.

Brooding in his cell at Carter county
jail two weeks later Church Lester, one
of the two men awaiting the electric
chair, penned a farewell note to his wife.
then hanged himself from a crossbar with
his leather belt. When a jailer found him
next morning, Lester was dead.

&
va

TOLLETT,, White M,, white, elec, Tenn, (Carter) 1/11/1939...

OO Sem ie

YNAMITE
DEATH

ane enews.

All that remained
‘of the Gouge
home, after the
fatal blast, was a
mass of wreckage

RE BLT ee

Harmon Gouge
(left), father of
the little . victims,
was away from
home at the time
of the explosion

MD Pte 2 OR a Nee ae -

neath the house, uncoiled a snake-like length. of fuse. With
calculated cunning the murderous fiend halted, then, and
looked about as though to make sure no human eye had seen
what. he had done, that there would be no witness to what
he was about to do.

Satisfied, the killer stooped, struck a match, held the tiny
point of fire to the frayed end of the long fuse. The flame
caught, sputtered, smoked a bit, then sped hungrily down the
(0-foot, tinder-dry trail toward the diabolical engine of de-
struction planted beneath the house.

The blast, when it came, tore the humble dwelling into bits,
caved in the very foundation, shook the countryside for
miles around.

‘They found, too, the charred, serpentine length of fuse
along which the tiny, death-dealing spark had passed. From
the location of the fuse and a study of the wreckage, investi-
gitors attempted to reconstruct a picture of one of the most
diabolical crimes in the recent history of the South.

As he and other olflicers sought the seeret of the tragic

(Above) Mrs. Gouge, who was injured, is pictured with her
three daughters, Sonia June, nine; Roma Jean, six, and Luena,
seven, all of whom lost their lives in the mysterious blast

blast, Sheriff J. M. Moreland recalled that Harmon Gouge,
father of the slain children, was the only member of the
JSamily who had escaped death or serious injury in the holo-
caust. But Gouge was not a stranger to violent death—even
as his little family was almost wiped out, the Elizabethton
man was at liberty under $10,000 Cond pending trial for the
fatal shooting .of. Arnold Tollett, his one-time partner in a
roadhouse enterprise.” The tragedy occurred in 1936. Shortly
afterward Gouge ‘surrendered to officials, declaring that
Yollett threatened him with a knife and that he fired in self
defense. ~ beh Eg

More recently-—only two months before the fatal blast—
Gouge narrowly escaped death when, immediately after get-
ting out of his automobile, a charge of dynamite, beneath the
driver’s seat, demolished the car. Since then Gouge had ‘not
been staying at home. He was in Johnson City, where he
operated a restaurant, when his children were slain.

As investigators attempted to piece together the loose ends
of: the strange case, they expressed the belief that the dyna-
miting at the Gouge home was an effort by some of the
friends or relatives of Arnold Tollett to. avenge his death in
the manner of. southern feudists; that, since the previous
attempt on Gouge’s life had failed, the avengers determined
to strike at those near and dear to him.

Regardless of motive, regardless of whether he was or was
not justified in- his admitted shooting of his one-time business
associate, even southern feudists abhor the wanton and dia-
bolical murder of three innocent children. The honor of the
South and of the entire nation demands that the mystery
of their deaths shall be solved and that the person or per-
sons responsible for this unspeakable and cowardly outrage
shall pay the full penalty prescribed by law.

For complete details on the Gouge death case, watch
True Derecrive

| hite native of Car ter Cor, : was convict-
| saat oe Wale, -other men, Church lester, Ulyses Wall-
\g--and- ker of having Karel oft 6 charge of te

| wae. “of. Ricticrss pee aa Mountain City at the :
_ tdme,-but’his wife was ori ao lr

daughters, Sonia’ June (9)5-R

_ weve-Killed, Harmon Gouge
_ for ‘shooting his fuatnenete

_ defense. The Tolletts se tia to kill Gouge by :

te the previous. November, . Walker confessed,
sentenced to prisons Tollett and Gester to death,

lester evidently comet Tollett electrocuted on

eer “NE aBae

ili

%
o

Taal Sn sa aneamnemae dia PORTE Ce ee

Jane ll, 1939.

ACTUAL DETECTIVE STORLES OF WOMEN IN CRIME » April 6, 1938
When’ the Tolletts and the Gouges Clash" 2&£$ Photo

St e 12. Need more information,
brag, beled boiensid Tathat o1434
Ler

BGS Seats sae ey ROS

His own leather belt cheated
the electric chair of a de-
serving victim when a con-
victed murderer, above at
left, hanged himself in his
cell. At the cross-marked
spot in the river at right
police found a dynamite
fuse thrown there by the
plotters after the bombing.

A mysterious, early-morning
explosion killed his three
children and reduced the
Elizabethton, Tenn., home of
Harmon Gouge to a shapeless
mass of broken beams and
plaster, as shown above. Mrs.
Gouge miraculously escaped
death in the disaster.

‘

em in.
ad.. “TI
‘~: said.
&t the
3 been

| rc
mn

I
;cnoo..

home
Ainnie
igured
did of

ef had
id the
1. To-

annon

idn’t!”
to do

whole

io
liy
2p
0-
re-

ty.
ite

were
se be-
prove
3a lot
self a

Tobin
man.”
But.’ I
‘+ you.”
ocence
‘stions.
ty! ’m

Vait—”
rove I
1ought

3; leav-
e, said
to the
ready.

len in

hesitatingly confirmed that she had seen
Minnie come to the door and call out to
Tobin as he was leaving.

It would appear that the investigators of
Minnie Tucker’s murder were now without
a definite lead. “There’s still that footprint,”
Aldred commented. “We haven’t identified
that yet. And it seems to me a motive is
shaping up.”

“And,” mused Cannon, “I think we’ll have
to question one person whose original alibi
seemed sound. Perhaps we _ overlooked
something.” He dispatched officers again
to Trinity Lane with orders to bring Felix
Tucker to headquarters.

While they were gone, the chief re-
viewed Tucker’s original statement. On
the face of it, it seemed to absolve the hus-
band of any connection with his wife’s
death. Closer inspection of the time ele-
ment alibi, however, suggested another pos-
sibility.

Since Tucker could not have slain his
wife prior to 5:45—the time when Frank
Tobin was seen leaving the house—was it
possible that he could have committed the
crime after that time? Cannon thought so.

When the officers returned with Tucker,
the chief asked him abruptly, “Have you
any idea who made that footprint near the
back porch?”

Tucker looked thoughtful. “A neighbor
said Minnie did a washing today,” he said.
“She said Minnie finished it at about four
o’clock. I guess whoever made the foot-
print must have stepped where she poured
out the water.”

Cannon stared at Tucker’s feet, saw the
man involuntarily draw them back under
the chair in which he sat. Lifting his gaze
to Tucker’s face, he saw an expression of
fee there.

“Let me see your shoes, Tucker,” he
snapped.

The man hesitated. Sweat beads sprang
out on his forehead. He stiffened in his
chair. Then, without a word, he stretched
out his feet.

Cannon examined them. On the right
shoe, near the sole, were some dark stains.
The left shoe looked clean. He looked up
again, gazing thoughtfully into Tucker’s
face. Had he come home, found his wife
packing, ready to leave him, and plunged
his homemade knife into her back?

“You’re under arrest, Tucker, on sus-
picion of murder,” the chief said abruptly.

Incredulity mingled with the fear in the
man’s eyes. “That’s impossible!” he ex-
claimed. “You’ve already checked my alibi
—you know I’m in the clear—I was in that
store till almost six o’clock.”

“We know that,” Cannon conceded. “That
alibi fooled me for.a while, Tucker. Now
Pll tell you what really happened. When
you left the store, you took the short cut
across the empty lot. You entered the rear
door. You killed your wife. Then you ran
out the back door, unobserved, circled
around and walked up Trinity Lane, know-
ing the neighbors would see you coming
home. Then you entered by the front door
and pretended to discover the body.”

Tucker squirmed in his chair. “I didn’t
kill her! You can’t make a jury believe it.”

“I wouldn’t count on that.” Cannon
pointed to Tucker’s right shoe. “When you
stepped in that damp spot, where your
wife had emptied her tub, you left the im-
print of your foot there. Shall we match it
to the cast we have?” He added, “Further-
more, I suspect those stains on your shoe
are blood. A chemical analysis will deter-
mine that. Do you still deny that you
killed your wife?”

The six-foot suspect slumped in his chair.
“All right,” he finally whispered. “I killed
Minnie. I stabbed her twice with that
butcher knife. I don’t much care what hap-
pens to me now.”

“Suppose you start at’ the beginning,”
Cannon suggested.

“In September of last year,” he began
dully, “we moved to a farm where I was
doing dairy work. Minnie soon became
homesick. She went to Nashville often to
see her folks. She kept insisting that I
move back to the city. Finally she began
staying at her mother’s most of the time.

“Well, last month I rented the cottage
on Trinity Lane and began taking a voca-
tional training course at the school. I was
away from home a lot attending school and
I began hearing gossip about Minnie and
Frank Tobin. ;

“I was half-crazy with jealousy. I ques-
tioned Minnie about it and she admitted
her fondness for Frank. Well, I told her
to pack her things and get out. That was
a couple of days ago. Early this morning,
I took the baby and went out for a walk.
About two hours later I returned and found
Minnie packing. She told me Tobin was go-
ing to take her back to her mother’s. We
argued and I slapped her face.

“I went on to school. That evening, when
I got home, Minnie was all packed, ready
to leave. I picked up the baby and was
holding her, but Minnie told me to give her
back. That was the first tite it had occurred
to me that, when Minnie left, I would lose
the baby and would be unable to see her
again. I told Minnie she couldn’t take her.

“Minnie struck me and told me I could
never have my baby. I saw red. I grabbed
up the butcher knife and just started stab-
bing. The next thing I knew she was on
the floor with the,knife in her back. I ran
out the back door and circled around to the
street. I walked back to the house, went in
the front door and—you know the rest.”

When the amazing confession was signed,
in the presence of witnesses, James Felix
Tucker was charged with first-degree mur-
der and lodged in a cell at Davidson County
jail without bond.

Minnie Tucker was slain on May 2\st,
1942. On November 30th Tucker went on
trial for his life before Judge Chester K.
Hart in Criminal Court at Nashville,

The handsome, 29-year-old defendant was
placed on the witness stand in his own be-
half and brokenly insisted that he had not
intended to kill his young wife. “I just lost
my head and started stabbing,” he sobbed.

On December Ist, the case went to the
jury. He was found guilty of the brutal
murder of his wife, with no recommen-
dation for mercy.

Inasmuch as the jury’s verdict made
death by electre-ution mandatory, Judge
Hart pronounced iaat sentence. Defense
attorneys moved for a new trial, which was
denied, and the case was reviewed by the
Supreme Court. The judgment was af-
firmed and,-on July 45th, 1943, Tucker paid
the supreme penalty.

EpitTor’s Note:

The names Frank Tobin and Edward
Waters, 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.

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Tuckers. Most of them repeated that they
had seen no one leaving the house during
the late afternoon. One had seen Tobin.
Another now recalled that at about 5:30
P.M. she had seen Edward Waters cross the
vacant lot and go in at the back door of
the Tucker house.

“T remember now,” she went on, “that
while he was in the house I heard what
sounded like Mrs. Tucker crying. I heard
loud voices. Then, ten minutes later, I saw
Ed Waters come out the back door and
hurry across the field.”

The investigators considered this as they
returned to headquarters. Waters had de-

nied being near the Tucker home that day. —

Why had he lied?

Waters was brought in again. Questioned
by the chief, he now admitted that he had
lied when he said he had not been at the
cottage. But he insisted that when he left
her, Minnie was packing her suitcase.

“A neighbor says she heard Mrs. Tucker
crying, while you were there,” the chief
told him. “How do you account for that?”

“We were old friends, like I told you,”
Waters answered. “Her family and mine
knew each other always. Minnie could tell
me anything. She said Felix was jealous
because she was friends with Frank Tobin.
She said she was going home to her fam-
ily.”

Cannon had the moulage of the footprint
found in the rear of the Tucker house
brought in. He asked Waters to put his
foot into it. Waters readily complied. His
shoe, the investigators observed, was at
least a full size smaller than the print.

The chief was not yet ready to eliminate
Waters as a suspect. He had been seen
leaving the Tucker house at 5:40. And
since Frank Tobin admittedly had left the
house at 5:45, Waters would appear to be
in the clear. Perhaps Tobin now was shap-
ing up as the stronger suspect.

“Did you see a black Ford sedan drive
up, as you were leaving?” Cannon asked.

Waters nodded. “I know Tobin slightly.
I saw him park in front of the house, as I
was crossing the field. I saw him go to the
front door. That’s all I know about it.”

Cannon studied him for a moment, then
told him he was free to go. After he had
left, the chief conferred with Aldred.

“T think we’d better check the angle
Waters gave us, about Tucker beating and
abusing his wife,’ Cannon said. “Maybe
Minnie Tucker blamed Tobin for stirring
up her husband’s jealousy—blamed him for
getting her beaten. Maybe they quarreled
over that and Tobin’s anger flamed into
murder.”

“Let’s see what we can get from Tucker
on this,” suggacted Aldred

They found Tucker at the home of rela-
tives., He appeared anxious to cooperate
with the officials and admitted that he had
slapped his wife during an argument over
Tobin. But, he said, he did not believe
Frank Tobin had murdered is wife.

“I didn’t want to tell you this,’ he went
on haltingly, “but when Minnie admitted
to me that she was in love with Tobin, I
was so jealous I temporarily lost my head
and slapped her. I told her to pack her
things and get out. On the day she was
killed, she told me she intended to do just
that. She said Frank was coming after her
with his car.”

Tucker’s story seemed to put a new light
on the case. Although Frank Tobin had
denied any romantic interest in Minnie
Tucker, he had had an opportunity to com-
mit the crime.

“Did anyone beside yourself know about
that love affair?” the chief asked.

“Two people—a man and a woman,”
Tucker said, “had told me about it.” With
some reluctance he gave their names to
the officers, who left at once to interview
them.

At the woman’s home a girl in her twen-

ties answered their knock, invited them in.
On learning their errand, she flushed, “I

‘ didn’t want to talk about that,” she said.

“And I’m sorry I ever told Felix. But the
affair between Minnie and Frank has been
fairly obvious.”

The man whose name Tucker had given
them said that on numerous occasions he
had seen Tobin entering the Tucker home
while Felix was attending trade school.
“He and Minnie were together in my home
several times, too,” he added. “Minnie
seemed to be jealous of Frank. I figured
she thought more of him than she did of
her husband.”

Back at headquarters again, the chief had
Tobin brought to his office. He told the
young salesman what he had learned. To-
bin shook his head numbly.

“Why did you kill Mrs. Tucker?” Cannon
queried sharply.

The youth gave a violent start. “I didn’t!”
he exclaimed. “I didn’t have a thing to do
with it!”

“You might as well tell us the whole

SOUND ASLEEP

A careful man in Cincinnati, Ohio,
always put his money in the pillow slip
beneath his head before going to sleep.

’ Unfortunately, as was proved, he sleeps
too well. Reporting a theft to the po-
lice, he revealed that a thief had re-
moved the money without even disturb-
ing his slumbers.

He now is minus $50 and his favorite

hiding place.
—John W. Hilton

story,” Cannon advised him. “You were
the last person seen leaving the house be-
fore her body was found and we can prove
that you and Minnie had been seeing a Jot
of ach .other. Why mot give yourself a
break and tell us the truth?”

“But I have told you the truth,” Tobin
protested. “You’ve got the wrong man.”

“Maybe,” the chief conceded. “But I
think we’ve got a strong case against you.”

Tobin continued to assert his innocence
as the officers plied him with questions.
“You can’t—you can’t prove I’m guilty! I’m
not!” he shouted.

“You-—” Cannon began.

But the youth interrupted him. “Wait—”
he cried feverishly. “I think I can prove I
didn’t kill Minnie Tucker! I just thought
of something—”

“Let’s have it,” Cannon said.

“IT remember now that when I was leav-
ing the house I called out to Minnie, said
I’d be back in an hour. She came to the
door and ¢alled back that she’d be ready.
I remember now, there was a woman in
the yard next door. She could tell you
Minnie came out and called to me.”

“We'll check on that.” Cannon turned to
Deputy Smith and Lieutenant Ellis. “Run
out to Trinity Lane and talk to the lady
next door,” he said.

The officers returned shortly with corrob-
oration of Tobin’s story. The neighbor un-

_ tc ant

Eee ees

PE ey Fuk ¢

eo y
| fat Facts ~[aeeurarion 7 Chatareepe, Ten 1 bere (apa
Races a2 Wists 3 snd ea a erp

VicTiM = .- ($F Qe, OM Boa fe i i4i(«J{AGE &| RACE 8 834x{| METHOD

SYNOPSIS

foe mceesndiel~ ¢ Fe ¥ le b Mays
aha. ; 9g LY ale

gps Elwes wag haw gor proclhlediarm - Tha? cfiiinern, Vets
‘ att Koel Rhotlivh Mareen 4 1 2degeud |

Liseko picithe DaTp. Cwne hintind: le kinins 6 Lares ~ iss lass)

TRIAL

XECYUTION

FRANK NEWrCBs OFFICE SUPPLY-COTHAN

pany jof Dr. A. I. Roehm, head of the

ronautics Authority regulations
il be maintained.” i

——

7ALLATIN HONORS

re ©- Z ee
:Vena H. Stuart Guest at
“ Banquet; Library \ le

GALLATIN, Tenn... April, 14—-
Spl)—Former students and friends
f Mise Vena H. Stuart honored her
onight at a banquet in celebration
f her 50 years of service as &
eacher in the public echools hére.

The program included dedication
f the library at Howard Grammar

hool, where Miss Stuart teaches,

her honor,.A bronze tablet, in-
ribed with Miss Vena's name,
aa presented at the “It

i ‘be placed in the library.

A large picture of Mies Vena, to
pe bung in the library, was pre

Speakers on the ~ im
hluded -former students cf —Miss

At the conclusion, Mrs. Frank
Gillespie, chairman of the program,
presented Miss Vena with a gold
uree, containing a gift...

NEGRO TRIO HELD
Youths Mebbed for Theft ot
: Frenklin Oi Flere:

winnery wilt
decorated

be awarded similar medals of sil-
ver bronze, respectively, 4
Students who placed as high aa,

fourth in the: district contest will {*

be eligible to compete in the State
Contest, when the winners from
the 11 state districts take the final
exam! at Peabody College. May 13.
This first state-wide’ French con-
test is under the genéral direction

Modern Language Department at
Peabody..-He is assisted by M. L.
Shane and Helen Lacy, members
of-his department. A number of
colleges are offering schotarships
to.the winners of the state cham-
pionships.

Detaila of the Nashville @igiriet .preiimi-
8 ezamination foilew*

i representrd’ Galtatic R. 8-110),
Castle Heights Miltary Aced (2), Shelby-
vile H S (15). Duncan Prep. 8 ‘63, De-
vid Lipscomb (2). Peabody Demonstration
8. tll). Springtiela H. 8. 44), Columbia
HM. 6 +19) Pather Ryan H 8. (3). Hume-
Forsr H (18), Saint Cecilie +20). Crn-
tervile MH @ 14). West End BB :12',
Ward-Beimont HS £33). Isase Litton (21

The following are the first 16 students
m™ each clase :

Prench I «Pir Year Wrench)‘

Laura Woodard Bheibyrilie: John A.
McKee, Duncan: Warren Gilbert... Bheiby-
ville. William Ramsay... Gallatin: - Joan
Argo, Hume-Pogg; Robbie Tankersiey. Co-
Iumbia. Dorothy Reinke, Ward-Belmont;
Marthe - Mitchell Ward-Belmont; Jane
Page Oskes, Columbia; Ruth Devise, Isaac
Litton “

Preneh ‘IT: ak

Charles Ray Womack

Hume-Poas:
Prances’ Carter.

Ward-Beimont, Nancy

Btone. Ward-Belmopt; Sarah Kirkpatrick.

Ward-Belmont: J s Stewart, Yoy-

ville: Jeane Seagal, West Ehd: &thel

Gambiil. Columbia: Helen MeMurrey.
¢:

Ward- yd ine King, Colum-

gia; Charies Porter;"J'ather Ryan.
Prench ITI

Benny

Edwards. Ward-Beimont; Adelaide Roberts,
Ward-Beimont: ne. Gtahiman, Ward-
Betmont: Corinne *Howell, Ward-Belmont;
Jean Tucker Ward-Belmont; Leon May.
Peabody: Lilian_Belle Gaines, M. Cecilie;
Betty. June Graham, Peabody.

vs.

2 T. Reed et al, A.C. ve. H.

Cohen et el, Nashville Trust (Co, Gdn.,
Bi Partes Fin a. in

-<"~ eWANCERY COURT, PART 11
3 [somes B. pees: Chancetior

bis
Bmith. Ward-Belmont: . Mamie} -

-pago,; it was

AD ae ak ae .

Elien Wiltiams

4-The premier co-ed “honor, that
Of May Queen, on the David Lips-
comb College Campus went to El-
len Williams, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Fletcher Williams, Brentwood,
by student vote this week.

Miss Williams ‘hag made an out-
standing record as\ student, mu-
sician, an actress oh the campus.
Her. hobbies include horseback ‘rid-
ing and wild flowers.” ;
ed

WILLIE WILLIAMS’
“DEATH SET. TODAY

1S Sal

ee te

Negro Convicted of Murder of
3 Ex-Numbers. King’s
- © Father ;

Willie Williams, 33, Negro, was

chair-in State Prison this morning
for the murder of William James,
father of Bill. James, Nashville's
dethroned, rumbers king.

Williams went on hunger strike
in “the death house several days
reported, although
prison authorities would not con-

‘} firm that rumor.

The Negro killed the elder James
in an attempted robbery at the Bil-
ver Streak ball room, Bill James’
dance hall now knowh as the Cot-
ton Club, last year.”

. Shortly before midnight Williams

‘ate some sandwiches and had two

or three hotties of -¢ soda beverage.
“Williams was scheduled to start
down the “last mile” at about §

MB McBride et

scheduled to die in the. electric.

nee Ler Pa
APE UNDER WIE

ROU WIL LACT

Action Today Concludes
“State Convention >
insh ville

Delegates from loca) chapters of

the Tennessee Life Underwriters’ ——

Afsociation will meet inthe An
drew Jackson Hotel at 10 @ m. to
day to elect new officers of the
stale group. 5

- ‘The election will be the final ae
tlon of the annual sales congress —
held yesterday in the, auditorium
of the National Life an@ Accident —
Insurance Company : building.
Several nationally known insur
ance company officials addressed
the’ meeting on insurames prob-
lems... Among these wae William
L. Mousette,” Nashville, president
of the association.

- Max Fisher, New York, assistant
Secretary of the Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company, described the -
“Life. Underwriter, 1938 Model,”
picturing the.type of man who is
necessary for successful salesman-
ship in this “streamlined age.” ;

Other speakers were Grant L.
Hill, director of agencies for the
Northwestern Mutual Life Insure ~~
ahce Company, Milwaukee, : Wis.;-
S. Russell Mickle, Charlotte, spe-.
cla] agent for the Conneeticutt Mu- © -
tual Life Insurance Company, and ~
Holgar J. Johnson, presi@ent of the
National Association of Lifes Us-
derwriters. ha

Retiring officers are Mousette, ©
B. H.,Odom, vice-president; Aubley ~~
E. Reed, vice-president, épé B. Heal
‘Blair,‘secretary and treasurer.
-“The delegates. were entertained
at lunchon in the Andrew Jeckson
Hotel yesterday at noow by A M.:
Burton, president of ‘the Life end
Casualty Insurance Company.

wt ae =e

Re ee eC ee ne ena
~

[

@’clock there will t
e

ing in the int

home

gasoline
transferred te a emailer tow boat,
the. Yokana, for the remainder
of the voyage to Nashville, -

The captain of the boat, V. J.
Dugas, said he did not intend to
proceed this far up the Cumber-
land, but due to the river bdeing

jantane | hiwh he was able ta meke the trie

ba ms

NEGRO KILLER DIES

IN ELECTRIC CHAIR

Willie Williams, 33, Denies
Murder¢ of Father of _ For-
y meet ‘Nembers’ King
+ te ——

Wittie Wiltiama, ‘33, Negro, died ip
the electric chair at 5:48 o'clock
yesterday morning for the slaying
of William James, Sr. father of
eee ‘s former numbers game

tne talk with Acting Warder
Glenn Swafford in the death house
just before the hour of etecution

CASTNE

SALE! Seo

ESAVE MONEY at thesp

ballroom, pow

Club. on the nig
Willlams was

murder on March 2, 1

i ae

.
~
-

{
HH)

day of execution. ate
the last hours of his

him in the sides and face after they had knocked him senseless
with fists. clubs, and_ blac jac ‘ks. Unconscious, he was
dragged—not carried—back to the white line and thrown into
his cell.

Twice Larry was called up to the door of his cell and shot
in the face with tear gas at close range. He went completely
out of his mind both times and tried to kill himself by beating
his head against the rough concrete wall of his cell. Each
time the gas ran the guar ds out of the wing and Larry was
left in the dense dloud of gas fumes for about tw entyv minutes
before he was dragged from his cell, unconscious.

As a result of the gas and his suicide attempts, Larry’s head
and face swelled to what seemed three times the normal size.
Three-inch purple rings were around his eves, and his face
and head looked like ‘they had been beaten with a poleax.
If I hadn’t known who he was when the guards dragged him
out on the floor in front of my cell, Iw ould never have recog-

ni
Not surprisingly, |
esperate chance to get out of ghere. He made it once, in

a break with two otlier white men and two colored men. It
was a wild break—one of the colored men shot and killed
a convict gateman, and one of the white men, a little Mexican,
was shot off the wall as they tried to go over. Larry and the
other young Negro went on over the w wall and got away, but
the other w inte man and the boy who had shot the guard
lost their nerve and surrendered.

The colored man who had shot the guard received the death
sentence and was executed. The other colored man was slain
by two officers in W ashington state when he resisted arrest.
Larry was free for about ninetv days before he was captured
by a government agent in New Orleans. He was given a
ninety -nine-year sentence on top of his original twenty years,
and the warden and the guards were more ‘bratal to him than
ever when he was put back in confinement.

News of the warden’s cruelty to the men in the white line
slowly leaked to the outside. The newspapers and certain civic
organizations became interested, began asking questions, and
even visited these torture chambers several times.

ou, Sherreedatl College “he, Wore Noe

him. . —
Larry was willing to take any kind of a |

cpp Pt 14 / akan

This interest resulted in a few minor changes. For one
thing we were given baths more often—one about every ten
days instead of thirty to sixty days. The warden argued that
too many baths weren't good for the lockups.

“A bath will give them a cold,” he once told a white-line
guard who asked him if he was going to allow the men to
bathe that month.

The outside pressure also resulted in our being taken in
chains and handcuffs to the ball field occasionally for fresh
air and exercise. The fresh air, after three vears of confinement
in the rank stagnation of the cells, felt so strange and so good
that I almost burst my lungs inhaling.

But we were so weak after our confinement that, after two
trips outside, we asked to be relieved of what amounted to
added torture. The exercise and walking periods lasted only
about thirtv minutes, but several of the men were so com-
pletely exhausted that they had to be helped back to the
dungeons.

The barbaric practices in the prison were an issue in the
1936 campaign for governor. Captain Gordon Browning, a
World War I veteran and a newcomer to Tennessee politics,
made a solemn pledge to introduce reforms based on humani-
tarian treatment and rehabilitation of the prisoners.

Browning was from Huntingdon, Tennessee, and Harvey also
came from ‘this general area. ‘Since everybody in a small com-
munity knows everybody else, he was ‘well: -acquainted with
Browning. Harvey’s father and Brow ning were prettv close
friends.

During the heated primary campaign, Harvey kept in close
contact with Browning, sending him vital information on prison
conditions. Much of this smuggled information was used verba-
tim in campaign speeches.

The people of Tennessee were impressed by Browning’s
promises, and he won the governor's seat by an overw helming
majority. Even before the general election—after he had won
the democratic primary, which was equivalent to election in
Tennessee—Captain Browning made several inspection tours
of al] state institutions, and the main prison in Nashville was
his chief target.

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tf Cpe pee ae
ee ee ee a a a HMAPIO UIQ UA, Ae 4 j iy ' 1 . ‘a
4” aud Pitaburat | nd tab fot Th! mos
beepers iw ru pet pes ae i aa Leugpoien iF > &T ‘d nan
alls, \
"cad “an Penal A Geveeasy Suverintyn Ut of ts "lea OF ote
Soction 6. Hochester, aad 2 javiite a Sqaheiilo, Rats | eect Pienaspa te eC
ag, el: Sheaal niet arbletaie tah} Outbreak a ™ Get snl ke
The barca #'ts nicest in the’ East Golt] Avert, Tex, Sept. | swaiting With much
tates. storns c ; ita ¥y | County. Jus of rin Wi lie, {ileh ils tei b
ovenientyi cae ow: ») formed the’ Gever ee w bos
Lawrence | cure ime pw, on jhe motion fot § .

gepand Y yeilow-fever cl | Mie tina,
yj. fisva 3 | ars and yal so Yn four deat up yestatday.. The merchants of|| case of Iarded sj ant

: Seoees iT the Noraawpt Lads raing,] Roma, Tet, yefuse Q arenting | pes per grr “a
‘ i vill Capt. Frtener on the’ “fie repo from | > gland ‘ang countof t Mepo also on andreas ousey
‘ tro ear ago ped af shgtiae, but was |. ge aie aoe anerreoee showing the sbrenl of ver at vuoi ab ress
: Of the Mjss eX : td g ‘pang Hidaigo,! Mex. jOVeruo i
' tiyalle capsured gnu drought Uj this city. He salsa} Se T seioue

"te, Tale.
Mi wernt Wald ali at the dpat tora Of Vw, | rs otovall |i. Ni
oe ie tou ‘wes ‘sentenced ta teu years at lard! vstarly Prinds in ‘tha } Mic

uv the ara ot an. appeal! $i Lake resian, Ohi

ti4ics|, who at onge ‘tel Surgeon neral) with pe wha have

Pt aut || veyed “one elgerepd Dr. Sweaciager, | to haya their casey ae fe
diey, and | Wan moud, Calling Lise ‘tepatablisd a’iine of

S s er Pakseanen The follow ing reduces weve! pounted xuards conuerti @ with? “the| north
Seaside ak Kuexstiid | bind sy ober Soscat a {+ iyeivene ait a Bs. yonicilay 4 eee eud of the lowest ai aud extaodiug
sign at Kuoxy He ag tay ‘ac Yéas: pietivel, 5 ai Re end, 6 ti aoe pena Prt 8 eer ist Reng ry isa oy
i eg pial way East se el air Denver a. rp a high y F
5 iS tes Deputy ae ee Banh ‘-, pier 5S. Tincre is no wonwy to] mée ube" ¥ de
bab fa. wil aad ald is’ ask

‘traia, baving}Taylag in|charge, Sk 1
‘WE, WAS HANDCLYF RD, >

cach. cihie ay oe made
af : i) sou therl shudilug peste “y Cu Téx..| Sept. La peer! such a cl
if | $e al uaa bulbdad te ee at Sweet|| ¥ iy dJouted Bs Phas pau Fila ye: casge of yellow-tever re Bent. 14. Jets erst Ww.
; Wate » OF ‘Talat, fia, about, seventy ive} ai lowed Clearips weal rt natal take tha i "3k. i etsoeas ins ulfrogs Mat: ras | convicted Will fight the | G-
a: milys froga here, 4 while rath wi Tow. Hair weather: ts dnd: sep i one ifth. agees «ping from Uagit I hava exhanste
‘twee Philadelp@ia aud Loud u dafibera aly Sule and} Soumh —_. Ft tay the nt | | Monterey. one vee | ”. ibhgef cele talk of demeat
te ad ang ir te | pe Re each great! |B he NS Orme I of Mtaidmedras tnatenmnc,_| (27 30 bo, vinuicaiad, |
~anotiler usin, cites the prisoner. aud. tuok x ENEMAL Ouse i" Dre eee Pacey rg ages pe isp ipressure ,
charge of the train, ¢ inning fy card Louk. CHICAGO, Be it. 110: che Laci blowing | Sant diane at tae iahaséns of feuae- “trial oe ae
ULastioai’s 54 Jolin Taylog aud |) doservationy are taxed 4 ; t ped d The Gauteii urs bas Beg hon
Free fingel Bob and fendy got otf and fore we wt all Up satious Lawed; i antine, uh cnr &- repor a healthy.) The. Gateper
on RRL YORE, ee Be ia weather Isitieur and ple nar ,
| Diy Wok hurstwand Joly for OU EAER fT gtattine | ae iy Fes | or | six deaths Up last twenty-four hous, two | Cas ate perish
| |, Jolin Taylor was! wou re oe genom : = pn ee ee of them soldiers, the Feujaiuder of E | abso at | on arave or:
| ;iheuity isn intense € a ip A Desse | Liban... Mf aie es wiper Re them classes, There is oa Bight ine in e juditie bh" 4
yf Of theety fem, wil Sova tL Soachorn | Rimearea ail ip |S leet a5 y cases: ‘The disease is of a hiure deadly ehar | ca” 7 (poops
ad a sperial traig ou. the Clucly all. Souwern Beet S| 18 wy acter. Yellow-taver ig repprted at Midr and coun wed it
‘| ‘for any argh “Anb pe Vil Sowng aten, fen. Bi id: ‘Roma. Mr. Bettie reported d la” wi hy
oyerl A poste alread f left Mingecgaa + ae: on ff wy. fever at lteynosa There it ‘mu a of Mon ff
aud chotjer Loudo i Cuan titeesth ~. ond 3 +2 | ope 7 sickness | on the ranches. ‘The Justice. t is; entng,
|, CARE Yap Bien Wavnrer TWO! WEEKS. | Godbawues: a of | oas Ac. Hieligf Camniittee i extendud d. clrenmstamcoe tat « thy ;
; todash * tte, i 9 one rf es most popula seen pedisva. Beal} a ri rt nin Madey ieee ay ouded pas bun erate S bogie en, far oO
F ie tipeity, yw a fd fears’ old, and | pedecince 4 St Nee ar dreds of peuple forced ta hove. “These are | auinst rudy, oug in comne.
| aradhty > ab rep Deputy unser Wee: |. MUU vat & Woy. twenty cases of fever ag Fdrt Brown. | Stég- fur eyius >, and two Othe
9] abpoug 0 yearg,o and ptowluent as eres ae me 0: $b, ban, We telegraph ope isvervill, T wittt tae’ scontractog a
| kxdal poliiielegt: sod * excileinent has Bem | Purwiier.-r9 iid @ rites troops have iuoved ftben Camp Swith ten su that it will be
“been jin [Ct hrtaneogs since the War, All dre. ILE NW laUes down the river, on w high blu, No hope to be: reileved. from a
b - Speel | tru Will bexttes ou Aart beret Mo) Shwe iualts are aituwed 10 [pro 1@ yi ig i the Cri nal Court, ‘The pro.
uf Ted u ; ee eee: atatuoras, Kumo "8 pe are waking a3 rapid’
Orlode, aa "stool yee ay vie jane § 4 att Cjared —— Brows vill ' ! . i ba:
| ayompER 4 ecoust! rind SIGHTEY, port Gaeer es. a is (Si i pate PS Pred Eid naa % cma
t of DUT PROBABLY CORRECTS ab, errrit 8 . 2, gts \ ies seownsel . 4 lt he lay" ies mat
| KNPXVILLE, Toubh Sept. ba— perkins | | seca oe é % og dN Browxsyi1.1.r, ee pe lh~-The {act that leit yan ds
| tragufly ‘wie enacted Mix atte hoon as Haron, Da Pata la \wtiil’ rising} We tv bu sooureds | Mr k
ward, forty miles! West of! te nudvll HS 4 me aplemahel TE ae oot Grande sina} bag whorls wale Lave uaa
Whicd two fien were! killed, | Sherik W tess tt ai} ta jest! isolated. ur uaily a perracher|se ma. of the juryn
ate and DeputySheriff Juha Conway, Hf oreo ee oe | ey {WT. There are thirty-two pn of jtever, b behaif ed he Deperuaant
—batanvog, Hatin County, had in eas ' Maile’ vt a [BAR tas bes RO desihy from fever Use last tweo ‘now us aEeee.
wd yi thired piisowpery 4 Prgi auem to Kuux[} oa) umes | ad 12g leon, | Rah All the sick n the city's tans ro =f
| villeito tae Supreud Court. ‘Two brisoudrs, Tduatio nied! 8 We: : hae R © 3 belle th Die cit pene
| JohaPlaylur and Saniuel Carter, under sen-! Leven 3 iz % Uy: ng w ig ao i likely
| tenci{ tor murder, Mere chained together., Datemee Ce s | Nw pbyaleiaus have entir v 204 yr gO sp feve }
: (The ther priscoer. ja Regru, Way chained Lol Moorneud....4, od A iz ri ana hopes sew eulerts The sick Int trne, oe
| Riarae: . Vie Se Chin stovied “ah weet | aise ola) a IEW Btown arp dows welt theve. ana Eb
Wa OAMAR ...ccecie d 74. 8 We ol 1 |
| THREE ‘MEN ENreaeD Taw can Pitepare.:. pert : Biwi: doug well Ay, Hick wt Point | are nduko-s
brother uf the piisoner Taylor, } bitte ot Bh NW DB © hm |
‘Dea ptered the cut froin the rear, vae he Berets Cae Yrsedte eeenfeneeferel | edeveves beet se tater T sexeral days | frye
‘ two autered the frunt, ay oheswe st. Wo Gay if.
“Kelle eel to Goer es Ecameecy | 81 | GEES | memmabty vin capa nom a Ea
| behind, - placec ol to the And ySEY 75 .. NW. Fresa.. Near. ;
? | pee and biew Copway's bruihs out, iHle - qyeemtust | i pease e-- oleae Lovravitiy, Ky.,' Seitl 14—The uis- chur ial By nic
¥ | then }iouk the keys! from Cone: ty's pocket! Suprmuepeid. iu!) tad ta NST BE P Clear, | ville .& Nashville Kajlway Com has. Sar a ae es eam to
“aa and walodcked ih isoner "Ruylor, arid the Low ws. aT jw hevbn..| Wi Cloar. ‘stopped all pasepnger “ between Pensa al a en
q "fatal agourad ‘the Unpuits's pistols” At ah Reel | i Mia's vende] Ocleas, | ean Fla.\ aud Pe Juddtion acou | Ree ls & pepnow of te
a 4 tpt Shera. Gate rushed at the men ar ‘Stow omar ea H s.. Ad de be] 0 Clean nection with its mat 1 , Mus preven Sk :
we then ~ and prisoner. As he ro ‘Toleds!...... le. Krupa. B Vlogs, any pret by of Shard Res 5 il ieheed ied ue mnewisne! :
fsager’ Tafled tshot tua throu Ueakoaee cil ay de FRM tipeed Bele. Pacieabula, ‘lend nie pa
he »! if wee and eo Pikes oan elt ila Wabawse i] a mw tw cies) ulClesr.* ‘iy the ary of ferent po
ene rouglp the! breabt, phe Sherif fa dead. | + 7 : , ~ pot ;
a ae ia wad slighty wodded teat ee separ —_ WILMING 1) ry tal, lay, pe found in ‘thelt test.
ae 1s dn lee | me. | or | ten avd ein dl a eee F : ' xth
Qiu fF HE THRER RRACtERA wie Not ur nt We. te. anh Oi |e two] ol 19 [Clear _ arse fe af the j we Frey nora bis of gem i
m d | ania ry, With’ his two rescuers, (Juiuped on the: LE Bool 44 = wie H | een pote my said eh hove 7 Guinn ‘and Re resentatiy,
oe | Saxije aug forced the enwineds to bull out | ie pe ie ee we si a leg 1 llilae pre fo , i erie
ear § 1} Wuvuiidiately with, a yaistal ut his head, ‘They ‘ila p an. fad ai | as $i) @ (Clear, JoLieT, TU, Sept. 14+-The Min pec ren woth itt hee aupolet.
ed jj Madd hha put of gre steam, and fo ded jdlazimam tanjperstare, beat | \ i or pat arth jet ¢ i> D
Somer | i i him im ren twenty ites up to Ate pine i SE NORM | dhaperginre, ' : 4: f ie tn coal-mining la ‘bo
i [ ‘ 5 if ning hurouiy thitee. wah Without st menant Gees ae. ity PF a ber ot apattas a Chie,
#- A » Ate Lenvirsithe loupimen jumped rt i deus guadag, : 4 j- 4. Go
wei A + uaide ax ted horses which “ ite}, f —j— rn “Varmiljon Coal Compas
: H Wd pr Uieis, aud gif escaperl’) The p lw. i A Terri Hurricanes tn Shae’ Base, the Eareks Coal ae
ad i 4 ., ¢ ara! and dle ndgrd game to Kuowwifh Ath- | Hanrrorn, Cann., «| Sept. 14— terrifig | Wilin ington Coal, M
sn | ae guard ena sniryputored es fat of jpurrieane p pees the Villy Winsaed T Cons y ‘ene shaft,
art! ) | y
or He oben iE aS he inighs oe ak fot body Ww « Teth iS eveniny, betroytnc tho ne ‘and five | Campany: ong eke a
& Ht at Swe twat Leihg thrown! fyoin dha sar rns, mostly| ta the, northeaste ortion of! Sprigutield Seer nad cen eyes fohat a
ead latfprja by itive fe ~ te rs. The gang Yow village, | No lives “Were. jos§. Several ouennire Coal + ay
ce oe } } t ain au Sweetwater, bat the. killing — rans werelinjured, Mrs Dar jel Maxwell, total Sendai amuactt ‘
is yee dhnelay Bulihdeiph i Station, #izht miles eaut fare tons; total pa |
Bey tab seat vier he Sheriff of Louden | Sirs Thowas Aah, and Miss Marg Coaners' uly rit 0 tau
a Gounmty) is thHowing the ‘gang, bat has pro ously. | : “Lb ; o,, ra ine ,
“ae it} pe evar aking se “lh y are akbug bout. twe Yy persons. lajurea, Gut no on egnee dfaeic pe ry
lee ay z “ue mMoultalis af North Carglina, ye siiled. | Mi ary Connell 9 fu &@ critik. seman te th tio alk
“i wy } | | T Ale: REWARD, ; ean ders ie # supposed Set Jured ink. 3 teldw .
; | . eng tasting A, Tenpn., —Five |) , ‘ ir
ee Ho!) thoujahd dollars reveprd are pe at for the berber Pi on a fer br ret ate Hip cute tr sie na am
Pl arreg of the Tawilyys. ‘fhe sui will beans | 94be nate Du ug the fear thi i
4 ~ creagd. A dernlaigyt Of colored aalltia fn | Barne sie! re $f consait of ide 'swolwere'f i
“ the Aliy for’ Kingstan. Oue ot ‘the Tay! 'Mrs. 8. @) and) A Link 7 br Mrs. tl pald fur Inbo t
west ae {a terin [inthe penigentiary, ‘is SAbua Thoampsot, _ Tonga! Ash Oot i Ta po “ Di
ae Uae ae wa sbi Texag sop nob A ' lary, brides, hate Ani, Mingthy qud | $1.05) ta Saultiog th 1e 4$ attorney was lithe
4 mad ay ulin ee patie Dunarand te | bend fon all coud. soll pluute were ne
\ LABOR AND CAPITAL. pf tht ren, 4 y nwrightyand Mr. Edw: rd | gis fala ihtas at fe rh as Fe
id ‘t 2! : un of p rksoa bin ES.
aS Joni Fnrectoned sioish frome. the’ Banus of |; heady is pin oe me me . : aber the, ulnes a 5 bad complain
a ae (ae | Stptking Puddlers at Mitteburg, \ pie ata \ ai re ihe . pore a et buried work | n thé njine 4 se om ven roas, |
; ih | Baegval Dispaic 0 The vnge-od Frio nee ight |) iris, afternoon, | aceduipabled Vuk , { ‘OBIT SAI RY. ie oat unly pee toeael t
/ } . an Pitrspe Rte, Pix, Yept. 14. -fheven or elgh H ightuing, me da ane wa dase in th VY wy ’ a | . a for
ay iar ode Nundral of thé sft king pialblersy hetd a tity, AtNu dativili ing ive a ion et
iat . | therthyg today to deidrmine wiourer w back | dt hay « nm ta

white, hanged Loudon | it

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MR. BEECHER ON TREATRES
THE PROPRIETY AND ADVANTAGE
340 (OF VISITING THEM.
wre ZaBLY VIEWS CONCERNING THE &8TAGE

: danp PLAYERS AND MIS: REASONS FoR
2 PRANGING THEM. }

After Mr.’ Beecher had fully
younk man's inquiry ag to how the Trinity should
be addressed in public worship, at the Plymouth
Chareh prayer-meeting last evening, a white-
paired old gentloman in the front seat said that he
festred to ask a question: If it seemed personal

or infelisitous he craved forgiveness. Amid pre-:

found stillness he read the following, but in so
. low atone and so rapidiy that. one-half’ the large
audiehoe could only hear an occasional word:
*} have beard you state on one or more .ocea-
Mons, publicly, that: you bad never been to the
_ theatre, at the same time advising others not to
1, Wilt ft. Some time sinee. I think you told me you
4 ‘went to see * Pinafore,’ which play. judging from
®, the® attention it received from church members,
Ymuit ‘have been a most edifying, attractive, and
fatellectual one. You bave*not told me, but the
” papers have, that you bavo recently. been to vart-
eus playa. If this information is correct, I would,
and I think others would, thank you to tell us
what'bas caused the change in your habits in this
respect. - eae ae : ) ‘
** are the moral objections you had to the
theatre removed ° By 2
*« Not referring to any particular establishment,
Dut taking the average theatre of the two cities, in
your opinion is it a govud place fora man to go
‘with his ehildren * “4
* In Brooklyn I think there are six or eight the-
atres which have performances every evening ex-
\pt. Sunday, ‘with frequent: matinées. A great
auy of’ the people who frequent these places
Have the appearance of! poverty! The receipts at
~girof them eombined- atrount fo. several ihandred
thoucsnd dollars annualiy. If we, by our exam-
ple. influence tho attendance of others who can-
not ra to go. is the advantage to ourselves in
the amusement and inetruction we receive, ample
{Géeation of our attendxance:" ~
Mr. Beecher scttled bimself comfortably in his
obair before answering, and fixed his eyes on the

elock.' Some of the ladies exchanged eignifieant
giances. Mr. Beecher said that when a newspaper

correspondent or an inguisttive “ moral" man.

same io bis bouse and endeavored to pry into his
private affairs, be considered him so impertinent
Bbhathe felt like kicking iim from the door; buta
question Mike the one propounded, affecting pubdlie
morals. wasricht and prover. “I don't doanythiog
ja a corner.” continued tie Pastor, dropping intoa
sonversational tone. ““uua when I went to the
theatm .1 went in broad duviligit. If 1 go again, {
» shall go in the same way. I happen to be in a situ-
! ation which tpduces some newspapers to keep the
puniic} fally. informed whe-e 1 go and what I do.
AB y. it I wear a new coat, some of them will
mentian it, Sol doasi have a mind to, jn accord-
ance with my ideas of rickt, and don't care what
* peoplesay.” *

Mr. Beacher said. continuing, that he was
broag¥t up to beiieve that the toeatre was a thing
of evil; and that goi:g to one was almost as bad
as goldg tothe devil. He went West early tn life
where} theatrical companies were made upd of
strolli inferior players. and catered to a de-

raeed wlaee of the population. When be came to

Sew-York aod Bruokiyn. his time was teo much
engrom@ed with other affairs to piv any atten-
tion té the theatres, but ne read with g-eat in-
terest @ printed discussion that was then gving on.
{a whith the tate Dr. bellows: and others: partici-
pated.; Mr. Beecher concluded that the opera acd
sheatry were separate and should be so consid:
red. ‘He did not care much for opera—that is, he
wes ppt partreulariy fond of music arranged in

lead operas were simpif iniquitous, and It
was a|meroy that they were printed partially
fo 1 p or French, which most Amerieans did
got erstand and could not read. He recollect-
ed asveech made by a revered friend of his, the
Rev. Dr. Charles Hall. upon a theatrical oocasion,
tn whieb be said that attendance at, the theatre
\e a itbi which every intel/igent.man should
le nis own conscience... It was a good deal
_48 to a hotel. There were good hotels
And were bad botes Ali thata man must
do seate -keepn away from the baa hotels. After
reading & great deal about the drama, Mr. Beecher
had Bd to goand see BSaivini in “ Othello.”
f there was nothing worse in the theatres than he
gaw tdere; be did not koow what nonu-theatre-
he pants a *rumpus"’ aboat. He was giad
jhea Mr.’ Irving came. a cherished member of.
best pociety in. tbe British Kingdom. even a

a y. Mr. Beecher deciced to go and

bn, aad he went to the matlo6e last Setar:

ath 25 £. Stitdasat +

answared a.

» But the Horettos: ia some of tha

’

BLASPHEMY ON THE GALLOWS,

1 (i, amen: te" 3
THE HANGING OF ANDY TAYLOR FOR A
| DOUBLE CRIME IN TENNESSEE.
'Cuatranxooca, Tenn., Noy. 23-—The most
achsational hanging ever witnessed im the South
‘took plaee at Loudon, Tenn., at 3:15 this afternoon,
when Andy Taylor suffered death for his participa-
tion last Fallin the murder of Shertif--W.-T. Cote
and Deputy Sheriff John J. Conway on an East
Tennesses, Virginia and Georgia Railway train.
Tho wretched man died with blasphemy on his
line. ‘cursing the ofhcers who were executing the
mandates of the law. When Sheriff Springfield, of
Hauilton County, asxed Taylor if he felt mad at
bim he replied, ** Yes, leould cut your —— heart

out.” His last words were, **Do your work, fel-
lows, and be in'a. —— burry.” He died without a
struggle, his neek being broken in the fail, whieh
was four feet. :

Taylor has been confined in the Knoxville Jall
‘since bis sentence. Yesterday. while being con-
veyed to Loudon, the place of hanging, while a
guard sitting on the same seat with Taylor stooped
down for some purpose the latter, though mansa-
oled. suceeeded in getting hold of the guard's, pis-
tol, which he discovered in his overcoat padket.
As quick as a flash he presented {it at the head of
Sheriff Joe Foute, who Laa him in charge. The
‘desperate man was soon overpowered and the
weapon taken from bim, while the guns of
half » hundred guards were presented at
him. There was terrible excitement in the car,
several ladies fainting. Taylor thought the pistel
was a self-cocker, and probably this mistake is all
that saved anether crime being added tothe des-
perate man’s career. He afterward stated that bis
obiect was to kill Foute and every other officer he
could, and force the guards to kili him, thereby
eheating the gallows of its victim. Tayior, since
his incarceration. bas,refased to aecept or listen to
religious advice, and a few days ago, when a minie-
ter asked bim if he belleved there was a heli, re-
plied: *‘No, but if there ts a hell, Cote is there,
Conway is there. and my two brothers are there.
and when 1 get there we will all have a general
straightening up." ;

The crime for which Andy Tayler suffered death

to-day has but few parallels in atrocity. On Sept.
14, 1882, William T..Cote, Sherif of Hamiiton Coun-
ty; Tenn., with bis first deputy. John J: Conway,
were conveying Jobn Taylor to Knoxville on tho
East Tennessee. Virginia and Georgia Railroad.
Jobn had killed Capt. Fletcher. and having appealed
from the sentence of the lower gourt, was on bis
way to appear betore the Supreme Court, at Knox-
ville. Bob and Andy, Joba's brothers. boarded the
train at Sweetwater. a station about 35 miles from
Chattanooga, for the purpose of rescuing their
brother from the officers. They had previously
agteed to draw their weapons and release their
bratber without bloodshed, but, undoubtedly feel-
ing that this could not result successfully, Bob
crept up and, without a word of warning. sents
bullet throueh Conway's brain. Andy had his
weapon pointed at Sheriff Cote and ordered him
to surrender, but the officer psid no heed
and sprang to his feet, drawing his pistol
as he arose. Almost simultancously the
‘two weapons were discharged. Cote’s bullet graz-
ine Andy's neck but doing noharm. Cote immedi-
ately turned and fired a snot at the prisoner, Jobn
Taylor. determined to kill him before he would
allow him to escape. bat at that instant he re-
ceived two more bullets in his body. Sheriff Cete
made his way to the door of the car. falling
dead on tbe platform, and ashe fell Bob and
Andy both fi on bim again. Bob then returned
to Conway's boay, and procuriug the key of the
menacies from his pocket, soon set John at liberty.
With pistois drawn the outlaws forced the train
men to run ata high rateof speed through Loudon,
acro-s the Tennessee River to Levoira. where they
stopped, se'zed horses, and made the'r fescape.
During the shooting on the train Jobn Taylor was
badiy wounded In the left shoulder.

The three Taylors proceeded to Kingston, where
they had relatives, and abanioned their borses.
Here they entered stores and forced the owners
to give them ammunition. obtaintag whieh, tary
made for the mountains. Rewards to the amount

On Oct. 14, 1882,

969.
boarded a train at Lebanon, having purchased a
tioket to a polotin Texas. Goodall took passage
on the same train, and when nearing Marsbfield
Goodall placed Lis hand on Bob's shoulder, com-
manding him t> surreoder. As bene as thought
Taylor whipped eut a pistol, but all had the
drop on the outlaw, and sept a buliet throu <b his
brain, killing him instantly. Guodall broaght the
body to Chattangouge, where is was identified,
and received $5.000 reward. eit

On April 14, 1688, 8 young man who had passed
under the name df Joho while working
as a farm-haod for T. N. D near Em:
Kan., cot drunk, and while in: condition eon-
fessed that he was Andy Tayior, for whom, a larze
reward was offered in Tennesses. The facts were

-+-* INTO CUSTODY. !

gambling,and-g6- away with him;

sheriff —of | Thew after a panse she added: ~ He never
Laclede County, Mo.. recognized Bob Taylor as he |

made known to the Governor of Tennessee, an
‘Taylor was arrested on the following day at New-

? #08 . pees R.- re

hdste6, QmeNoverber 23, 1688,

CARROLL'S CONFEDERATE

ASREST OF THE MYSTERIOUS A. C.

* BENNETT. :
THE MAN WHO AIDED IN DISPOSING OF THE

“STOLEN CITY BOND couPons TAKEN
.. ea

| Thomas Enos, alias “A.C. Bennett,’ the
man who sold the City ooupon bonds which W. B.
Carroll stole, isa prisoner at Police Head-quarters.
faspector Byrnes was asked to a conference with
Wayor Edson gnd Controller Grant twe or three
days after the latter had been appointed. Both
the Mayor and’ the Controller said that they were
determined to {got atthe bottom” of the coupon
frauds, burt whom it might. They were displeased
at the fallare of those who, up to that time, haa in-
yestigated the matter to absolately determine who
sold the coupons to Hagen & Bilijne ana to accu-
tately establish Carroll's share in the transactions.
They were of. the opinion that if the person who
sold the coupogs could be found new and impor-
tant light would be thrown on the case. :

: The lospeetor was placed in possession of all the
evidence that was obtainable. Matters had been
woll mixed up by the various investigators, but on
reading evidenee in regard to T. F. Fay and Ru-
dolph Lexow, clerks with Hagen & Billing, he dis-
covered thet when they saw William B. Carroll's
portrait they said they did not identify it as thet
of “A. ©. Bennett,” the man who sold the
ae Per at Hagen & Billing’s. They reiter-
ate their ‘statement about the ‘portrait.
Fay had een “A. C. Bennett” often... He;
was very quiet, dreased like a business man, and
was s littie effeminate. Fay done b oss
with him al least a seore of times, and was able
to give an accurate oe sa pa of him. Inspector
Byrnes bad at this time singled ont Enos as a poe-
sible confederate of Carroll. was Carroll's
shadow and his constant companion in profiigacy.
If Carroll entered a gambling-house Enos would
be at his hee!s and woula sit down where be could
watch bis friena play. get up when os aco :

1G . hol
tion clinched suspicion. ih re
From the time of the exposure of the frauds
Enos forsook his former associates. The detes-
tives traced bim to: Louisville, Ky., Washington,
Providence. and other places. Now and then he
stole into New-York and visited his sister at No.
12 West Fortieth-street. He leoked and acted
like: a hunted man. He could have been ar-
rested some time ago, but it was. desired
to make out a compicte case . against
him, and the detectives were instructed to be very
cautious in order to avoid giving Eacea hint that
he was under survel!lance, which would have been
the signal for his leaving the country. Ten days
ago & Warrant was obtained from Recorder
Smyth fur Excoe’s ‘arrest on affidavits mado
by Fay and Lexow. Fay's affidavit set
forth that about May or June, i881, he
first saw a men cnown as** A.C. Bennett,” who
presented coupons from City bonds for sale.
About $300 were paid to him by onecks. to his
order. About six months after tne first sale,
Fay'’s affidavit reiates, “{t was thought thet
theres might be something bine the
sales of coupons by Bennett had in in fre-
aency and importanos. “and it was decided by
e firm that Mr. Hagen should eail on Controlier
Camptell. Theresult of the interview was that
Controller Campbell d r. Hagen to eon-
tinue his pu . that the: coupons were ‘as
good as gold,’ the le
Saptteigs bape Se Th tans Inspector B wn
nos was in a) - r Byrnes
went with the detectives who ‘$e besn on watch
to No. 12 West Fortieth-street. and rang for ad-
mittance. A colored servant answered the sum-
mon¢, and the Inspector, passlog him, sald, * You
tell Mr. Enos I want to see him,” and walked ‘into
the reception-room. The servant went awey. and
presently a lady. who cald she was Enos’s sister,
appeared. pend ge that Enos was not at: home.
She was told who ner visitor was, and that if Envs
was not produced the detectives would. search
the house. She sank onze chair trembilng
aud 6m “He's snot at , home”

a * Sbe was again told to produce

Sse went out. and fa a few minutes Enos appeared.
Be. read the warrant for his arrest, uttered ‘a ory.
and fell back inachair. Enos went away with the
officers, and taken before Recorder. Bmyth,
who remanded him iato the custody of the police
notil Tuesday. |At Police Head- :
ful:y identified as ** A, O. Beewett’’ by Mesars. Fay

id Lexow. . ;
it is bas meade nefther somnient nor
© police know notbisg:of his

peer, t that he the panioa of
-an ents, exce w com
M4 lice is that Enog got

Carroll, Tne theory of the

a percentage from the sale of the coupons for Car-

and thet be saved nearly all be obtained. so

that the sy, mee pecoree, — of _ Meth ee
en pews o ‘es a

een by Controller Grant and Mayor Edsani they

: ae

-. NoTes FROMA
Lima}, Nov. 23, wid
Livia states that Sef
ital for the Argentine |
to Eur lee i aed
ip hes sect
Chit oud ie sending @
ereoL Lprenzo Ielesias
4 is about to cocapy,

It te ditneul ‘to fiz
things for Xmas preset
st Hall, Nicoll & GF
Bartley & Graham.)
little things, 20 and %%
den-jane.

Worth =
tp

‘The Washington es
of to-day contains the #

regulations vresoribing. S
the United States Navy.-—

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orth Carol -
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TAYLOR, Andy, white, hanged at Loudon, Tennessee, November 235. 1883. 2

"London, Tenney November 23, 1883, - Andy Taylor was executed at 3:15 PM,“ He maintained

the same indifference to the last 4nd refused to converse witha minister, Last words

were to the Sheriff after the noose was adjusted: 'God damn you, I could drink your heart's
blood.'" PITTSBURGH POST, Pittsburgh, Pasy Nove 2 li, 1883, wo

"Taylor, a Tennessee native, and a brother boarded a train on which another brother was

being: transported by Hamilton County Sheriff William T. Cate and Deputy Je J. Conway to

Knox County on September 1h, 1882, The Taylor brothers shot and killed Cate and Conway

and. made an escape with their brother who was in eustody. John and Bob Taylor were both
killed in Missouri while Andy Taylor was hanged at Loudon, Tennessee, on Nove 23, 1883,"
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE WITH A SKETCH OF HAMILTON. COUNTY, by Goodspped, pages 836-1837.

"October 13, 1882, = A special from Marshfield, Moe, says Re reper gpertt of La-
clede County, killed. Bob Taylor this morning while attempting to arrest him on board a
passenger train a few miles from Lebanon. Taylor is one of three brothers who murdered
the Sheriff of Hamilton County, Tennessee, on September 14. He had been hiding in the vi-
cinity of Lebanon for sometime and the sheriff had been after him for 2 weeks, This morn-
ing the Sheriff encountered him on a train between Marshfield and Lebanon, and stepping up
to him, cocked his revolver and demanded his surrender, Taylor instantly drew a pistol
but the €H&MX sheriff was too quick and fired and killed instantly, The body was taken to
Lebanon and the sheriff has telegraphed authorities in Tennessee, It is 6hought that anoe
ther of the brothers was on the train as the pistol that fell from the dead man's hands
was picked up during the excitement by a man who passed into another car and was seen no
more, It is said that a $15,000 reward has been offered for the arrest of the 3 Taylors.
Since the above was received a special has been received from Chattanooga, Tennessee,
saying that a noted desperado named Taylor is surrounded near Rockwood and that a posse
has gone out to assist in his capture." ADVERTISER, Montgomery, Alae,y Oct, 1h, 1882,

tt] 1-23-1883, = Taylor the murderer and desperado, was executed at 3:15 pem, He maintained
indifference to the last and refused to converse with a minister, He ate dinner with much
relish. At 2:30 he was taken from jail and mounted the gallows with a firm step, When
asked if he wished to address the crowd, he said he did not want to 'say a God damn

word,' Was entirely unmoved, After noose was adjusted, he said to the Sheriff of
Hamilton County: XR@aXM@MxKX¥" 'God damn you, I could drink your eart's bloods! The trap
was sprung at 3:15 and he died by strangulation after nine minutes. The body was cut

down at 3:37. The crowd was orderly and the gallows screened, ‘This was the first
private execution to take place in the state, After tie hanging, Bill Williams and John
McKee, both white, became involved in a quarrel with some negroes and Williams was struck

on the head and his skull crushed. It is thought he will die," NEWS, Galveston, TexaS,
November 2, 1883 (1-9.)

"THE CRIMES OF THEE TAYLOR BROTHERS, - HOW THEY MURDERED RIGHT AND LEFT BUT WERE FINALLY

RUN DOWN, = (With Portraits), We publish this week faithful portraits of Bob and Andy Taylor,
two of the four notorious Taylor brothers, who for many months have been the terror of
Tennessee, The Taylor boys, Bob, Charley, John and Andy, were born and raised in Roane
County, Tennessee. In 1877 they went to Texas and got into trouble with a sher, The
sheriff, his deputy and Charley were killed, Soon after, John, Andy and Bob returned to
Tennessee, John Obtained a position as engineer on a Tennessee river steamer, In the early
part of 1881, he killed Capt, Fletcher, at Chattanooga, pithout provocation, He made his
escape and hid himself in Loudon County, Tennessee, Joe De Foure, Sheriff of the county,
however, got on his track, and on April &, 1881, the fugitive was captured, At first he
refused positively to surrender, but soon concluded differently, and was conveyed first

to Loudon, and then to Chattanooga. A strong feeling existed among the citizens to let
Judge Lynch decide his case, but better counsel prevailed, and it was decided to let the

law take its course, John was tried after considerable delay, and sentenced to 10 years

in the penitentiary of the S,ate, from which sentence he appealed to the Supreme Court. On
the llth day of September, 1882, he was being conveyed to Knoxville, over the FE, T. Va. &

G. Re Re by Sheriff William T. Cate and Deputy Sheriff John J. Conway, of Chattanooga, when

Ast oil well worker, Paut McReynolds, of
Bledsoe County, testified that last October,
shortly before Harmon Gouge’s car was
bombed, he had seen Lester and Crave Tol-
lett experimenting with dynamite fuse near
where the witness was working. He was
corroborated by his employer, William J.
Bell.

UMEROUS witnesses dealt blow after
blow to Lester’s alibi defense, and then
the state rested, Monday, February 28th.

Lester, who laughed at investigators
when first grilled about the child murders,
nonchalantly went on the witness stand
and vigorously denied being away from
home the night of the murders. Although
it was previously testified that no show
was held, or was even scheduled at Frost-
bite school on the night in question, he
maintained he had gone there with his
elder son and said Perry Thurman and Ho-
mer Creek, cronies of his in the commun-
ity, would confirm his statement. (A short
time later the Thurman witness and
Creek, did swear to this assertion, and
were promptly arrested on perjury charges.
They now await trial under $1,000 bond.)

Lester declared his first knowledge of
the dynamiting was on January 14th when
he read about it in a Chattanooga news-
paper. He denied seeing Ulysses Walling
or Walker on or about the murder date ;
declared their confessions pure fabrications
intended to place their own crime upon his
shoulders. He said he was “at outs” with
Walker.

He admitted he was experienced in the
use of dynamite and in the splicing of
fuse; that he had made trips to Carter
County with the Tolletts previous to the
dynamite murders; that he had been twice
tried and acquitted of murder on self-de-
fense pleas in both homicides. As father
of three children, he protested he loved
them “better than anything in the world.”

He contended he made his original state-
ment, which had been blasted to bits by
the state, only after being threatened with
mob violence, and hearing vivid descrip-
tions of death in the electric chair, after
being abused and wearied by questioners.

“Stand up and point at one man in this
courtroom who raised a finger against
you,” challenged counsel for Walker and
Walling. Lester stood, looked over the
courtroom and resumed his seat without
identifying anyone. ,

Walker, then Walling, took the stand.
They testified that their confessions had
been made freely, without duress or
promise of reward. To their statements
they added many’ illuminating details and
were unshaken by savage attacks upon their
veracity by counsel for the Tolletts and
Lester. Walker repeated his charge that
Crave Tollett had collaborated in framing
alibis.

Both declared they were drinking heavily
throughout the trip to and from Carter
County as accomplices in the cruel con-
spiracy to avenge the death of Arnold Tol-
lett. Walling said he lay on the roadside
and vomited during the whole time White
Tollett and Lester planted the dynamite
beneath the Gouge home—“so drunk,” he
described it, “I didn’t know what was going
on.”

White Tollett neither took the stand nor
produced a witness in his behalf. His
brother, Crave, relied on testimony of

AMERICAN DETECTIVE

Sheriff Walling and the sheriff's comely
wife to show that Crave was in Pikeville
the hour of the murders. The sheriff and
his wife said Walling awakened Crave be-
fore daylight in response to the appeal for
help from Mae Tollett, who then was in
jail.

Church Lester’s alibi was supported
by his aged father, F. M. Lester, retired
mountain minister, Church’s wife, a deposi-
tion from his feeble mother, and by testi-
mony of the two witnesses who were
charged with perjury as soon as they left
the stand. :

Arguments to the jury. began Tuesday
night, March Ist. Counsel for. Walker
and Walling offered no defense for their
clients except to picture them as “tools”
in a diabolical scheme. For them no con-
sideration was asked except that their lives
be spared in return for the assistance they
rendered. the commonwealth by unmasking
fiends behind Tennessee’s “worst crime.”

Counsellors for the Tolletts and Lester
turned fiercely upon Walker and Walling

CUTTER

Rather than face the electric chair, Church -

Lester, right, died by his own hand. Note

ingenious manner in which he is suspended

from bars. He seems to be an interested

spectator as Coroner Nave reads note he
left.

and upon attorneys representing them for
the damning accusations. They sought to
convince the jury by eloquent oratory that
Walker and Walling alone were respon-
sible for the murders; attempted to argue
credence into the alibi testimony for Crave
Tollett, White Tollett and Lester.

Prosecution counsel demanded the death
penalty for all five defendants, but opened
the door to’ mercy for the confessed dyna-
miters by telling the jyry that if it exer-
cised compassion for any, that compassion
should be for Walker and Walling. Crave
Tollett, argued the prosecutors, conceived
the crime and was as guilty as any.

The case was placed in the hands of the
jury late Wednesday, March 2nd. After
all night deliberation, a verdict still had
not been reached when court convened
Thursday morning. Nearly an hour
elapsed before the veniremen filed into the
Carter room and announced to the court
and an awed crush of spectators this ver-
dict:

WHITE TOLLETT AND CHURCH
LESTER, GUILTY OF MURDER IN
THE FIRST DEGREE, TO BE PUN-
ISHED BY DEATH IN THE ELEC-
TRIC CHAIR.

LEE WALKER AND ULYSSES

WALLING, GUILTY OF MURDER

IN THE FIRST DEGREE, PUNISH
MENT FIXED AT 21 YEARS A
HARD. LABOR IN PRISON. 4

CRAVE TOLLETT, NOT GUILTY,

HE grin faded from Lester’s face a

he heard his doom.. White Tollet
made no move, but his eyes gleamed fierce:
ly, his lips tightened in a hard, straight
line.

Mae Tollett and others of the clan
screamed hysterically. Lester’s wife showed
more self-control but his aged preacher-
father bowed his head and Major C. L.

Tollett, sire of the Tollett “boys,” groaned

aloud.

Crave Tollett, who won acquittal on one
of the three capital charges against him,
was solemn as he reflected he still has
two hurdles to clear before his life and
liberty are assured. He remains in jail
denied privilege of bond.

Prior to opening of the. murder trial,
Judge Allen upheld a defense demurrer
to the Carter County indictments of
Sheriff Walling, Johnny Vaughn and the
Ferguson brother and sister as accessories
to murder. He concurred with’ defense
counsel that the indictments and trials
should be in the county in which the crime
is alleged to have been committed—and the
alleged alibi framing occurred in Bledsoe.
What final disposition is to be made of
charges against these four has not’ been
decided.

Attorney General Grayson announced
that he was satisfied justice has been done
in the cases of White Tollett, Ulysses

- Walling, Lester and Walker, and that the

remaining two murder charges against
each—for the deaths of Sonia and Luine
Gouge—will not be prosecuted.

Defense counsel lodged customary ap-
peals to the supreme court in behalf of
Lester and White Tollett, whom Judge
Allen sentenced to electrocution May 28th.
However, Walker and Walling, so happy
with the consideration shown them by the
jury—their counsel begged. no lighter pun-
ishment than life imprisonment—that they
are eager to begin serving their terms.

The attorney general has announced de-
termination to again bring Crave Tollett
to trial at an early term of court. Sheriff
Moreland announced that investigation of
the child murders is not yet complete—that,
based on revelations during the trial—other
arrests and indictments may be forthcom-
ing.

It was authoritatively reported that a
jail delivery was to be attempted with the
dual purpose of executing Church Lester
to silence him and to set White Tollett
free.

Letters by Lester, intercepted by armed

jailers, demanded “Certain people tell the |

truth so I won’t go to the electric chair.”
But Church Lester couldn’t wait. On the
eve of a court decision on a motion by both
of the convicted men for a new trial, Les-
ter hung himself in his cell.

Said Assistant Attorney General Erwin,
speaking for his superior, Grayson, and
all others conducting the prosecution:

“Sheriff Moreland, Mr. Avery, Mr. Kitts
and those other officers who so effectively
helped them are due more credit than they
can possibly be given for solving this
awful crime and most difficult mystery.”

THE ENp

Juan C. M
squad, as |
the life of

In a thicke
engaged p
thugs put

identified c
California,

ee ee ag, Ses ale a es ie:

‘ was he, he said, who
adside while White Tol-
ated the dynamite in the
souge home and it was
, the car away fromzthe
uce while the diabolical
aon Gouge was being
_ denied then and later
i: “Somebody will go to

s no longer feared the
norrow’s hearing—eight
1 of the Gouge children.
ind indignation, fed by
‘ing details of the heart-
aany unfounded rumors,
1 long before the time
ry. Hours early, crowds
he Carter court-house
in the courtroom were
c daylight; the crowds
» corridors and streets.
special Carter deputy’
to duty; a dozen state
and a score of deputy
men from surrounding
‘einforced them.
| intended to have no
ners, Neither did he in-
ld be a delivery of the
their henchmen, as had
‘d would be attempted.
med at strategic posi-
' to smother any out-
and as prisoners were
durtroom, each accom-

deputies and policemen

due to extended con-
2ys, Assistant District
Dennis Erwin brought °
‘ded courtroom by an-
e Tollett, Lee Walker,
Jlysses Walling waived
e held. without bond for
lett waived hearing on
ccessory to murder be-
‘ould be allowed bond
Vv. L. Walling, Johnny
“erguson and Walter
earing and would be
0,000 each to answer
‘ssories after the fact.
‘rs were dismissed as

oy the sudden termina-
the public was hardly
<t shock when extra
“s reached the streets ©
of the crime and giv-
sions by Walker and
that confessions had
‘refully kept from the
_ until after the hear-
us assistants intended
no slip in their work
icements,

d Vaughn quickly ar-
y Offered for Crave
. He brought habeas
nd the state promptly
| charge of murder
habeas corpus action,
to Crave’s release on
‘as unable to convince
he again offered was
he remained in jail
ite, Walker, Ulysses
the Fergusons until

MRK bs nies SP AR Ne Et

oy ree

At the conclusion of the waived hear-
ing, Attorney General J. Luke Gray-
son, vigorous veteran of many prosecu-
tions in Tennessee’s First District, who in
the beginning termed the Gouge murders
“the worse crime on record in East Ten-
nessee,” announced he would demand death
sentences for White and Crave Tollett,
Ulysses Walling, Lester and Walker.

“The law will take its course—and it
will be an adequate course,” he promised
a seething public. His assurance did much
to calm indignation, as did the advice of
Harmon Gouge, to all who suggested extra-
legal methods of handling baby murderers.

“No,” said the bereaved father, “let the
law take its course.”

While excitement was at its highest at
conclusion of Saturday’s waived hearing, a
distressing scene was being enacted at the
Elizabethton Hospital where Mrs. Gouge
had lain a full week, slowly fighting her
way back to full consciousness from the
shock-of the explosion. Fearing her grief

* might be fatal, due to her condition, doc-

tors had allowed no intimation to reach
her that her children were dead. But as
she improved, she insisted on having news
of them and wondered why they had not
been brought to her. . ;

“You must tell her,’ Mrs. Gouge’s at-
tending physician informed Harmon, The
husband cried out in anguish, “No! No!
I can’t tell her!”

But in the end he did.

Drama and pathos of what occurred at
that bedside beggar words for description.

Fighting back his tears, Gouge told his
mate their little ones were dead, had, been
in their graves almost a week; that they
died instantly, without suffering or mutila-
tion of their bodies; that those responsible
were in jail awaiting trial for murder.

Serr lay in stunned silence as though un-
able to grasp the awful significance of
his words. She groaned in agony that only
a mother’s heart can know. Her husband
burst into uncontrollable sobs and was
assisted from the room. aa

“Thank God they didn’t suffer; thank
God their’ dear. little bodies were not
mangled,” she whispered. _—

A few hours after: his co-defendants had
waived hearing, Church Lester surrendered
in Bledsoe County to a state highway
patrolman and was lodged. in. the Carter
jail the following day. The state was to
charge later that Lester was so confident
of his ability to prove an alibi that his sur-
render was a bold stroke intended to sway
a jury. : :

‘With Lester’s arrest the roundup of im-
mediate suspects was .completed.

Attorney. General: Grayson made good
his pledge to chart a course to the electric
chair for those responsible in. the child
murders. The Carter grand jury met on
February 14th, and the. following day re-
ceived bills of indictment against five for
murder and*four as accessories: after the
fact. Within a few hours, the grand jury
returned trué ‘bills charging White Tollett,

Ulysses Walling, Walker and Lester with -

murder; Crave Tollett: with being an ac-
cessory before the fact (a capital offense)
and Sheriff Walling, Vaughn. and the Fer-
gusons with being accessories after the
fact. . - etc as

Judge’ Ben Allen said ‘a courteous but’
firm “NO” .to every motion by defense.

AMERICAN DETECTIVE

counsel for delay of the trial. Selection of
a jury began the following Tuesday, Febru-
ary 18th. Several panels aggregating 500
veniremen, were virtually exhausted before
the trial jury was completed late Thursday,
February 20th. All the jurors were mar-
ried, all except two were fathers. Testi-
mony began the following day.

ARMON GOUGE testified concern-

ing the attempt on his life by dyna-
miting of his automobile; said he had
never spent a night at his home afterward
because he feared further attempts and did
not wish to endanger his family; said he
was asleep in Johnson City at the hour his
children were so brutally murdered.

Mrs. Gouge, with remarkable composure
at first, testified concerning her presenti-
ment of evil, how she had conquered this
nightmare of unreasonable fear, and gone
to sleep a short time before the explosion.

Her eyes filled with tears as she told
the jury she awoke “with plaster and tim-
ber on me and my foot was pinned.

“I screamed for the children, They didn’t
answer. I began to go away. I screamed
for help. I heard my brother-in-law, Flet-
cher ‘Gouge say: ‘Get her out. Then I
heard someone say: ‘Be careful, don’t step
on any nails.’ Then the cold ground.”

Hysteria rising, she cried out: “I never
did anything to anybody! Oh, I don’t see
how anyone could have the heart to do a
thing like that—kill my children.”

There was hardly a dry eye in the court-

room as the mother poured out her grief. [|

Many wept openly.

In the prisoner’s dock there was no sign
of remorse, unless it was that Lee Walker
dropped his gaze and stared fixedly at the
floor.

Investigator Avery took the stand, read
statements made by Lester and Crave Tol-
lett and White Tollett, setting up alibis,
then introduced the confessions of Walker
and Ulysses Walling. He testified that
the confessions were obtained without force
and without promise of reward.

Attorneys Sam Price and Dave Guinn,
representing the Tollett brothers and Les-
ter made little headway in efforts to dis-
credit the confessions on grounds they were
obtained. under duress from _ prisoners
“wearied by frequent and long grillings.

Attorneys Moses E. and Herman
N. Cantor, representing Lee Walker
and Ulysses Walling took the only course
open to them—throwing their clients on the
mercy of the jury. Their sole efforts were’
directed toward showing Walker and Wall-
ing had made a clean breast of the affair;
that they were merely “handy-men” for the
politically-powerful Tolletts and Lester.

Tactics of the Cantors aroused bitter re--

sentment of counsel for the other defen-
dants. ;
Sergeant Slate told of finding the hard-
ware store wrapper on- Tunnel Bridge;
“Deputy Sheriff, Williams “told of tracing
the wrapper to its source in Chattanooga;
Hardware Dealer Green testified the paper
was ‘identical. with that in which he had
wrapped 100 feet of dynamite fuse, similar
to'the fuse yielded by Doe River, sold to a
customer he could not identify, a day or
so’. before, the ‘murders. Deputy Sheriff

. Oakes related circumstances of recovering

the fuse from the river; Sheriff Moreland
painted the horror of the crime, the devel-
opment of evidence, and the taking of con-

fessions previously described.

Then the state began a devastating at-
tack upon alibis claimed by Lester and
White Tollett (the prosecution never con-
tended that Crave was a participant in
planting the dynamite at the Gouge home,
but pictured him as a master mind of the
revenge conspiracy). :

Carl Brown and Dallas Tolley, of Bled-
soe County, who witnessed the meeting
of Walker, Ulysses Walling and White
Tollett at the Crave Tollett café the night
before the dynamiting, corroborated many.
essential details of the Walker and Wall-
ing confessions.

Mrs. John G. Spence, assistant manager
of the Greer Hotel in Pikeville, and Lonus
Swafford, negro utility man at the hotel,
declared positively that White Tollett and
Walker had not been at the hotel the night
before or the day after the murders, as
Tollett maintained. ‘

RUGGIST Ferguson and his brother-

in-law, Scott, testified to the unusually
early closing of Crave Tollett’s café the
night of January 6th.

Miss Willa Boyington, teacher at, Frost-
bite school, Church Lester’s home com-
munity, testified that a play was scheduled
at the school the night of Wednesday,
January 5th, but it was never given. Lester
had declared he went to the school for the
purpose of attending a play the night of
Thursday, January 6th, and contended he

_ could prove it.

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The Strange Condition
That Causes Hay-Fever

There is an unknown condition about Hay-Fever which
rauses many people to believe that nothing can be done
for it. Mr. R. O. Murphy, Box 625, Stillwater, Minn.,
who relieved himself from the suffering of Hay-Fever,
will explain this condition without charge to anyone who
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because strange as It may seem this is the time of the
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# .

TOLIETT, White Miller, white, 28, electrocuted Tennessee (Carter) 1-11-1939.

STATE v. TOLLETT

Tenn, 525

121 S.W.2d

expressly provides that it is to be filed in
the “court of the county * * * in
which the alleged accident happens.” This
language is so explicit that it leaves noth-

ing for construction and little further need’

be said.

[3] However, it may be added that no
jurisdictional rights have been taken from
the employee, in whom alone rests a cause
of action for the injury alleged to have
been suffered by him while working for his
employer, because it is clear that if he
seeks redress he must bring his action, and
file his petition, in the county of the resi-
dence and operation of his employer, or
where, if a corporation, the employer has
an office, agency or resident director. The
bill charged that Borden Mills had no of-
fice or agency except in Sullivan County.
It results that when this employee is
brought into the county where his injury
was suffered, and where his employer re-
sides and operates, he is exactly where he
would be if and when he should institute
an action seeking recovery.

The conclusion announced renders it un-
necessary to discuss other issues.

It results that the judgment is affirmed.

Ww
o © KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

STATE v. TOLLETT et al.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.
Nov. 25, 1938.

1. Jury €=33(3) Z

The accused has a constitutional right to
a trial by a jury of the county wherein the
crime was committed. Const. art. 1, § 9.

2. Criminal law G-110

Under the statute permitting an acces-
sory before the fact to be prosecuted and
convicted for a substantive felony, whether
the principal felon has or has not been pre-
viously convicted, the offense of accessory
before the fact is made cognizable in any
court having jurisdiction of the crime of the
principal felon. Code 1932, § 10761.

Criminal law €=75
Under the statute defining accessories
‘ter the fact as one who, after the commis-

sion of a felony, harbors, conceals, or aids
the offender under certain conditions, one
cannot become an accessory after the fact
until after the commission of a felony. Code
1932, § 10764.

4. Criminal law €>110

The locus in quo of the felony has no
bearing on the venue of the offense of acces-
sory after the fact, since one cannot become
an accessory after the fact until after the
commission of a felony. Code 1932, § 10764.

5. Criminal law 110

Indictments returned in Carter county
specifically charging defendants with feloni-
ously harboring, concealing, and aiding in
Bledsoe county the alleged perpetrators of
a murder in Carter county, to escape arrest,
trial, conviction, or punishment, were insufli-
cient to charge an offense, since venue of the
offense was in Bledsoe county where the
crime was committed. Code 1932, §§ 10764,
11472.

a eee

Error to Circuit Court, Carter County;
Ben Allen, Judge.

Proceedings by the State of Tennessee
against White Miller Tollett, Church Calvin
Lester, Alva Ulysses Walling, Thomas Lee
Walker, Crave Leonard Tollett, Walter Lee
Walling, Johnnie Vaughn, Myrtle Fergu-
son and Walter Ferguson, in which White
Miller Tollett, Church Calvin Lester, Alva
Ulysses Walling, and Thomas Lee Walk-
er were jointly indicted for murder, and
Walter Lee Walling, Johnnie Vaughn,
Myrtle Ferguson, and Walter Ferguson
were charged with being accessories after
the fact. To review a judgment sustaining
a motion to quash the indictments, the
State brings error.

Affirmed.

W. F. Barry, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for
the State.

1D. M. Guinn and Sam W. Price, both of
Johnson City, Wade Farmer, of Pikeville,
Lewis S. Pope, of Nashville, and E. M.
Johnston, W. H. Clark, and Guy O. Fer-
guson, all of Elizabethton, for defendants
in error.

DeHAVEN, Justice.

Defendants in error, White Miller Tol-
lett, Church €alvin Lester, Alva Ulysses
Walling, and Thomas Lee Walker, were
jointly indicted for the murder of Roma
Jean Gouge, Sonia Gouge, and Luena

524 * arene 7

ES,

SANA

°r
a |

—NYNIVERSITY. GF F

526 » Tenn. 121, SOUTH WESTERN
Gouge, in Carter County, Tennessee.
There were three indictments and three
counts in each indictment. In the third
count of each indictment defendants in er-
ror, Walter Lee Walling, Johnnie Vaughn,

Myrtle Ferguson, and Walter Ferguson,

were charged with being accessories after
the fact in Bledsoe County, Tennessee.
The murders were alleged to have been
committed in Carter County.

Defendants in error moved the court to
quash the indictments as to them upon the
ground that the indictments upon their face
charged the defendants in error with be-
ing accessories after the fact in Bledsoe
County, and that the legal venue of juris-
diction of such alleged offense is in Bledsoe
County and not in Carter County.

The trial judge sustained the motion to
quash the indictments, as to defendants in
error. Trom this action of the court the
State has appealed and assigned error.

The sole question presented for determin-
ation is whether the venue for the offense
of accessory after the fact to the crime of
murder is in the county where the murder
was committed, or whether the venue is in
the county where accessoried acts were
committed.

The Tennessee Code defines accessories
after the fact as follows:

“10764. Accessories after the fact—A
person who, after the commission of a fel-
ony, harbors, conceals, or aids the offender,
with intent that he may avoid or escape
from arrest, trial, conviction, or punish-
ment, having knowledge or reasonable
ground to believe that such offender is lia-
ble to arrest, has been arrested, is indicted
or convicted, or has committed a felony, is
an accessory after the fact.”

Section 11472 of the Code is as follows:

“Jurisdiction in the county.—The local
jurisdiction of all offenses, unless it is
otherwise provided by law, is in the county
in which the offense was committed.”

Section 9, Article 1, of the Constitution
of Tennessee provides, in part:

“That in all criminal prosecutions, the
accused hath the right to * * * a
speedy public trial by an impartial jury of
the county in which the crime shall have
been committed, * * *,”

[1] The constitution thus guarantees
the accused a trial by a jury of the county
wherein the crime was committed. Speck
v. State, 66 Tenn. 46, 7 Baxt. 46; Alex-

REPORTER, 2d SERIES ,

ander v. State, 50 Tenn. 475, 481, 3 Heisk.
475, 481; State v. Denton, 46 Tenn. 539, 6
Cold. 539; Kirk v. State, 41 Tenn. 344, 1
Cold. 344; Norris v. State, 127 Tenn. 437,
155 S.W. 165.

[2] Under section 10761 of the Code,
the offense of accessory before the fact is
made cognizable in any court having juris-
diction of the crime of the principal felon.
In State v. Ayers, 67 Tenn. 96, 8 Baxt. 96,
a case dealing with the offense of accessory
before the fact, the court said:

“The offense is compounded of the con-
nivance of the accessory and the actual
killing by the principal felon, and the crime
of the accessory, though inchoate in the

act of counseling, hiring, or commanding, is ~

not consummate until the deed is actually
done. The law, in such case, holds the
accessory before the fact to be guilty of the
murder itself, not as principal, it is true,
but as accessory before the fact, for it is
the doing of the deed, and not the counsel-
ing, hiring, or commanding that makes his
crime complete; and it is for the murder
that he is indicted, and not for the counsel-
ing and procuring. We hold, therefore,
that the locus in quo of the offense of an
accessory before the fact to the crime of
murder, is the county in which the murder
is done, and that the jurisdiction is there.”

The considerations, however, under
which an accessory before the fact may
constitutionally be held to answer for the
offense in the county of the crime of the
principal felon, are wholly lacking in the
case of an accessory after the fact. There
is no connection whatever between the com-
mission of the crime by the principal felon
and the offense of accessory after the fact.
The two offenses are separate and distinct.

In State v. Overholt, 111 W. Va. 417, 162
S.E. 317, the court said, inter alia:

“The offense of accessory after the fact,
however, being subsequent to, cannot in any
sense be said to have occurred at the time
and place of, the principal crime. One does
not become an accessory after the fact by
reason of any connection with the crime it-
self, but because of his connection with the
principal, and an accessory after the fact
is not regarded as a partaker in the guilt
of the principal, but his offense is consider-
ed as separate and independent of the main
crime.” (Citing authorities)

[3,4] One cannot become an accessory
after the fact, under section 10764 of the
Code, until “after the commission of a

CRIME CONFESSIONS

SEX CRIME SUSPECT

rcs ron

Joseph L. Zito, jobless airplane mechanic, is pictured in a cell talking to Chief

Constable Hempstead at Babylon, N. Y. after his arrest on charges of attempted

kidnaping of two girls. Police considered him as a possible suspect in
sex-murder of Fay Gates in Pennsylvania early in May.

Ulysses Walling had been sleep-
ing for a while, and, as drunk as
I was, I recollect noticing now that
he was white on his jaws and
bulgy-eyed and sort of trembling.

“I believe, fellers,” he says, “I’ll
jest stay here and wait fer you fel-
Ters. - I feel.sort of sick or some-
thing,” he says.

Well, me and White Tollett both’

glared at him, for we could see what
was the matter, and -White says:
“What’s wrong, Ulysses? Lost your
nerve?”

Ulysses says, slowlike: “I jest
sort o’ got to thinkin’ o’ them kids
down thar in that house, fellers,
and it made me sort o’ sick. So I
reckon I'll jest stay hyar by the
road,” he says, “and wait fer you
fellers.”

Tl give Ulysses Walling credit
fer saying that.

White kept watching him, and so
did I. White says: “Listen hyar,
feller. We’re gonna git Harmon
Gouge if we have to kill twenty
people with him. Ain’t that right,

‘ Church?” he says to me.

“Yes,” I says. “We all know what
we come hyar fer,” I says.

ND that’s the way we felt, men,

me and White at least; that’s the
way the hate in us and the likker
we was drinking was affecting us
at that time. I reckon you can’t
understand it. That’s because you
don’t know much about poison feud

hate when it’s mixed with poison
likker. But it don’t matter. Don’t
try.

Well, me and White whispered
together, and then I says to Ulysses:
“All right, then, Ulysses; you git
behind the trees over thar’ and
wait.” Then I told Lee Walker to
get the car away from there, lest
it might be seen. “Drive down the
road a ways,” I says, “and come
back in exactly thirty minutes.”

And then, directly, me and White
Tollett, with the dynamite ready. to
be placed, was down there looking
at Harmon Gouge’s house and
listening. It loomed sort of black
against the cold gray night. There
was no light in it or in any of the
houses close to it—no light in any
of Hampton that I could see—and
not a sound could be heard any-
where.

We had already put caps in some
of the sticks of dynamite, but we
decided that when everything was
ready we’d put a fuse in jest one

of the caps, for the explosion of one’

stick would set off all the rest.
Well, me and White took another
drink and shook hands and begun
our work. We put one end of the
fuse by the edge of the road and
laid a rock on it, and then we got
to our knees and crawled towards
the house, unwinding the fuse care-
ful as we went. In a little or no

‘time we was under the house, and

under there we crawled about with-

out: noise, placing the dynamite.

I recollect that once while I
worked I heard a_ noise coming
down through the floor. I stopped
to listen, and in a minute I knowed
it was somebody snoring in the
room over my head. I hoped in my
heart it was Harmon Gouge. But
I knowed at the same time it might
be that woman or one of them kids.
I didn’t intend, though, to let my-
self think much about them.

‘Go on, men; say I ought to die
ten deaths in the chair, if you want
to. I said I’d confess everything.
You're gitting it. And I ain’t gonna
die in the chair.

Well, soon me and White: was
crawling out from under there, our
work finished. Can’t you see us?
We looked, maybe, like two power-
ful big spiders in the gray night.
And we was a thousand times more
poison than any spider in this
world.

We shook hands again and took
another drink, and directly we
joined Ulysses Walling in his hid-
ing place behind the trees.

Ulysses says: “Well, did every-
thing go all right?” We told him
yes, and then he says: “I hope you
fellers didn’t think I was scared. I
was jest sort o’ sick. I’m with you,
boys. You know that.”

“You’d better be with us,’ says
White, and I recollect how his eyes
glinted as he watched Ulysses. The
thumb of his right hand was sort
of hooked in his belt, too—if you
know what I mean. It might be
that he had: a forewarning,’ right
then, that Ulysses was a rat who’d
squeal. if he-was cornered.

And then, too, it might be that
Ulysses had the most merciful heart
amongst us. I don’t.know. Look-
ing back, it sort of seems that way.

“Let’s all take a drink,” says
Ulysses.

In a little spell Lee Walker come
with the car and we all piled in.
“Drive, feller,” says White. ‘“Har-

mon Gouge is already on his way |

to hell.”

go we drove through the still night
towards Bledsoe County. In a
little bit we was all so drunk it’s
a wonder drunken sleep hadn’t took
hold of us and brought us to a stop
by the road. We went right on
keeping up our nerve with likker.
We laughed like the fool fiends that
we was., i

“That fuse’ll burn two hours,”
says White Tollett. ‘Fer two hours
Harmon Gouge’ll lay thar sleepin’
while Death creeps towards him.
And then—bang!” .

On top of a ‘mountain, at least
fifteen miles from Hampton, White
insisted that we stop and keep
watch in the direction of the village.
We waited for what seemed a
mighty long while, and every few
minutes somebody would look at
his watch. We talked.a good deal
to pass away the time—and kept

‘ drinking. We was all a lot on edge

when our watches showed at last
that we’d been away from Hampton
two hours. '

And then—well, all of a sudden
we saw a sheet of red light flare up
in the sky. That was all. But it
was enough.

“Harmon Gouge has gone to hell,”’
says Lee Walker. ‘“He’s paid fer
killing Arnold.” ‘

“And his family has been blowed
up with him,” says Ulysses.

We all looked at Ulysses and was
still for a minute. I think that even
then we was. all beginning to get

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a little scared of what we had done. i ed

ence to us. He was ours, and Har-
mon Gouge had killed him. And
so Harmon Gouge, and. maybe
others of the Gouges, must pay.

No, men, we couldn’t rest. This
here thing went on for a long time
—for more than two year, as you
already know. Some of us was
always coming down here to Carter
County just to prowl around and
watch and listen, and try to work
out some way to get revenge and at
the same time outwit the law. We
tried several different ways to get
Harmon Gouge, but he was a lot
foxey and watchful. We could of
just met him and shot him down in
a gun-fight, but that would of
meant having the law on our backs,
and even feud people, these days,
try to stay out of the clutches of
the damn law.

Yes, I’m bitter towards the law;
of course IL am. Look where the
law’s got me now. It’s got me in
hell. It’s my fault, of course; likker
and hate fetched me here. But I
hate the law anyhow. I think I’m
just talking to you now, men, with
the hope it’ll make me feel better.
With the hope, maybe, it’ll keep me
from going crazy.

Let me see, now, about that car
dynamiting. The car dynamiting,
you see, was what give us the idea
about blasting Harmon Gouge’s
house. For if we could blow up his
car—and almost get him—why
couldn’t we blow up his house and
get him for sure?

The car dynamiting come about
like this. Late one night me and
White Tollett was setting in Daddy
Tollett’s living room. A jar of

likker was on the floor betwixt our
chairs and our pipes was going and
we was talking hate. It was a
plumb dark night, I remember, and
stormy. Big cold drops of rain was
tapping on the window behind us
like the little paws of a cat. And
now and then the wind moaned sort
of low amongst the trees.

The door opened of a sudden and
Ulysses Walling and Lee Walker
come in, shaking water from their
hats and coats. Both of ’em was
drunk, and they both made for the
jar on the floor. These two liked to
follow me and White Tollett
around; when they was with us
they knowed they’d get plenty of
likker. But I reckon they was both
sincere in wanting to see Harmon
Gouge bite the dust fer killing
Arnold Tollett. At least, they said
all along they was in for anything
me and White wanted to do about
Gouge.

ELL, tonight Ulysses Walling

took something from his pocket
and held it up and grinned sort of
silly. It was wrapped in a piece of
paper.

“Harmon Gouge has been trailed
and watched and laid for,” says
Ulysses, “but we somehow ain’t got
him yet. I got something here,
though, fellers,” he says, “that'll
send him to hell plumb quick—if
we plant it right.”

I asked him what it was, and he
begun unwrapping it. It proved to
be a stick of dynamite. It had a

When Harm Gouge killed Arnold Tollett
in self defense he started a death feud.

dynamite cap buried in it, but no
fuse, and a piece of copper wire was
tied around the middle of it.

I was a lot interested, and so was
White. ‘Where abouts did you git it,
Ulysses?” said White. “Stuff like
that’s. easy for the law to trace.”

“No matter where I got it,’ says
Ulysses. “Even Lee don’t know. I
stole it, in fact, and no one can
ever say that either of us four has
had dynamite in our possession. All
we got to do, fellers, is to tie this
stick of light-yaller stuff under the
hood of Harmon Gouge’s car,” he
says. “A little while after he starts
the car, the heat from the engine
will explode this cap that I’ve put
in the dynamite’ and Gouge’ll be
blowed into hell.”

So. there before the fire in old
Daddy Tollett’s big family room,
while the rest of the house slept,
we drunk Jikker and smoked and
sort of laughed amongst ourselves
as we discussed how we’d go about
the attempted killing. At last we
drawed straws to see which two of
us would plant the stick of dyna-
mite.

It fell to me and Lee Walker, and
that very night we drove to Hamp-
ton. We took three pints of likker
to keep us drunk and warm, and, I
reckon,.to sort of keep up our nerve.
We had White’s car, and it was a
good one. I’t go as fast as a feller

would want to travel over our kind’

of roads.

We got to Hampton afore day-
break and found Gouge’s car setting
behind his house. It was no trouble
at all to sneak back there and plant
the stick of dynamite. Then me

Sheriff J. M. Moreland who
put a final end to the feud.
it began and ended in death.

A case of dynamite caused
this wreck, killing three in-
nocent childrenin "revenge."

and Lee went on to Elizabethton
and got a room and waited. We
knowed Harmon Gouge would soon
come to the restaurant he’ owned
in Elizabethton.

And, sure enough, that morning
there was a blast just outside of
Elizabethton that caused a lot of
excitement. We soon learnt that
Harmon Gouge’s car had blowed up.
We was a lot sorry when we heard
he wasn’t killed. He’d just left the
car, as you know, to go in a garage.
Death had reached for him and had
barely missed. White Tollett actu-
ally cried from regret when he got
the disappointing news.

OBODY was arrested. The law

‘learnt that me and Lee Walker
was in Elizabethton at the time, of
course, but I reckin the law and
Harmon Gouge both figured it’d be
a waste of time to try to prove
something—especially since nobody
was hurt.

Well, thar wasn’t nothing for us
to do but go on planning some other
way to get Harmon Gouge. But we
had the idea of using dynamite now,
and we begun trying to work out
something that’d be sure.

It took us a long time to get a
whole case of dynamite, together
with fuse and caps, in such a way
that we felt it couldn’t be traced.
It come from Chattanooga, I admit,
but that didn’t mean that we got it
there. We was even a longer time
deciding exactly how we’d use it

We hid the stuff in a safe, dry
place in the woods, and me and
White Tollett and Ulysses Walling
and Lee (Continued on page 44)

lots of folks carry guns even now-
adays. No one thinks anything of
it ‘til something comes up.

I answered the sheriff by telling
him I carried my gun for self-pro-
tection. ‘Lookin’ for trouble with
de Herrera?’ he snapped right back
at me.

“I never looked for trouble,” I
said. ‘But what happened goes to
show that a man should go armed.
If I hadn’t had my gun that day it
would be me that’d be lying in the
ground right now instead of him.”

After that they didn’t question
me much. My head ached pretty
bad from the wound, and I knew I’d
never see out of my right eye again.
I heard the doc say something about
the bullet having gone through the
right lobe of my brain, and I knew
they thought it had made me a little
off in the head.

But the sheriff told me I was en-
titled to a lawyer and I asked him
to get Mr. Merle Marshall to come
from Alamosa. The next day he ar-
rived and had a long talk with me.

I tried to explain how it was but
I could tell he thought the wound
in my head had affected my mind.
He asked an awful lot of questions
and ended up by telling me he was
going to have me sent over to an-
other hospital, at Pueblo. I didn’t
know then that it was the nut fac-
tory they were sending me to.

| STAYED at the State Hospital for
a month and at the end of that
time they sent me back to jail to
await trial in October. Later I heard
that Dr. F. H. Zimmerman, the
superintendent at the asylum, had
told ’em I was probably sane when
the thing happened and that the
bullet had not upset my mind. I
agreed with him then and still do.
I’m not nuts!

I didn’t see Josie Maxwell again
until the day of the trial, but I heard
from other prisoners at the jail that
she’d hired Lawyer John B. Barnard
over in Pueblo to help Mr. Haynie
prosecute me.

Maybe she was afraid that I’d get
off and go after her for revenge. But
she needn’t have worried. I was

CRIME CONFESSIONS

even sorry that she’d gotten in the
way of some of those bullets.

While I waited in jail for my trial
I used to get newspapers and read
what they said about me. I sup-
pose they, tried to be fair about it
all, but how could the reporters
really know what I’d been through
on account of a woman I thought I
loved? How could they know I’d
always been a quiet sort of fellow
that minded his own business and
only carried a gun for self-protec-
tion? j

They used to come to talk with
me from the other side of the bars
and at first I tried to explain to
them how I had felt about Josie.
But it was no use. I didn’t feel the
same after the shooting and I just
couldn’t put into words the Hell I’d
gone through because of wanting
her so much.

But they agreed to refer to me as
“Rudy” when they wrote about it.
Before, they’d called me Carmel and
I always hated that name. Josie
had called me Carmel when we
quarreled.

After the first week in jail the
headaches didn’t come so often and
I began to look forward to when I
should go on trial. For some strange
reason I even wanted to see Josie
again. But above all, I wanted a
chance to tell what really happened.

I knew by now that Mr. Marshall,
my lawyer, was convinced I was in-
sane, but I knew that he was going
to do his best for me. So, when he
asked me questions I just gave the
answers that I thought he wanted.
He never told me what to say in
court—only made me promise to tell
the truth as I remembered it, and
not make up anything as I went
along.

qn the third day of October, 1939,

I went on trial before Judge
John I. Palmer in the District Court
at San Luis. The trial took place
in a dark and musty old room not a
hundred yards from the spot where
I had dropped with a bullet through
my brain not three months before.

I was a big attraction, all right.
During the three days of the trial

the room was so packed the court
officials had to use the windows to
get in and out of during the re-
cesses. People came from all over

. the country-side to hear me tell

why I’d shot Vic de Herrera.

Josephine Maxwell took the stand
and said I’d threatened to kill her.
She said I finally did shoot her,
then killed Vic and ended up by
putting the muzzle of the gun to
my own head and firing.

The men on the jury sat there
with their mouths open, and I could
see they believed every word she
spoke. But some of those fellows
I’d known for years. I knew they
were honest and I didn’t blame
them. I remembered that I’d once
believed every word she uttered.
How I wanted to get right up then
and tell the true story of what hap-
pened.

On the second day of the trial I
was given my chance. At first I
didn’t get much opportunity to tell
them anything because they kept
asking a bunch of questions that
didn’t really have anything to do
with it. When I finally did get a
chance to tell about me and Josie
the words wouldn’t come. I could
feel all their cold, hard eyes look-
ing at me, and in them I read dis-
belief even before they heard what
I was to say.

But I did tell them that Vic de
Herrera drew his gun and, pointing
it straight at me, opened fire. I
told them he was drunk; and he
must have been or he wouldn’t have
done that.

While I was talking I looked back
into the packed courtroom and saw
Mrs. de Herrera jump up from her

. chair.

“You're a liar!” She shouted the
words at the top of her voice.

The next instant some of her
friends pulled her down and she
fainted while they were taking her
from the room. I don’t hold what
she said against her. Vic de Her-
rera was her man, and I guess she
thought he didn’t deserve to be shot.

They asked me then if I returned
de Herrera’s fire and I answered

| CONFESS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

honestly that I couldn’t remember.
How could they expect a man with
a bullet through his brain to know
what was happening? Then, the
two prosecuting lawyers. started
firing questions at me and before it
was over I don’t know what I really
did tell them.

I kept seeing the looks of doubt
on the faces of all those people in
the courtroom. How could I hope
to convince them? Even my own
lawyer—the only man there who
was on my side—thought I was
crazy!

I’ve had plenty of time to think
it over since and I don’t wonder
that they found me guilty. The
witnesses that didn’t see it happen
were called experts and they said
I was. The prosecutors talked for
hours claiming I was. Josie said I
was and when it came my turn to
talk—I wasn’t able to remember!

The great State of Colorado
wasn’t satisfied with all that,
though. They had to pay those
high-priced specialists to take the
stand and say I was perfectly sane
when I did it. I think I’m sane
enough now, but during those mo-
ments after my love for Josie had
tortured me almost beyond endu-
rance, I know I was at least half
mad. I was crazed with passion.
crazed with love and with hate at
the same time.

If you’d ever been a lonely sheep-
herder for years, then suddenly
fallen madly in love with a beau-
tiful woman like Josie, you could
understand what I mean.

Anyway, the jury found me guil-
ty of murder in the second degree
after talking it over for four hours.
Judge Palmer told them it would
have to be first degree, second de-
gree or acquittal. So it could have
been worse.

I’ve been up here in the pen for
about six months now and it’s not
so bad. There’re no women here.
And the quiet content—the feeling
of absolute security that I used to
know as a boy out on the lonely
mesas of the great Southwest—is
gradually coming back to me.

Walker begun holding meetings in
some secret spot. We met every few
days, sometimes in a house, some-
times at a likker still. There was
a cave, in a deep hollow, where we
gathered several times. We’d plot
and scheme and talk about alibis,
and so on. And drink a lot, of
course. We was always drunk
when we plotted. Fact is, we didn’t
do much hate talking and plotting
the few times any of us was to-
gether when we was sober. Old
Man Likker was urging us to go
right ahead and satisfy the hate we
had for Harmon Gouge. Likker
and hate together, men, hold all the
poison in hell.

Not that we didn’t want to get
Harmon Gouge when we was sober.
Of course we did. But then what
judgment we had talked to us with-
out the help of Old Man Likker.
You see what I mean, of course.

Every once in a while one or
more of us four would come to

Carter County, nearly always at
night, to fool around and sort of
survey things out. We looked at
Harmon Gouge’s house in Hampton
at least a dozen times; we studied
it careful from every angle—where
the bedrooms was, where the living
room was—and we made guesses as
to how far the floor joists was from
the ground in different places.

We was glad the house just set
on pillars and didn’t have no other
underpinning, such as a wall. It'd
be easy to crawl under. It’d be
easy to blow up with a case of
dynamite.

AND then come the night when
we made ready fer the big blast.
Plenty of gasoline in White’s car—
the tires looked at careful—the
dynamite and fuse and caps stored
in a box of straw—and, of course,
plenty likker. The four of us had
been drinking hard all day and we
was worked up to a high pitch.

Me and White had judgment
enough to decide, though, at the
last minute, not to let Ulysses Wall-
ing and Lee Walker go with us. But
they was too drunk right at that
time to let their selves be denied;
they said they was in the thing to
the finish and insisted on going. So
me and White give in—and what
a mistake that was! If we hadn’t
took them along, them two damn
rats, at least, wouldn’t have needed
no alibis—folks would have knowed
for shore where they was, you see
—and the dirty cowards wouldn’t
have had so much cause to squeal
as soon as the law seemed to be
gitting somewhar.

It was a raw, cold night, that
night that’s bound to linger in the
memory of us four forever—if men
go on existing somewhar. forever.
The mountain roads we follered
would have seemed lonely at any
other time, for it was one of them
strange, still nights; it was sort of

like the stillness a fellow expects
to find in a graveyard. It’s a won-
der it hadn’t put us to thinking
more straight; it’s a wonder the
thought of what a foolish, hellish
thing we was about to do hadn’t
flashed into our minds. There was
one amongst us, in fact, who did
seem to get cold feet and sort of
crawfish, after we got to Hampton.
But not the other three. We was
bent on destruction—our own de-
struction along with the destruction
of others, though of course we
wasn’t considering it that way. We
just drunk likker and talked and
boasted to each other, and we even
sort of laffed about what we was
aiming to do to the Gouges.

It was a good while after mid-
night when we got to Hampton. We
stopped just outside the place and
got out to do some more stiff drink-
ing and talk over our plans once
more. We took the dynamite and
stuff out of the car.

Lee Walker, who was brought up on
poison liquor and hard-hearted hate.

and Lee Walker with us that night.
But now that them two weak, whin-
ing cowards have squealed to the
whole world, maybe because the
law has promised them they won’t
get the chair—well, I’m gonna do
some talking, men. Yes, before I
go crazy. Before you hounds of the
law run me crazy.

It seems a long time ago—but it
was just a little spell, wasn’t it?—
when us fellers pulled off that
crime. Seems long because just a
little while in hell seems long. This
sure has been a terrible hell, men.
I had no way of knowing how awful
it'd be till I got here. I’d been full
of likker a long time, and the likker
was lying to me all along, just like
it was lying to them that was with
me that awful night and mornin’.
The likker was telling us to go
right ahead; that we just couldn’t
get in bad. Likker is like that. It
didn’t tell me that somebody would
cross us up with fool alibis that
wouldn’t hold water, or that there
was two cowards amongst us who’d
get cold feet and squeal, for a prom-
ise from the law, the minute the
law caused somebody to blunder.
Naw, Old Man Likker just says to
go on, you’re game, you're brave,
you're right in what you want to
do, and you can’t’ go wrong. Likker
and hate—they’re the best pals in
the world.

Peecacnesee®

Yes, I’m confessing, you see, men.
I’m confessing everything. But the
damn law won’t get me. I'll find
some way to beat the law. Wait
and see.

Well, there’d been more or less
of a feud betwixt the Tolletts and
the Gouges fer a good many years,
as everybody in these parts knows.
Me, I’ve been one of the Tollett clan
all my life; I was fetched up to love
and hate with the Tolletts, and so I
took part in their troubles jest like
I was one of ’em. I took the leading
part, in fact, in the blastin’ of the
Gouges, as you'll see. I reckon I
hated Harmon Gouge more than
most of the Tolletts did—especially
when I was in likker.

My hate fer Harmon Gouge
reached its limit when he shot and
killed Arnold Tollett. It was just
like he’d killed my brother, and
when it happened I knowed that
some day, if I didn’t change my way
of life a mighty lot, I’d help to get
Harmon Gouge er else get him by
myself. It’s just human for me to
regret what I done now, of course;
I’m in hell now, put there by my
hating and drinkin’; but I wasn’t
doing no calm reasoning when I got
into this here thing. I was blind
with hate—and with likker.

’Tain’t everybody understands the

hearts and minds of feud people.
Whenever anything happens to stir
us up—like the killing of Arnold
Tollett by a hated Gouge, for in-
stance—it’s our nature to begin
whisperin’ hate talk, and to set to
planning and scheming out some
way to get revenge. And if there’s
likker amongst us, the more we
plan and talk and hate; the more
we set by our wide fireplaces and
whisper; the more we visit from
house to house, planning and
scheming; the more we gather at
secret places in the woods to try to
figure out what’s the best way to
get revenge. Do you know, men.
that many a mountain woman that's
been made a widder by gun-fire has
raised her boys up with not hardly
anything in their hearts but pure
hate, so that some day they'd pump
somebody full of lead in revenge fer
their dad’s death? We are like that,
us backwoods feud folks. It’s our
nature.

So you can see what happened
when Harmon Gouge killed Arnold
Tollett. We begun planning and
scheming—trying to figure out some
way to get revenge and still fool
the law—and drinking more likker
than usual. We visited one another
at night and whispered hate talk
while jars of likker was passed
around. We couldn't rest, not when
we_was in likker. We knowed in
reason that Harmon Gouge would
come clear in court; I admit that
much without arguing. But Arnold
being at fault, that made no differ-

According to White Tollett a feud was a
feud and could only be ended by death.

White says to Ulysses: ‘“You’re
thinkin’ too much about that wo-
man and them kids, Ulysses. We
went down there to blow Harmon
Gouge into hell. That’s what we’ve
done. Forget the rest.”

But we hadn’t blowed Harmon
Gouge into anywhere, men, as you
know. We had murdered his three
little kids and crippled his wife; but
we was to learn, nearly as soon as
we got back to Bledsoe and begin to
scatter, that of late Harmon Gouge
had been spending the nights in
Elizabethton—just to protect his
family. He didn’t think, you see,
that they’d be harmed so long as
he wasn’t there. And we wouldn’t

“T knew it; I knew it,” I said
in a broken voice.

“He’s dead,” replied Roy bitterly.
“Poor kid! He tried to get the num-
ber of the death car. We found
him sprawled on the porch.’’.

For a bitter moment I forgot
about the man who had lain still
and silent on the floor while the
killers pumped lead into him. Then
I glanced down at the floor and I
felt the blood drain from my face.
Staring up at me from sightless eyes
was Les Bruneman. Blood ran
crazily down his face to form an
ugly pool around his body. The
smile I- had seen on his lips a few
shorts minutes before had now been
transformed into the ugly grin of
death. .

Around his body lay scattered
dozens of empty shells. I learned
later that sixteen of the bullets had
taken effect in his head and body.
But at the actual time of the mur-
der I would have sworn that hun-
dreds of shots had been fired.

Sick at heart, a retching nausea
gripping the pit of my stomach, I
turned away.

With weak knees, I had staggered
half way to a table, when I was
suddenly pulled up short by an un-
earthly scream. I whirled around,
wondering what new calamity was
about to strike us. '

At the table where Les Brune-
man had sat Mary Ingrum was
struggling hysterically with several
other girls. With a violent effort
she fought her way to her feet,
pointed a shaky finger at her sister,
Alice, who stood swaying in the
middle of the dance floor.

“Look! Look!’ Mary screamed.
“My God, they’ve shot Alice!
They’ve killed my sister!”

I followed her trembling finger
to the swaying girl on the dance
floor. Again my heart constricted.
For there, forming at Alice’s feet
was an ever spreading pool of
blood.

I took an involuntary step for-
ward but before I could reach her
Alice crumpled to the floor.

Pandemonium reigned. A dozen
hands picked her swiftly from the
floor and laid her gently on a table.
I began to cry. Mary was scream-
ing hysterically. Then, after what
seemed an eternity, my husband
threw his arm around my shoulder.

“Take it easy,” he said. ‘Miss
Ingrum isn’t dead. A bullet through
each leg. She'll be all right.”

CRIME CONFESSIONS

have blowed up his house, men, if
we hadn’t thought he was there. Of
course not.

Well, we was a lot disappointed.
And now we was scared, sure

enough. At least, whenever we al-

lowed the likker to die in us.

You Know the rest, men. You
know how the law come into Bled-
soe and began running us down.
You know how they jailed us and
broke down the fool alibis. I was
the last one they got, you know,
and I tried to pretend I didn’t even
know the law was looking fer me.
I was a nervous wreck when the
law did put the handcuffs on me.
Every time the likker died in me,

Alice had indeed been lucky. The
bullets had entered her legs about
two inches below her knees in each
instance. Two inches higher and
she would have been crippled for
life, if she hadn’t lost her legs alto-
gether.

What happened immediately after

while I was hiding out, it seemed
like three little dead girls would
be standing out afore my eyes. And
when a breeze would stir the dead
leaves of a sudden, or any noise
would happen behind me, I’d jump

‘like I was shot.

But I won’t talk about that any
more. I have confessed, men; I’ve
told you every thing. And now I
want to tell you again that the law
ain’t gonna put me’ in the chair.

And the law did not put lank
Church Lester in the chair. Al-
though he was guarded more close-
ly than were his associates in this
terrible crime, Lester managed to
take his own life in the Elizabeth-

| DODGED DEATH

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37

that is vague and jumbled in my

mind: I only know that a swarm
of policemen arrived and took con-
trol of the situation.

te was not until a few days later,
when I visited Alice in the hos-
pital, that I got a history of Les

ROUGH ON PEEPERS

Mrs, Johanna Young explains the working of her “equalizer” to her son in

their Cleveland home. Annoyed for months by a “Peeping Tom," Mrs. Young

decided to do something about it. She missed on her first attempt to pot
him but she's ready for any more prowlers and means business.

ton jail, thus making good his des-
perate boast that he would cheat
the law. Early one morning Jailer
Pat Powers found the feudist’s body
hanging by his belt from a cell bar
The prisoner had inserted his neck
in the belt and jumped from a top
bunk. His feet were dangling only
an inch from the floor, but he hac
died from strangulation rather than
a broken neck. It was estimated
that he must have struggled there
for several terrible minutes before
he expired. *

White Tollett later died in the
electric chair, begging for mercy,
and Ulysses Walling and Lee Walker
were sent to prison for life.

_Bruneman and the background to

his murder.

It appears that Bruneman was a
big time gambler—one of the big-
gest operating along the coast. A
short time before the killing a rival
gambler had come from the East
and had tried desperately to wrest
control of the Beach gambling from
him. This struggle had resulted in
a bitter gang war, in the course of
which Bruneman had been shot.

It had been Alice Ingrum who
had nursed him back to life and
health. A close friendship had
sprung up between the too during
Bruneman’s convalescence. And it
was this friendship which had led
Alice to the brink of eternity that
eventful October night in The
Roost.

For a long, weary year the police
worked unceasingly on the Brune-
man case in a vain effort to bring
the killers to justice. Scores of per-
sons with unsavory records were ar-
rested as suspects, only to be turned
loose after establishing alibis. Two
of these suspects were even indicted
for the crime but eventually they
were freed when their innocence
was established without the formal-
ity of a trial.

During this time I was filled with
a vague forboding, an oppressive
uneasiness that would not leave me.

.As the days slipped into weeks and

the weeks into months, I became
hopelessly convinced that the case
would never be solved—that I
would always be haunted by the
memory of that unavenged murder.

Then came the break the police
had so long waited for. On the
morning of July 2nd, 1938, Ray
Brooker, an ex-convict, slipped into
police headquarters and whispered
the startling information that Pete
Pianezzi.was Les Bruneman’s killer.

That same day, at police head-
quarters, I was shown a score of
Rogues gallery pictures and without
a second’s hesitation I unerringly
picked Pianezzi’s picture from the
rest, as that of one of the men I had
seen pumping lead into Les Brune-
man’s body.

How could I mistake him? For
months on end I had dreamed a
veritable deluge of nightmarish
dreams concerning the man who
had thrust a gun into my stomach
in the doorway of The Roost. I
could never forget that face.
Swarthy, angular; prominent nose,
high forehead; peculiar gray eyes

238 THE AIR-TIGHT ALIBI
“She seemed just like always. Nobody had anything agains
Minnie.”

That is always and everywhere the first story that husbanq,
or wives, tell when a murder has been committed. Everything
was just fine and dandy, nobody had any enemies, and it ;,
simply impossible that a thing like this should have happeneg.
If the police stopped here in their questioning no murder case
would ever be solved. So in this case, as in other cases, the
officer who was doing the questioning had to suppress his
natural sympathies and press the husband for further informa.
tion. Hadn’t Mrs. Tucker quarrelled with someone recently?

“Well,” the young husband admitted, reluctantly, “she did
have a falling out with a certain party. But that was several
weeks ago, and they haven’t seen each other sinée.”

And who was that “certain party”?

“Charley Brenner. But. he wouldn’t do a thing like this. He
—he was in love with her.”

Now this is a major rule in Ye Compleat Manual of Crime
Detection. The next of kin is always sure that so-and-so could
not have done it, because he was his, or her, best friend. Ex-
perience has shown, however, that the killer is rarely, if ever, a
disinterested stranger to the deceased. People are not murdered
by strangers. They are murdered by their friends. And often
by their best friend.

Persistent questioning brought out more:

“Minnie and I were separated a while back, and came to-
gether again just a few weeks ago. While we were living apart,
Charley Brenner kept pestering Minnie to divorce me and to
marry him.” :

An officer stepped into the room. He had been questioning
the neighbors, and one of them told of having seen a man hurry
out of the apartment and drive off at high speed about thirty
minutes before Tucker arrived home. The neighbor had rec-

SEED Oey lee ARES Pas Oe < : ¢ re » - i &4

THE AIR-TIGHT ALIBI 239
a oh man. He was a fellow named Charles Brenner,

eed the .

‘mmediately broadcast to pick up Charles Brenner,

a local furniture company. Meanwhile, the police

h their questioning of Tucker, and their examina-

s it
tinued = . ° . .
” he house and its vicinity.

d left school that day at 4:20, Tucker told the police.

there he had gone to a shoe store on Dickerson Road. It
Bin 5:35. He talked with the manager of the shoe store
o'clock. Then he went home, arriving there at 6:10 p.m.
fi police knew everything after that.

In looking over the house, the police stepped out on the back
porch, and noticed that a footpath led across a vacant lot in the
direction of Dickerson Road. And now their flashlights picked
out a man’s footprint near the back porch. It pointed away
from the house, toward the vacant lot. Just that one footprint,
in the moist ground where Minnie Tucker had poured the.
water from her washing that morning. Everywhere else the

tion of t
He ha

“ground was hard and dry, too hard to show any print. If this

was the killer’s footprint, then Minnie Tucker had unwittingly
trapped her own murderer.

Was it Charles Brenner, the furniture salesman who had
pestered her to divofce her estranged husband and marry him?
It could have been, if Tucker’s story was true.

But now another figure entered the case. Two neighbors told
of having seen a tall, heavily built youth leaving the Tucker
apartment at about five o’clock, nearly half an hour before
Brenner was reported to have been seen leaving the premises.
According to these informants, the tall young man had left
hurriedly, cutting across the vacant lot in the rear, and glancing
back over his shoulder as he went.

There were now two suspects. One, the tall young man, had »
been seen leaving the apartment around five o’clock. Brenner,

eek

ith et 2
Tecev trae vill «alah, iad

ee eee

Same aee peek

por yg

wa
aie
c3
-_
<<
ee]
oad
f=)
=
Oh.
Cad
aloe
On
«zt
Or
© rn

236 © THE FATAL PERFUME

make a good getaway car. To kill time, I went into
shop and got a haircut. me

“Stealing the Buick was easy. I drove to the garage. §
was there in the office and I told him I needed a batter :
He turned his back on me and started to walk to the a bss
of a sudden I got scared. I started shaking and I nearly “— ty
the gun. In a panic I squeezed the trigger twice. Both ae
Salone, but instead of falling he turned around and cam :
me. I squeezed the trigger again but it wouldn’t fire. Then B
fell, but first he grabbed the telephone off the desk. I stood ri :
over him and pulled the trigger. as

“I forgot about the dough and everything else and beat it, |
left the car on Armstrong Highway and walked the rest of the
way to the farm. I went up to my room, ditched the gun and
gloves that got stained with blood wher I picked the telephone
receiver off the floor. I figured I was safe, sure.”

And he might have been, except for a barber’s untrained but

remarkable powers of observation, and a patrolman’s equally
remarkable sense of smell. .*

arbe,

long

yuses
#

SUA popaks:

usthx Bes tS
bis ‘

cap

iss Uti ed

THE AIR-TIGHT ALIBI

nig. fyEN BEAUTIFUL, young Minnie Margaret Tucker finished her

4 washing “
~ over the st
a eet the trap that would catch her murderer.

what happened during the rest of that day came out only bit

hat May morning in 1942 and poured out the water
de of: the porch, she did not know that she had just

by. bit, but at 6:10 p.M., in her apartment on Trinity Lane, in a
suburb five miles from Nashville, Minnie lay dead on the bed-
room floor with a knife in her back.

Police, called to the scene by a stricken and nearly hysterical
‘husband, found Minnie lying near the bed, clutching in her

~ hand a pink knitted baby cap. She was fully clad, wearing a

heavy topcoat over her clothes, as if she had been on the point of

amieaving the house. The weapon, a butcher knife, was deeply

imbedded in the body. Nearby stood a packed suitcase and a

- bundle of baby clothes. By the wall was a crib, where Minnie’s

eleven-month-old baby still lay asleep. |
Felix Tucker, the husband, told his story in hoarse, halting

whispers. :

He had come home about ten minutes after six from Central
High School where he was attending sheet metal classes. He
had called out to his wife and when there was no answer, he had

entered the bedroom and found her dead on the floor. Then,
“ running out of the house to a neighbor’s he cried out: “Get the
police! My wife—she’s been murdered!”
‘He had last seen his wife alive, Felix said, when he left the ©

artment early that morning.
ee 237

242 THE AIR-TIGHT ALIBI >

how she heard screams coming from the Tucker apartme,

early in the morning, and how Mrs. Tucker herself had told be t

that Felix had beaten and choked her that morning,

cided that it was high time to have a not-so-gentle téte-a-tet,
with the bereaved young husband.

Felix Tucker was shaken; he admitted beatin
morning.
“Minnie admitted she’d been having an affair with Brenner,”

he said, “and I guess I saw red. I was srry afterward, but it
_ Was too late. And now she’s dead.”

The Chief spoke up—“You sure you didn’t kill her?”
Tucker went pale.

“Why would I kill her, when I loved her so?” he cried. “You

g his wife tha

checked my alibi, didn’t your Didn’t you admit I told the

truth? If you really want to find’ the guy that killed Minnie,
why don’t you arrest. Charley Brenner. I hated to tell you this
—didn’t want to blacken my wife’s memory. But when I left
home in the morning, she told me she wouldn’t be there when
I came home. She said she was leaving with Charley.”

So once more the investigation shifted back to Charles Bren-
ner. This time Brenner was willing to add details,

“Okay,” he said. “I left there intending to meet her in an-
other place, so folks wouldn’t know we'd left together.”

“Where were you going to take her?”

“To kinfolks—till she could get a divorce.”

The Chief turned the evidence over in his mind. Who had
the most provocative motive in this case? Everything pointed to
Tucker as the criminal who fitted the crime. It had to be
Tucker, and yet—there was that air-tight alibi. |
- Air-tight? How air-tight? The Chief decided to go over this
business of the alibi again.

Tucker had said he left school at 4:20 and arrived at the shoe

Police q..

THE AIR-TIGHT ALIBI 243

; d there, ac-
i Road at about 5:15. He staye
hie ail six o’clock, when he went home and

who examined the body reported that rigor

+ celf. is a very unce ;
aes after death, depending upon muscular, atmospheric
two ou

iti i re was no rigor present in the
om oes us ait 0% mL, had Bee acted within
pis Peas ce when, as a matter of fact, it could have
2 a ie oe ee before Tucker claimed to have found
e
_ ‘ele thing. Which of the suspects left the apartment by
‘o pes door? According to all the testimony, the only atid
who might have left the apartment by the rear on was
Tucker. And that is where the footprint was ie ete?
“Why did you do it, Tucker?” the Chief asked w . e : é
sumed questioning the husband a little later. He picke = t
plaster cast of the footprint and held it up before as ag ee
“Why did you kill your wife?” he demanded. “Was it be-
uldn’t let her go?” .
= Tie calbding Tucker’s frantic denials, the Chief meeps ‘
“When you got off the bus on Dickerson Road, you s aise
across the vacant lot to your back door. You went in the ed-
room and found Minnie preparing to leave you. Blind —
Tage, you grabbed the butcher knife and plunged it into” 7
back. Then you were smart enough to think that you “—e
fasten the crime on another man, so you ran out the back door
and crossed the field to the Dickerson Road, where you ea
lished your alibi in that shoe store. Why not = the truth? ai
“Okay,” said Tucker, breaking down at last, “I guess you

| got me. I stabbed her, all right—stabbed her twice. The only

240 THE AIR-TIGHT ALIBI

arriving there shortly before 5:20 might have seen Minnie
Tucker lying dead in the bedroom and left hastily for fear of
being implicated in her death. Fifty minutes later Felix Tucker
came home. Any one of the three men might have committeg
the murder, of course, but so far Tucker was in the clear, the
police having checked his alibi and found it air-tight.

At this point, persistent questioning once more produced re.
sults. The Police Chief himself, interrogating the neighbors who
had seen the tall, husky young man, learned that the youth had
been a frequent visitor at the Tucker apartment, although they
could not remember his name. On one occasion this same young
man had been overheard saying something about “getting Felix
Tucker.”

This was exciting but slim information to go on, but an hour
later detectives detailed to the job founid*the young man in
question. He admitted calling, at the Tucker apartment that
afternoon, but— °

“Minnie was alive and well when I left,” he insisted. “She
said she was tired from doing a big washing. I wouldn’t have
stopped there at all, but Mother asked me to drop by and see
how Minnie and the baby were getting along.”

_ The youth’s mother supported his story.

Meanwhile, the officers who had been detailed to find Charles
Brenner had a stroke of luck. They had come upon a witness
who told of seeing Brenner enter a gas station at 6:30 p.m. and
ask for an Alabama road map.

Charles Brenner was picked up in short order, on the out-
skirts of Athens, Alabama. He agreed to waive extradition and
was returned to Nashville for questioning. _ a

“Yes,” he replied when confronted with the neighbor’s story,
“I stopped in to see Minnie about 5:20, but I certainly don’t

know anything about who killed her. She was going to visit
her folks for a few days.”

ee?
ia Aske ti

241

THE AIR-TIGHT ALIBI
town so hurriedly, Brenner was not so
: . pay ee to run down to Birmingham on
old the police, but, reminded that he was the No. 1
‘a brutal murder, and that he was reported to have

oe , with Minnie, Brenner became vehement.
= e cas it!” he protested. “I admit I loved her, but that’s
oe And I wanted her to leave her husband. But I didn’t

pusiness, he t

crime. pe ape
kil her. Honestly, I didn’t! ts:
To add further gloom to the case the Bureau of Investigation

came through with a discouraging report. None of the
ras rints on the murder weapon were clear enough for
Siete. All the finger prints in the Tucker apartment be-
e Tuckers.

rn still the task of tracing the murder weapon, how-
ever, and to this the officers now addressed themselves. To their
surprise it turned out to be Tucker's. He readily admitted
ownership, saying that he kept the knife on the dresser in the
bedroom because he was “afraid.” Afraid of whom? In answer
to this question, Tucker named the tall, husky young man who
had admitted visiting the apartment at five o’clock on the day of
the murder. ae

“He—he threatened to kill me,” Tucker said.

Questioned now for the second time, the youth frankly ad-
mitted that he had threatened Felix Tucker. ae

“But I didn’t really mean I intended to kill him, he ex-
plained... “I was just boiling mad, and meant for him to leave
Minnie alone. I wanted him to keep his hands off her. I told
him if he ever beat her again—”

“When was the last time he beat her?” :

“This morning,” the young man replied. “He beat and

choked her. If you don’t believe me, just ask the folks who live _
Tight next door to the Tuckers.”

When a neighbor corroborated the young man’s story, telling

Sgt 28

tS —

is. TS

244 THE AIR-TIGHT ALIBI
reason I didn’t stab her again was because I couldn't
knife out. I swore that if she left me she would gotoa
not to another man.”

On July 15, 1943, Felix Fucker paid the supreme penalty fo,

the murder of his wife, at the Tennessee State Penite
death by electrocution.

pull the

Slave

"THE CASE OF THE UNDERSTANDING WIFE

Dtlary,

La VERN Connor was pushing fifty. She was a smartly-dressed,
charming, and unusually intelligent woman. She understood
her husband, Marlowe Conner, to whom she’d been married for
and by whom she had two sons, aged 16

‘over twenty years,
and 20.

“Marlowe Connor, manager of a motion picture theater, was
43, in what has been called the quote dangerous age unquote.
, Marion Aasen, his assistant at the theater, was attractive, in
her early thirties, and mother of a seven-year-old girl.
: Given that cast, a good playwright could turn out a good play.
Or a magazine writer could turn out a saleable serial. Perhaps
—) someone could sell it for radio. But this happens to be-a true
“story, and Fate writes facts, not washboard weepers. ,
‘Sometime in 1945, La Vern realized that her husband’s re-
lationship with Marion Aasen was as far from strictly business
as New Zealand is from Maine. She had a number of courses
open to her, and certainly she must have considered them all.
She could raise roofs. Or, she could leave him without any fuss
and feathers. Or—and this is what she did—she could be an
understanding wife and close her eyes to everything. 7
She must have reasoned it this way. Marlowe was at the age
| when he would fall for a pretty face and attractive figure. But
: once the infatuation had passed away, he would be home again
“with his forgiving and non-reproachful_ wife.
_ La Vern must have put in a few pretty tough hours selling -
herself on that idea. ‘

245

USE OF THE victim’s own kitchen
blade as a murder weapon suggested
that the slayer was someone familiar
with the home of the Tucker family.

tage at 411 Trini

drawn shades s
splendor of the settin
to cloak the dreadfu
propriety.

Chief Raymond C
wood-Madison polic:
group of men who |
paused momentarily
the murder room. L:
and Sergeant Elmer
behind him, peering
into the gloom.

_ The chief strode
skirting a shadowy
and jerked up the
through the panes,
vealed the body o:
Tucker crumpled uj
the double bed.

She was fully dre:
topcoat. The pallid
flung hand gripped
. cap. Several rivulets

neled out from benea

the shiny linoleum r

glance took in the

fastened itself upon
There the hilt of ;
truded. Cannon lift

aides, still standing
there was no tieed fc
to stay out of the roc
laboratory techniciar
experts might be abl
tant clues in this shox

Cannon himself
body to the door. Pa
.~ room, he met the cor:
officer came the ot

|" THE SINGLE

THE TIME ALIBI James Tucker
supplied after his wife’s body was
found in their bedroom was checked
and was found apparently airtight.

MINNIE TUCKER could not stand

- photographer, lab ex;

t farm life. Was it because of an plained that he had t

i dmirer that she forced her dow shades. Then hx
j Deahand ww pte bade & te aaet

front veranda.
There, slumped in
shock and grief that
of the crowd of cur:
stood on the front la
was young James Fel
old husband of the dez
was only 19; they ha
daughter 11 months ol:
taken to the home of
It was Tucker who

INSIDE DETECTIVE, April, 1946

Coming Next
Month

iy THE May Issue of OFFI-

CIAL DETECTIVE STORIES
Magazine You Will Find the
Most Ususual, Gripping Fact-
Detective Stories in the Nation

— New. Authentic, Loaded
With Suspense. They Will
Include:

With My Husband in Prison

Only the Detectives Who Had
Sent Frank Hamlin to Prison
For a San Francisco Robbery
Could Prove That He Was
Really Innocent. Would They?
Mrs. Frank Hamlin’s Startling,
First-Person. Story.

A Wedding Gift—Or You Die

At Long Last 70-Year-Old
Frank Magro of Fitchburg,
Massachusetts, Had Found the
Girl He Wanted to Marry, and
She Had Accepted Him. And
Then, on the Eve of the Wed-
ding, Came the Cruel Extortion
Threat.. What. Was .the Con-
nection?

Six Needless Shots ’

George Booris Had His Hands
In the Air in His Camden, New
Jersey, Restaurant. He Had
No Intention of Resisting. And
Yet He Was Shot Down, Blasted
With Siz Bullets. Why? Who?

Feud in the Mother Lode
Country

A Killer Was Loose Somewhere
In the Rugged Mountains Near
Oroville, California. Already
One Man Was Shot to Death,
Another Had Vanished, the
Body of a Third Was Fished.
From the River. What Mad-
man Was Loose in Those
Isolated Hills? How Track
Him Down?

EVERY Story in That Big
May OFFICIAL DETECTIVE
STORIES Will Be Exclusive,
Timely and Suspenseful,
Taken From Official Records
—Including Those Above Un-
less a Last-Minute Change Is
Made to Bring You Some Even
More Timely. That Issue Will
Be on Sale Friday. April 23.
Order Your Copy Now!

of Ovila Courville by a six-man cor-
oner’s jury that heard the evidence
presented by Doctor Fontaine regarding
the death bullet. On Christmas Eve, in
Sweetsburg, Bouchard and Lebeau were
formally charged. with murder,
Meanwhile, the detectives were piling
up other potential evidence. Investigat-
ing robberies within a working radius
of Granby, Legault and Bissaillon found
three that had occurred across the
border in Vermont. The FBI and Ver-
mont State Police went to the towns of
Fair Haven, Barre and Forest Dale to

She Stepped in Murder (Continued trom Page 43)

Shakily: “I—I think you’ve been lookin’
for me.”

Luther studied the nervous youth
over the top of his rimless glasses:
“Looking for you? Why?”

“About that liquor-store killin’, I
guess.”

Luther kicked a chair toward the lad.
“Sit down. What makes you think
we’ve been looking for you?”

“It was me and my crowd the motorist
saw. You know, the old car and the
woman. She was my girl friend, Evelyn
Tower. Honest, Mister, we didn’t do
nothin” wrong.”

The Sergeant removed his glasses and
polished them idly. “What’s your name,
Son?”

“Andy. Andrew Topmiller.” He was
a senior in high school, he said, and he
lived with his parents in the fashionable
West End section.

“Okay. Tell me what happened out
there.’

TH youth cleared his throat and

squirmed uncomfortably in his chair.
“Evelyn and me and another couple
were double datin’ in my car and we
decided we’d get a drink. Nothin’
strong, understand. Just a bottle of
wine or maybe some sloe gin. We’d had
a few beers but we weren’t drunk.
Noisy, maybe, but not drunk.”

“I understand. Go ahead with your
story.”

“Well, we drove uv to this liquor store
and all of us went in. I asked for a
bottle of gin and this fellow behind the
counter said he couldn't. sell it to us.
We were too young.”

“So?”

Topmiller reddened. “You know how
it is» We were sort of embarrassed. To
show off a little we started whoopin’ it
up when we got back to the car.”

Luther put his glasses back on.
“What about the girl? What took her
so long coming out?”

“She was just tryin’ to be cute, takin’
her time. We got to yellin’ at her to
come on. I guess that’s when the fellow
saw us.”

Topmiller cleared his throat again
and leaned forward in his chair. “That’s
the truth, Sir. You’ve got to believe it.
We didn’t harm the old man.”

“Why did you wait so long to tell
us about this?”

“I didn’t want my folks to know.
They don’t even know I have a beer now
and then. My mother would die if she
found out.”

Luther said, “I’ll have to question the
others, you know. Evelyn and the other
couple. We'll need verification for what
you say.”

“That’s okay, Sir. We talked it over
and the kids said it would be better to
tell what happened than have the
police lookin’ for us.”

Within an hour they were cleared.

The four youths were questioned at
length about the time they had visited
the store. They were hazy on this:
around 10:30 or 10:45, as the motorist
had said, they thought. They didn't |
know for sure.

Had anyone else been in the liquor
store? They didn’t think SO; at least
they hadn’t noticed anyone other than
the clerk. :

How about on the outside? Was any-
one hanging around in the driveway?
Were other cars Parked_ there? ;

learn if Lebeau and Bouchard had
been seen in those Places.

The Hampton brothers were picked
up in Montreal and gave satisfactory
alibis for the time of the Notre Dame
de Stanbridge robbery. A 23-year-old
youth was trapped during an attempted
holdup in a Montreal bank and ad-
mitted being the “loner” who had com-
mitted the October robbery in that city.

And then, the officials claimed, Mar-
cel Bouchard confessed in detail,
naming Adrian Lebeau as his partner
in the plan to rob the little bank in

Again the answer was no.

Luther sent them home. He still had
to find the woman who'd left the
bloody foot-print.

As the days passed, police questioned
Scores of persons. Every man arrested
in a robbery case automatically became
suspected in the Hutchison murder,
Every person police heard about who
owned a sawed-off shotgun was hauled
in for a quiz session. Traffic officers
were instructed to report all 1938 black
Ford sedans and a Special team of de-
tectives was assigned to follow through,
investigating the owner thoroughly and
verifying his alibi down to the most
minute detail. - .

During this time Curly-Top was con-
spicuous only by his complete lack of
activity.

THEN, on September 10, Detective
Raby finally uncovered a lead to Big
Willie Sullivan’s girl friend. *He learned
her identity from a friendly bartender
who was on speaking terms with Big
Willie. She was a slender brunet with
brown eyes and a trim figure and she
lived in a duplex off Charlotte Avenue.
Raby and his partner settled down

to watch her every move. Two days ~

later, they followed her into a small
neighborhood grocery store. When she
left, Raby called Chief Stephens.
“This may be it,” he said. “She’s
going to throw a brawl; she just bought

fizz water and the sort of junk you set -

at cocktail parties.”

He was right. The anticipated party
was_going full_blast at midni
Stephens, Raby and a raiding squad of
six detectives rushed the house. They
didn’t need anyone to Point out Big
Willie to them. A huge man with tiny
eyes and wavy, close-cropved hair, he
towered head and shoulders above
everyone else in the crowded room.

At Headquarters, Sullivan denied any
knowledge of the Hutchison slaying or
the long series of Stickups. He’d been
going straight, he Swore, working
Steady and-keeping the right sort of
company. What else could the_ cops
ask for? j

“Okay,” Stephens told him. “That
Side of the record is worn out. Let’s turn
it over and play the other side.” :

Sullivan groaned miserably. “I’m in
for it,” he said. :

He was. The big ex-con had no idea
where he had been on the night of
August 26 and the early morning of
August 27. He couldn’t give any sensible
reason for moving around as frequently
as he did, either. Just restlessness, he
Supposed. Nor did he know where he
had been on the nights of the other
robberies. Around. Noplace in par-
ticular. With his girl friend, maybe,
or perhaps at a movie. He didn’t
know; he didn’t keep a diary.

“That's the only thing in his favor,”
Stephens remarked when the big man
had left his office. “Usually a stickup
has his alibi all set.. He can’t tell you
what he did on his birthday, but he can
tell you everything he did and said on
the night of a robbery.”

The next day, Sullivan was viewed
by all the victims of the shotgun bandit
and the police began to feel the case
slipping from. their grasp. Not one
would say positively that he was the
man who had robbed them. He was the
right size, they agreed. He looked like

t_when —dead!

BS
Notre Dame de Stanbridge, where #
Ovila Courville had died SO bravely and ~
stating that he himself had fired the
fatal shot. =.
On January 4, 1954, Judge Patrick 3
Delaney held Marcel Bouchard and #
Adrian Lebeau for trial, which is pend- 4
ing as this story is being written.

To protect innocent persons in this 3 ich.
story, these names are fictitious: Leon ats dos
Anjou, Tom Keyes, Lubin Renz, Brad @ in
Tolley, Phil Baron, John Hampton, °:
Pierre Jolicoeur.

Bisclose

auie
.

a em had
yictim,
e was)
ived Ww!
North. |
Cox -¥V

me ralion ¢

the one. But to swear it in court—-that ~
was something else. They hadn't been
sure when they looked at his Picture 7%
and seeing him in the flesh made iden- ¥
tification no easier. |

Stephens was disappointed. “We'll
hold him as long as we can,” he told
Luther. “If he’s innocent I want to be
the first to prove it. Only we have to

sure.”

Curly-Top and his deadly accurate
shotgun proved it for them. 5
Biaited;

EARLY on the morning of September igs

19 two couples were in a car cruis- ” righ
ing along the wide ribbon of asphalt d ie:
which is Centennial Boulevard in North te
Nashville. The driver, William Miller, ot nip
slowed to a snail’s pace in order to pact
make a right-hand turn onto 33rd Ave- cy
nue. As the car began its wide sweep, hag
Miller’s headlights picked up the out- ‘ sfac aa
line of a bulky object against the rock 4 ere of
wall marking the boundary of the. @ ae: (18
.Sprawling A. and I. State University Dad firel
campus. e Theses

Miller slammed on the brakes:

“Isn't that a body over there?” he ike pees
asked, alarm in his voice. ; that $30

From the back seat, Wilbur Crowder aS dl
Said, ‘It looks like a man. Probably duty at}
drunk.” : ‘a y

“TM hop

“We ought to see. He may be hurt.” around.”

Miller and Crowder left the car to 7

investigate. Seconds later they came Shes 4a
racing back, their faces pale with “Ll thir
fright. ‘ * aa cricd, “YF
It’s a man, all right, Miller told his around o
wife as he slid behind the wheel. “He’s way and
The whole-side of his face-has . It was p:
been blown away!” a ad the 1
This was at 1:55 a.m. By 2:10 five 2 ae aN
Police cars had reached the scene. Ser- 4 get that
geant Luther was there with Detectives away. It
Griffis, C. E. Burris and Robert Kim- we've ha
bro; J. M. Richardson and John Cole, A eBoy
Special homicide investigators for the - ander an:
district attorney-general’s office; Ser- 3 recalled «
geant M. D. Lavender and Patrolmen _ the vicin
Robert Alexander and John Smith. Boulevarc
The victim lay on his stomach, the - * The ses

right side of his face completely torn
away by what obviously had been a
shotgun blast. His right trousers leg -
had been shredded by another charge
of shot, disclosing an ugly, gaping hole

At 5:30
ren G. B:
covered t}
Street, a

ates

in the thigh. "hue
No identification could be found on belongs t
the body, but a bloodstained visored cap pany,” he

near by had the name of a chain of. 3 right. Bl
service stations on it. a interior.”

“Get in touch with the district man- The rac
ager,” Luther told Kimbro and Burris. Theft By

“See if he can find out if any of his

through 3
workers are missing.” 4 had rage
The detectives hurried off in Search 24 Alexans
of a phone. “eae locate the
An ambulance arrived and a doctor 4 dust the +
flexed the dead man’s arms experi- =
mentally, then felt the flesh. 5 Not los
“Still warm,” he announced. “Rigor 4 Resha
mortis hasn’t begun to set in. This a Patient
couldn’t have happened more than an | Sleepy -ey,
hour ago.” 4 his resic,
Luther spoke to Alexander and Smith to

Smith. “Start rolling. Try to find a
Someone around here who saw or heard
something.” ;

To Richardson and Cole he said: ; last night
“The poor guy must have been trying “4 *¥8 insid
to get away. The killer's first shot “9 ™e time ¢,
struck him in the leg. He finished off ~ | ere
the job with the second in the face.” i e. IM the

-Luther’s theory was partially sub Dixon hag
stantiated a short time later when in :

The phone would not ring in
the liquor store for Louis
Hutchison after that night

were silent; no one would take the bet.

“Scatter out and see if you can find
anyone who heard the shot or saw any-
thing suspicious,” Luther said to the
men. ‘“‘And get a general alarm out for
all suspicious persons, especially any-
one answering the description of Cur-_
ly-Top.”

The officers filed out, glad for the
chance to get moving. Luther watched
them in silence. He didn’t expect that
they'd find much.at this hour, but he
was unwilling to pass up any possibili-
ties. Even on now-quiet Church Street.

This street begins at the rugged
banks of the Cumberland River, sweeps
westward through the very center of
the downtown shopping district and
then becomes Elliston Place when it
reaches 21st Avenue. During the day
and early evening it is the busiest street
in Nashville, swarming with shoppers,
alive with a continuous flow of two-
way traffic. Then, toward eleven p. m.,
the commercial section goes to sleep. A
gradual cessation of activity begins
about five where the street begins, in the
ugly warehouse district. It spreads to
the tall bank buildings, to the office
buildings, the big department-stores.
Drifggists and the larger cafes lock up
at ten, the liquor stores and the movie
houses at eleven. Traffic slows to an
occasional car or bus and Church Street
becomes a gilded lady, a hollow empti-
ness behind a string of multi-colored
neons. By midnight even the bars are

noticeably bare.

Except for the activity within the
liquor store, the street was deserted.

Detective B. S. Griffis had arrived
from the Identification Bureau and
after he had photographed the scene, a
coroner’s assistant officially pronounced
Hutchison dead. The little clerk had
been shot from close range, the medic
announced, and from the side. A full
charge of buckshot had caught him in
the left cheek. Quick search of the vic-
tim’s pockets disclosed a rosary, a
prayer book, a comb and two bus tokens.
But no billfold. - :

“The killer sure picked him clean,”
Luther declared wryly. “Just like
Curly-Top did in all the other jobs.”
Since early April, police had been

plagued by ‘a series of well-executed
robberies, all apparently committed by
the same man. He had struck first at
Johnson's Auto Shop on Fifteenth Ave-
nue, two blocks south of Church Street.
During this job he picked up the sawed-
off shotgun destined to become his
trademark. Ten other robberies in the
Church Street vicinity followed in swift
order. From descriptions gathered and
carefully pieced together by the harried
investigators they were sure that the
bandit in each case was the same man.

The description, however, was as far
as the detectives were able to go. He
was in his late twenties, about six feet
tall, weighed close to 200 pounds and
dressed roughly. He had a_ broad,
swarthy face, pig-like eyes and once,
when he dropped his hat, a witness
noticed that he had black, curly hair.

Curly-Top left an empty cash
register behind but no clues

i<S>
__ cw YORKTS

i |, |

Newspapermen promptly dubbed him
Curly-Top. =

None of.the individual robberies had
netted the gunman much in dollars
and cents, but the accumulated total
soon ran into a considerable sum.

Detective Chief Martin Stephens:
worked around the clock in an effort to
trap the elusive bandit before some-
body was hurt. Extra police cars were
assigned to the area; heavily armed de-
tectives, disguised as laborers, pounded
the pavements from eight p. m. until.
dawn.

WP Lelrcrig officers were staked out in the
dark back rooms of business houses
on the chance that the gunman might
strike while they were there.

The holdups ceased. Finally, during
the early part of August, Stephens or-
dered his men to return to their routine
assignments. Almost as if he knew
the shotgun bandit struck again, on
August 9. This time he was not alone
—and he tried to kill two men.

James Caperton, assistant manager

= AL:

Not once did experts find any
of Curly -Top's finger - prints

“Did he say anything about a
woman?” Luther asked.
‘Yes, he did,” White revlied. “He
said the men in the car were shouting
at a woman who was coming out of the
store.” }
Unfortunately, the motorist had had 4
only a glimpse of the woman and could ~-. *
not describe her in detail. He couldn’
recall the exact make or model of the
car, either. t
Nevertheless, in view of the time
element and the presence of the woman.
Luther was intensely interested in this
report. He knew that a woman had

: ne sae dg A ’ : om Pp. M., as Hutchison was counting the
A. ease ‘i . 2 day’s receipts just before closing the
cL at ‘ iy store.

But by dawn Hutchison’s slayer z
obviously had evaded the net. : i‘

jx THE morning, at nine a. m. Chief 4
Stephens called a conference of all - |
the officers working on the case. i
“How about the woman?” he asked. | |

“Where does she fit in?” | |
Sergeant Luther, his eyes red from if
loss of sleep, said: “I wish 1 knew. All ©

of a gas station at No. 1038 Charlotte Charlotte Avenue, was robbed of $35 by cheek thoughtfully. 1¢ Hutchison counter.” Bi

BW Avenue, three blocks north of Church a tall, heavy-set shotgun bandit and a hadn’t resisted, then how had the tele- - Stephens leaned back in his swivel «
bate Street, was the first intended victim. smaller companion. Both menhadworn phone been knocked to the floor? How chair. “Has anyone looked into that *
TARE Sie He was alone in the station at 3:30 masks but Haynes thought that the had the ash tray been smashed? first robbery to see if they might be 4
a.m. when a tall, muscular bandit, smaller man was younger, approxi- Detective Griffis came up, wiping connected?” os
wearing a handkerchief over the lower mately five feet, nine inches tall and finger-print powder from his hands. “Records Bureau is taking care of '
Portion of his face, entered, swinging stocky. They had escaped in a black He jerked a thumb toward the closet that right now.” me
' @ sawed-off shotgun in a wide arc. 1938 Ford sedan. where the body lay. “I found some- “And the other robberies the shotgun _ * Res
“Gimme your money!” he demanded State, county and city police were thing in there you should see.” bandit pulled? Are you going over them °-. ofl
roughly. “All of it!” alerted but no further trace of the Leading the way to the tiny back to see if we might have overlooked °°
Shakily, Caperton Scooped eight vehicle or its occupants could be found. room, he pointed to the fioor. “This.” something?” afm
f dollars from the cash register and That was the shotgun bandit’s record “A foot-print. A bloody foot-print.” “Right.” :
4 handed it over. _ up to the morning of August 27—Thir- “A woman’s foot-print,” Griffis de- “No lead on the car or the woman the
1. - The holdup man was infuriated. “Is teen known robberies and two at- clared. “T’ve made photographs of it. motorist saw?” :
he this all you got? I ought’a kill you.” tempted slayings. Not that they'll do us much good to “None.”
i : Terrified, Caperton made a mad dash And now he was being sought for identifying the owner, but it’s some- - Stephens rose, Signaling the end of
ee ae for the front door. The shotgun roared. murder. thing to keep in mind.” the conference. “Keep digging,” he
it) Caperton heard the unmistakable crash Wynn Kelly, owner of the Southerner ~ “A woman’s foot-print,” Luther said glumly. “This is one case we’ve got
Wo of glass as a load of buckshot tore Liquor Store, was notified of the repeated incredulously. “Now how to solve. The Commissioner already
devs through the panel behind him. tragedy as were Miss Hutchison, the could that get in here?” has called to find out what we’re doing.
i | Outside, on the sidewalk, William F. Victim’s sister, and a brother, F. N. “Whoever left it was close to Hutchi- Hutchison had a fine reputation. For
beer Maddin, a 27-year-old man, heard the Hutchison. By 1:30 a. m. all three were son’s body after he was shot,” Griffis the time being let me worry about the
1 | shot and whirled in time to see Caper- on the scene. stated. “Close enough to step in his press and the public; you boys keep
j ton disappear around, the side of the Kelly examined the tape on his cash blood, then track it across the floor.” working.”

building. The masked bandit came register and the emptied safe and Who was this woman? How find her? That afternoon, the newspapers
i running through the splintered door. estimated that approximately $546 had Luther talked to Kelly again. “Did carried a brief mention of the myster-
h He saw Maddin and raised his gun to been taken. Still dazed by .the tragic Hutchison have a girl friend?” . ious automobile and the woman who
hip level. Maddin ran. An entire load news, he leaned heavily against a Kelly was surprised. “None that I had been seen leaving the store. They -
| ) of shot ripped into a circular metal sign counter. “Louie Shouldn’t have been ever heard about. He was a strange quoted Stephens as asking anyone
| i inches from the spot where he had been shot,” he said as though speaking half sort of duck, Louie was. A bachelor. having information on such a car to

ih standing. to himself. “He wouldn't give a robber He never played around so far as I heard report at once to Headquarters.
| t A car roared into the station drive- any trouble.” and he believed that liquor was made Shortly after the papers hit the
way, stopped long enough for the gun- “You can’t tell what a man might to sell, not to drink.. Honest as they _ streets, tips poured into Headquarters.
} man to climb in, and then raced off, do when he’s looking down the barrel come.” Many came from cranks apparently ;
A traveling west on Charlotte. of a gun,” Luther said. “Any enemies?” trying to get a neighbor in trouble; =
al) { - “It was a thirty-eight Ford sedan,” “I know what Louis would have done. “Louie? Not on your life. He made Police spotted these quickly. : Others, Bed
4 : Maddin told investigators. “Black.” The same thing he did before. He’d friends with everyone.” however, were from upstanding citizens, Ea
i stand over there against the shelves and indignant over the slaying of the harm- Bp
, “D ID you get a look at the driver?” tell the guy to help himself.” HE first lead came a short time later less little liquor clerk and hopeful that
~ a detective asked. ‘Was he robbed before?” when the detective team of White their information would help.
ie Maddin said he hadn’t. Caperton, “Yeah. Back in fifty-one. A punk and Cavender reported back. ’. For the next two days, the detectives
. iin who had been hiding at the rear of the came in here and pulled a gun. Louie A motorist had stopped them to ask ran down each lead with a stubborn
. Se building, was questioned but he hadn't let him have all the cash, nearly four what was wrong inside the liquor Store. doggedness. In all, more than 50 |
| \ seen either the car or the driver. hundred bucks. I told Louie later that Told about the Slaying, he quickly Owners of 1938 Ford sedans were °*%
. am Then, on August 14, Police finally got it was the smart thing to do—not to recalled that he had seen an old car investigated and exonerated as each ;
* fae 8 partial description of the driver of argue with a punk who’s got a gun. _ Parked in front of the store when he’d proved an alibi for the time of the | ~
ot the getaway car. Marvin Haynes, an I’m insured.” driven past at about 10:45. A group of Slaying. ,
i attendant at another gas station on Luther rubbed a forefinger along his noisy youngsters had been in it. Meantime, records clerks had learned

about @

ied. “He
shouting
out of the

had had
ind could
> couldn’t
lel of the

the time
e woman.
-d in this
man had
nison was
irder had
re eleven
ating the
osing the

saw that
ks good.’”
but they
he neigh-
2 else had
1 and the

d, police
ind alley-
ert for a
nd State
the high-
lack cars
ming the
ing them

‘Ss slayer
a

m. Chief
ice of all
ase.

he asked.

1 m
£ Hn
Tass: wAS

out the
roken ash
submitted
two years
then the
»m off the

his swivel
into that
might be

z care of

e shotgun
over them
»verlooked

‘oman the

he end of
ging,” he
» we’ve got
or already
e’re doing.
‘tion. For
about the
boys keep

ewspapers
ie myster-
»man who

dquarters.
ipparently
n trouble;

Others,
1g citizens,
the harm-
ipeful that

detectives
« stuhhorn

ti re
d ch
Tac va the

ad learned

»
*
Kc

Fleeing in vain for his life,
a man left these bloodstains

that Hutchison’s murder could not
possibly be linked to the 1951 stickup.
The bandit in that case had been cap-
tured after the robbery and sentenced
to serve ten years for this and three
similar crimes. He was still in the
penitentiary.

Victims and witnesses involved in the
other robberies attributed to Curly-Top
were summoned to Headquarters and
asked to look again at the picture files
of known criminals. Painstakingly,
they went over the seemingly endless
stack of full-face and side-view “mug
shots”.

Occasionally, one would linger over
a picture for a few fleeting seconds.
Then he’d shake his head and go on
to the next.

Griffis kept a note of those criminals
who brought second glances from the
witnesses and when the task had been
completed he had the names of a dozen,
men who must have some slight facial
resemblance to the bandit or whose
physical characteristics tallied in one
respect or another. 3

Then came tedious paper work, a
search through musty files to determine
whether these twelve were dead or alive,
in prison or on parole, still in the Nash-
ville vicinity or living far away.

Y MONDAY, August 31, Griffis had
narrowed the field to one man. One
out of twelve.

The lone remaining suspect was Big
Willie Sullivan. He was 26, a giant of
a man with a long string of robberies
and convictions behind him. Released
from prison a year earlier after serving
five years for armed robbery, Sullivan
was believed to still be in Nashville.

A pick-up order was issued for his
arrest.

“Wanted for questioning in the slay-
ing of Louis Hutchison,” the bulletin
read, and Sullivan immediately became
the hottest item in the mid-Tennessee
area.

He also was the hardest item to
locate.

Sullivan had been. granted a full.

pardon upon his release from prison and
the state parole board had no informa-
tion on his current whereabouts.
Records at the penitentiary, however,
listed his relatives and known asso-
ciates and detectives picked up the
trail. It led first to a rooming-house in
North Nashville, then clear across town
to “Varment Town”, an appropriately
named neighborhood on the tough
South Side. From there the suspect had
moved to East Nashville, across the
river. The trail grew cold.

“Look for his woman,” Sergeant

Sgt. Luther, left; Investigator Cole, ad
his secretary, and two death weapons

ed itans

Luther instructed the detectives. ‘He
must havea girl friend. Find her and
watch her long enough and she’ll lead
you to him.”

On Tuesday, the Homicide Sergeant
learned the name of the woman the
motorist had seen. She was Evelyn
Tower and she was only seventeen
years old.

A pimply-faced teen-ager with
frightened eyes and Jong, boney fingers,
told Luther about her when he came
to the Sergeant’s office and announced

(Continued on Page 62)

TOTEEN SCORER Na he ds Competes y
’

Siac atts

eae ‘
rhabee te hgh Boos

HARVEST OF REVENGE 17

hem in, th 4 ; ‘ .
full padre Mes. pai be stab of flame in the sky . . . an ear-shattering, paralyzing

») B-O-0-0-O-M . .. the crash of splintering, falling timbers
B... Silence...

‘. The deed was done! The “worst crime on record in East
“ Tennessee”—triple child murder by dynamite.

* * *

~ At 3:50 a. M., Friday, January 7th, residents of Hampton
were hurled from their beds or brought upright from sound
slumber by a terrific explosion. Scores rushed half-clothed
into the marrow-chilling darkness. Drugged with sleep or
incapacitated with terror and shock, they groped for an ex-
planation of the disaster which all were certain had been
visited upon their peaceful community.
They were not long in learning the awful truth, for the
- fitful beams of lanterns and electric torches, the shouts: of
_ rescuers, wailing of women and cries of dismay and despair,
“ drew them to the site of the Harmon Gouge home—the site
where the Harmon Gouge home had stood. That dwelling
was a shambles. Only the rear walls were erect; the other
sections were missing or caved in as if lifted by a malicious
giant and dropped into a pile of kindling wood.
As searchers dug frantically in the debris, their worst
> fears were realized. Close together lay the grotesquely
& twisted bodies of Sonia and Roma Jean. Blood gushed from
their eyes, ears, nostrils, mouths.’ It was hardly necessary to
lift the strangely not-mangled bodies out of the wreckage to
* confirm that they were dead. : ;
« Spurred by mingled horror and hope,. volunteers tore a
~ the ruins with frantic zeal, using hands, timbers, tools—any
‘s instrument available in search for others. A groan attracted
them. Almost wrapped in a mattress which appeared to have
|” passed through a shredding machine they found the mother.
? She lost consciousness as she was lifted and rushed to a hos-
4 pital in Elizabethton, seat of Carter County, six miles distant.
It was only a matter of moments before rescuers made
their fourth tragic discovery—Luine’s still form. She
was alive but grievously injured. Tenderly re-

presentiment that all

|,” she said, “so I sat
Idren’s school dresses
ht. Then I went to
ake a long time.”
ness engulfed her and
lept soundly,
y before had been a
‘and joyous one for
the little girls—a day
of triumph for
Sonia, who; by

‘High Cliff, beer
“garden and tourist .
resort near Hampton,
er left, operated joint-
darmon Gouge, above,
Tellett prior to their
{ dodger, left, issued by:
‘ort to trace the dyna-
used in perpetrating
crime,

J. M, Moreland, below, astute sheriff of Car-
ter County, who with the aid of his own ~
men, federal, state and special in-
vestigators, quickly solved the

“worst crime on record in
East Tennessee." Laurel
Fork service _ station,

right, where the
shooting of
Arnold Tollett

took place.

the most popular ¢
That day she had
room program—and
e, a second grader,
‘ into the mysteries
leefully after school
before being called.

slumber or childish © }

See hace aksaes i is eis ss son Bl ca

', Upper East Ten- 4
on, Harmon Gouge %
k in the coffee shop

arily shortly before
‘unning low for his fF
he clock, appalling

mes—so filled with
d in minutes, for
ling from the high-
id twisted like hid-
couriers of instant

moved, she
was placed on a
cot in the home of
Harmon Gouge’s next
door neighbor—his brother,
Fletcher Gouge—to await ar-
ide: Choate, a rival of an ambulance. Blood
BG ewer ack pouring from eyes, mouth, nos-
> Wonl Me ” ha trils, ears, she groaned a little
‘ Would not fate = and then joined. her sisters in
v only twenty feet -

‘home ticked away — |
ir and a half had « f

Stunned
and bruised

by the terrific ex-
plosion, Mrs. Harmon
Gouge, right, lay ina near

death.

To this scene of carnage
° travel jive Was “F strode Sheriff J. M. Moreland,
now fo live... -f veteran law enforcer of Carter

County, after a breakneck run

! No hope! 4
istant . . . a lurid from his home in Shell Creek

stupor for one full week.

community in response to word of the disaster telephoned by
Deputy Sheriff H. W. Oakes, who lives at Hampton. and was
among the first on the spot after the explosion. :

In shocked silence the sheriff regarded the panorama of
death and devastation; with attentive ear heard the report of
his officer; with practiced eye began an examination of the
premises.

Moreland’s search was instantly. productive. From the
basement of the ruined home seeped acrid fumes, unmistak-

_ ably the after-odor of exploded dynamite. A more startling

discovery was that twin lines ‘of “burned” (used) dynamite
fuse led from the highway’s edge to a point at the basement
window of the Gouge home.

. Another clue, which was to assume great significance as
the investigation proceeded was a wadded tow sack beside the
‘utility pole where the fuse line terminated. It had two
roughly-slashed holes.

The Carter sheriff slowly wound the twin fuse lines into
a coil, studying each foot as it came into his hands. Suddenly

he paused and regarded what he at first believed a flaw in

one of the lines. And then he knew—-two ends of fuse had
been expertly spliced, and to guard against seepage of water
into the line or parting of the connection, a commonly-used
rubber contraceptive sealed it.

As the first hint of gray came into the east, Sheriff More-
land called his officers into a huddle. Eyes and voice eloquent
of his emotions, he announced through taut lips:

“This is murder! Dynamite murder of babies! We are
going to the bottom of this thing and we are going to get the

'
i
é

* wi ae
. ~~

eae ar tig ‘
inn KEEP Oe

rail ATT,

RSS
<0

be .

5
*

AIN which had drenched the picturesque Upper East Ten-
nessee village of Hampton all the day and the night before,
ceased shortly after one o’clock on the morning of January
7th, 1938. A clammy fog stole down the mountainside and

enshrouded the sleeping hamlet. It was a filthy night and an hour

at which most honest burghers were long abed.

Through the shifting mist and gloom knifed the headlights of an
automobile. Approaching the village’s outskirts, the vehicle
stopped, three shadowy figures emerged; the car was driven on-
ward through the hamlet.

The trio on the highway
looked cautiously around, held a
whispered conversation, and two
of the prowlers, each carrying a
shapeless burden, faded into the
fog-laden darkness in the direc-
tion of a modest, attractive
white frame cottage a hundred

A vivid: picture (top) of the
shambles of the Harmon Gouge
home ‘after a dynamite blast had
reduced it to kindling. Caskets
of the three Gouge’ children, left,
awaiting burial subsequent to the
tragedy.

16 AMERICAN DETECTIVE

at play. '
"But she could not overcome the presentiment

was not well.

Finally, weariness engulfed
she, too, slept soundly.
The day before had
busy and joyous

aC
it Ait

f
it

dispute. Reward dodger, left,

the crime.

her. teacher’s appraisal, was the most
third grader at Hampton school. That day

home for supper, study and for bed.

yards distant. The third man remained beside the road. No disturbing thoughts marred their slumber or
Minutes passed . . . five... ten. The dark, oppressive still- dreams of the morrow’s joys.

ness was broken by whispers and muffled footfalls, as the But for them there was no morrow.

mysterious pair made their way slowly back to the roadside * * *

slender lines of what a novice might mistake for stout cord. nessee metropolis 13 miles

beside a utility service pole at the road’s edge. of which he is part owner.

the little girls—a day
of triumph _ for,
Sonia, who; by

-High Cliff, beer
garden and tourist
resort. near Hampton,
upper left, operated
ly by Harmon Gouge, above,
and Arnold Tollett prior to their

sung with two classmates in a schoolroom program—and
_ how she loved to sing! Laughing Luine, a second grader,
and Roma Jean, a wide-eyed adventurer into the mysteries
of the first grade, had played hard and gleefully after school
hours with their neighborhood. friends, before being called

from the direction of the cottage, tediously paying out two In his room at'a hotel in Johnson City, Upper East Ten-
ha © 1 : : rom Hampton, Harmon .Gouge
$ the coil unwound to its end, the pair stopped and knelt slept soundly after a strenuous day of work in the coffee shop ;

The shielded flare of a match 110 a wicked spew of orange Little dreamed he as he roused momentarily shortly before
“+ 5 ee flare, a second sputtering spew. The two stood three that sands in the hour glass were running low for his
upright. One cast aside a wadded tow sack. The other, eloved brood—that with each tick of the clock, appalling

bedtime hour, and when she finally tucked them in, they slept the fame
sleep of happy children, tired from a long,-full day at school and wae a3

i . silence .

that all "The deed +
i ;

Tennessee"-

“T didn’t want to go to bed,” she said, “so I sat
up and sewed on the children’s school dresses
until nearly midnight. Then I went to
bed, but I lay awake a long time.”

At 3:50 a.
were hurled |
her and slumber by &

into the mar
been a incapacitated
one for planation ol
visited upon

They wer
fitful beams
rescuers, We
drew them
where the |!
was a shan
sections we!
giant and «)

As seare
fears were
twisted boc
their eyes, |
lift the str
confirm th:

Spurred
the ruins \
instrument
them, Alm
passed thr:

She lost ¢:

pital in El

It was ¢
their four:
was alive

joint.

issued by = J. M. More

the sheriff in an effort to trace the dyna- ter County
~mite and accessories used in perpetrating — men, feder

vestigators
“worst cr

popular East Tenn

she had Fork serv
right, wh:

shooting
Arnold T«
took place

childish

H empty-handed now, looked long at the darkened bungalow, fate strode toward his sleeping household
§ barely visible in the gloom, and spat as if in malicious satis- Yet even then the lives of three little ones—so filled with
; faction or contempt. The pair turned and without a word re- enthusiasm and promise—were measured in minutes, for moved,
i joined their companion down the road. along those harmless-appearing lines, leading from the high- was pl
Y _The hour was near 2 a. M, as a car approached from the way to the Gouge home, there writhed and twisted like hid- cot in
i direction of Hampton, slowed, stopped. Three figures gous, hissing adders, twin sparks of doom, couriers of instant Harm
H emerged from the shadows, entered it and sped in the direc- death. sed ii
; tion from which the quartet originally came. ‘A clock on the mantel in the little white home ticked away Fletch:
Z Boasted one, as blackness again closed around the scene of the inexorable passage of time. An hour and a half had wind
the mysterious machinations : » elapsed since matches flared at the roadside. Closer, closer pourin
Somebody will go to hell soon... - crawled disaster... Would not God, in His mercy, stretch trils, «
* * * out a protecting hand to these innocents? Would not fate and t!
Mrs. Harmon Gouge, on the night of January 6th, felt a bar the way to the agents of disaster, now only twenty feet death.
- mother’s premonition of disaster. Usually she put her babies from their goal? * To
H to bed at an early hour and retired to rest for arduous house- Twenty feet... ten feet... five... one to travel... Was strod
if wifely duties of the coming day. But on this night'she ex- there no hope? No hope? Sixty seconds now to live... veter:
q perienced, for no apparent reason, a strange feeling of thirty... twenty... ten... five... No! No hope! Coun
uneasiness. She allowed the children to remain up past their Time and the world stood still for an instant... a lurid from

18 AMERICAN

people who did it. I think I know the source of—Oakes, you
and Williams (Deputy Sheriff A. B.) go to Braemar. Bring
me Mae Tollett, Frank Thompson, Bruce ‘Pierce, Clyde De-
Loach, Tom DeLoach and Jim Greer. I think they—some of
them anyhow—know something about this. I’m going to
Elizabethton. There are some other people who have a lot
of explaining to do. I think I know... .”

Astute officer that he is, Sheriff Moreland had more than
a hunch as he started out on the trail of the fiendish killers
of the Harmon Gouge children. He also realized that he had
a case in hand which would require more expert and more
technical assistance for solution than Carter County affords.

Thus it was that two dynamic personalities, destined to
play vital roles in ferreting out and punishing the‘ perpetra-
tors of Tennessee’s “worst crime” were drawn into the in-
vestigation. They were Harry S. Avery, crack investigator
for the National Board of Fire Underwriters, and Virgil M.
Kitts, deputy state fire marshal. To both men, Sheriff More-
land subsequently has been generous in praise; to Avery he
offered the $2,500 posted by Carter County for bringing the
miscreants to justice. Avery rejected it.

Yes, Sheriff Moreland acted on more than inspiration
when he ordered the arrest of Mae Tollett, her brother-in-
law and their reputed friends. To his mind flashed instantly
a probable motive for the crime when first word came to him
that Harmon Gouge’s home had been “blown to Kingdom
Come.”

Gouge, while not a man of large means, managed to supply
a comfortable living for his family. In addition to an interést
in several service stations, he had joint ownership in a beer
garden—High Cliff—near Hampton. His partner in this
enterprise was Arnold Tollett, brother of Mae; brother-in-
law of Frank Thompson.

The Gouge-Tollett partnership did not prosper. “Differ-
ences” arose. Gouge says he turned the entire management
over to Tollett. Arnold is déad and cannot dispute the fact.
For, early in January of 1937 the two business co-adventur-
ers met in a service station. Words passed .. . lightning ac-
tion . . . Tollett fell mortally wounded from pistol slugs.
Gouge was arrested, charged with murder, indicted and re-
leased under $10,000 bond.

“He came looking for me... He drew a knife... I had

to kill him to save my life.” That was Gouge’s defense. Tol-~

lett is dead.

At any rate, the trial of Gouge, who is not without wide
and influential connections in Carter County (his step-
brother, K. P. Banks is county superintendent of schools)
was postponed for one reason or another from one term of
court to another.

Arnold Tollett sprang from the dominant political family
in Bledsoe County, Tennessee. The Tollett family is large
and powerful; the county over which it holds sway is rela-
tively insignificant in the Tennessee scheme of things.

Bledsoe County lies roughly between Chattanooga and
Nashville, two hundred miles or more from Carter County—
scene of Arnold Tollett’s death and the murder of Harmon
Gouge’s children. It has the unsavory reputation of at least
32 homicides in recent years without a conviction. The
county seat is Pikeville.

At each term of Carter court when, for reasons sufficient
to the court, Gouge’s trial was postponed, a persistent .atten-
dant was White Miller Tollett, of Pikeville, a brother of the
slain man.

Also present were various members and friends
of the Tollett clan and, in most instances, Mae Tol-
lett and her acquired kin in Carter County. (Her
sister married Frank Thompson. )

Autumn of 1937 waned, and still Gouge had not
“got justice” for Arnold Tollett’s slaying.

Late in October, Gouge alighted from his auto-
mobile, stepped into a rural store for a purchase and
a chat. An instant later a deafening detonation rent
the air. Gouge and others in the store rushed to the
door and found the Gouge car completely demol-
ished. There was unmistakable evidence a dynamite
bomb had been planted beneath it.

At that time Sheriff Moreland made several ar-
rests but all were proved innocent and released.

From the day he escaped death in the automobile
bombing, Harmon Gouge never spent a night at
home. He explained he feared possible further at-

DETECTIVE

other side of
trained.
Crossing Tu
so named only
though a tunne
sight of a piece
bridge floor.
of the wrappe
dismounted, ¢
with gloved h:
is a mile and
scene of. the c!

tempts on his life might endanger his loved ones.

His visits with his family were infrequent and una ~
nounced, He generally took his wife and little girls el
where to enjoy their companionship in safe surroundings. “a

Arrest of Mae Tollett the morning of the murder brought”
one valuable lead to Sheriff Moreland as he strove to piece
together the fragmentary crime puzzle in the hours just fol;
lowing the Hampton horror.

Immediately upon being escorted to the Carter jail, Mat
insisted upon making: a telephone call. That call was to the
sheriff of Bledsoe County, Walter L. Walling! Mae asked
that her brother, Deputy Sheriff Crave Leonard Tollett, Jr,
be notified she was in jail on suspicion of murder. She asked The paper
help of her brother and the Bledsoe sheriff. More of this: usual _ reddis!
anon. Ripped open ;

Acting partly on a hunch, partly on reports that whit where it had
Tollett, coroner of Bledsoe County and brother of Crave and bundle, it still
the slain Arnold, had sworn that Gouge would “never live to

be tried,” and that Thomas Lee Walker, a Bledsoe County of Agnew
special deputy sheriff, had frequently accompanied White ware Compe
Tollett to Carter County to attend the Gouge trials which North Chat
never materialized, Sheriff Moreland obtained warrants nooga, Tenn.
charging the two with murder. He signed still other war- Strange,
rants charging with murder Crave Tollett and Church Lester, reasoned
Bledsoe County leather worker, farmer, hunter, trapper and, Slate, that

son of a retired minister.

By telephone, Sheriff Moreland’s office notified Sheriff:
Walling at Pikeville of the warrants and requested arrest of
the men for whom they were issued. More later of this
chapter for one of the most amazing stories in many a day
s purported intrigue by Bledsoe officers sworn to uphold the
aw.

Thus, within three hours after the explosion had snuffed :
out the lives of three innocent babies, Sheriff Moreland had |
under arrest or warrants pending against nine definite sus-
pects.

Then, like a gift from Providence, came a clue to the Car- |
ter sheriff, restlessly awaiting arrival of Investigators Avery
and Kitts and a representative of the Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation, who promptly responded to his request for
assistance.

The evidence, which was to play no small part in the
solution, was supplied by Sergeant Hugh Slate of the .
state highway patrol, who since has won merited pro-
motion and been transferred to Nashville.

Sergeant Slate was notified at Johnson City of the
child murders. He aroused Highway Patrolman
R. H. Dietzel and the two immediately sped
toward Hampton to offer their services. En
route, Slate shook off the stupor which usually
accompanies rising at the ungodly hour of
four or five, and pondered how he could be
of most assistance. On a hunch, he in-
structed Dietzel to remain alert on one
side of the road for possible clues.
Down the middle and along the

{i
on
that
yet o'
Morela
ure so pr
to conclud
moment.
A clue?
Gray-hai
half of the
with to Ch:
Edgar Ho:
gerprints.
Straight
Chattanoo;
der he loc:
recalled s«
either on °
blast murd
was wrap}
with trade-
terial foun
No, Gre

Church Lester, below, last to be
arrested on a charge of murder.
White ‘Miller Tollett, right, cor-
oner of Bledsoe County and

one of the accused.

ate

stenciled trac

AO)

twisted off its foundation and bent as
though a giant hind toved with it. Fletcher
Gouge shouted. and heard no answer,

Then, as though from a great distance,
came a plaintive voice from the ruins.

“Roma Jean! Help! Help!”

It was Evelyn Gouge calling for her
youngest, child. At least the mother was
alive. Fletcher sprang into the ruins,,
quickly located her. The mattress of the
bed upon which she and the baby girl
had been sleeping was wrapped around
her. Heavy planks were lying across her
chest. She was stunned,

Her brother-in-law, working with the
strength of three men in his excitement,
hurled the planks and pieces of wall to
one side, and carefully picked her up. She
Was unconscious when he carried her into
his home and Wrapped her in blankets,

B* this time, other neighbors were be-
ginning to arrive, and they carried out
the little girls. Sonia and Roma Jean
had been killed instantly. Luena was
still breathing when she was found, but
she soon passed on, too. Mercifully, none
of the little bodies was mutilated, or even
lncerated to mnyv great extent,

Realizing that his brother's wife needed
immediate medical attention, Fletcher
Gouge carried her limp form out to his
car, intending to drive her ton hospital.
But he suddenly realized that he must not
start the motor! Perhaps the fiends had
placed dynamite in his car, as they had
in his brother's. This fear lator proved un-
founded, but Mrs. Gouge was taken to
Shoun Hospital, Klizabethton, in a neigh-
bor’s car. There it was believed that she
could not recover. She was suffering from
multiple bruises, shock, and her chest was
crushed, although no bones, other than
ribs, were broken,

Word of the tragedy spread rapidly.
Someone notified the Sheriff’s office in
Elizabethton, and Sheriff Moreland was
called at his home. He reached the scene
in a half-hour. He knew instantly what
had happened, for the odor of dynamite
still hung over the ruins. Presently he
found about 120 feet of burned fuse, and
the old burlap bag which the unholy as-
sassins had left. behind them.

The Sheriff remained in Hampton a
short time and then returned to his
Elizabethton headquarters. He told me
that the first thing he did there was to
lock himself in’ his office, and pray for

“hurch Lester, minister’s son, was
ought up in seclusion in the moun-
tains

Lrue Detective Mysteries

(Continued from page 124)
Divine guidance in bringing the atrocious
murderers to justice. When he left the
office, his: course was clear to him. Un-
doubtedly the killers were kinsmen or
close friends of Arnold Tollett. He would
lock up all the Tolletts, and their sup-
porters, that he could locate.

By this time, two friends had hastened
to Johnson City, and had aroused Har-
mon Gouge in his hotel room, They made
the blow as easy as they could, but they
had been misinformed and told him that
his daughters, and also his wife, had all
died, the latter in Shoun Hospital. Half-
crazed with grief, he accompanied them
to the hospital, and there discovered that
his wife stil] lived, even though she was
unconscious. He remained by her side
Jong into the morning, stroking her hands.
When he finally stepped into another
room, he broke down completely and
ericd like a child.

“I told the girls ’d come and see them
today,” he said, haltingly. “I didn’t think
I'd see them the—the—way they are.”

There were a half-dozen men ine the
room with him, and they were all weeping,
unashamed.,

Sheriff ~~ Morcland wready had sent
deputy sheriffs to Bracmar, with orders to
round up every Tollett and Tollett. sup-
porter that could be found there. Before
the deputies returned, Sergeant, Hugh
Slate, commander of the State Highway
Patrol at Johnson City, had arrived at
the Elizabethton courthouse with what he
considered a vital piece of evidence,

Slate had been notified of the horrible
crime about 4:30 a.m. After detailing
men to watch all main highways, and to
investigate all suspicious cars, he set out
for Hampton. As he reached the tunnel
bridge over the Doe River, the lights of
his car picked out a piece of paper, lying
beside the road. He jammed on the
brakes, and leaped out. As he picked up
the paper, he knew that it had been
thrown away during the last two or three
hours, for while it was still raining, the
paper was dry. in spots beneath its folds.

And when Slate spread the paper out
on Sheriff Moreland’s desk, there, printed
in plain letters on a sticker which had held
the paper together around 2 bundle, was:

Agnew Hardware Co.
Hardware & Paints,
30 Frazer Avenue,
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Telephone, 7-2186,

“That tells the whole story,” Sheriff
Moreland exclaimed. “That’s where they
bought the fuse. I found the burlap bag
the dynamite came in.”

oreland immediately — sent Deputy
Sheriff A. B. Williams to Chattanooga
with orders to identify. the slicker, aseer-
tain who had purchased dynamite fuse
from the hardware company, and bring
back the clerk who had sold it, that he
might attempt to identify the suspects
who, Moreland promised, would be under
arrest by the time he arrived.

Next, the Sheriff got busy on the long
distance telephone, and soon he was talk-
ing with High Sheriff Walling, at the
county jail in Pikeville,

“T want you to arrest Crave Tollett,
White Miller Tollett, and Lee Walker, and
hold them until my men arrive,” More-
land said, after explaining what had hap-
pened at Hampton. “I’ve scen them up
here together, and I want to talk to
them.”

The truth was that Sheriff Morcland
had in mind arresting the trio after the
Gouge car had been dynamited, for he
had seen and identified them as extreme-
ly interested spectators in the courtroom

Crave Tollett, Bledsoe County
deputy sheriff

when Harmon Gouge’s trials were put
over, However, he did not enlighten
Sheriff Walling.

“Crave Tollett couldn’t be mixed up in
it,” the Bledsoe officer protested. “Why,
T was talking to him right here in Pike-
ville just « few minutes ago. He wouldn’t
have had time to get back if he was up
there in Hampton this morning.” :

“AIL right’ then, hold. the other two,”
Moreland agreed. “But Dll want to talk
to Crave later.”

When Sheriff Moreland left the tele-
phone, his face was grim. So Sheriff
Walling had been talking to Crave Tollett
in Pikeville already that morning, and it
was scarcely daylight then. Why? He
decided to find out.

B* this time, deputies were beginning to
return from Braemar, with their cars
full of passengers to be questioned. By
late afternoon, seven persons had been
locked up in the Carter County jail, and
when the officers returned from Pikeville
with Miller Tollett and Lee Walker, that
made nine. The first seven were:

Mae ‘Tollett and her brother-in-law
Frank Thompson, previously identified,
and Jim Greer, Clyde and Tom DeLoach,
Bruce Pierce, all of Braemar, and all
Tollett relatives or close friends, and
Orie Lawson, a filling station proprietor
from near Knoxville. Lawson formerly
had been employed at Hi-Cliff camp.

Sheriff Moreland questioned each one
carefully, and each denied any guilty
knowledge whatsoever of the crime. Their
stories seemed straightforward enough, but
the Sheriff kept them on hand for further
interrogations. In the meantime, More-
land had announced that he had posted a
$500 reward from personal funds which he
would pay to the person aiding most in
solving the crime. He also paused long
enough to order circulars printed, to be
mailed to dealers in explosives throughout
eastern Tennessee and adjoining states,
asking for information about recent sales
or thefts of a case of dynamite.

There was no sleep for Moreland and
his men Friday night, and Saturday
morning events moved rapidly. Agents
Hood and Brightman were ordered to
Elizabethton from the FBI office in Knox-
ville. They could claim jurisdiction be-
cause the dynamite might have been ear-
ried across a state line. John O'Connor,
a Knoxville private detective, had arrived,
and finally, Joseph M, McCormick, Ten-
nessee fire marshal, had sent Virgil M.
Kitts, a deputy, and Harry §. Avery,
special investigator for the National
Board of Fire Underwriters, to see if they

could he of ass!
Early Saturd
and, Avery an
Kitts closeted 1
of the situation.
sympathizers, wer
could be classif§
In fact. there «
And in the wa:
only the piece «
of the Chattan«
burned fuse anid -
held the explosiy..
ported seeing any
near Hampton, |e:
might have been :
How could th,
Oreland still ws
letts were Implies!
Finally it was dy
Kitts would proces
and endeavor to 1);
the meantime, J.
would continue to
under arrest, and }
and when one pp
Deputy Sheriff \\
y telephone that |
from Chattanooga -

Sympathetic thou:
town as funeral ser:
the three litt!

of the proprietors ,
ware Company, who ».
namite fuse a couple
Hampton blast. Hy:
not remember to \!
and he held grave dy.
able to identify the j..
should meet him fuer.
not make the identifi.
efore setting out {.,
and Kitts interviewed
Lee Walker, The Ble
the evening preceding |
had driven in the rain
Miss Myrtle Ferguson, >
the mountains about {:
Pikeville, They had s.
brother, Walter. They
couple of hours, they ~
turned to Pikeville whey.
rest of the night in Ro,
sreer Hotel, which \
Johnny Vaughn, Pikeyi,
Vaughn had returned hon),
ling matches in Chattan
A.M. and they had slept +
bed until daybreak when
Tollett café. It Was
learned that Sheriff Wa
them, at the request 1
authorities.
very and Kitts dpa:
the best speed they
took them nearly five
trip. First, they went tc
and interviewed Mrs. Is
broprietress. She said +),
and other friends som:
Johnny Vaughn’s room, ::
tering. However, She «
he and Walker had, or h:;
the night of the blast.
them enter or leave,
The two investigato;
Toom and found that it ¢

over the
two cars.
1 close be-
» country
ig. remem-
~ same Co-
~» from the
running
hundred
. he had a
to the fur-
ny.
the dark-
tine right.
is, stepped
the unused
{ as they
clinging
vas and it
As he
< machine

ol a siren,
wking the
pped.
leaning
rhie red.”
of gunfire
One bul-
~ punetared
own fire,
enrebhiht

d the two
turned,
ved eross
the
thes he avy
1. Boards
heture tote
cap. bring-
srl,
eur
Hove,
reby hhoiase
opskin coat
fee ear and
He disap-

immediately

open

and ran
who

in that bus,”

Corporal
from Gil’s
together. pis-
fuced figure,

Mohr asked,
itive replied.
‘oor near his

two
the trem-
outlined in
He waited
» Then his
oO, Sud-
‘Then rose,
ith flames.
and the
ed fire. He
raised hand.
lit dropped
in, ifted his
1 down upon
san groaned

the

ce, attracted
the scene.
prisoner to

ve his name

Springfield,
ughout the
“and a des-
''nge?”) Mohr

ick replied.
a mouth-

iicceaeataa tiem

piece.” Later under questioning the human
rat admitted that he and his companion
had_ stolen a car earlier in the evening
at Springfield. “That’s where I got the
gat,” he explained. “It was hidden in
one of the pockets of this machine.” They
started west but had gone only a short
distance when they wrecked it on the icy
pavements. They stole another car and
continued. In Chester, Massachusetts,
they blew a tire and were forced to aban-
don the second automobile. Then they
boarded the bus. Although they paid
their fare to Lee, they intended to force
the bus driver to take them to Albany.

“What became of your negro com-
panion?” Mohr continued. “What's his
name?”

“ HAT, gents,” Nick retorted, “is for
you to find out.”

Corporal Mohr and Trooper Doxsee re-
turned to West Lebanon to retrace the
course of the kidnaped bus. The negro
had vanished.

Acting upon other information received
at the East Greenbush sub-station, Ser-
geant Dewey Lawrence and several troop-
ers rushed to the outskirts of West Le-
banon where it was said a negro had been
seen loitering an hour or so earlier, in the
vicinity of a deserted barn. They recon-
noitered with drawn guns but investiga-
tion revealed the barn to be empty.

As New York state troopers extended
the search in the bitter cold, the Grey-

True Detective Mysteries

hound Bus for Boston from Albany pulled
into the Springfield Bus Terminal soon
after two o’clock that next morning. Alert
city police discovered a negro passenger
who gave his name as Jimmy Coles and
answered the general description of the
fugitive mentioned in the teletype alarm
some hours earlier. The driver stated this
man had boarded the bus some distance
below Gil’s Diner in West Lebanon, New
York, shortly after the holdup.

Charles Burnet and Ted Richmond
identified him as the second bandit who
had helped kidnap the bus and later rav-
ished the solitary woman passenger,

Jimmy Coles, also known to the police
as James Johnson, was placed under arrest
charged with the crime of rape committed
while passing through the town of Han-
cock, Massachusetts.

He was arraigned on December 8th,
1933, in the Berkshire District Court and
held in $50,000 bail. Nick Waytovich was
returned to Lee on December 8th, ar-
raigned on a charge of armed robbery and
held in $25,000 bail.

Massachusetts justice moved swiftly,

On January 8th, 1934, both these two
criminal rats were indicted at Pittsfield
before Judge Frank J, Donahue in the
Superior Court. On January 15th, Coles,
the rapist negro, received a maximum
sentence of from 60 to 75 years; Wayto-
vich, the Springfield gangster, got a
maximum sentence of from 35 to 45
years.

Mountain Murder

(Continued from page 17)

drove to work. Nothing happened. The
exhaust pipe did not get hot enough to
start the fuse. He drove home from work
that evening and put the car in the garage,
Again nothing happened. He drove safely
to work the next morning, too. It was
Thursday, November 11th.

In the meantime, the Bledsoe con-
spirators were eagerly awaiting news from

ampton. They were certain their death
scheme could not fail, for they knew that
the fuse would ignite from a heated ex-
haust. They had ascertained that no one
but Gouge drove his sedan—and three
sticks of the dynamite had been placed
directly under the driver’s seat. Of course
his wife and three little girls, other rela-
tives or friends, might ride with him, and
be blown up too—but that did not dis-
turb the plotters.

Still, as Thursday wore on, with no word,
White Miller Tollett began pacing the
floor of the Pikeville café. What if Gouge
ordered an oil change and the attendant
discovered the death charge? What if the
fuse worked loose so that it would not set
off the blast?

On Thursday evening, Harmon Gouge
had business at Dayton THIPS store and
filling station, on the State Line road
about seventeen miles from Elizabethton.
Instead of returning home after work, he
drove directly to the store. He parked
his car in front, got out, and walked to-
ward the door. He had gone only thirty
feet when suddenly a terrific explosion in
back of him almost sent him sprawling.
Smoke was pouring out of the sedan win-
dows, and the driver’s seat was demolished.
The blast was heard a mile away, but
fortunately neither Gouge, nor any one
else, suffered even a scratch.

Without realizing exactly what had hap-
pened, several men ran to the car. One
of them crawled underneath. When he
squirmed back and stood up, his face was
ashen. He was gingerly holding two sticks
of dynamite which had not exploded. They
were the pair that Chureh Lester had

fastened beneath the floorboards.

Sheriff J. M. Moreland was immediately
summoned and when he examined the car
he knew, as did everyone else, that the
blast had been intended to wipe out the
owner of 'the sedan. It took no guessing
on his part to decide why the dynamite
had been set. He questioned Frank
Thompson, the Tollett brother-in-law at

raemar, and several others, but no direct
evidence of guilt could be found; no
charges could be made.

It was clear now to Harmon Gouge that

e was marked as a victim of revenge for
having dared to shoot down a Tollett. He
was, and is, a fearless man, tall, heavy of
build, and well able to take care of him-
self. But it was apparent now that his
blood enemies—and they must be called
that—had no regard for the safety of
others in their efforts to do him harm. Ie
was prepared to take chances in defending
himself, but he could not, and would not,
endanger others in doing so, especially his
charming young wife and their three in-
nocent little daughters.

HAT could he do? The
simple. He

SOSWer Wis
must stay away from
home and family, shun even the company
of his friends, until such time as the
enmities were settled, one way or another.

Gouge had been dickering for an interest
in a lunch room in Johnson City, a town
of about 25,000 people, nine miles west of
Elizabethton. He promptly closed the deal.
After a short stay in a furnished room in
Elizabethton, he moved his personal be-
longings to quarters in the Ramona Hotel,
in Johnson City.

Probably no young mother ever faced
greater horrors than the ensuing days held
for Mrs. Evelyn Gouge. It was difficult
enough for her and the little ones to have
their husband and father away from home.
But his absenee was as nothing compared
to the frightful knowledge that almost
any minute of the day or night, his

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ossible Jegal action that could save him.
Che uncertainty was maddening.

It was cqually distressing, of course, for
Gouge himself. By nature he was a home-
loving man, and it grieved him sorely to
be away from his fireside and little ones.
In broad daylight, sometimes with friends
standing guard outside, he visited his
Hampton bungalow and played with the
children. But always there was before him
the specter of death—always the knowl-
edge that it might come suddenly, and
when he was least prepared.

Weeks passed in this fashion. Even on
Christmas and New Year’s Day, the en-
dangered father hesitated in visiting his
home. Worry was impairing the health
of Mrs. Gouge, but there was no relief. for
her; the end was not vet in sight. Per-
haps if would come when her husband was
tricd on the shooting charge during the
February term of court. She wondered.
For short periods she could almost recon-
cile herself, but there were many days
when she wept for hours. January 6th,
1938, was one of the latter.

T had started raining before daybreak

that morning and Mrs, Gouge had to
bundle the children up in heavy coats and
rubbers when she sent them off to the
Hampton school at the usual hour, The
rain did not let up, and the day grew
more and more gloomy. It was depressing
weather and the young mother started to
weep. It was almost two months now
since Harmon’s car had been blown up
and he had been driven from home; al-
most a year since Arnold Tollett had died.
A year of terror.

Mrs. Gouge tried to busy herself with
housework. but she could net keep her
mind off frightening thoughts. She was
glad when the children returned at 3:30.
They played inside, because it was still
raining hard. Their mother entered into
some of their games, but she could not be
gay. She got an early supper, finished her
work, and then sat down to help the chil-
dren with their lessons. The next eve-
ning, Friday, she promised them, she
would take them to the movies.

Just before eight p. mM. the telephone
rang. Mrs. Gouge sprang to her feet, her
face grew pale. Was it a message that
Harmon was hurt? Her fingers. shook
as She picked up the receiver. Tears came
to her eyes as she heard her husband’s
cheerful voice inquiring of her health, as-

J. M. Moreland, High Sheriff of Car-
ter County, who directed the search
for the murderers

True Detective Mysteries

suring her that everything was “fine.”

They talked for almost. fifteen minutes,
and it was a toll call from Johnson City.
Mrs. Gouge wept a little. Her husband
tried to comfort her, but his voice cracked.

“Wiss the girls and tell ’em Daddy will
come over tomorrow,” he said, just before
he hung up.

She relayed the message, and the girls
whooped—all but Roma Jean, the young-
est. She noticed her mother’s face.

“What's the matter, Mummy?” she in-
quired, with her tiny lisp. “Aren’t you
glad Daddy’s coming to see us?”

Tears streamed down Mrs. Gouge’s
checks as she dropped quickly to her knees
and crushed the child in her arms.

“Oh, my precious, you don’t under-
stand,” she sobbed. “Of course Pine glad
Daddy's coming.”

Soon it was time to hustle the children
off to bed. Since their father had been
away, all slept in the same room, two of
the girls in one bed and the third with
her mother. This evening little Roma
Jean flatly announced: “I’m going to
sleep with Mummy tonight.” The other
two protested, but finally gave in.

Tears came to their mother’s eyes once
more as she heard their prayers.

“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the
Lord my soul to keep, if I should die be-
fore T wake, I pray the Lord my soul to
take oi '..”

“And Daddy’s,” their mother murmured,
but not loud enough for them to hear.

“Bless Mama, bless Papa. Amen,” the
girls said rapidly, in unison.

Their mother tucked them into bed,
kissed each one tenderly, then gave all
three an extra kiss “for Daddy.”

Somehow, as Mrs. Gouge walked back
to the comfortably furnished living-room,
she had a premonition of impending dis-
aster. She walked nervously about for a
time, endeavoring to collect her thoughts,
then she sat down and tried to sew on
some of the children’s garments. It was
almost eleven o’clock before she retired,
still too nervous to sleep. She tossed
fitfully, and finally hugged little Roma
Jean close to her. The pillow was damp
from her weeping when, at last, slumber
came.

Mrs. Gouge was sleeping soundly, and it
was still raining, shortly before two A.M.
when a car stopped at the corner near the
bungalow and three grim figures stepped
out. One was carrying a large bundle
wrapped in a burlap sack, another a long,
black coil of what might have been insu-
lated wire, but what was, in reality, dyna-
mite fuse. The third man, carrying noth-
ing, paused and then sat down beside the
highway. The car rolled’on, and quietly
disappeared in the murky blackness.

The two men with the bundles crept
silently up beside the Gouge bungalow.
Obviously, every move had been well
planned. They stopped before a small
vent window in the foundation and emp-
tied the burlap bag. It contained long,
slender cylinders which looked like roman
candles. But they weren’t. They were
sticks of dynamite—almost a case of it.
Had the men been so inclined, they might
have listened to the measured breathing

of Mrs. Gouge and the little ones, for
the bedroom was directly above the vent
before which they worked.

The sinister pair moved quickly, silent-
ly, and soon they had all of the dynamite
placed inside the vent, under the bedroom.
Then they carefully unrolled the long coils
of fuse and stretched them out in a double
linc until they reached almost across the
road in front of the house. They hesi-
tated for a moment then, and one slunk
back to the vent to make certain that the
fuses had not become detached from the
explosives,

“Okay, let ’er go,” he whispered when

H. L. Walling of Bled-
soe County

High Sheriff

he returned,

Without formality, one of the fiendish
pair lit a match and quickly touched it
to the ends of both fuses. Mach caught,
and thus was started a grim race between
two tiny sparks. The cached dynamite
beneath the bedroom was the goal, the
prize—death and destruction!

Once they were sure that both fuses
were burning, the two men did not tarry.
They felt that their job was well done.
They had taken the precaution of setting
twin fuses. Both were waterproof. and
each carefully spliced. One, certainly,
would burn to the end. They joined the
figure still sitting beside the highway.
Soon the car returned, they climbed in,
and rode off in the direction of Eliza-
bethton.

“QOMEBODY’S going to get blowed to
hell!” one of the passengers gloated,
as the car picked up speed.

They slowed down momentarily on the
tunnel bridge over the Doe River, on the
way to Elizabethton, and one of the two
figures in the rear threw something out
of the window. An hour and a half later,
the speeding car was nearing Knoxville,
en route to the Bledsoe County moun-
tains, far beyond.

As the car raced towzrd its goal, the
twin sparks raced toward theirs, beneath
the Hampton bungalow. Mrs, Gouge and
the girls were sleeping peacefully, un-
aware, of course, of the horror that was
creeping closer. The bedroom had _ be-
come cold and the two girls sleeping to-
gether -had cuddled up to one another,
had pulled the blankets up over their
faces. Little Roma Jean’s head still rested
on her mother’s arm.

The sparks burned ..... the car raced
on and on

By 3:45 a.M., the sparks, traveling at
the rate of about a foot a minute. were
burning through the vent in the bungalow
foundation. A few minutes later, anu one
had reached the stick of dynamite to
which it was attached. It sizaled for a

moment and then—the detonation was
terrific. It was heard almost three miles
away.

There was no one outside to witness
exactly what happened. The blast threw
Fletcher Gouge, brother of Harmon, from
his bed in his home next door. He leaped
into trouscrs and shoes, and was outside
almost before the last plank had fallen.
More than half the bungalow, on the side
nearest the bedroom, was blown practi-
cally into kindling wood.. The rest was

(Continued on page 126)

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ier Bledsoe County
ww) Scene at killers’
Judge Ben Allen;
special investigator
{ Fire Underwriters,
Martin, the author

is brother’s death.
Gouge might have
ed in’ Pikeville, it
y others had. But’

Courtroom justice
we. In fact, Eliza-

the sycamore tree
ned, was conducted
States west of the
mily was as power-
Swaffords, Walkers

‘ounty Circuit Court
and their supporters
nad retained counsel
prosecution of Har-
<e when his trial was
because of the ab-
recalled the verbal
en his eyes met those

on hand for the next
-appointed when the

White Miller Tollett (right), Bledsoe
County Coroner, who was brought into the
investigation of the baffling mountain mas-
sacre. As they probed into the case, author-
ities unearthed an amazing, almost unbe-
lievable record of old feuds and family hatreds

Gouge case was put over. Steeped in the processes of moun-
tain justice, it seemed to them that Gouge must be exerting
strong influences to delay his hearing. When he returned to
Bledsoe County this time, White Miller Tollett was more
certain than ever that it was his personal duty to see that
his own kind of justice was done.

And so he placed his problem before some of his Bledsoe
friends. He found Churth Lester, the minister’s son from
Walden’s Ridge, and a husky young deputy sheriff named
Thoms Lee Walker, the most sympathetic. Both Lester
and Walker felt they owed him an obligation, for Tolletts
had aided them in winning acquittals in murder trials in
Pikeville. A Tollett had testified for Lester when he was
tried for slaying the two men on: the lonely: mountain trail,
and another had done the same for Lee Walker when he was
tried and acquitted on a charge growing out of the ambush
death of a Swafford.

As the three men plotted, they became more firmly con-
vinced that they must evolve a subtle means of spilling Gouge
blood. They could not go to Carter County, face him and
shoot him down as they might if he lived in Bledsoe. No,
they would be dealt with severely by an Elizabethton jury.
If they killed him at all, it must be in such a way that no

Mountain Murder 17

evidence could possibly point toward them. But how?

They worked out and discarded a half-dozen schemes be-
fore they finally, in early November, decided that they had
a “foolproof” plot. Early:on the evening of November 10th,
they set out for Carter County, arriving soon after midnight.
They went directly to Hampton where Lee Walker, who was
driving, stopped the car a block from the Gouge bungalow
and idled the motor softly while White Miller Tollett and
Church Lester got out.

“Come back in fifteen minutes,” Tollett said, in a whisper.
As he spoke he slipped five sticks of dynamite, held together
by a short length of fuse wrapped around them, under his
jacket. Then, making certain that no one was stirring on the
street, Tollett and Lester slipped noiselessly through the shad-
ows toward the garage in the rear of the bungalow where
Gouge’s late model Chevrolet sedan was parked. Lee Walker
drove down the highway a couple of miles, turned the car
around, and waited.

There were no lights in the Gouge bungalow, and the two
conspirators found the garage doors ajar. They knew exact-
ly how they would proceed because they had experimented
until they had every move worked out to the last. detail. Les-
ter quickly slid under the Gouge sedan, and ‘Tollett. carefully
passed over the dynamite, after first unwrapping the fuse.
Working in deep darkness and entirely by ‘touch, Lester wired
three of the sticks of dynamite to the car frame directly un-
der the driver’s seat. The fuse was attached to one of them
and Lester fastened the other end to the exhaust pipe, in such
a way that it would ignite when the pipe got red-hot. The
two remaining dynamite sticks he wired beneath the floor-
boards where he calculated they would be set off when the
others exploded.

H® was finished in less than ten minutes. Pausing only
to make certain that the explosives were securely fas-
tened, he slid out from under the car and joined Miller Tol-
lett who had been standing guard at the garage doors. ‘Un-
observed, they walked back to the corner where Lee Walker
picked them up. Before daybreak they were home in Bled-
soe County.

Harmon Gouge awoke at his usual time the next morning,
ate his breakfast, got into the car and (Continued on page 123)

February 14, 1946

Wir, R. G, Draper tO ~
Attorney at Law ly yw
Commerce Title Building ; |
Memphis, Tennessee

Dear Mp. Draper, .

Thante you for your letter
of February 12 with reference to the visit
you and ir. Stanton made to this office,

' © have not completed my study
of the file in the case of Thomas Walken,
< shall do so 4n tho near cuture, however,
in view of the fact that this man's sentence |
has been affirmed by the Supreme Court, I
céennot offer much encouragonent for com-
mutation of his Bentence. TI can assure you,
however, that Your roquest for executive
clemency in his behalf Will receive my
Careful and conscilentious thought and

Sincerely,

Jim McCord

Crt
Me SE re Pep Los

R. GARLAND DRAPER
ATTORNEY AT LAW
COMMERCE TITLE BUILDING

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
R. G. DRAPER

H. J. STEUTERMAN

february 12,1946

Honorable James Kk, MleCord
Governor °

Nashville

Tennessee

Dear Governor lieCord:

Mir. Hugh Stanton and I desire to express our appreciation of
your courtesy and Hindness in connecticn with the hearing had
in your office on January lSth,in which,Mr. Stanton and T
representing Thomes walker and his family, agkead executive
clemency for this man who is condemned to die on Mareh 1,1946,
You were exceptionally considerate end batient and we left
Your office knowing that the matter WOuld be given the most
Serious consideration by you.

“@ hone that you have had time to §0 into this hatter and fing

it consistent to commute this man's sentence, Both i, anton
end I are convinced that the ends of justice would be best

served by the sentence of this man being commuted. Unquestionably
the crime was almost altogether cOimitted by the Other man. We
shall appreciate your communicating wlth us in regard to this
matter ag goon &5 you can consistently do so,

Very respectfully,
RGD/P -

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a heavy shock of hair matted with
curls and identified himself as Thomas
Samuel Voss, 29. Snell’s full name was
Edward Lewis Snell and he was 21. The
woman was Alice Jones, 34.

Headquarters was a beehive of ac-
tivity after the officers arrived with
their prisoners.

Detective Chief Stephens took charge
of questioning the trio while Alexander
and Smith, accompanied by Detectives
Raby and C. C. Throneberry and Spe-
cial Investigators Cole and Richardson,
sped back to the Ninth Avenue resi-
dence to search it.

The big’ man ran -his hands-through —* Inside-a rickety ~garage -behind the —and an expensive gold bracelet belong-

house, they found a 1938 Ford sedan.
From a bedroom closet they took
a twelve-gauge, stockless automatic
shotgun. The barrel was crusted with
gun powder, indicating that it had been
fired recently. ;

Wrapped in a newspaper and tucked
under a sofa in the same room was a
double-barreled, sawed-off shotgun. The
serial number agreed with that stolen
from Johnson’s Auto Shop in Curly-
Top’s first robbery.

Bloodstained clothing, owned by both
Voss and Snell, was found hidden in a
laundry bag in the kitchen. A dress

ing to the Jones woman also were
stained with blood, they claimed.

In a badly scarred leather suitcase,
the detectives found an empty, olive-
drab money bag stamped: “Southerner
Liquor Stores”.

Back at Headquarters, Chief Ste-

phens had made two important dis-
coveriés when he searched Voss and
Snell. Each had thirteen dollars in
bloodstained bills tucked away in his
shoes. A truck ignition key, stamped
“Resha”, was hidden in the band of
Snell’s battered felt hat.

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— Voss, Snell -and-the Jones—woma:
stubbornly denied any knowledge of th;
crimes until the detective unwrappe
the items they had found at the resi-
dence, one by one.

Alice Jones began to sob. Thomas
Voss did not change expression, but his
trembling, ham-like hands betrayed
outward calm. 3

Eddie Snell hunched forward in
chair and shook his head.
out sure can get a man
trouble,” he said.

“One nig!
in a lot

“You Hl have to ask Voss about that,”
he said. ' a
“What about the two filling-station
holdups?” Stephens demanded. “y
“I was in on them, too. And some
other jobs. Nobody got hurt in the =
though. Just the one this morning.”
Snell said that he and Voss had kid-.
naped Cox after robbing him of $26.
The bloodstained bills found in their
shoes represented the total loot. £

Cox had tried to escape as Snell drove j
away in the stolen grocery truck and
Voss had fired a shotgun charge into
his leg. They drove through back.
Streets and alleys until they reached the
rock wall on Centennial Boulevard.
There Voss told Snell to Stop. He.
thought Cox was holding out on them.

While Snell waited at the wheel, Voss
forced the service station worker out of |
the truck and relieved him of his empty
wallet. a

Despite the gunshot wound in his leg,
Cox made another dash for freedom#
Voss fired once from the hipandn eds
Cox stumbled against the wall, re-
gained his balance and kept going. Voss
chased him and fired again from the!
hip, and Cox fell forward, dead before:
he hit the ground.

Not until he was shown Snell’s signed
Statement would Voss admit that t
story was true. Afterward, according te=
Stephens, the big ex-convict who once’
had served time for larceny, confessed.
Slaying Louis Hutchinson. e

“He wouldn’t do what I told him,”
Voss said. “I made him lie down on the
floor and I told him to keep his head?
down. But he looked around at me, like @
he recognized me, and I let him hay

He insisted that Snell had not been’

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. tioned her at length.

with him on this robbery. “I was alone,” i
he said sullenly. 4

POLICE thought otherwise. They
called in Alice Jones and re-ques-*)

Stephens showed her the photograp!
of the woman’s foot-print in blood. She.»
covered her face. ;

“I didn’t know it was going to be am
killing,” she said, according to the de-'»
tective chief. “Tom sent me in to 3°
the phone. Then he came in with the?
gun and everything happened so fa st=
I don’t rightly remember what went on.""¥

At eight p. m., formal charges we:
placed against the trio. Voss wa
charged with two counts of murder in
the first degree. Snell with one, and the
Jones woman was booked as an acce
—— before and after the fact of mur-7

er.

Indicted by the Division County |
grand jury, Voss and Snell were tried
jointly on November 16 in the Cox slay-))
ing. District Attorney-General J. Carl-*
ton Loser headed the, prosecution,
demanding the death penalty for both
defendants. The two men pleaded not it
guilty by reason of insanity. Five days”
later, Jury Foreman M. B. Corn an-7
nounced that they had been found guil-"
ty as charged and recommended death,
for Voss and a 21-year prison term for:
Snell. : . ‘

At this writing charges against Alic€
Jones are still pending. Voss is being
held pending an appeal of his sentenc
and Snell is serving his term in tbh
penitentiary. 4

Naturally, the arrests cleared Willis
Sullivan of all suspicion. oe

The names Big Willie Sullivan, AN
drew Topmiller and Evelyn Tower ar€
fictitious to spare innocent persons,

unnecessary embarrassment,

id Boucnard had
ices.

thers were picked:

gave satisfactory
f the Notre Dame
ry. A 23-year-old
iring an attempted
al bank and ad-
er” who had com-
»bbery in that city.
tals claimed, Mar-
‘essed in detail,
au as his partner
the little bank in

was no.
come. He still had
whe'd left the

police questioned
ery man arrested
»matically became
utchison murder.
heard about who
otgun was hauled
1. Traffic officers
sort all 1938 black
cial team of de-
to follow through,
er thoroughly and
own to the most

irly-Top was con-
complete lack of

or 10, Detective
ered a lead to Big
riend. “He learned
riendly bartender
: terme with Big

t net with
n and she
: Avenue.
ner settled down
move. Two days

her into a small
store. When she
f Stephens.
he said. “She's
1; she just bought
“t of junk you set

anticipated party

st midnight when —dead!

raiding squad of
the house. They
to point out Big
‘¢ man with tiny
cropved hair, he
shoulders above
rowded room.

dlivan denied any
chison slaying or
kups. He'd been
swore, working
‘he right sort of
* could the cops

told him. “That
rn out. Let's turn
her side.”
iserably. “I'm in
-con had no idea
on the night of
arly morning of
sive any sensible
und as frequently
t restlessness, he
| know where he
hts of the other
Noplace in par-
| friend, maybe,
ovie. He didn’t
\ diary.
ing in his favor,”
hen the big man
Jsually a stickup
He can't tell you
nday, but he can
did and said on

i! 8 viewed
€ in. bandit
! the case
&iasp. Not one
that he was the
hem. He was the
!. He looked like

Notre Dame de Stanbridge, where

Ovila Courville had died so bravely and *

stating that he himself had fired the

fatal shot.

On January 4, 1954, Judge Patrick
Delaney held Marcel Bouchard and #
Adrian Lebeau for trial, which is pend-
ing as this story is being written. :

To protect innocent persons in this :
story, these names are fictitious: Leon |

Anjou, Tom Keyes, Lubin Renz, Brad j
Tolley, Phil Baron, John Hampton

Pierre Jolicoeur.

(Continued from Page 43)

the one. But to swear it in court—that ©
was something else. They hadn't been
sure when they looked at his picture 4
and seeing him in the flesh made iden-

tification no easier.

Stephens was disappointed.

“we'll

hold him as long as we can,” he told %

Luther.
the first to prove it.
be sure.”

“If he’s innocent I want to be |
Only we have to #

Curly-Top and his deadly accurate ‘|

shotgun proved it for them.

EARLY on the morning of September 4

“- 19 two couples were in a car cruis-
ing along the wide ribbon of asphalt

which is Centennial Boulevard in North 4

Nashville. The driver, William Miller;
slowed to a snail’s pace in order to
make a right-hand turn onto 33rd Ave-
nue.
Miller’s headlights picked up the out-
line of a bulky object against the rock
wall marking the boundary of the
sprawling A. and I. State University
campus. k

Miller slammed on the brakes.

“Isn't that a body over there?” he
asked, alarm in his voice. :

From the back seat, Wilbur Crowder
said, “It looks like a man. Probably
drunk.” :

“We ought to see. He may be hurt.”

Miller and Crowder left the car to

investigate. Seconds later they came
Bev back, their faces pale with
rig .

“It’s a man, all right,” Miller told his
wife as he slid behind the wheel. “He’s
The whole-side of his face-has
been blown away!”

This was at 1:55 a.m. By 2:10 five
police cars had reached the scene. Ser-
geant Luther was there with Detectives
Griffis, C. E. Burris and Robert Kim-
bro; J. M. Richardson and John Cole,
special homicide investigators for the
district attorney-general’s office; Ser-
geant M. D. Lavender and Patrolmen
Robert Alexander and John Smith.

_ The victim lay on his stomach, the
right side of his face completely torn
away by what obviously had been a
shotgun blast.
had been shredded by another charge
of shot, disclosing an ugly, gaping hole
in the thigh.

No identification could be found on
the body, but a bloodstained visored cap
near by had the name of a chain of
service stations on it.

“Get in touch with the district man-
ager,”’ Luther told Kimbro and Burris.

“See if he can find out if any of his 3

workers are missing.”
The detectives hurried off in search
of a phone.

An ambulance arrived and a doctor q
flexed the dead man’s arms experi- 4

mentally, then felt the flesh.

“Still warm,” he announced. “Rigor 4

mortis hasn’t begun to set in. This ~
couldn’t have happened more than an |
hour ago.” a,

Luther spoke to Alexander and ©
“Start rolling. Try to find «3
someone around here who saw or heard ~

Smith.

something.”
To Richardson and Cole he said:

“The poor guy must have been trying ©

to get away. The killer's first shot

struck him in the leg. He finished off a

the job with the second in the face.”
-Luther’s theory was partially sub-

stantiated a short time later when in- 7

As the car began its wide sweep,

His right trousers leg - |

» Vast night,”

Dizon hea Meantime,

ators found bloodstains on the
ny th at a point 50 feet east of the

Ly. ; ”
uld have been shot here, first,
ver said. “It knocked him against
“ wall but he managed to stumble
“ until the killer caught up with

hardson agreed. “And the shot-

un looks like Curly-Top. Two mur-
"in less than a month. He's gone
ly i}-crazy-

mer of the area around the body
gsclosed two recently fired twelve-
yeuze shotgun shells. Nothing more.
xo foot-prints. No tire-prints. Only
the body, the bloodstains and the empty

ipnells.

pn.”
fluc

Y THREE a. m. Kimbro and Burris
B had a tentative identification of the
yictim. In all likelihood, they reported,
he was James Buchanan Cox, 46;-who
lived with his wife on Third Avenue,

Jorth.

4 Cox. was night attendant for a gas
station on Fifth Avenue, directly across
tne street from Nashville’s ancient
baseball park. Presumably he had been
stl on duty when the detectives
rrached the district manager for the
yas chain. The manager had made a
fast tour of his widely scattered sta-
tions. Cox's location was the third he
visited; he found it open and unat-
tended. .

The manager was asked to view the
body at the morgue for positive iden-
tification.

The investigation moved swiftly. from
Centennial Boulevard to the gas station
on Fifth Avenue. In the graveled drive-
way in front of the station, Kimbro and
Burris found two unfired twelve-gauge
shells and one empty casing. All three
were of the same make as those found
near the body. Apparently the killer
had fired at least once at this point.

The cash register had been emptied
and a company representative, who had
been rushed to the scene, estimated
that $30 or $40 had been taken.

“A night- watchman should be on
duty at the ball park,” Griffis declared.
‘I'll hop over there and see if he’s
around.”

The IB expert was back in ten min-
utes and he was excited.

“I think we’ve got something!” he
cried. “The watchman heard a shot
around one o'clock. He looked over this
way and saw a panel truck pull away.
It was painted an orange color and it
had the name of a store on it.”

“Probably stolen,” Luther said. “But
get that description on the air right
away. It may be the first real break
we've had.”

A short time later Patrolmen Alex-
ander and Smith located a witness who
recalled seeing a truck like this one in
the vicinity of 33rd and Centennial
Boulevard shortly after one a. m.

* The search was on in earnest.

At 5:30, Traffic Car Patrolmen War-
ren G. Burcham and Carl Dixon dis-
covered the truck, abandoned on Merry
Street, a mile from the spot where
Cox’ body had been found.

Burcham radioed Headquarters. “It
belongs to the Resha Grocery Com-
pany,” he declared. “It’s the truck, all
pent. Blood is splattered all over the
Nterior.”

The radio message was piped to Auto
* Si Bureau and clerks thumbed

= the stolen-car reports. They

ge rhecg listing on Resha’s truck.
Ahearn and Smith were sent to
ma ¥ the owner. Griffis hurried out to

St the truck for prints.

NOt long after this, Grocer Lewis
ation _ answered the officers’ im-
nt summons in his: pajamas.

S
ierDY-eved, he listened at the door of

Smith tore’ while Alexander and

i rien. him about the discovery of

ag 1
Pha truck was parked behind the

when I closed at half-past nine

he said. “And I kee

‘ p the
ber ro the store, locked up. Give
Riese © Set dressed and I'll meet you

In the

PFs ins

Burcham and
nearned that the ignition of
not been shorted, Who-

“

—_ had driven it must have had a
ey.

No one could be found along Merry
Street who had seen the truck being
parked, but one man did remember a
strange automobile standing near the
same. spot when he had come home at
about midnight.

“What kind of a car was it?” :

“An old black one. A Ford, I think.
About a thirty-eight.”

Curley-Top’s car!

At Resha’s grocery,
were breaking fast.

The back door to the store had been
smashed open and the small metal box
where the market owner kept the keys
to his delivery truck was ripped apart.
They keys were gone.

But nothing else had been disturbed.

“Who besides you knew about those
keys?” Alexander asked the surprised
grocer.

Resha spread his hands in a gesture
of bewilderment. “My employes, of
course. But none of them would be in-
volved in anything like this. I’ve got
the best bunch of people in the world
working for me.”

“How about former employes, then?
Or customers?”

“That's jt!” Resha cried. “It has to
be! That low-down Snell! He used to
drive for me and he’d know about the
keys.” ,

“Who's Snell?”

“Eddie Snell. He worked for me and
I had to let him go because he was so
trifling and lazy. Of all the people I
know, he’s the only man who might
do something like this.”,

“Have you seen him lately?”

“Lately?” Why, he was in here yes-

developments

‘terday afternoon trying to borrow five

dollars from me! I chased him away.”

So Eddie Snell had been broke and
needed money.

Alexander and Smith got Snell’s last
known address from the grocer and
they left. They’d try the former em-
ploye first, and if he had a good story
they’d go back to Resha and investi-
gate the present employes.

Snell wasn’t at home;
hadn’t seen him in weeks.

“He’s been living somewhere on
Ninth Avenue,” a woman relative in-
formed them. “Staying with some
fellow named Voss. We’ve been wor-
ried about Eddie.”

“Worried? Why?” ‘Alexander asked.

“Voss has a record and he’s tough.
We're afraid Eddie is going to get into
trouble.”

Snell’s friend, the woman said, was
a big man, over six feet tall and built
like a wrestler.

“Curley hair?”

“He sure has. Almost kinky, and
black as night.”

Curly-Top?

his family

HE relative didn’t know where on
Ninth Avenue Voss lived, so Alex-
ander and Smith started at one end of

_the long street and knocked on doors,

asking questions. It was 9:30 before the
patrolment found the place, a weath-
ered clapboard building in the 400
block. ‘

From the street, the house looked
dark and empty.

“We may have trouble if they’re the
two we're looking for,” Smith warned
his partner. “You take the back and
I'll go in through the front.”

Revolver ready, Smith slipped up on
the porch and kicked the door in.

Three people were in the poorly
lighted living-room, two men and a
woman.

The larger of the two men dashed
into an adjoining room, running for
the rear of the house. The smaller man
took one look at Smith and raised his
hands.

“Don’t shoot!” he yelled.
don’t shoot!”

“Are you Snell?” Smith asked.

“That’s right! Don't shoot; I haven't
done nothin’.”

Smith handcuffed Snell to the
woman and before he was finished
Alexander came in with the second
man.

“He tried to jump out of a window,
the patrolman said, grinning. “Nearly
landed right on top of me.”

“Please

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gospel and one never showed up. With this clear, Thompson was

then taken to the state penitentiary in Nashville where he was

to be given thirty days in which to file an appeal to the Supreme
Court.

Thompson's case was accepted by the Supreme Court and the
conviction placed upon him earlier was upheld. Thompson's |
lawyers trying to keep him out of the chair turned to Governor
Gordon Brawning, but he refused to step in and lessen the sentence.

Barney Thompson, 31 years of age, went to the electric chair
at 5:15 on February 17, 1949 and four minutes later was pronounced

dead.

Due to the material used in the research of this paper, there are

9
a few subject matters which are very vague.

(5)

THOMPSON, Barney, black, 29, elec. Tenn. SP (Bradley) 217-1942

Barney Thompson was charged with first degree murder for
inflicting death upon a Maggie Ashmore, a one time lover of
Thompson.

On November 29, 1947, Thompson walked into the Manhattan Cafe
on East Inman Street shortly before nine o'clock and stabbed
Miss Ashmore six times in the back and chest, which was the
end result of a previous fight between the two. Thompson then
proceeded to walk over to the jail where he surrendered and was
charged with murder. Thompson was bound over to the grand jury
without bond at a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, December 9, 1948.
The goats ben of the Peace were George W. Weaver and D. W. Chase Sr.
During the hearing, five witnesses testifed they saw Thompson walk
in and go over to the booth where the Ashmore woman was sitting.
Four of them said they saw Thompson stab the woman three or four.
times. When asked to enter his plea, he said, "Guilty I reckon."
He failed to testify in his own behalf or to present two witnesses
in behalf of his case. :

On Wednesday night, February 23, 1948, after several hours of
deliberation, the jury returned at about 9 o'clock and told
Judge Sue K. Hicks that the group had rendered a verdict of guilty
of: Firat degree murder with death to be by execution. His date
was then set for April 26, 1948. Thompson was defended by pttornies
V. L. Starls and H. O. Kerr. The case was prosecuted by Attorney-
General R. B. Witt.

Motions for a new trial was presented by Thompson’ Lawyers on
the grounds that there were no Negroes on the jury; but the judge
showed evidence that the name of three blacks had been picked out

of the jury box. Two were excused because they were ministers of

(4)

paper researched and written by Rodney Hartgraves, a student at Lee College.

Asbury Fields trial

Held on murder charge
Trial begins

Gets death penalty
Decision in case

Verdict upheld :

Granted respite tes

Jury signs petition

Fields executed

Barney Thompson
Hearing.set
Bond denied
Sentenced to die

New trial denied

Cleveland
Cleveland
Cleveland
Cleveland
Cleveland
Cleveland
Slevelane

Cleveland

Cleveland
Cleveland
Cleveland

Cleveland

Banner, Aug 18, 1921
Banner, Sept 8, 1921
Banner, Sept 15, 1921 |
Banner, Nov. 24, 1921
Banner, Dec. 8, 1921
Herald, Jan 20, 1922
Herald, Feb. 10, 1922

Herald, Feb. 24, 1922

Herald, Dec, 3, 1947
Herald, Dec 10, 1947
Herald, Feb 25, 1948

Herald, March 31, 1948

FOX v. MILLER Tenn. 527
121 8.W.2d

felony”; hence, it seems clear that the
locus in quo of the felony has no bearing
whatever on the venue of the offense of
accessory after the fact.

Defendants in error, by indictments re-
turned in Carter County, were specifically
charged with feloniously harboring, con-
cealing and aiding, in Bledsoe County, the
alleged perpetrators of the murder in Cart-
er County to escape arrest, trial, conviction,
or punishment.

[5] We are of opinion that the indict-
ment charging defendants in error with the
offense of accessories after the fact in a
county other than that in which the ac-
cessoried acts are alleged to have been com-
mitted were properly quashed by the trial
judge.

Affirmed.

FOX v. MILLER et al.

Supreme Court of Tennessee,
Noy. 25, 1938.

1. Assignments G15

The statute requiring the assent of the
employer to an assignment of unearned wa-
ges in order to charge the employer did not
authorize assignment of future official sal-
aries of public officials. Code 1932, § 8562.

2. Assignments €58

The statute requiring assent of employ-
er to an assignment of unearned wages in
order to charge the employer was enacted
for the purpose of protecting laborers and
wage earners. Code 1932, § 8562.

3. Garnishment ©63

The statute permitting public wages and
salaries to be reached by garnishment does
not authorize garnishment of unearned com-
pensation of public officials and employees.
Code 1932, § 7714.

4. Assignment 15
An assignment by a public official of his
unearned compensation is void.

5. Assignments 15
The reason for the rule that assignment
by public official of his unearned compensa-

tion is void is not the protection of private
interests of the public officials but is one of
public policy based on necessity of securing
the efficiency of public service by insuring
that the funds provided for its maintenance
shall be received by those who are to per-
form the work, at the periods appointed for
their payments.

6. Assignments G>15

An assignment by county tax assessor
of certain amount of his monthly salary for
remainder of his term of office was void as
against public policy.

—— ee

Error to Circuit Court, Jefferson County ;
W. P. Monroe, Judge.

Proceeding between Mack Fox and Sam
Miller, administrator, etc. Sam Miller ob-
tained two judgments against Mack Fox,
one as administrator, and one in Sam Mill-
er’s own right. Executions were issued and
garnishment served. The cases were con-
solidated and heard together by the Circuit
Judge without a jury, the facts being stip-
ulated in writing. From an adverse judg-
ment, Mack Fox appeals and brings error.

Affirmed.

H. F. Swann, of Dandridge, for plain-
tiff in error.

Paul Goddard, of Dandridge, for defend-
ant in error.

CHAMBLISS, Justice.

Fox was regularly elected Tax Assessor
for Jefferson County, in August, 1936. De-
cember 30, 1937, he executed an assign-
ment of $85 of his monthly salary of $125
($40 being exempt) for the remainder of
his four year term of office to Harry Vance
and others, certain of his creditors. Miller
held two judgments against Fox, one as ad-
ministrator and one in his own right. Ex-
ecutions were issued and garnishments
served, in the last days of January and [’eb-
ruary, respectively, on the Chairman of the
County Court. $85 was impounded under
each of these garnishments and is held
pending the determination of this litigation.

The cases were consolidated and heard to-
gether by the Circuit Judge, without a jury,
the facts being stipulated in writing. The
trial judge held this assignment by a Coun-
ty official of his future salary yoid as
against public policy; also, that it was void
because a preferential assignment, leaving
out Miller and perhaps other creditors, and

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121 SW (2) 525. Large card.
TOLLETT, White Miller, white, elec. Tenn. (Carter) 1-11-1939,

"2 MEN SENT TO CHAIR, - ELIZABETHTOWN, TENN. PAIR GIVEN DBATH SENTENCES. - Elizabethton,
Tenne, Mar, 3, 1938 - (AP) - Two men were sentenced to death in the electric chair and
one other to 21 years' &mprisonment today as the aftermath of a dynamite blast January 7
that killed three little girls, A circuit court jury which began its deliberations late
yesterday, convicted White Tolhebt, 28, Church Lester, ll, Lee Walker, 27, and Ulysses
Walling, 23, all from Pikeville, Tenn., of first degree mrder, The penalty for White
Tollet and Lester das death and for HAXXXK#XAWMXNAXIKEK Walling and Walker imprisonment.
There was scarcely a sound in the crowded courtroom as Judge Ben Allen passed seuntence
except the quiet sobs of friends and relatives of the convicted men, The judge whihheld

setting a date for the electrocution pending a MAMXKKSAXXSH KAM XMUXKA PAAR KXAN KK VARKAAHER
new trial motion by counsel for Lester and White Tollett. A fifth defendant, Crave Tollett,
broher of “hitc, was acquitted of a charge of accessory WRXRNEXKHAXTACKIXRARXMRMXWKNS before

the fact, The men were accused in the deaths of Sona, 9, Luena, 7, and Roma Jean Gouge, 5,
daughters of 35-year-old Harmon Gouge ~ who killed Arnold Tollett, a brother of White and
WEX¥X Crave, in 1936. Gouge is scheduled to be tried April 11 for the slaying in which he
has claimed self defense, It was in the early morning hours last January 7 that a HXda
blast shattered the little frame house and killed the children as they slept. Mrs. Gouge
was seriously hurt, The father was not at home, Mrs. Gouge was at the point of death for
several days, believing her children safe at the home of a relative. Finally she was told
of the tragedy, 'Thank God, she exclaimed when told the children died XWAMXNXXXX suddenly
and without pain, ‘walling and Walker confessed a part in the crime, but said they were
innocently involved and that WAX “hite Tollett and Lester did the actual dynamiting,
Neither will oppose their prison sentences."

CLARION-LEDGER, Jackson, Mississippi, March h, 1938 (1/1.)

Nee ek TOLLETT, White Miller, wh, elec. TN (Carter)
; es a . January 11, 1939

)

Mountain feuds were things
Evelyn Gouge knew very little about.
Then came the night when she |
and her three innocent children

‘suddenly found themselves to be

’ targets of terror...

Pay call it the Tree of Death, the gnarled and twisted old sycamore on the
side of the hill near the Sequatchie River in the Cumberland Plateau country
of Tennessee. Nobody knows how old it is. It was standing there, towering and
majestic, when the oldest living white man in Bledsoe County was a child.

Hidden by the mist of folklore are the stories of the gathering of the Tollett
clan under this ancient tree, to plan their savage carnage against the Swaffords
and the Wallings. The origin of the feud itself has long been forgotten.

One of the stories is told about Bill Lester, a preacher who came into that
isolated country’ to hold services. He had three children. The youngest was
named Church Lester, because he was born in a house of worship.

The Tolletts and the Swaffords came to his services and prayed long and
loud, but when the services were over, they started shooting at each other and
didn’t stop until 10 were dead. Preacher Lester didn’t want any more such

BY CHARLES E. GARDIENNE

TRUE POLICE CASES,
May 1952

Sections of burned and unused fuse and a burlap
bag became damaging evidence against the slayers.

| This is all that remained—a mass of tangled
wreckage—of the once joy-filled Gouge home.

ekg Se
a ‘ 4 ; Z 3

congregations, so he took his family and went up on Wal-
den’s Ridge, got a herd of goats and raised his family in
the solitude of the virgin forest, far away from the roaring

~ guns of the Swaffords and the Tolletts.

But mountain feuds were things Evelyn Gouge knew
very little about. She was a plump, pleasant-looking woman
with a contagious sense of humor. On the night of January
11, 1938, however, she wasn’t smiling and her round face
had a worried expression. She was pacing the floor of her
bungalow home in Hampton, in the eastern part of Ten-
nessee, some distance from the valley where the Tolletts
and Swaffords had feuded for so many years.

As a girl, Evelyn Gates had married Harmon Gouge and
their married life had been blessed. The three pretty daugh-
ters, aged 3 to 11, who were asleep in the bedroom, were
the pride of their lives. Harmon worked in the textile mills
at Elizabethton. He was generous and kind, always willing
to help anybody in trouble. His home life had been happy,
and he and his wife and daughters had enjoyed life to the
full.

Several months before, all that had changed. Harmon had
met Arnold Tollett, who had left the valley five years before.

- Away from the atmosphere of hate and feuds, Arnold had

prospered. The two men got along well together, and it
wasn't long before they decided to go into business for
themselves. To help finance the Hi-Cliff Tourist Camp on
the Elizabethton-Hampton road, which they had purchased,
Harmon continued his work in the textile mills. However,
the venture didn’t prove successful and Arnold blamed
Harmon for letting him down,

Harmon couldn’t quite understand how he was consid-
ered responsible, and proceeded to argue about it. This
unfortunate altercation ended when Arnold Tollett
reached for something in his hip pocket. Harmon Gouge
knew the reputation of the Tolletts and he was taking no
chances. He fired first, and two bullets entered Arnold Tol-
lett’s stomach. Tollett died that night in the same hospital
where his wife was confined to have a baby.

Gouge had walked out of the office of the Hi-Cliff Tourist
Camp and had called Bait M. Moreland of Carter
County. He told him what had happened. Gouge was ar-
rested and charged with murder, and then released on °
$10,000 bail.

Major Tollett, the aged father of the slain man, broken
with grief, came to Hampton to claim the body and take it
back to the Tollett cemetery near Pikesville, where other
Tollett victims of bullets were buried. The father settled
all of his son’s financial obligations and it appeared to all
that the incident was closed, as far as he was concerned. He
publicly said that he would let the law take its course at
the trial of the killer of his son.

Few in Hampton or Elizabethton believed that Harmon
Gouge would ever be convicted for the shooting. It-was an
obvious case of self defense, and Harmon Gouge’s reputa-
tion as an honest and hard-working man, the father of a
fine family, was excellent. Several months passed and
Gouge’s trial was put off twice.. Meanwhile, he went on
working at the textile mill.

These details passed through Evelyn Gouge’s mind as she
paced the floor of her home. Her husband wasn’t there that
night. He hadn't been home for two weeks, since the day he
had driven to Dayton Hill's store 17 miles from Elizabeth-
ton. It had been a clear, pleasant afternoon. Harmon had
got out of his car and started for the store. He hadn't
walked 30 feet before an explosion seemed to erupt from
the earth. It had sent him sprawling face forward on the
ground. Dazed and stunned, he had got to his feet and
looked around. The front seat of his car had been blown
completely away. [Continued on page 40]

It was a grim, silent cortege that bore the remains of Sonia,
Roma Jean and Luena, left, seen with their mother.

The motive for the murder of Minnie Margaret Tucker was obscure. Her killer believed he was safe

MASTER DETECTIVE MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY, 1953.

3
<

Investigator holds homemade butcher knife, its 7-inch blade razor sharp. Suspect (r.) had reason to hate Minnie

“

there were three casual incidents late in the afternoon of

I A SUBURBAN DISTRICT of Nashville, Tennessee,
May 21st. At the time, no one paid any particular atten-

tion to them. It was only when the police began to examine.

them in connection with the major occurrence of that day,
the murder of a 22-year-old housewife, Minnie Margaret
Tucker, that they took on a special significance.

The first was that when Mrs. Tucker finished washing a
few items of her baby’s wardrobe, she emptied the water
from the tub onto the ground beneath the sagging back
porch. It spread over the hard-packed earth, gradually
soaking in, to leave a circular damp spot some 16 inches in
diameter. That was at four o’clock in the afternoon.

The time of the second incident was 5:30 p.mM., when a
young man crossed the vacant lot at the rear of the Tucker

Phantom Slayer —
OF TRINITY LANE

house on Trinity Lane and entered the back door. About

ten minutes later he came out again and hurried across the’

lot. - , ; :

At 5:40 p.m., another young man drove up to the front
door of the small frame cottage and went in. In about five
minutes he came out again and drove away. And twenty
minutes later Minnie’s husband, Felix Tucker, was seen to
approach the house along Trinity Lane. He entered by the
front door. ; ones

At 6:15, in response to an urgent phone call from Felix

Tucker, Police Chief Raymond Cannon, Chief Deputy
Charles Smith, Lieutenant A. T. Ellis and Sergeant Elmer

Craig of the Inglewood-Madison police headquarters hur-
ried to Trinity Lane. The distraught husband who had

summoned them, on discovering the body of his slain wife,

THE KNIFE IN MINNIE'S BACK AND A SINGLE FOOTPRINT IN THE DAMP
EARTH SIGNPOST THE PATH TO THE ELECTRIC CHAIR @ By Michael King

was in the yard, surrounded by sympathetic neighbors.

The officers went into the house. In a ‘pool of blood on
the bedroom floor lay the slender body of a young woman,
‘the handle of what appeared to be a butcher knife protrud-
ing from her back. She was fully dressed, even to her
coat, and her left hand clutched a baby’s bonnet. A packed
suitcase stood on the floor near the bed. Her purse, ap-
parently untouched, lay on the table.

A deputy coroner arrived and made a preliminary ex-
amination of the body, while fingerprint men and photog-
raphers, who had come with him, proceeded with their work.

“How long has she been dead?” Chief Cannon asked.

“Can’t say definitely, pending an autopsy,” the deputy
coroner answered. “I’d estimate that she died less than an
hour ago.”

Cannon ordered the body removed to a mortuary. Then,

. with Deputy Smith, he made a careful examination of the

house. There were no signs of disorder. The purse, its
contents undisturbed, seemed to rule out robbery as a mo-
tive. Stepping out onto the back porch, Cannon played his

flashlight over the ground at the foot of the steps. A dis-

tinct footprint was visible in the spot of damp soil.

“Looks like a man’s print,” Smith commented.

Cannon nodded. “A fairly large man, I’d say. Someone
spilled water here recently. Whoever left by the back door
afterward happened to step in it. The track points away
from the house.”

“If the killer left this way,” Smith theorized, “he could
have crossed that field to Dickerson Road without being
seen.”

“We'll check that angle,” Cannon agreed. He ordered a
moulage made of the footprint. >

Tom Aldred and R. L. Tarkington, investigators from the
Davidson County, attorney general’s office, arrived. With
Chief Cannon, they now questioned Felix Tucker. .

Brokenly the young husband explained that he had been
attending a trade school and generally got home at about
6 P.M. He had come in at the usual time this evening.

“I didn’t know whether I’d find Minnie at home or not.”
he said. “She’d been talking of taking the baby to visit her
family for a day or two. I called out and there was no an-
swer. I went into the bedroom—and saw her.” He shud-
dered.

“The baby,” he went on, after a moment, “was on the
bed. I picked her up and took her to a neighbor’s, where I
phoned you.” He spoke with an effort, obviously distressed.

Tucker said he knew of no one who would have wanted
to harm his wife. He could not offer any suggestion that
might lead to identification of the slayer. Questioned about
the knife, he said it was one he had made in school for
Minnie.

“I’ve been taking a course in sheet metal work,” he ex-
plained. :

Asked about his movements that afternoon, he said that
he had left his last class at school at about 4:30. “The

- school is clear across the city,” he said, “and it was about

5:30 when I got off the bus in Gallatin Road. I stopped in
a shoe store there and talked with a clerk till nearly six
o’clock. Then I came right home.”

Cannon obtained from him the (Continued on page 91)

Chief of Police Cannon.
His pertinacity resulted
in murderer giving up his

life for the life he took

een cola”

Modest home of Tuckers

poured water which was

in suburban Nashville. =
From its porch Minnie —

to help trap her slayer e :

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bills,”

or had
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WY had
e. She
recog-
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Mar-
owing

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what

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oke in
‘s had
know
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acking
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S
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kekk

black-
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or evi-
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it was
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PHANTOM SLAYER OF TRINITY LANE

(Continued from page 58)

names of students at the school who had
been in his classes, and that of the shoe
store clerk. He sent officers to check Tuck-
er’s statements. Then he asked Tucker to
keep himself available for further question-
ing.

Tucker nodded, and added that he just
wanted to have his baby daughter taken to
his wife’s family, for proper care.

The autopsy revealed that Minnie Tucker
had been stabbed twice in the back with
the razor-edged 7-inch blade of the home-
made butcher knife. The first thrust had
pierced her heart, causing almost instant
death. The investigators wondered why
the killer had struck twice. Didn’t he know
that first brutal thrust would be fatal? Did
it indicate a crime of passion? Was the
motive unrequited love, or revenge, per-
haps?

Chief Cannon and Deputy Smith ques-
tioned residents in the Trinity Lane area.
The Tuckers, they learned, had been mar-
ried for about two years. Minnie had many
friends, but no one knew of any enemies.
No one had seen any strangers in the vicin-
ity that afternoon.

At the last house on Trinity Lane a wom-
an remembered having seen a young man
leave the Tucker house in a black Ford
sedan at about 5:45 that afternoon.

“Did you recognize him?” Cannon asked
her.

“I’ve seen him on Trinity Lane quite
often,” the woman said. “He’s a salesman.
He often sells goods in the neighborhood.
He lives a few blocks away. He often calls
on Minnie. His name is Frank Tobin.”

Cannon and Smith considered this infor-
mation, as they drove away. “If Tobin left
the Tucker house at 5:45, which was about
thirty minutes before Tucker discovered
the body of his wife,” Smith said, “he may
have been the last person to see Mrs.
Tucker alive.”

“We've got to talk to him,’ Cannon
agreed. He sent Lieutenant Ellis and Ser-
geant Craig to try to locate the salesman.
Then he conferred with Investigator Al-
dred in his office.

“If the Tuckers do not own a car,” he
said, “it. could be that this man in the Ford
sedan planned to drive Mrs. Tucker to the
bus stop. She couldn’t walk there, carrying
a baby and a heavy suitcase. Then, per-
haps, they quarreled over something. and
he killed her.”

Aldred prepared a three-state alarm, de-
scribing Tobin and his car, and Assistant
Attorney General Ben West had the alarm
broadcast. Then the officers drove again
to the Tucker home.

“Have you learned anything?” Tucker
asked, as he admitted them.

“Perhaps. You know a salesman named
Tobin, drives a black Ford sedan?”

“Oh, yes—but he wouldn’t have— he
wouldn’t hurt Minnie.”

“Where did you customarily keep that
knife, Tucker?” Cannon asked.

The man hesitated. Then he said reluc-
tantly, “Well, just lately, I’ve been keeping
it on a night table in the bedroom.”

Cannon and Smith looked surprised.
“Why did you keep it there?”

“Well, I had an argument with a man.
He threatened me. I kept it there in case
he might try to attack me during the night.”

“What’s the man’s name?”

Tucker hesitated. “I’m sure it had noth-
ing to do with—with Minnie. I don’t want
to involve him in this thing.”

“I want his name,” Cannon said shortly.

“Edward Waters.”

“Why did he threaten you?”

Tucker explained that they had quarreled
—over Minnie. He had ordered Waters to

stay away from the house. That was when
Waters had threatened to kill him. He
gave the officers Waters’ address.

Back at his office Cannon sent Lieutenant
Ellis to locate Waters and bring him in for
questioning. He learned that Tobin had
been picked up near the Alabama state
line. The officers who had apprehended
him were now en route to Nashville with
him. ;

A short time later Edward Waters, a
thickset youth, was brought in.

“Why did you threaten to kill Felix
Tucker?” Cannon asked him.

“He'd been abusing Minnie,” Waters said
hotly. “He slapped her face—he beat her.
I told him, if he didn’t stop, I’d kill him.”

“Were you in love with Minnie Tucker?”
Cannon demanded.

“No—there was nothing like that between
us. We were just good friends. My family
and her family have been friends a long
time. I’d never harm Minnie—and I
wouldn’t let anyone else hurt her, either,
if I could help it,’ Waters declared.

“Were you at the Tucker place today?”
the chief asked bluntly.

The youth hesitated. Then he muttered,
“No, I wasn’t near there all day.”

“Where were you?”

Waters said he’d “been around, various
places.” But he could not name any place
where he had been at any specific time.
Apparently he could offer no convincing
alibi for the time of the murder.

Telling Waters to stay at home in case
they wished to question him further, Can-
non dismissed him. Then he conferred with
Ellis and Craig, who had been checking on
Tucker’s movements. They reported that
apparently the young husband had told a
straightforward story.

The report from the fingerprint men was
disappointing. The murder weapon bore
no legible prints and none had been lifted
from the house except those of Minnie
and Felix Tucker.

While Cannon was considering his next
move, two officers brought in Frank Tobin.
Deputy Smith and Investigators Tarking-
ton and Aldred joined the chief in ques-
tioning the suspect.

Visibly agitated, the young man admitted
having been at the Tucker home that after-
noon. He had gone there, he said, to take
Mrs. Tucker and the baby to her family’s
home, but she wasn’t ready and told him to
come back in about an hour. He had been
in the house no more than five minutes, he
said, and had left at 5:45.

“Why did you leave town?” Cannon de-
manded.

The young salesman shifted uneasily.
“Well, I’d started back to the house and I
saw a big crowd outside. I pulled up to the
side of the road and asked a boy what had
happened. When he told me Minnie was
dead, I thought I’d better leave. I figured
I’d be suspected, because I’d been there
less than an hour earlier, and somebody
might have seen me.”

Cannon asked him, “Were you in love
with Minnie?”

“No, sir, I wasn’t,” Tobin answered. “We
were only friends. I never harmed her.
She was packing her clothes in the suitcase
when I left. That’s why she told me to
come back later.”

In spite of intensive questioning, he stuck
to his story. Cannon ordered Tobin held,
pending further investigation, and the
youth, still protesting, was led away.

“I'm still puzzled about the motive,” Can-
non admitted. “Until we can establish that,
we can’t make much headway.”

The four officers returned to Trinity Lane
and talked again with neighbors of the

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Slave WILEY, hanged Charlotte, Tennessee, on 12-28-1833,

"A pit of interesting history was enacted by the qaety 6ourt (Dickson
County, Tenn.) in 1833, which has few precedents in the “tate of
Tennessee. It was as follows: On the 25th of November, 1833, William
C. Bird, a white man and a patrol, was assaulted by one Wiley, a
slave, with a club and murdered. Wiley was soon afterward arrested,
and the county court convened in special session on the 19th of De-
cember of the same alg forthe purpose of trying the slave on the
charge of murder. he trial was by jury and lasted three days, a
verdict of guilty being returned on the third day, fixing the penalty
at death by hanging, The charge was read to the negro, and the day
of his execution being set for Yecember 28, following he was remanded
to jail. On the appointed day Wiley was taken from jail and placed
in & cart and conveyed to the place of execution. The gallows had
been erected the previous day at a point about half a mile east
of Charlotte, and was in the shape of two upright posts and a cross
piece, to which the rope was sttached. Several thousand people
gathered on the surrounding hillsides and climp up into the neigh-
boring trees to witness the hanging. ‘Slave owners took their slaves
to see thenegro hung, hoping thereby to give them a terrible lesson
and warning. The cart bearing the doomed man was driven between the
two uprights, the noose was placed around the slave's neck, and the
driver instructed to 'drive up the cart,' and the negro was jerked
into eternity. An aged darkey preached a funeral sermon over the re-=
mains, and delivered a solemn warning to his brethren,” :
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE, Nashville: Goodspeed, 1886, pp 929-30.

WHITLOCK, William, black, hanged at Somerville, Tenn., on August 13, 1896.

& Item from the newspaper REPORTER AND FALCON published at Somerville, Tenn.

August 19, 1896
HANGING
On last Thursday, = t 13th, William Whitlock, the negro who murdered
Constable Holliday of LaGrange a year ago, was hanged. The history of the
crime is well known to our readers, so we deem it unnecessary to repeat it
At 1215 o'clock the prisoner, dressed in a suit of black and smoking a
cigar, reached the gallows, having been escorted thither by Sheriff Boweeil
and several of his deputies. About 500 people, mostly colored, had gathered
around the gallows to see the last of him, but as it was a private affair
and only a fe people were allowed inside the enclosure, they were disappointed.
After scripture reading and prayer, the sheriff read the warrant that condenned
the prisoner to death. Several songs were then sung, the prisoner taking part
and singing very composedly. Whitiock then hung out a card on which was these
words: "The Lord hath redeemed me, I have a home not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens." He was then asked if he had anything to say and spoke as
follows; "IT am an innocent man. I have been a Christian and member of the church
for eleven and a half years, have made my peace with God and am going to
heaven." He asked for a drink of water which was brought him and of which
he drank freely. Whitlock shook hands with the brother and little son of the
murdered man and told them that someday they would find out that he was an

ivy de

innocent man.

The cap was then adjusted and the sheriff asked him if he was ready. He

© replied,"Yes, Boss, I'm ready. Let ‘er go." The trap was sprung at i133
o'clock and the body of the negro suspended in midair. His neck was broken by y"~
the fall and in 13 minutes he was pronounced dead by Dr. Albright and his
body turned over to Mr. Wetzler for interment.

Whitlock left a wife and two children at West Point, Miss., and a mother

80 years of age at Knoxvilie, Tenn. He met death without a shudder and protested
his innocence to the end. He was above the average negro in point of
intelligence and wrote a splendid hand. Thus ends the last chapter in one

Fal

of _ most brutal, unnecessary and uncalled for murders in the history of

8888888888888888888 88888888338 3385 88388353838 8838858555
ANOTHER CLIPPING, APPARENTLY EARLIER, BUT BEARING NO DATS

William Whitlock, the negro who murdered Constable Holliday of LaGrange

in August last, was tried at this term of the court. The circumstances

this murder were reported in this paper at the time it occurred, and

it is unnecessary to repeat them. The jury found Whitlock guilty of murder
in the first degree. Sentence has not been pronounced at this writing, but
we suppose it will be today. The case will be appealed to the Supreme Court.

i + Q ‘ i © : as rR

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APPEALS

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change agteeme.

naval - base, keystone: of‘ Britain's

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pits Seeeee hee: ‘atal

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000, on amount. which he eaid was
large enough to meet: all’ ‘poasible :

contingencies -

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all's. anziety. and” ‘preoccu-

stick was apparent: following the
Roosevelt meeting and‘later at his

tence when he focused

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of the meastire. said’ he
idea: when his bil would: ‘be astin
for debate, Thé s

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ph rt the reer sation ‘ef the President's

appeals” by seth

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GIRO FOR EMERGENC)

Foreign “observers believed | the
ts,
including entire class: of. those |
horn’ in 1912, was intended | largely |
to keep the Atslan’

"Americans were told 8 the seek

; | thoritative Fascist: edftor Virginio.
Gayda’ any

to-“mind . their” own
Ainetican affairs: ‘unless the United

31
Giornale D'italia. that

: “American “threats” and “intrigues”
; eame it ‘

heats ‘hurried termination ‘ot

Netherlands - tonight =
border troops for malliiary: duty
cause of “war danger” seen in t
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border battalions up. te full si

in the’ face of. Sraqalets

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merely. precautionary, said:

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“the actual international. att

tation “is containing war @ r

therefore border battalions 8:

day: were ‘called under arms —

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ed days ‘but that the genéral’ Bw

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€/ taining the policy of indepen@ancel:

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Premier Hendrik ‘Colija
make: broadcast.” tomorrew,”

ejwhich be is expected to urge: t

When daylight came his deputies were able to make an extensive search of the disaster and were rewarded by finding a fuse. Approximately 125

feet long, two wires stretched from the light-pole in front of the house to a spot directly under the two bedrooms. Was this hideous massacre inten-
tional? Had it been planned in advance in retaliation for Gouge’s “self-defense” killing of Arnold Tollett? The Sheriff decided he should act

The fuse was the

only clew More-
land had and he or-
dered Crave Tollett,
left, held for ques-
tioning. He remem-
bered an abortive
effort to blow up
Gouge the previous
November. Gouge
had escaped then

Another ordered

arrested was a
friend of Tollett’s,
Lee Walker, right,
who is reported to
have made a 400-
word confession in-
volving three men
who were arrested,
and then went on
trial with Walker

ao hee ee kG
phe ee ae
as

t:
rs

There was White Martin Tollett, who, “9 And Ulysses Walling, believed to have And Church Lester, who, it'was charged
Walker said, “carried the fuse” ae “placed the wires on the light pole” “carried the dynamite to the house”

ADSa

Sheriff W. E. Walling, according to Moreland, tried to establish
alibis for several Tolletts and their friends.

Mrs. Gouge was
injured so seriously she didn’t learn of the funeral of her children until

Tollett exonerated c

ee
ror)

ae
ey
Patihat ts
ee se
f

siid. His voice was like his father’s.
I looked at him. This was not my

darling, loving Michael. It was a
strange man with none of the kind
boyishness that I had loved in
Michael.

“I’ve had nothing but trouble since
I started going with you,” this strange
man snapped. “I’m leaving you, leav-
ing you cold.”

“You can’t!” I screamed, tears rac-
ing down my face. “After what you
did to me! After all you promised!”

“That’s nothing,” he said. ‘“That’s
happened to a lot of girls.”

“You can’t mean what you’re say-
ing,” I sobbed. His face looked hard
and cold in the glare from the street-
lights we were speeding past.

“T certainly do. If you don’t leave
me alone, I’ll go out of town,” he said.

My heart was breaking. The pain
was deeper than any physical pain
could ever be.

He stopped the car in front of my
house. I didn’t wait for him to open
the door. I ran as fast as I could. I
had to be alone with my grief. For
me the world had ended.

I didn’t dare leave my job at the
Rich’s home. I needed the money.
Where could I get another at $30 a
month?

And, too, I still believed that
Michael loved me, hoped that he’d
come back to me. That faint hope was
the only thing that made my life
worth living.

Once when I happened to meet him
alone, I said: “Michael, I know in my
heart that you love me. Won’t you
just say once more that you do?”

He wouldn’t answer.

Cys cold Winter evening I begged
Mr. Rich to reconsider his decision
about Michael and me. I told him that
if he’d only let us marry I’d work
just as hard as ever and he wouldn’t
have to pay me a cent. He pretended
not to notice me.

Worst of all, Michael began to in-
sult me in front of his sister and
brothers. He began to treat me as
though I were a maid—nothing more
than someone to do the work.

The situation was growing intoler-
able. I felt as though I would go
crazy if Michael didn’t give me some
indication soon that he still loved me

vessel, investigates the disorder and
quells the insurrection.

On Christmas Eve, 1937, he returned,
visited Hazel’s rival, Betty, whom he
took to a party. Then he left Hazel
again. This time he took the car along

—as I was sure he did. Why was he
doing all these things to hurt me? Had
he really ceased to care?

On~>the morning of February 3,
1939, just after ten o’clock, Michael
walked into the kitchen. I was iron-
ing one of his shirts, I always spent
extra time on his shirts because I liked
him to look well.

I glanced up at the tall, handsome
young man who only a few months
before had sworn that he loved me and
would love me forever.

“Michael, Michael, dear,” I said.

“You’re a bad woman,” he said,
sneering at me. He walked out of the
kitchen, slamming the door.

I had no intention of shooting
Michael. All I wanted to do was to
make him realize that the time had
come when he must marry me. I was
going to scare him.

A few minutes later he came into
the kitchen again.

This time, when I said, “Michael,
you have to talk to me,” he grabbed
me by the shoulders and, twisting me
towards him, seized my throat with

March 12, 1939.

fornia’s lethal-gas chamber.

been covered.

Up to the Minute

Aarons MARAVOLA, who tells her own story, “His Life—
For All 1 Gave,” on Page 8 of this issue, was acquitted of
charges resulting from the shooting of Michael Rich, Junior, Friday,

Michael Hermanowski, who killed his mother and father last
May, was electrocuted in Sing Sing for his double crime. This story
was entitled “One Mother Who Loved Too Well,” and appeared in
the issue of November, 1938 ... White Miller Tollett, a Tennessee
mountaineer, also died in the electric chair for his part in the death
of the three little daughters of Harmon Gouge, as recounted on these
pages under the date of April 6, 1938... Jesus Herrera, who attacked

- and killed little Hope Elizondo in Texas last Summer, was sentenced
to die in the electric chair. This story was called “Clew of the Open
Nail-Hole’” and was in the issue of September, 1938 . .
February, 1939, issue was a story entitled “Please Help Me Find My
Mother!”, recounting the murder of Rose Spinelli by her husband,
William. March 20 William Spinelli was sentenced to death in Cali-

This department appears in ACTUAL DETECTIVE STORIES
OF WOMEN IN CRIME from time to time, to enable readers to
keep up with the latest developments in cases that already have

- In the

“A bad woman!” So that was what
Michael thought of me! But if that
was true, wasn’t it his fault more than
mine? What of his promises? What
of his pleas?

I ran upstairs to Mr. Rich’s bed-

the Psychiatrist Sees

which had been given him by his still
loving wife. .It had been purchased
with stolen money, but Hazel did not
protest. Her love for Francis remained
so great that she kept right on sacri-
ficing herself.

‘About three months later, while di-
vorce proceedings were under way,
Francis again returned. He _ had
changed his mind and told Hazel he
loved her. He also stated that Betty
had been in Oklahoma to visit him but
that he had informed her that he was
going back to his wife. Again Hazel
immediately forgave him and he
shipped their furniture to Oklahoma
City. At last everything seemed to be
progressing towards a happy ending.

And now that the end of the road
of mental torture has been reached,
Hazel’s mind, mixed so full of ideas of
inferiority, must devise new forms of
castigation. Her thefts begin to obsess

one of his big hands. But his hand
was not gentle now. It was strong and
terrifying.

I tried to twist away. With one
hand I grabbed the gun from the table.

“Let me go, or I’ll kill you,” I
screamed.

He saw the gun.
against the table.

“You won’t kill anyone,” he said,
laughing at me.

He walked to the telephone and
called someone.

I was frantic. While he talked I
shouted: “Don’t you know what you’ve
done to me? Don’t you realize what
will happen if I tell my father and

He pushed me

brothers what you’ve done to me?
Michael! Michael! Please listen to
me!”

He slammed down the telephone re-
ceiver and started toward me. As I
looked at his face, I grew afraid with
a nameless fear. He grabbed me by
the shoulders’ and with one hand tore
my dress in a clean rip down the
front. Then he began slapping me.

I had the gun in my hand. I picked
up a pillow somewhere and tried to
hold it in front of me. He kept hit-
ting me.

And then I must have fired the gun
—two or three times, maybe four. All
I remember is seeing Michael fall to
the floor. I stood there, the gun in
my hand, staring at him...

Suddenly I realized that I had shot
him—shot the man I loved. He
mustn’t die. He couldn’t die.

I tried to lift him from the floor.
He was still breathing. But I couldn’t
move him. He was too heavy.

Terror overcame me. I had to get
help. I thought of my brother. I ran
from the house, down the street to my
home.

I can’t remember much of the hap-
penings of the next few hours. I’m
told that my brother got Constable C.
N. Shingledecker. I don’t even re-
member much of the long hours of
questioning. I had nothing to hide. I
told them everything.

Ts only words of that entire day
that meant anything were the words
that told me Michael was dead.

Nothing since then has meant much
to me. I am locked in the prison of
myself, a prison in which over and
over is repeated the fact that Michael
is dead and that I have killed him.

I am glad that those neighbors re-
alize I am not a “bad woman.” I think
that they know that my mistake was
to give in to love. And I hope that
they realize that I am telling this
story only because it may help
some other girl to avoid that mistake.

Another illustration with this story
may be found on Page 41.

It (Continued from Second Cover)

If we assume that she is a common
criminal type, then we must expect the
usual reaction of a criminal. Ninety-
nine times out of 100 a thief will deny
his guilt and when it is proved be-
yond a doubt, blame his plight on
someone else. Even the statement of
Judge McKinley, who likened her hus-
band to a parasite, never deterred her
from stigmatizing herself with all the
odium and all the disgrace: The story
does not contain a vestige of the re-
venge motive. All the blame is heaped

on the head of this woman convicted’
of embezzlement—by herself. This
makes the story extremely bizarre and
again characterizes her as a psycho-
pathological case.

From the psychiatric standpoint
there are, therefore, many attenuating
circumstances. Hazel Cornwall had an
unfortunate childhood replete with
frustrations and blows of fate. She was
intelligent, but her earning capacity
was never very great. She was in a
position of trust and handled large
sums of money. The temptation was
very great. Her extreme neurotic fixa-
tion on her husband was the outgrowth
of her unfortunate experiences during
childhood. Her moral training, though
not apparently of the worst, was nev-
ertheless subject to constant changes
in authority. In brief she developed a
typical neurosis.

Her light sentence was just. It is
very unlikely that she will become a
criminal repeater. When she _ has
served out her period of punishment
in the Illinois Women’s Reformatory at
Dwight she will emerge with a dif-
ferent and more moral outlook. I ad-
vise a psychiatric treatment for her
neurosis, which is the root of all her
trouble. ,

AD—i

A RY spc nS
Re Aen | ce a ee

By W. L. Hicklin
and featuring

Sheriff J. M. Moreland

Carter County, Tennessee

The shielded flare of a match, a
wicked spew of orange—a ‘second.
flare, a second sputtering spew—like
writhing, hissing adders they crept, to

blast the lives from the innocent

a (fu Ee veep) ey ae Pct

Sc lao cnamlaceeseaais

edsoe
it you

oHlett,
‘ou to
t and
ounty
any-
vrong
“liza-

ing?”

id us
e put

ible.”

‘Oo are

White Tollett, second murderer sentenced to
die in the electric chair by Tennessee.

you're dead wrong about this.” The phone clicked.

I turned back to Avery and Kitts. “I suppose we'll have
lo await the next move.”

“Sheriff, I think we can playa trump by getting up
to Pikeville pronto,” spoke up Kitts. “My jurisdiction is
statewide. There are no chains on me. If those men had
anything to do with the crime, then they'll have some
high-powered alibis, backed by some high-powered men.
I suggest we attack the ease, from Pikeville, while’ you
work it here.” ea ae Me ee ios

Kitts’ reasoning was emiitehily sound. Their efforts in
Pikeville would be invaluable. L'immediately. agreed to
the plan and wished them luck? ita

I called in Deputy Asher. Asher readily" admitted that
Mae Tollett had requested permission to make a telephone 4.
tall which he had granted. The tip-off to,Bledsoe County,
obviously, came from Mae Tollett. ; “

senal after ten acléck I received another call from
Sheriff Walling..“I’'m holding Lee Walker and White
Tollett for you. Crave has already gone to Elizabethton,”

- ‘

’
og

Sheriff Walling, important figure in this story
of triple death in the Tennessee mountains,

guess he’ll meet you at
your office.” -
‘Wondering why
Sheriff Walling had sud-
denly decided to arrest
Walker and White Tol-
_ lett, I dispatched Depu-
ties Claude Meredith and
Paul Heaton for the two
men,

Late that evening a
procession of cars roared
: up in front of my office.
' In the lead car were my

White, Tollett and Dep-
uty Lee Walker. From
the other cars lean,
grim-visaged men began
springing out—members
of the Tollett clan!
“We managed to keep -
ahead of them,” re-
marked Deputy
Heaton. ,
_We rushed the
- prisoners into
the county
jail and com-
menced
questioning
them in sep-
arate cells.
Walker and
Tollett were
calm, matter-

Kitts had predict-
ed, the men gave
convincing alibis at
the outset.

“Thursday night, around
7 Pp. M., I left Pikeville
for Walnut Ridge to see
my girl-friend,” related
White Tollett. “I took
Lee with me. We stayed
at my girl’s home until
around 11:30 o’clock.

; ; Then we came on back
to Pikeville and stopped at the hotel. You see, a friend of
ours was staying there. Before we went to Walnut Ridge
he had told us he was going to Chattanooga, and we could
use his room if we wanted to. This we did, and woke up
the next morning when we heard about the dynamiting.”

“Who is your girl-friend at Walnut Ridge?” I asked.

“Myrtle Ferguson. Her brother was there, too, Walter.
It might be a good idea to ask him, too,” smiled Coroner
Tollett. 7

“What's the name of your friend who had the hotel
room?” :

“Johnny Vaughan, he’s an automobile dealer in Pike-
ville,” responded Tollett readily. —

Queried in another cell, Walker told the same story.

immediately sought to get in touch with Kitts at Pike-

ville. In a few minutes he was on the line.

* “Kitts, I wish you would bring in Myrtle Ferguson and
Walter Ferguson, living at Walnut Ridge. Also John
Vaughan, an automobile dealer there. And listen, Crave |
Tollett was supposed to be on his way here. Looks like
he's taking his time. Pick him (Continued on page 99)

Walling informed me, “I:

deputies with Coroner °

of-fact. Just -as _

men who had ridden in the machine little dreaming that
hideous death lurked beneath. The dynamite, I found, had
been wired to the exhaust. For three days the heaf had
somehow been insufficient to explode the cache. Strangely
enough, the dynamite had exploded after ee had cut
his ignition and departed from the car. 4
T THAT time Gouge was reluctant. to make; any Fditrect

accusations. However, because of a ‘previous sensa-

rigid investigation that stretched over the state, to no

was engaged with Arnold Tollett in a dance hall enter-
prise located between Elizabethton and Hampton. The
dance hall, known as the “Blue Bird,” became a paying

men began having serious arguments. One day, at a filling
station not far from the dance hall, an argument flamed
out violently between the two men. In a hand to hand
struggle Arnold Tollett fell, mortally wounded. Harmon
Gouge was immediately arrested and placed under heavy
bond, his trial being scheduled for the February term of
Carter County Circuit Court.

As we pursued our investigation into the mysterious
dynamiting of Harmon Gouge’s machine, we uncovered
the fact that several of Tollett’s relatives, mem-
bers of the powerful Tollett clan in western
Tennessee, had openly voiced a deter-
mination to gain revenge against
Gouge for his shooting

cna euaeie

(PR er
ent
pe m2

60 FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE fs

tional and violent occurrence, we began a pointed art

avail. The occurrence was this: A year ago Harmon Gouge

business. All should have been well. However, the two

a .

of Arnold Tollett, However, try. as we might we failed
utterly to tie up the dynamiting of the car with the threats
of the Tolletts.

“Mr. Gouge, do you believe this had anything to do with
your shooting of Arnold*Tollett?” I asked.

_ «ss. Gouge, stared at the floor. “I don’t know, Sheriff,” he bs
+ Pst 'said slowlyxJ. can’t believe anyone but a madman, a fiend,

would do anything like this.”

“Can you’ give us any clue as to who might want to kill .

you-+-or. seek the death-of your wife and children?”
« “Sheriff, I just don’t know: It all seems to be a gigantic

idk che, when, wheréj‘L don’ t know! Let’s pray to God :

you find out!” “~~ »,

“As I left the building; hospital authorities informed me 4

that Luena had also died. Three innocent children hurled |
to a merciless destruction by an icy-veined fiend! The /
most brutal mass murder in the history of East Tennessee! }
Then and there I resolved that the rest of my days would |
be spent, if necessary, in tracking down the bloodthirsty | {
killers of those children. i
Daylight was beginning to break when I returned to
the death scene at Hampton. My deputies, making a care-
ful search of the premises, had found two
clues of debatable significance. One was
an old sugar sack, and the other 123 feet
of burned fuse leading from a telephone
pole on the sidewalk to a point where
I figured the basement window had
been.
“Looks like some of the dynamite
was carried in this sack,” ventured
Deputy Paul Heaton. “I found it
in the driveway.”
I opened the sack up and stuck’
my head inside. The unmis-
takable odor of dynamite! I
had worked too many years
in lumbering operations in
North Carolina not to rec-}
ognize the pungent odor of}
the powerful explosive |

The state’s graphic x

hibits: the burned fuse,
sack, and the unused)
fuse recovered from the?
river where the murder
ers had hurled it.

failed
ireats

o with

ff,” he
fiend,

to kill

gantic
to God

ied me
hurled
d! The
nessee!

would
ithirsty

cned to
a care-
nd two
me was
123 feet
‘ephone
t where
ow had

ynamite
entured
found it

id stuck

unmis- |

amite! I

ry years ~

itions in

t to rec- . |

t odor of
<plosive.

aphic ex- ) >
‘ned fuse, -

s unused

from the ©
e murder- —

cled it.

And I knew that no less than three separate caches of the
explosives had been placed under the house. What manner
af soft-footed fiends had managed to make such elabgrate
preparations for murder without arousing a bit of sus-
picion in the neighborhood?

The matter of Harmon Gouge’s shooting of Arnold
Tollett and the revenge theory still pricked at my mind.
Was it reasonable to assume, in view of the complete
lack of other evidence to the contrary, that the Tolletts
had plotted the destruction of Gouge’s family in a thirst-
ing quest for vengeance? If the Tolletts were involved,
Iknew we had to work fast. Their stronghold was Bledsoe
County, two hundred miles distant in the western part of
Tennessee. If the diabolic plot was their making then time
would be their greatest ally, would permit them to wipe
out all incriminating evidence, to establish unimpeach-
able alibis.

I suddenly recalled that two close relatives of Arnold
Tollett were residing in Elizabethton—Mae Tollett, 35-
year-old sister of the slain man, and Frank Thompson, a
brother-in-law. Mae Tollett held a responsible position in
Elizabethton, and so far as I knew enjdyéd: the respect
of its citizens. So did Frank Thompson. It was. inconceiv-
able to connect them with such a fiendish*crime. Yet I
decided not to overlook a single bet. Every possible sus-
pect would be ‘exhaustively questioned. I therefore sent
Deputies Roy Asher and Paul ‘Heaton to arrest Mae
Tollett and Frank THompson.

It was discernible that investigation in the case would
no doubt rise to considerable ‘proportions. I decided to call
on every available source of help. I therefore contacted
J. Edgar Hoover, at the Department of Justice, the Knox-
ville Police Department, and V. M. Kitts, deputy state
fire marshal, whose duty it was to investigate all dyna-
mite explosions and ascertain whether the state laws on
the safe transportation of dynamite had been infringed.
Kitts informed me that he was leaving-immediately with
Harry Avery, ace investigator for the National Board of
Fire Underwriters. It was these two men, Kitts and Avery,
who were destined to perform monumental work in the
far-flung investigation, and too much credit cannot be
fiven to their untiring efforts in solving the atrocious
mass murder.

Meanwhile, my hard working deputies had dug up

Special Investigator Harry siete Virgil
Kitts, State Deputy Fire Marshalsthe two
hard working and capable sleuths: who, to-
gether with Sheriff Moreland, ‘Were “given
chief credit for solving this great case.

*, > 7 Pee

FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE 7 Bt

positive evidence that four Hampton men had been close
friends of the slain Arnold Tollett: I immediately ordered
them taken into custody.

N HOUR later I was rigidly questioning six tight-
-& lipped suspects. Mae Tollett repeatedly declared she
knew nothing of any plot on the part of her relatives to
gain revenge on Harmon Gouge. Frank Thompson vigor-
ously maintained that he knew nothing of any plot against
Harmon Gouge. We got nowhere with the other four
suspects. All provided alibis which we checked and found
relatively impregnable.
As we concluded our questioning, Deputy Heaton burst

‘into the office, his face registering intense excitement.

“Sheriff, come here*quick!” he called. I joined him in an
adjacent room. st
“Sheriff, you remember that we once suspected Crave

. Tollett’ and Lee Walker in the dynamiting of Gouge’s

car?’?#I_ nodded.
“well; Ted Dumfries was driving to his home in Hamp-

ton late: Thursday night. He had been over to Bristol. He .-

just told me he saw a car cruising slowly over near Lotus
Avenue that night, that it had a Bledsoe County license
plate. When he passed the car it was near a street light—
and Dumfries says he is almost positive it was Lee Walker
driving that carly,

“Lee Walker! Was he alone?”

“Dumfries claims that it seemed the car was full of
men!”

“Paul, I’m going to take a long shot!” I exclaimed,
reaching for the phone.

“Give me the sheriff’s office at Pikeville!” I requested
the operator. A few minutes neon? Then a voice at the
other end of the line.

“Sheriff Walling there?”

“No,” came a heavy voice, “this is one of his dispiattes.”

“Where is the sheriff?”

“He’s out in the valley somewhere.”

“Well, this is Sheriff Moreland, at Elizabethton. We’ve
had a terrible thing occur here early this morning. The
home of.

“Yeah, we know all about it!” came the laconic re-
sponse.

“How:

”” T began.

Paul Heaton, Carter County Deputy Sheriff,
whose untiring efforts aided greatly in bring-
ing thie baby killers to swift justice. This case
aroused the entire countryside because of its
cold-blooded child killings.

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Sor i te Pat See

“Listen, Sheriff,” the
voice broke in impa-
tiently, ‘I’m busy. What
is it?”

“I want you to arrest
John Tollett, White Toll-
ett, and Lee-Walker, and
search their car imme-
diately. I believe-——” ‘

“Sorry, Sheriff,
haven’t got time to fool
with it!” Click! The
closed wire hummed
contemptuously in my
ear.

For a minute I saw
red. A sworn officer of
the law deliberately re-
fusing to aid the course
of justice! Here was my
first inkling of the gi-
gantic and amazing plot
that had been hatched
by law enforcement
officers in an
American state to
deliberately and
blatantly
obstruct
a murder in-
vestigation!

‘*Paul,
there’s
something
rotten!
They’ve been
tipped of. That
was a_ deputy
sheriff talking—
and he hung up on
me!”

“What are ,you: going
to do? We've got to have
their cooperation.”

“Do? I’m_ going to
smash that murderous
combine if it’s the last
thing I do!” I grated. .

I snatched up the tele-
phone. “Operator, this is
Sheriff Moreland talk- ;
ing. You plug a line to Pikeville and get me Sheriff Wall-
ing if it takes you all day. This is a matter of extreme im-
portance, do you understand?” ja sig ‘

“I understand completely, Sheriff Moreland,” came the
business-like voice of the operator. as i

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;

} : n>? ;

I hung up. Two men walked into the office, one short.
and rotund with keen, piercing eyes; -the other .tall, -.
slender, quick and agile of m Sheigaite They;were V, Me.)

4 :

Kitts, the state deputy fire marshal, and Harry Avery, ace
investigator, the two men whé were to help me most in
cracking the atrocious murder conspiracy. F

After greeting them warmly I began informing them
of developments. While we were talking the telephone
rang. The operator informed me she had reached my
party. :

“Hello,” a voice boomed over the phone, “this is Sheriff
Walling talking.”

“Sheriff, I suppose you know all about the dynamiting
of Harmon Gouge’s home?”

“Yes, I do,” came his response.

“TI talked to your deputy a while ago. He hung uponme. «: “I’ll attend to it,” offered Walling cryptically. “B
ie %%

a a i LE i aR

*Ulysses Walling, one of the suspected men.
waigt strange story did he tell the authorities?

‘ tree. Crave Tollett, I know, couldn’t have been in Eli

_ to get in touch with Crave, that she was going to be

This impressive scene shows the Indoor fu-
4 Neral service held for the murdered children
of. Harmon .Gouge.

Church Lester was tried for the triple murder
and sentenced to the electric chair.

The question is, do we get the cooperation of Bledsoe

__ County. authorities?”

“That depends,” replied Walling coldly. “What is it yor
want?"?; , i
“I want you to arrest John Crave Tollett, White Tollett)
and Lee Walker on suspicion of murder. I want you ty
seize their cars and hold them for investigation. I——""_ |
_ “Wait a minute, Sheriff!” broke in Walling. Tollett and
Walker are my deputies. White Tollett is the county,

coroner here. These men couldn’t possibly have had any)

thing to with murder. I think you're barking up the wro

bethton. I woke him up around 4 A.M.

“Why did you wake him up at that hour of morning’?
I barked. ,

“Well, Mae Tollett called from Elizabethton and told

in jail. So I went over there to tell him she was in trouble .
“T see. Nevertheless, Sheriff Walling, I want you to a
rest those three men right away!” ?

' we rN w

wet ge ee Ta digs is Hainadt

4
;

s
4
|

Church Lester persistently denied
any complicity in the plot. However,
Walling broke down and admitted his
guilt, asserting that Walker’s state-
ment was correct. Then he noneha-
lantly led us to a heavily wooded bank
of the Doe River and pointed out the
spot where the murderous quintet had
concealed Seventy-five feet of fuse and
a quantity of dynamite caps.

Despite the damaging statements of

~ Walling and Walker, White Tollett

steadfastly maintained he had not been.

An extended conference between
the battery of defense attorneys and
Attorney General Luke Grayson and
Assistant Attorney »General’ Dennis
Erwin took Place as the room, rumbled

were marched back to their cells as
the grim circle of officers kept a wary
watch.

ness what was fully anticipated to be.
come the’ most sensational ae
drama in the history of East-Ten- ,

of Attorney-General J. Luke:Grayson,
Assistant Attorney - General Dennis
Erwin, Judge W. S. Allen, Judge D. H.

a,
2 4

-\%

FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE

‘ee .
Vines, Howard Allen, Roy Nelson, and
Sherman Grindstaff.

The state suffered its first setback

in Bledsoe County, .
The first three days of the trial re-

Walling, declined to enter into the long

Srawn-out challenging, and calmly in-

101

at the Frostbite schoolhouse attend-
inga TVA Play. Miss Willa Boynton,

% behold! What do we find? What do we

see? ‘

Start of F eud @ “The first thing that we find is three
little céffins set in a row according to

two men Pictured above are stand-

“NG ON the exact Spot where Arnold

Tollett and Harmon Gouge quarrelled,
thus leading to multiple murder,

formed Judge Ben Allen the first
“twelve men called would be perfectly

As the actual trial finally got under
way, it became obvious that the de-
fense was hopelessly split, and tho-

“s» Bit by bit the state presented its

chain o damning evidence. With the

the.grime ‘scene, the defense attorneys
strove™to prove that White. Pollett,

-Chureh Lester, and:Crave Tollett were

County, ascended the witness stand to
testify that on January 6, the night of
the -mags murder, Crave Tollett: was

the Sweetness of flowers, the Sweetness
of life and living! How did it occur?”
Attorney Cantor then Proceeded to

enouncing the accused men as
“baby killers and vipers who crept

any outbreak, the jury announted its
verdict: Death for Church Lester and
White Tollett; twenty-one years im-
Prisonment for Lee Walker and Ulys-

and countless others. The verdict of
death, however, for Lester and White

of court for being an accessory before
the fact,

ia arn

through the thin lace negligee. My
head was still back and my hands were
on my hips because I did not know how
many eyes were watching me.

He gave a loud grunt of Satisfaction
as he saw my body, and then he lunged
for me, his huge hands reaching for the
thin covering. They tore the lace off
with diabolical eagerness and the next
thing I knew, my naked body was be-
ing pawed and crushed.

I screamed and my knee came up.
It caught him in the groin. He stag-
gered back, his face white and his eyes.
flashing a fury that wasn’t human. He
came for me again. I grabbed for some-
thing — anything. My hands touched
the long taper candles,

I swung one. It crashed across his
face and he went backwards again. The
candle fell from my hands. It dropped
in a pile of soft cushions on the floor.

I was running in circles. I couldn’t
leave the room because I would have
been caught. The man was coming for
me again, his face bloodless with desire
and anger.

He caught me. My nude body was
thrown to the floor. He came down on
me, his hot breath scorching my cheeks.
His hands pawed over my neck and
shoulders and then went down on my
chest.

I twisted and ‘squirmed under his

Ee eee ici

FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE

heavy weight. Hetried to shift his po-
sition and suddenly I was out from un-
‘der him with the speed of a cat. I land-
ed on my feet and grabbed for a bronze

urn. Raising it with both arms, I sent it ;

crashing down on his head, and he sank
to the floor.

Then suddenly I realized that I was
choking with smoke. The room was
filled with it. Outside people were run-
ning and yelling. Two men came in the
room. They didn’t see me because of the
smoke,

After that everything in that house
was bedlam. How I go out of it was a
mystery. I don’t remember any of those
agonizing moments, but after ‘what
seemed like hours, I was on a dark side
street, racing through the nightJ#>,

There was a blanket over m ! body

and the wrinkled old woman was'‘dt'my

side. We*kept running until we came
to a policeman. I was taken to' police
headquarters and arrested as a prosti-
tute, but the old woman argued my
case. The police got in touch with Agua
Caliente. A detachment was sent to
raid the burned house of prostitution.

But they didn’t find anybody. The
Mexican who had started me on opium
was gone. He has never been found.

I was taken to a hospital and the
next day friends from Los : Angeles
came and got me.

PS gga os See Se Rie ER 8 eg Le eet HDNet ns

I spent three months in a hospital
outside of Los Angeles, recovering from
a nervous breakdown and the effects
of opium. I don’t suppose I’l] ever com-
pletely recover from those days of liv-
ing hell. They haunt my sleep even
now.

My story has remained a secret,
known only by my few intimate
friends, I never have told anybody be-
cause I know they wouldn’t believe it.

- They wouldn’t believe the same thing
happened to over eight hundred Amer.
ican‘girls in one year in Tia Juana.

TH@:report of the League of Nations
has never been published. It should be.
The white slave ring that caught me is
still operating. They are still signing
contracts with girls to work at the
club in Tia Juana. ; ‘

The club! I don’t like to think of that -

rambling house and its soft lights and
the bleached blonde with the sharp,
thin face and Searching eyes.

I don’t think of it unless I have to,
but my story is a story that every girl
shold read.

I have omitted only one thing. That
is the wrinkled old lady who was my
savior that fatal night. She is living in
a village in Mexico: She is living in
comfort and she always will as long as
I make a penny, even though I go hun-
gry. &

BABY KILLERS!

(Continued from page 63)

up and bring him in.”
“That’s just what I want to tell you
—we’ve just learned Crave Tollett and

an unidentified man caught the bus for ~

Knoxville!” announced Kitts.

“How long ago?” I demanded.

“Over three hours ago,” Kitts re-
sponded.

“Sheriff Walling just told me that
Crave was on his way to Elizabeth-
ton,” I said. : ‘

“Walling is wrong,” snapped Kitts.
“We are positive it was Crave Tollet
caught that Knoxville bus!”

Urging Kitts to rush the Fergusons
to Elizabethton, I hung up and placed
a call for Chief Highway Patrolman

' James Williams at Knoxville. Getting

Williams to the phone I requested him
to place a dragnet on all roads lead-
ing in and out of Knoxville, and to
scour all hotels for.Crave Tollett and
his unknown companion.

Late that evening, as we pursued ,
an intensive questioning of our pris.
oners, an excited state trooper,,one ¢
of a score who were cooperating with

us on the case, burst into my office a

clutching a piece of reddish-yellow-
paper.

“Sheriff, I found this in a ditch on
the road to Hampton! And here’s a
sticker on it of a Chattanooga hard-
ware firm that I happen to know deals
largely in dynamite supplies!”’

I grasped the crumpled sheet 6f pa-
per. Sure enough a label, .glued upon
it, bore ‘the printed name: “Agney

. .

Co-Author |

— "Ri ee iy ht Bes
Sheriff. M. Moreland réached the scene
of the terrific explosion in the'dark hours
of the morning. The sheriff knew some-
thing of the feud that had existed and
‘lost no time rounding up the enemies

of Harmon Gouge.

Hardware Company, Chattanooga,
Tenn.” :

I quickly*summoned Deputy A. B.
Williams and handed him the Paper.

“Williams, get down to Chatta-
nooga. Find out what was wrapped
in that piece of paper. Get every-
thing you can, who made the purchase,
when, how: he looked, anything. you
can. This may be a dub—or it may
be the most important clue we have.”

Williams hastened away.

The hours slipped by. The taciturn
mountaineers from Bledsoe County
strolled back and forth before the
courthouse, their jaws set in tight
lipped grimness. A squadron of Eliza-
bethton police kept on unceasing and

- wary watch. It was like sitting on a
powder mine. .

aa SUNDAY morning between
twelve and fifteen thousand per-
sons jammed their way into the tiny
village of Hampton to attend burial
services of the murdered children,
causing a traffic jam of such propor-
tions that extra police aid was called
in from nearby cities. Another 5,000
-persons Crowded the streets surround-
ing the First Baptist Church in Eliza-
bethton endeavoring to witness the
impressive and tragic funeral services.
. The major portion of police effort
throughout Sunday was directed to-
wards untangling this immense
throng and setting it on its way. Dark-
ness had already fallen when the

‘arab

- MOUNTAIN MURDER

VEN southern feudists abhor the wanton and dia-
bolical murder of three innocent children, The
honor of the South and of the entire nation demands
that the mystery of their deaths shall be solved and

that the person or persons responsible for this unspeakable

mg cowardly outrage shall pay the full penalty prescribed
y law.”

This stirring challenge first appeared in the April issue of
True Derective, in connection with a brief, preliminary’ re-
port of the shocking murders of nine-year-old Sonia Gouge,
and her two younger sisters, Luena, seven, and Roma Jean,
six, in their parents’ home near Elizabethton, Tennessee.

I received a copy of the report before publication, with
instructions from the Editor of Truz Derecrrve to leave
nothing undone in making a thorough investigation of the
horrible crime.

I hastened to Elizabethton, the seat of Carter County, in
the northeastern corner of the state, and first interviewed
the investigators in the case. Then I examined the spot where
the children were killed. I talked with the distraught par-
ents, and with scores of private citizens. I visited Pikeville,
Tennessee, about 225 miles south and west of Elizabethton,
and delved into the history of feudism there. Finally, I at-
tended the trial in the Carter County courthouse, where the
dynamite evidence was spread out before a jury.

And now I can tell the story—tell it without holding back
any of the weird, almost fantastic, details, - Many facts sur-
rounding the crime are made public herein for the first time.

* * *

The lofty peaks of the Cumberland Plateau, which cast
bleak shadows so contemptuously over the fertile valley of

the Sequatchie River, make Bledsoe County, Tennessee, one
of the beauty spots of the southern Appalachians. Pikeville,
its largest town, is only fifty miles north af Chattanooga, but
tourists seldom visit the county, for no Federal highway
crosses its borders. '

The residents—Bledsonians they call themselves and they
number less than 8,000—are nearly all direct descendants of
the rugged Anglo-Saxon pioneers who first settled there. Per-
haps half of them are related in some way either to the Tol-
lett, Swafford, Walker or Walling clans.

Bledsoe, in common with many other communities in the
southern mountains, has been the scene of a fierce blood
feud. The Tolletts and Swaffords: fought so bitterly and for
so many years that no less than forty lives were taken before
intermarriage stamped out most of the hatreds. Today Tol-
letts and Swaffords are aligned against Tolletts and Swaffords,
and if they battle at all now, it is with ballots at the general
elections,

The feud started about fifty years ago, I was told in
Pikeville, during the period when Robert. L. Taylor and
Alfred A. Taylor, distinguished brothers reared together near
Elizabethton, were contributing a rollicking chapter to the
nation’s political history. In 1886, “Bob” was the Demo-
cratic candidate for Governor. of Tennessee, and brother
“Alf” was the Republican candidate. They campaigned to-
gether, taking turns in pleading for votes from the same
platforms. In one of his speeches, Bob shouted: “Alf and
I are just roses from the same garden,” and the friendly
struggle which Bob won, went down in history as “The
War of the Roses.”

It seems that the Taylor brothers were scheduled to speak
in Bledsoe County during this campaign. A large crowd of

pe
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A LE ANE LL LTT.
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Covered
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carrying

bundles c:
ly to the
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Working
they put «
burden, ;
long fuse,
fire to it.

Tific blast
lowed, the
reduced t-
tangled

(above). .
of dealin;
Harmo:
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tims wer

innocent

Sonia, Kk
and Lue

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funeral cortege started for Elizabeth-
ton. Actual interment was postponed
until Monday, as we strove to gain
some semblance of order out of the
raging chaos of countless cars and
humans. ; ‘
Shortly after midnight my depu-
ties and myself returned to the office,
exceedingly tired but determined to
wait for Kitts and Avery for the all-
important questioning of Myrtle Fer-
guson and her brother. At 12:30 we
heard a commotion outside of the of-
fice. The loud roar and squeak of
brakes of numerous cars came through
the window. Then came the jabber of
voices and the stamp of feet. A few
minutes later in walked Crave Tol-

lett, an attorney from Pikeville, and .

Sheriff Walling. A score of men, ob-

viously strangers, crowded the door.
“Here I am, Sheriff,” announced

Tollett nonchalantly. "

“Yeah, we got here as fast as we
could,” added Walling.

I eyed the two coldly. “Crave Tol-
lett, I have a warrant for your arrest
for the murder of the Gouge children.
Sheriff Walling, I am arresting you
for being an accessory after the fact!”

Walling’s face turned livid. “This
is an outrage! I am the high sheriff of
Bledsoe County!”

. “Regardless, by failing to act as an
officer in your capacity should, we
have no alternative but to hold you
in this case,” I informed him.

“It’s okay, Bill, we’ll be out on bail

. in no time,” smiled Deputy Tollett,

glancing ‘at the crowd of Bledsoe
County men lining the dimly-lit walks
outside of the building. °

But Sheriff Walling and his deputy

were doomed to disappointment if they
anticipated ready freedom. The next

‘day: Justice Frank: ‘Edens set the

amount of bond for each,of the accused
men for $50,000! ;
We subjected Crave Tollett to a

gruelling’ examination, without avail.:

He persistently maintained that he was
asleep in the living quarters of his res-
taurant in Pikeville when the -explo-
sion occurred. -*

On Tuesday morning Sheriff Wall-
ing was taken to Jonesboro -before
Judge Ben Allen in a habeas corpus
hearing. After Jengthy arguments
Judge Allen reduced the sheriff’s bond
to $10,000. Two hours later when Sher-
iff Walling’s friends had raised the re-
quired sum I speedily rearrested him

-on a new charge of conspiracy to com-

mit murder on the Gouge children. I
had no intention.of permitting Sheriff
Walling to leave Carter County.

At 11 o’clock Kitts and Avery ar-

.tived with Myrtle Ferguson and her

brother, Walter. I commenced ques-
tioning them. Myrtle, an 18-year-old
brunette, was obviously nervous and
fearful. The youth was a sullen pic-

‘ture of mountaineer reticence.

“Myrtle,” I began, “did White and
Lee Walker come to see you last Thurs-
day night?”

“Yes, sir, and they left at 11 o'clock,”
she replied quickly—too quickly.

“I didn’t ask- you that. What made
you tell me they left at that time?”

BS,
Se nae Sy PE TOT Re Oe OF OE Abe a en

ali a ee

FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE

“Well, you want to know, don’t you?”
she rejoined nervously, twisting and
untwisting her fingers,

“And you will swear White and Lee
were. at your house Thursday night?”

The girl bit her lip.and nodded.

Questioned in, another Féom Walter’* :
Ferguson mgde,surly cértobora tion: oft. .
ee ;.<.,exclaimed in trembling tones.

his sister’s' gfory.”

; Legh thoy
I returned to Myrtle Ferguson. “Migs”

Ferguson, you were very eager, to tell
me what time White and Lee left your
house. This led me to belieye you are
lying to shield these men. I shall have
to arrest you and place yojl in jail.”

“Jail!” the girl echoed, the blood
draining from her face. Suddenly she
screamed out: “I won’t go to jail! I
won't go to jail! They told me to say
that! I had to say it!” the girl began
sobbing loudly. ~

“Then Lee Walker and White Tol-
lett were not-at your house on Thurs-
day night?” I demanded.

“No. Up until Friday morning I
hadn’t seen Lee Walker in a month!
I hadn’t seen White in over a week.
They both came to our house early
Friday morning and told me and Wal-
ter to swear they were with us all

Thursday evening and left at 11 Pp. Migs, helped us plan it.

I took down Myrtle’s statement, hur:
‘ried to the room in which Kitts an

Avery were still questioning Waltex®
Ferguson, and showed the youth thée™

confession. With mobile expression
Ferguson read the statement, then
said quietly: “Myrtle is telling the
truth. We were told to lie! I’m sorry
I ever did it.”

Fe ON DING the pair to jail as ma-
terial witnesses, I learned that
Deputy Williams had returned from
Chattanooga. “A clerk at the Agney
Hardware ‘store remembers that he
sold 100 feet.of dynamite fuse early in
the week to a man who grumbled be-
cause it was all he had,” Williams in-
formed me. “The clerk says he remem-
bers the sale well because he had to
note down in his ‘want’ book that he
was out of fuse. I asked him if he could
escribe the man. He said he could
e¢all that the man had pop eyes and

+ very: loose lips. And: that’s——”

““—White Tollett! I broke in grimly.
These electrifying disclosures. drove
all thoughts :of sleep from our’ minds,

“eo

* Hotel that Lee Walker wished to talk
to me alone. sai
“I hurried over. Walker, his eyes
_ bloodshot, yis face haggard and worn,
“slumped Wearily in a chair. “Do you
: want to know all about it?” he asked.
‘. “I certainly do,” I replied.
“I don’t want_to burn, Sheriff!” he

eS “Lee, the best thing for you to do
is, toxtelkthe truth and feel that you
havé beenright with your God,” ]
told hinngjuietly. ,
--¢Walker’ took a deep breath. “All
right,-T’ll ‘tell you”,
~“*“Wait a second, Walker, I’m calling
in the others, and a stenographer. Your
statement must be in writing.”

Minutes later we listened in com-
plete silence as Walker poured out the
story of the diabolical death plot, im-
plicating two men whom we had never
suspected! ;

“We tried to get Harmon Gouge be-
fore. We tried twice. Once when his car
blew up and he wasn’t hurt. The sec-
ond time we placed a charge under the
High Cliff Cafe, but it failed to go off.
Then we began planning our third try.
We planned it for weeks. Yes, Crave

‘4 “On Thursday evening around 7 Pp. M,
Jj'Ulysses Walling, Church Lester, and
‘White Tollett left for Hampton. I
“.Zuess we got there around 2 a. M. after
stopping on the way several times. I
let Church, Walling, and White off,
and began driving up and down, act-
ing as lookout. A little later they came
back and said it was all set, to get the
hell away. While speeding back to
Pikeville we heard the explosion. Ulys-
ses said, ‘That should have done it!’

“When.we got. back to Pikeville
Sheriff Walling met us and said: ‘Boys,
I’m supposed to arrest you. I know
where you’ve been.’ Then he told
Ulysses and Church to meet us later
in the day in the cafe. White and I got
in his car and drove to his summer
cabin, where he started talking over
alibis. is

“You mean Sheriff Walling actually
sat down to talk over alibis with you?”
I asked incredulously.

“That’s right,” confessed Walker.
“Then he tried to call an Elizabethton
lawyer whose name I forgot. But we
couldn’t get him. Finally, after talk-

We began subjecting the Tolletts“and%, ing for an hour we started for White's

Lee Walker” to’ a relentless grilling:

Kitts, Avery,/two G-men from Knox-
ville, and mye, took turns quizzing
- the suspects, shuttling them, to their
increasing**puzzlement; ‘fromm jail to

x. courthouse:to jury room.to the nearby

‘Governor Taylor Hotel. If we weren’t
“questioning them, we were moving
them back and forth between these
places. ~

All day Wednesday the suspects
steadfastly maintained they knew
nothing of the dynamiting of the

Gouge home.

On Thursday their heated and sul-
len replies turned to weary, mechani+
cal denials. :

That same night, while grilling
Crave Tollett at the jail, I received a
message from the Governor. Taylor

* girl’s house. We told her and. Walter

. to swear we had been there Thursday
night until 11 o’clock. When we got
back Sheriff Walling told us he had to
hold us for some Carter County officers
that were coming up, but that every-
thing would turn out okay! :

With Walker’s sensational state-
ment at hand, we immediately sent
out posses composed of deputies from
the various counties and Tennessee
state patrolmen to apprehend Ulysses
Walling and Church Lester. Ets

On the following morning Walling
was arrested at a relative’s home near
Pikeville. Two hours later Church
Lester was taken into custody. By
nightfall both men, openly defiant,
were facing a relentless grilling in the
Carter. County ‘jail at Elizabethton,

sixte:
the «
Patro
depui
Wash
many
from
In:
torne:
wishe
Thom
previc
tionin
Tt
a
v
cessor
bond
Tollet:
being
der ar
and tl
let, Le
waive
degree
withou
The
agreen
were r
the gri
watch.

tho
the litt)
ness wi
come t
drama
nessee,
persons
battery
ablest a
Herman
William
David ¢
corps 0!
of Attor
Assistan
Erwin, J

‘) Lester’s story, they
{ reprimanded them for
on two girls who had
iountain trail,
“ins,” even in Pikeville,
quitted after he told his
cacher father also was
had kept his children
the feudists, and how
‘rit of the Lord.” But
1 for having gone to the

ither that Bledsonians,
, might be ealled a race
pioneering stock flows
est, trustworthy, respec-
io their own standards.
life may be taken, and
differ most. from their
WIS,

vickground.

men from the county,
it more and more young
‘umunities to seek their
ug this period was Miss
« branch of the feuding
bethton, Carter County,
ty. After a few years
lie stenographer taking
id soon she was writing
it home, urging them to
rich opportunities to be

itly 1930's two of Mae
' sister and her husband

‘nold and Crave Tollett, °

Mae owned some-prop-
settlement near the vil-
Elizabethton, and they
purchased a small gen-
tly. Arnold, who was
ell mannered, agreeable,
on had acquired many

the store, they began

Mountain Murder 15

holding shooting matches at a rifle range in the mountains
near by, and every Saturday afternoon sportsmen from miles
around came with their weapons to compete for cash prizes.
The lanky Tolletts, expert marksmen since childhood, could
shoot with the best in the county, but they declared them-
selves ineligible for the prizes. However, they frequently
gave exhibitions, and their prowess with firearms became well
known throughout the section.

N_ 1934, White Miller Tollett, another brother, came to

Braemar to work with the others in the store. On), aty-
three, he already had become involved unpleasantly with
“revenoors” in Bledsoe County, (liquor still is “taboo’
Tennessee) and had served a short jail sentence. There
no disgrace in that around Pikeville, for even High Sheriff
W. L. Walling, who had been elected to succeed the slain
Sheriff Swafford, had once served a short term on . whisky
charge. Still, Mae Tollett was anxious to get White Miller
into better environment. Her single passion was the welfare
of her family, and there was no question but what those
who had joined her were doing well.

Crave had been appointed a deputy sheriff of Carter Coun-
ty and Arnold had aligned himself, through marriage, with
two of the oldest and most respected families in East. Ten-
nessee. His bride was a Cates. Her first cousin was the
wife of Harmon Gouge and both the Cates and the Gouge
families had powerful connections. Harmon Gouge was a
half-brother of K. P. Banks, Carter County superintendent
of schools and leader of the reigning faction in county
politics.

Arnold and Gouge took a liking to one another and they
became close friends. The Bledsonian thereby acquired even
better standing, for his new relative-in-law was one of the
best liked men in the county. Gouge lived with his wife
and three charming little daughters in a new, six-room bun-

‘galow at Hampton. He held a responsible position in one of

the rayon plants at Elizabethton, and in addition operated
two filling stations in his home community. He was well-
to-do, and so friendly and generous it was said that anyone
in distress could go to him and obtain a loan of money with
the utmost ease.

With White Miller also taking a share of the profits, it be-
came apparent to the Tolletts, after a few months, that they
could not do enough business in the little Braemar store to

give them all the fortunes they were seeking. They discussed
the problem at length, arid finally decided to sell the business
and try their hands in new ventures.

As a-result, Arnold formed a partnership with Harmon
Gouge to purchase the Hi-Cliff tourist cabin camp and beer
garden on the Elizabethton-Hampton road, and Crave and
White Miller returned to Pikeville to open a restaurant in
the business section a short distance from the courthouse.
Mae Tollett, of course, had not given up her career as a
public stenographer, so the change made no great financial
difference to her.

Under their arrangement, Arnold was to manage the Hi-
Cliff camp while Gouge, his “silent partner,” continued to
work at the rayon plant. For a time receipts met their ex-
pectations, but then they began to fall off. Arnold blamed
himself, in part, and his friend and relative-in-law was forced
to agree with him. As weeks passed into months, however,
and the partners could do nothing to regain their lost trade,
it became apparent that they would require new financing.
A heated argument developed between them one evening,
while they were discussing it, and ended with Gouge stalking
out of the establishment with the flat announcement that he
was “through.” Arnold could have the business as far as
he was concerned, and he would mark off his heavy cash loss
to “experience.”

This brings us to January, 1937. True to his word, Har-
mon Gouge had remained away from the Hi-Cliff camp, and
business’ there had gone from bad to worse. It was all the
ex-Bledsonian proprietor could do to pay the rent, to say
nothing of garnering a living for himself and his bride. More-
over, Mrs. Tollett was about to present him with an heir,
and he had no idea how he could meet the heavy hospital
and medical expenses. :

He brooded over his troubles, and as the day of his wife’s
confinement approached, he became greatly upset, emotion-
ally. Finally, on January 29th, she entered the hospital and
late that same afternoon, Arnold Tollett and Harmon Gouge
met, in the Ash Fork filling station, near Hampton. What
py can only be judged now from the story told by

ouge.

Tollett, visibly upset, immediately began berating his form-
er partner. He accused Gouge of “running out on him,” and
charged that his cousin-in-law owed him a large sum of
money.

(Below) Brought to light by determined investigators, sections
of burned and unused fuse and a burlap bag, discarded by the
bombers at the Gouge home, were used in solving the case

Fleeing from the scene of their crime,
the killers threw away a length of un-
used fuse as they crossed Doe River.
X marks spot where Deputy Sheriff |
Harlan Oaks recovered the evidence §

16 True Detective Mysteries

ppeveennaneentyerel

“Arnold, I don’t figure to have trouble with you,” Gouge
quoted himself as saying, as he backed toward the door, eager
to leave the place. ‘

“Trouble!” the upset man cried. “I'll give you trouble—
we'll fight it out: right now!”

Tollett’s hand shot to his rear trouser pocket—his pistol
pocket—and he leaped toward him, Gouge relates. Remem-
bering well the stories of the Tollett feudism, Gouge felt that
he was in grave danger. Intent only upon beating his oppo-
nent to the draw, he jerked his own pistol from his pocket, and
fired twice. Both bullets found their mark. His adversary
dropped.

OLLETT was carried to the same hospital where his

wife was confined, and was admitted as an emergency
patient, in critical condition, less than an hour after his
daughter was born. The lead slugs had pierced his abdo-
men. A week later, a short time after his wife was able to
leave her bed in an adjoining room and carry their baby
to him, Arnold Tollett died.

The death was a bitter blow to the Tolletts. Arnold was
the first of the ten children of Mr. and Mrs. Major Tol-
lett. to die from violence, and he had breathed his last in a
strange community far from his native mountains. Major
Tollett, white-haired and bent with age, made several trips
to Carter County, as did Crave and White Miller. The latter
openly spoke of “family honor and revenge,” and made cer-
tain that his remarks would be carried to Harmon Gouge.

Gouge, by the way, had pocketed his weapon after the
shooting, and had gone straight to a telephone to inform
Carter County Sheriff J. M. Moreland of the unfortunate
incident. Moreland arrested him on a murder charge,
but within a few hours Gouge had waived his case to Circuit
Court, and had been released under $10,000 bond.

Arnold’s body was carried to Bledsoe, and buried in the
Tollett cemetery, near the remains of other kinsmen who had
died from bullets. Major Tollett settled all of his deceased
son’s financial obligations, and the regrettable incident, pre-
sumably, was closed, with nothing remaining but the prose-
cution of the man who had killed. But the affair weighed
heavily in the hearts of the Tolletts, especially in that of
young White Miller. It was his duty, he felt, to avenge

Lee Walker (left), former Bledsoe County
deputy sheriff. (Below) Scene at killers’
trial. (1) Presiding Judge Ben Allen;
(2) Harry S. Avery, special investigator
for National Board of Fire Underwriters,
testifying; (3) Jack Martin, the author

Arnold’s honor, to gain revenge for his brother’s death.
But how? Under the Bledsoe code, Gouge might have
been shot down and if a trial had resulted in Pikeville, it

might have ended in acquittal, as so many others had. But

Carter County was not Bledsoe County. Courtroom justice
was more certain in upper East Tennessee. In fact, Eliza-
bethton was especially “trial minded,” for the sycamore tree
still stands there under which, it is claimed, was conducted
the first court ever held in the United States west of the
Appalachians. Moreover, the Gouge family was as power-
ful in Carter County as were the Tolletts, Swaffords, Walkers
and Wallings in Bledsoe.

When the May term of the Carter County Cireuit Court
was called, a large delegation of Tolletts and their supporters
were on hand in Elizabethton. They had retained counsel
to aid the Attorney-General in pushing prosecution of Har-
mon Gouge. The Tolletts glared at Gouge when his trial was
put over until the next term of court, because of the ab-
sence of important witnesses. Gouge recalled the verbal
threats that had been passed to him when his eyes met those
of the glowering White Miller Tollett.

A number of Bledsonians again were on hand for the next
term of court, and again they were disappointed when the

White
Count;
investi,
sacre.
ities vu
lievab!

Goug
tain
stron
Bleds
eertal
his o
Ar
frien
Wala:
Thon
and
had
Pikes
tried
and
tried
deat
Ax
vine:
bloc
show
they
If th

‘

‘ounty, Tennessee, one
ppalachians. Pikeville,

th af Chattanooga, but -

r no Federal highway

ll themselves and they
\| direct descendants of
first settled there. Per-
way either to the Tol-
ier communities in the
“ne of a fierce blood
vht so bitterly and for
ives were taken before

hatreds. Today Tol-
Tolletts and Swaffords,
ballots at the general

; ago, IT was told in
‘obert L. Taylor and
cs reared together near
licking chapter to the
‘Bob” was the Demo-
‘nnessee, and brother
They campaigned to-
votes from the same
ob shouted: “Alf and
en,” and the friendly
1 in history as “The

‘ere scheduled to speak
wn. A large crowd of

Covered by dark-
ness, sinister figures
carrying mysterious
bundles crept silent-
ly to the shadow of
a mountain home.
Working swiftly,
they put down their
burden, attached a
long fuse, touched
fire to it. In the ter-
rific blast that fol-
lowed, the house was
reduced to a mass of
tangled wreckage
(above). But instead
of dealing death to
Harmon Gouge
(right), as the bomb-
ers intended, the vic-
tims were his three
innocent children,
Sonia, Roma Jean
and Luena, pictured
with their mother.
Mrs. Gouge was in-
jured in the explosion

Staff Investigator

for True Detective

Tolletts, Swaffords, Walkers and Wallings were on hand to

‘hear them, but for some reason, the rival candidates were

delayed in Chattanooga, and did not arrive.

The disappointed mountaineers sought other amusement,
and finally started an impromptu wrestling tournament. No
one professes to know today who won the main bout but the
vanquished gladiator, mortified by his public defeat, seized
his rifle and killed his conqueror then and there. One was
a Tollett and the other a Swafford and from that day, when-
ever men of the two clans met, and they did frequently,
rifles barked.

Feud deaths were not considered murders in the moun-
tains and Bledsoe County records give no indication of the

number of homicides that resulted. It is said that early one-

morning Tolletts and Swaffords lined up facing one another
across a mountain trail, and at a given signal began firing.
Seven men died and twice that many were wounded. It 1s
generally admitted in Pikeville that nearly all of the men
on both sides were either killed or disabled before, of neces-
sity, a truce was declared until such time as growing boys
of the two clans would be big enough to shoulder arms and
carry on.

While the family hatreds were smoldering, a minister of
the Christian church, the Reverend Francis Marion Les-
ter, moved to Bledsoe County from his native Mississippi,
bringing with him his wife and three children. The youngest,
a boy, had been named Church Lester, since he had been
born in a House of Gospel while his parents were ‘traveling
to Tennessee.

The preacher held services in the mountains around Pike-
ville, and attempted, by his interpretations of Scripture, to
pacify the warring factions. But at the conclusion of services
one Sunday afternoon, he was eye-witness to a gunfight
between Tolletts and Swaffords who had prayed together a
few minutes earlier in his congregation. Shocked beyond
words, the minister took his family to one of the loftiest
peaks of «. \r-by Walden’s Ridge, and there hewed a home
out of est, determined to rear his children in seclusion
and peace.

He chose a spot that was miles from the nearest neighbor,
and inaccessible by road. He assembled a goat herd. He
laid out fields on the mountain sides where he could raise
food for his brood, and he built a small forge and a leather
tannery. In a few months the Lesters were self sufficient,
and they rarely came down to the lowlands after that.

As the years passed, Tollett and Swafford guns blazed oc-
casionally, but generally speaking, the feud lasted for only one
generation. Some members of the two clans owned large

14 True Detective Mysteries

tracts of rich, river bottom farm lands, and were well-to-do.
They began sending their sons and daughters outside the
county to be educated, and the young people brought. mod-
ern ideas and learning back to the mountains with them.
It seemed for a time that feud weapons might, become rusty.

By 1930, Bledsonians were as modern in their living as the
people of any rural community in the southern Appalachians
—and as individualistic in their habits and thinking as moun-
taineers anywhere. They ruled themselves under a strict

code of their own making, and resented the slightest interfer- .

ence from outsiders. So much blood had been spilled around
them that they held it their right to settle arguments with
bullets. And, with family lines so sharply drawn and their
background being what it was, relatives of a man shot down
still felt they were duty bound to seek revenge.

The result of all this, of course, was that Bledsoe’s homi-
cide rate was larger, per capita, than in any other section of
Tennessee. And the rate of court convictions was the lowest.
In fact, the records at the courthouse in Pikeville today show
not a single conviction for a capital crime during the last. ten
years. And there have been many such crimes, including the
murder of Thomas J. Swafford, High Sheriff of the County,
on October 9th, 1932.

Swafford, besides being sheriff, operated a restaurant ad-
joining the courthouse. On this October evening he was sit-
ting in his car outside the restaurant waiting for his wife
to join him, when a blast of gunfire, coming from behind a
billboard across the street, struck him in the back. He was
taken to a Chattanooga hospital where he died two days
later, without naming his assailants.

LTHOUGH two men were seen to flee from behind the
billboard immediately after the shooting, and blood-
hounds were used to trail them, no arrests were made and
the crime stands today as unsolved. It was said that Sheriff
Swafford might have been attacked because he had been
zealous in investigating the earlier slaying of Mr. and Mrs.
Eas Walker, who had been shot to death and their bodies
cremated in their automobile. No one was ever tried for
that offense either.
Still another shooting which created much feeling in the
county was the double slaying, in September, 1935, of J.

_ Calhoun Swafford and Coleman Johnson. The two men had

been shot down by Church Lester, the minister’s son from

(Below) On this bridge, Sergeant Hugh Slate of the State High-
way Watrol found wrapping paper bearing an address, first clue

Walden’s Ridge, because, according to Lester’s story, they
had reached for weapons when he had reprimanded them for
forcing “unwelcome attentions” upon two girls who had
driven with them along a desolate mountain trail.

Lester, a “stranger from the mountains,” even in Pikeville,
was tried there on the charge, and acquitted after he told his
story from the witness box. His preacher father also was
a witness, reciting in detail how he had kept his children
on the mountaintops, and away from the feudists, and how
he had tried to raise them in the “spirit of the Lord.” But
he added that he was proud of his son for having gone to the
rescue of women in distress.

From all of this, the reader can gather that Bledsonians,
like most other southern mountaineers, might be called a race
apart. The pure blood of fine old pioneering stock flows
through their veins, and they are honest, trustworthy, respec-
table—excellent citizens, according to their own standards.
But under their standards, human life may be taken, and
justifiably, for cause. In that they differ most from their
neighboring Americans in other sections.

So much for the Bledsoe County background.

Now, the World War called many men from the. county,
and after the War it was accepted that more and more young
people would go out into other communities. to seek their
fortunes. Among those who left during this period was Miss
Mae Tollett, comely daughter of one branch of the feuding
family. She finally settled in Elizabethton, Carter County,
where she became a private secretary. After a few years
she struck out for herself as a public stenographer taking
court. testimony. She prospered, and soon she was writing

letters to her sisters and brothers at home, urging them to ,

join her in taking advantage of the rich opportunities to be
found in upper East Tennessee.

More years passed until, in the early 1930’s, two of Mae
Tollett’s five brothers and a married sister and her husband
had heeded the call. They were Arnold and Crave Tollett,
and Mr, and Mrs. Frank Thompson. Mae owned some prop-
perty at Braemar, a small mountain settlement near the vil-
lage of Hampton, seven miles from Elizabethton, and they
settled there. The brothers and Mae purchased a small gen-
eral store which they operated jointly. Arnold, who was
thirty, and Crave, thirty-eight, were well mannered, agreeable,
law-abiding young men, and they soon had acquired many
new friends. To quicken business at the store, they began

in the identification of the murderers of the Gouge children

EP OEP TOC

<a TNS Dna oerigi res ve eer ee i OE MEN a. bina ny
ets 4! - ;
ae - = als :

EMAL ee y

HERBERT H. MOSHS & LEROY MacGREGOR, ATTORNAYS:
“601 Exchange Building 90 9 oie. gee
_ Nashville ee See:
TenneSS8@@ .

Hon. Jim McCerd, Governor

| _ State of Tennessee anne os
- ig oe A _ State Capitsl ae
ee | | - ‘Jashville

ant Pe MS NT

~~
‘
.

a, . Tenness4@6
Te te \ ‘ . . |
{ am
ee aR : : a ae
t ™

yheeg T IE
4
=

Or cecal

~ 3mong them the county

(officials Ete_nere a ee ee ee
(+ WI no doubt see you ina few days. : = ee

Sincerely, 7 | a

wale
t
| «4
|
_
i
vi .
7) ' j
< 7
> ;
~ 2 .
Sr ar .
vy! . ca
, : :
; TAB
: : i ;
: j ‘
a n
w
So
aan
! on
J .
: i
;
. a
area ew
‘ .
. t. ny
. ‘
~t . >
‘ i
, an)
é st
oy , 4
- m4
: \
vr
, 1} aN
: ve . wt
Tpapoke ait 0"

"Noe
4 ax a\ i

are writing you in the interest ‘of a c

‘ in fact we know of no law that he violated,

Camden, Tennessee,
August 16th. 1948.

Governor Jim MoCord IN RE TO 5.0. TURNER. Col.

Nashville, Tennessee. " ei ete.

. We the undersigned County officials of Benton County, Tennessee,

Paes ate Mes! ayes poe Jkt Ser
he eal cipwse Soee ean

olored: boy who was. reared. in this ee

county and near the town of Camden, and hia igeopls live in the same. e County

and city aforesaid.

" We see that he is to be eleckrocuted on

1948, and that is why we take the ateps we are in this petition. We, .d9 -.

respectfubly ask that you extend to him your power of commutation, and

red boy from the death sentence... We: do not, ask!

thereby save this young colo

this for the other boys connectéd with this crime, for we. do not know hem

but due. to the fact that this boys” folks ‘Live he

we “have become Interested in n this boy

but are “#608 ignorant colored folks,

and hope that you may exgend to him a life imprisonment, by commuting, his

“4

sentence, as above, Suagcsiee-
: Py ee Cae ainis oe gpa’ Kibet

he was not a. bad

and we. “know: ‘that he. Stee

am hat se ‘ ares
a tay ;

’

here, and it was: ‘only after. she went ito.

vee ’

from any SAicinal acts while he was

e criminal elements there, “that he. ‘took to.

y \

the city and fell in with th

crime.

We therefore respectfully reques
and save him from the electric chair.

With great respect, we are sincerely,

PDeor Governor a gee a,
: we a3. officials OFF

ets at

in this pevition on . Se is!
“With, 5, rst roecten

the gist. day of August,

rey, and are not: lew-violaterd

+ that you comuté his sentence -

FRAZIER AND FRAZIER -

C. N. FRAZIER, RES. PHONE 2091 LAWYERS
A. BRADLEY FRAZIER, RES. PHONE 4621 COURT SQUARE
: CAMDEN, TENNESSEE
OFFICE PHONE 4771

August-17-1948-

Dear Sirg-

SEN Fee eee meen eee np ee a ee ee ~~

I hand you two letters of some parties here-for your od
-files in the +urner matter-Lockhart wrote the Gov, yesterday-and 2 |
mailed the letter- OO - | t
I will hand you other matters for you to wee-right away
: mong them the county. officials Bte-nere- :
I will no doubt see you ina few days-—
‘Sincerely,
me
a . a \

Senaté Chamber
State of Cemessce

NASHVILLE

’
- AND MC NAIRY COUNTIES

CAMDEN

. Dear Governor:

r have. become ailaradted ’ ‘an him because’ ‘of ao ae Bee Et ae ey aes

extreme penalty’. :

Camden ;
Mey 16, i9hs

"Honorable Jim McCord

Governor‘.
Nashville, Tennessee

£ z am writing you in the’ interest: Of Ja Ge muses a ‘qelorea
‘bey, who, was ‘yeared “here and: whos. sentenced to be electro-

cuted on August 3ist, charged: With the crime that was com

mitted by him in Davideon County, ‘Tennessee, sometime ago.

this boy was reared here near Camden and ‘came frou a good, a
honest, ignorant negro family, “His folks: all live: here” =

and I have had en occasion to mow that he was nota.

criminal nor did he come from-a criminal family. The nae
was reared a law abiding negro ‘while he was growing up and
I had- never heard of hin aici! the law ‘before going to.

neat Gilt

As you. ‘now Governor. he is a negra but hae folks 2 are - very, 7

~ gach. interested: in you extending to: him a. ‘commutation. of

his sentenee. I.do.hope that you. “will extend ‘to him the
power ‘which is vested in you under the Constitution and
give to hin a Life sentence and. shaveby, 3 save 2 “him sdewiath the |

. “elettric. chair. Toh ge ee. a hon Beep ST in Renate ee

he- was reared here and his folks live here and because I~
believe he is entitled, to. a. Life Sentence Anatead., Of. the.

“Wath highest regards 2 and best : wigtony Seg ees ae ee

WOMACK, Ernest, black, 18, elec. Tenn, 3P (Warren) 4/10/1936.

Serna Senta. Me frien oh
Eats ois HE

Ek
ns Sa

|vatsee

Nashville...

mycket -ec tema whe: ‘a ecgevGh

: FULL NAME Ernest -Womack....>-” SS
» (a), Residence: No eS BO Ce: Fr180n:3;/

ti se (Usual plece of abode)

ra ; © EOCOR OR RACE [—5-AINGLE ne ee ae ee
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&. DATE or BINTH (month, ey," 20d year): “1918

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AS Res year) =e : ‘ p oo X om 3 2 feng patos 7H,

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a

WILSON, Robert, Hanged Benn,(Memphis) Julg 20, 1883

HIS NECK WAS BROKEN,
EXECUTION OF ROBERT WILSON, COLORED,
FOR THE MURDER OF FRANK RUsStlt at
MEMPHIS, TENN.—HISTORY OF THE CHINE,
iSpecial to the Courcersdonrnal |
Mempuis, July
under the act passed by the late Layistature,
which provides that hdugingy shall tein pro
vate, wascarried into effect to day, when
Robert Wilson,:a bright mulatto, who abot
and killed Frank B. Russell in this city on
the 20tmof last September, suffered the ex
treme penalty of the law.
THE CONDEMNED MAN
slept well last night, and partook of a light
breakfast this morning. He then smoked
two cigars, and when interviewed by your
correspondent, just ten minutes previous te
being led from his cell to the gallows, was in
a composed state. Two Sisters of the Do
minican order and Rov. Father Aloysiue, one
of the priests of St. Mary's Cathoue
chureb, bad been praying with bir ail (re
forenvon. He sail he was ready and wal
ing to die, and had a firm futh that bis
peace had been made with bis Gad. Noon
was the bour fixed for his execution, and
} promptly at tho appointed ume by was
brought from his cell to the seatfold, whicu
had been erected in the rear of the colis of
the substantial prison, which lias large, wide
| corridors, an:i which was elYectually bidden
trom the sight of even those other prisoners
who occupied cells in the jail Waileon
walked witha firmin, quick tread to the gal-
lows, and :
MOUNTED THE STEPS UNARSISTED.
He looked composed, and when be knelt
with the Catholic priest repeated in a low,
clear voice the Lord's Prayer and the acts

PO.—The flint execution

of contrition. The reverend father
then Llessed hiuw, and gaid the
prayer for the dead. Wilbon then
shook bands with tbe Sherif and

Jailor, who, together with several pewspeper
reporters, wore on the scAffuld. [He called
each one by his name, and was pot tn the
least disconcerted, When asked by the
SLeriff if be desired to make a speech, he re-
plied: ‘No, sir; I haven't auything to say.’’
As bewas being pinioned, be noticed the
Turnkoy standing beneath the drop, and
called ‘ood bye"! to bin; aly to Bargeant
Scott, of the police forcv. When tue black
cap was placed over bis head be began prey-
ing, and a minute afterward Sherif? Cannon
puiled the drop and bho was swung off into
eternity.

7 HIS NECK WA8* BROKEN
by the fall, and save several slight convul-
sions of the lower limbs his death was appar-
ently an @asy oné. The hanging was
| witnessed by six newspaper roporters, three
friends of the deceased an: a posse of Deputy
Sheriffs, numbering twelve. Wilson was
twenty years of age, and caine from Balti-
more, where he was employed as a jockey
and stable boy. He came to Memphis just
one month previous to the murder which
he expigted to-day. |
HE HISTORY OF THE CRIME
can be brfefly told. On the night of Friday
September 29, 1882, Frank B. Russel), who
_ kept a grocery store on the corner of Vance
and Hernando streets, detected Robert Wi)-
son stealing a bucket of Jard. Wilson fled
with the stolen property down Hernando
street, pursued by Russell, who called on bim
to halt. Wilson paid no attention to the de-
mand; be was bent on making his escape
and would bave succeeded bad not Russell,
who was armed with a pistol, fired at him.
The ball struck Wilson in the right leg, just

grouni. Before he could arise, Russell
grappled him,gnd with the assistance of twc
men, Herman Waite ani Irwin Rainey
who had been attracted to the spot by the
firing, carried Wilson .to S.fford’s drug-

store, which was near by, for the purpose

baving his wound attended a White

Rainey went to the telephone to call an offi-

cer frou the station bouse, Wilson, who, up

to this time, bad seemed to lie in a helpless

condition, suddenly aro e and :
GRASPED THE PISTOL’

which Russel] had fired at bim, and which

be an P scree laid on the counter

rug-

ensued becweou, Waite, Rusell wea Wile

pas ~_ oo of a oomepe Ma ‘bit Waite
, causin m to let

he had on him shir the swig res tts t0

Ruseell, who caught the pisto! and wren
it from Wilson's eran’. t was at thi wo

; that allofasadden {1 hdrew.

tol from bis pocket.’ .retl thie
yt pi Pacoeenion wy 2 us whe

’
#,58

Louisiana Courier Journal
July 20, 1883

(article ineo;

above the knee, causing him to fall to the

. YOUNG, Lorenzo, black, elec. Tenn. (Shelby) 9-3-1920,
Y ii i0c instantly. . Eddie Standard fl:d out the back door and disappeared
|

across a Freshly plowed field. Blo :jhound's were brought to the scene | |

id the suspect was tracked to Cooper and Young Street where the trail was

lost after the subject apparently boarded a streetcar. The other negroes

living in the area told officers that the black man known as Eddie

Standard alias Elbert Sanders had often bragged of killing the police

officer in the Preferencia Cafe on Main Street across from the Central

Railroad Station, a little over a year ago. Upon checking the officers

found that Eddie Standard did closely fit the description of the black

man who had killed Patrolman Broadfoot. What started as a routine

investigation into a bicycle theft ended in the senseless murder of a

termes ha Rare

police officer.
JOHN C. BRINKLEY, SERGEANT

Died June 13, 1919 of gun shot wounds

On Wednesday, June 13, 1919 at approximately 10:00 AM Patrolman Dan

mceCarthy and Edward Crume were shat from Barksdale Station to the Overton

Park Market at Poplar and McLean to investigate a male black who was

there trying to sell some chickens that were believed to have been stolen-
——————

When the officers arrived the owner of the market told them there was a

negro in the store who had sold him several chickens over the past week

and he felt they may have been stolen. The officers entered the store

and spoke with the man. After questioning the suspect they decided to

take him to Barksdale Station to check his story. While Patrolman

McCarthy obtained information from the store owner, Officer Crume took

This was sent by Van Raalte with source not being ind&cated,

the suspect who identified himsel as Lorenzo Young outside. Young asked

Officer Crume if he could put the chicken he was holding back in his

wagon. Patrolman Crume thinking it was a harmless request agreed to it.

Young went to his wagon and Officer Crume followed. After laying the

in the wagon, the suspect grabbled a pistol that was under the

chicken
| .
He Fired oneshot at Officer Crume which went through the

= Fe

front seat.

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* . HARVEST OF REVENGE

ais loved ones. % other side of the highway Slate kept his eyes
2 infrequent and unan- fF trained.
‘ife and little girls else- By Crossing Tunnel Bridge over Doe River—

» in safe surroundings. [—— | so named only because the railroad passes
g of the murder brought though a tunnel nearby—Slate’s eye caught
nd as he strove to piece sight of a piece of wrapping paper on the
zle in the hours just fol- bridge floor. With little presentiment

of the wrapper’s import, he stopped,
to the Carter jail, Mae dismounted, examined the material
ll. That call was to the F with gloved hands. Tunnel Bridge

L. Walling! Mae asked Fe is a mile and a half from the

ave Leonard Tollett, Jr., 4 scene of. the child murders.

on of murder. She asked Ee The paper was of an un-

e sheriff. More of this fe usual reddish-brown hue.
ia Ripped open at the seams

' on reports that: White Be where it had enclosed a

nd brother of Crave and [Pt bundle, it still bore the

uge would “never live to f_ stenciled trade-mark

alker, a Bledsoe County — of Agnew Hard-

itly accompanied White # ware Company,

the Gouge trials which — North Chatta-

and obtained warrants — nooga, Tenn.
signed still other war- Strange, Opavawtak
lett and Church Lester, reasoned left. right,

Slate, that Bledsoe -Coun-
ty deputy sheriff,

aer, hunter, trapper and
a wrapper

office notified Sheriff from a Chat-
mr BS aie arom of — cae ees tanooga hard-
‘d. More later of this Jy : Ulysse ware firm — po-
‘ stories in many a day “e € : Wallina, tential dealer in
ers sworn to uphold the — ae Seen Sern ce) left: explosives—should

be found near the
scene of dynamite mur-
ders. Strange, too, he re-
flected, the wrapper
showed no signs of having
lain in the rain the day and
the’ night before—and it had
rained until a couple of hours or
so before dynamite obliterated
three charming little personalities.
Slate ‘rolled the paper carefully and
stuck it in the pocket of his jacket. With
Dietzel he proceeded to Hampton where
he found much excitement but Sheriff
Moreland already departed for Elizabethton.
Along the mile and a half drive from Tunnel

: explosion had snuffed
;, Sheriff Moreland had
zainst nine definite sus-

came a clue to the Car-
of Investigators Avery
' Federal Bureau of In-
ed to his request for §

no small part in the
Hugh Slate of the .
won merited pro-
ville.

ison City of the

iy Patrolman

liately sped Bridge to Hampton he had toyed with the idea
‘vices. En born of his discovery of a hardware company’s
h usually wrapper near the scene of a blast murder: “Maybe
our of I’ve got something here. Maybe . . . Maybe.”

Not needed at Hampton, Slate headed back to Eliza-
rie bethton and his first stop was the office of Sheriff More-
“w= Jand,” Half apologetically, he laid before the chief of
f....--Carter law enforcement the wrapper he had found on ‘Tun-
nel Bridge, with the explanation he had been intrigued by the
’....-facts that it bore the name of a likely dynamite dealer, had been
found near the scene of the murders, and apparently had been cast
on the bridge within a few hours of the crime. He even suggested
that—-should his find have any significance—Doe River might yield
yet other links. :
Moreland and his confréres—Avery, Kitts and others who did not fig-
ure so prominently in the investigation although they did yeomen’s work
to conclude the investigation successfully—sat silent, stunned for the
moment.

Aclue? It was a Godsend!

Gray-haired, experienced, Deputy Sheriff A. B. Williams, armed with
half of the strangely-hued, plainly marked wrapper, was dispatched forth-
with to Chattanooga. The other half of the paper was sent by airmail to J.
Edgar Hoover’s Bureau of Investigation to be chemically tested for fin-
gerprints.

Straight to the Agnew hardware store in
Chattanooga went Williams and in short or-
der he located J. L. Green, an employe who
recalled selling 100 feet of dynamite fuse, Right, top to bottom: Sheriff
either on Tuesday or Wednesday before the Walter L. Walling of Bledsoe
blast murders on Friday. The fuse, he said, County; Lee Walker, whose
was wrapped in paper and the bundle sealed confession to participation
with trade-marked tape identical with the ma- in the blast implicated many
terial found on Tunnel Bridge. .- others and Mae Tollett, sis-
No, Green said, he could not recall what ter of the slain Arnold.

ld be

in-

TROT

LEIP LEAL SINE OES Sree

GORE SLT

Ulysses Walling—not previously suspected
as an actual participant in the dynamite
murder, had in store still another revela-
tion of great import.

Walker said that on the homeward flight,
the unused fuse, loosely wrapped, and a
pair of rubber gloves worn by Lester while
handling the package and preparing the
dynamite charge, had been thrown over
the railing of Tunnel Bridge while the car
slowed momentarily.

Deep disappointment the investigators
had experienced when the FBI returned a
section of the wrapper found on Tunne
Bridge by Highway Sergeant Slate with
the report that no fingerprints had been
turned quickly into elation.
Rubber gloves are reliable insurance against
telltale fingerprints !

The confession described evety incident
of the journey back to Bledsoe County and

the Gouge dwelling had been blown up,
“three children killed and the woman in
the hospital.”

He said Ulysses Walling parted with
the conspirators and went home. Then
he, White Tollett and Lester drove away.
Lester alighted at a point closest his home
and Walker and Tollett proceeded toward
Pikeville. Along the road they met Crave
Tollett driving trom Pikeville. Crave
stopped them, gave them some whisky and
informed them they were wanted in Carter
County for the Gouge murders.

Walker said he and White went to the
Bledsoe jail and offered themselves to
Sheriff Walling.

“What did he (Sheriff Walling) say
when he walked out?” inquired Avery.

“Just said, ‘You fellows are under ar-
rest.”

“Did he tell you what for?”

“Yes, said Sheriff Moreland wanted us;
house blowed up and three children killed.”
“Did he laugh when he told you that?”

“He kinda grinned a fittle.”

“What was said by him there other than
that?”

“Well he said: ‘You boys know where
you was at’ and we went to the café
(Crave’s) and then out on the mountain
(to Sheriff Walling’s home).”

“NYY ee he said, ‘You boys know
where you was at,’ did he add any-
thing to it?”

Walker told how, out at the sheriff's
home, with the officer present and drink-
ing whisky with them, Crave, White and
he discussed an alibi.

White suggested he (White) claim to
have spent the night before at the home
of his brother-in-law.

“Hell, they won't believe that,” replied
Crave.

After a time, Sheriff Walling telephoned
from his home on the mountain, in the
presence of Crave and White and Walker,
that the men were under arrest.

The “prisoners” then returned to Pike-
ville, went their separate ways home and
reassembled at Crave’s café. Later, after
refreshing themselves with liquor, they
gathered at the jail, Kinsmen and friends
were given free access to the bedroom in
which the “prisoners” were entertained
while awaiting arrival of Carter officers

AMERICAN DETECTIVE

with murder warrants. The Bledsoe sheriff,
according to Walker, also spent much time
with them, while there was more talk o
alibis.

After conferences, Walker said Johnny
Vaughn approached him and asked: “Do
you know where you spent last night?”

“J says ‘No, » “continued the confessor,
“and he says, ‘up in my room’” (at a
Pikeville hotel.)

Walker stated without hesitation that
Myrtle Ferguson had agreed to swear
White Tollett had spent the early part of
the night at the home of her mother, with
whom she lives, and that her brother, Wal-
ter, was to clinch that alibi.

Despite their weariness, the elated officers

witnessed Walker's signature on each of

the 33 typed pages of his confession and
then set about clinching their solution 0
the dynamite murders.

Their prayers for a confession had been
answered! A confession! .- + Every detail,
every person connected with the diabolical
crime inextricably tied to the plot, the
last link forged in the chain and those in-
nocent of any part exonerated |

They were exhilarated, but much work
remained to be done and time was short
before Saturday's hearing which it had
been agreed would not again be postponed.

Secretly—for they had seen too much of
the inside workings of Bledsoe politics and
law enforcement to trust local authorities
with the job (and, too, the Bledsoe sheriff
was a prisoner in Carter jail) Moreland
dispatched a highway patrolman to Pike-
ville with a murder warrant for the latest
unmasked killer, Ulysses Walling. Before
he. dreamed he was under suspicion, cuffs
had been clamped on Walling and he was
en route to Elizabethton.

AYLIGHT Friday found Sheriff

Moreland and Deputy Oakes at Tun-
nel Bridge in quest of the last bit of
convincing evidence—unused dynamite fuse
and rubber gloves. The pair searched the
banks of Doe River and then stepping
from rock to rock, wading at times in the
icy water, they doggedly pursued their
search.

At last Oakes, wet and numb with cold,
raised a shout of triumph from a point
three or four hundred yards below the
bridge. He held up to Sheriff Moreland
a tangled mass—52 feet of unused dyna-
mite fuse. It had been lodged against a
rock. Yes, Lee Walker had told the
truth!

Shown the confession of Walker and
confronted with damning evidence against
him, White Tollett’s eyes narrowed, glowed
with hatred.

“Fe’s a liar,” he shouted. His mouth
snapped shut like a steel trap and no
power could persuade more from him.

Crave Tollett scowled and like others
accused by Walker, denied knowledge of
the plot or any part in the crime.

Ulysses Walling, lodged in Carter jail
as quickly as officers could negotiate the
long trip to and from’ Pikeville, broke
easily. Handed a copy of Walker’s con-
fession he read it carefully and admitted
that in practically every detail of which he
had_ knowledge, Walker had told the full
truth.

Walling then dictated and signed his

own confession. It was he, he said, who
remained at the roadside while White Tol-

Walker who drove the car away fromzthe
scene to escape notice while the diabolical
revenge on Harmon Gouge was being
prepared. Walling denied then and later
that he had boasted : “Somebody will go to
hell soon.”

| investigators no longer feared the
outcome of the morrow’s hearing—eight
days after the death of the Gouge children.

Public interest and indignation, fed by
newspaper's harrowing details of the heart-
less crime and by many unfounded rumors,
was at fever pitch long before the time
set for the preliminary. Hours early, crowds
assembled about the Carter court-house
and jail. All seats in the courtroom were
filled not long after daylight; the crowds
overflowed into the corridors and streets.

Every regular and special Carter deputy"

sheriff was called to duty; a dozen state
highway patrolmen and a score of deputy
sheriffs and policemen from surrounding
cities and counties reinforced them.

Sheriff Moreland intended to have no
violence to his prisoners. Neither did he in-
tend that there should be a delivery of the
allegedly guilty by their henchmen, as had
been widely rumored would be attempted.
Officers were stationed at strategic posi-
tions in the crowd to smother any out-
burst of violence, and as prisoners were
brought into the courtroom, each accom-
panied by an officer, deputies and policemen
ringed the dock.

After long delay, due to extended con-
ferences ‘of attorneys, Assistant’ District

Attorney General Dennis Erwin brought

a gasp in the crowded courtroom by an-
nouncing that White Tollett, Leg Walker,
Church Lester and Ulysses Walling waived
hearing and would be held. without bond for
murder; Crave T ollett waived hearing on
a charge of being accessory to murder be-
fore the fact and would be allowed bond
of $20,000; Sheriff W. L. Walling, Johnny
Vaughn, Myrtle Ferguson and Walter
Ferguson waived hearing and would be
granted bond of $10,000 each to answer
charges of being accessories after the fact.

The other prisoners were dismissed as .

; Stunned as it was by the sudden termina-
tion of the hearing, the public was hardly
prepared for its next shock when extra

editions of newspapers reached the streets ,

announcing solution of the crime and giv-
ing details of confessions by Walker and
Walling. The fact’ that confessions had
been obtained was carefully kept from the
press and the public until after the hear-
ing. Moreland and his assistants intended
that there should be no slip in their work
by premature announcements.

Sheriff Walling and Vaughn quickly ar-
ranged bond. Surety offered for Crave
Tollett was rejected. He brought habeas
corpus proceedings and the state promptly
lodged an additional charge of murder
against him. Another habeas corpus action,
and the state agreed to Crave’s release on
$40,000 bond. Crave was unable to convince
the court the surety he again offered was
worth $40,000 and he remained in jail
with his brother White, Walker, Ulysses
Walling, Lester and the Fergusons until
the date of the trial.

At the conclusi

“the worse crime
nessec,” announc:
sentences for W
Ulysses Wallins
“The law wi!
will be an adeq
a seething publi
to calm indi gn:
Harmon Gouge
legal methods |
“No,” said t
law take its ¢
While excit:
conclusion of $
distressing Ss“
Elizabethton }
had lain a
way back to
shock of the
might be fat:
tors had all:
her that hes
she improve:
of them anc
been broug!
“You mt
tending ph»
husband cr
I can’t tell
But in t!
Drama *
that bedsit
Fighting
mate thei:
in their £
died insta’
tion of tt
were in }

Pe HE |:
S able
his word
a mothe
burst 1
assisted
“Tha:
God t
mangle:
A fe
waived
in Bk
patrol:
jail th
charg
of his
rende:
a jur:
Wi
medi:
At
his }
chai
mut
Fel
cei’
mu
fac
ret
U
™m
ct
al
g
{.

‘

a MDI

Ore RRR EEE

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See tS:

the buyer looked like. Sale of a hundred
feet of dynamite fuse by his store was
not unusual and he had paid no particular
attention to this customer.

He supplied Williams with a sample of
wrapping paper and tape from the. store.

Meanwhile, Investigators Avery and
Kitts were making startling discoveries in
Bledsoe County.

Checking alibis offered by White Tol-
lett and Walker for the night before and
the morning of the Carter County crime,
the investigators established that Tollett
had not visited the home of his sweetheart,

Myrtle Ferguson, as he claimed, nor had °

he and Walker spent the remainder of
the night in the room of Johnny Vaughn
in the Hotel Greer at Pikeville, as both
contended,

Myrtle supported White’s story of his
paying court to the former on Thursday
night, but her mother said Wednesday
night was the last time her daughter’s
suitor had been at the Ferguson home.

AUGHN told the detectives the pair

had been in his room after midnight,
the morning of the murder. However, the
assistant manager and employes of the
hotel were positive neither had been about
the place either Thursday night or Friday
morning.

Convinced they were on a warming trail
since suspects found it necessary to rig
alibis, the investigators delved further,
and located a Pikeville drug store pro-
prietor, C. L. Ferguson, and his brother-
in-law and assistant, C. L. Scott, who testi-
fied that on the night before the dynamite
murder, they had noted that Crave Tol-
lett’s café was closed before 8 o'clock, an
occurrence so unusual that they com-
mented on it, since Tollett’s was usually
the last place in town to close its doors.

After other discoveries, which gained
significance as the investigation proceeded,
the officers headed back for Carter County
to lay before the prisoners the evidence
that their alibis were crumbling. The
Bledsoe pair. was unshaken, however.

Came Sunday and Sheriff Moreland
and his principal aides were on a
promising trail but still far from solution
of the crime which shocked the country.
True, nearly a dozen suspects were in
jail charged with murder or abetting mur-
der, but an officer must offer more than
suspicion in court to bring guilty parties
to justice. And two men charged with mur-
der were still at large. Altogether, it was
not an entirely rosy outlook although
progress was being made.

While officers stuck grimly to the trail
of suspects in the fiendish crime, a throng
so great that traffic in the district was com-
pletely blocked, gathered at the First
Baptist Church of Elizabethton to say ‘a
sad farewell to the tiny victims of hate.

Thousands filed. past the open caskets
and gazed, many with tearful eyes, upon
the beautiful little faces framed within
golden hair. Lovely in life, they were love-
lier still, though tragically so, in death.

Attracted by curiosity or by sympathy,

uncounted thousands jammed the six mile |

route between Elizabethton and Hampton
throughout the day late into the night.
So great was the congestion that it was
necessary to postpone burial in the Gouge
private cemetery near the murder scene
until Monday.

AMERICAN DETECTIVE

His prisoners clamoring for a_pre-
liminary hearing, scheduled for Monday,
Sheriff Moreland and his co-investigators
were far from ready with evidence ,con-
clusive enough to warrant holding the
suspects. : -

But here again kind circumstances came
to the officers’ aid.

On the eve of the hearing, Bledsoe kins-
men and friends of the accused flocked to
Elizabethton, ready to testify in their be-
half and to supply bond should it be ' de-
manded.

Among those who journeyed to Carter.
County was Crave Tollett, one of the two:

most wanted men still at large. His travel-
ing companion was Sheriff Walling, who
had been requested to arrest Crave on a
murder warrant. Sheriff Moreland im-
mediately clamped Crave in jail and con-
ducted the Bledsoe sheriff to a nearby cell,
charging the minion of the law with aiding
a felon to escape.

Also to Carter County came White Tol-
lett’s sweetheart, Myrtle Ferguson, and
her brother, nicknamed “Doc”. Unaware
that their own mother had blasted their
story, they were ready to offer . support
of the accused men’s alibi. They. were in
jail on charges of abetting murder before
they fully realized their position.

Another hapless young man who made
the mistake of joining the Bledsoe exodus
to Carter County was Johnny Vaughn. He,
too, was prepared to aid his friends’ alibi.
He, too, was soon occupying a cell on an
accessory charge. .
WY tienen’ White Tollett and other

defendants had been confident, al-
most gay as they looked forward over. the
week-end to the hearing which they felt
certain. would free them. They were con-
vinced that the alibis to be offered by their
kinsmen and friends would eliminate them
from the ‘case. But they counted their
chickens before the eggs hatched, for with

arrest of their principal alibi witnesses, .

their prospects waned. The state, still not
ready to show its hand, sought and ob-
tained a continuance of the hearing.

Avery, Kitts and Moreland, after sleep-
less days and nights of questioning sus-
pects and following to its source every
lead, however unpromising, put their heads
together Tuesday to take stock of their
progress. The outlook was not alto-
gether heartening.

Summing up the situation, they had as
evidence: (1) a motive for murder of Har-
mon Gouge and his family; (2) close to
two hundred feet of burned dynamite fuse ;
(3) an ordinary tow sack with two holes
in it; (4) positive knowledge that White
Tollett and Walker were not at the places
they had claimed they spent the night be-
fore and the morning of the murders ; (5)
a hardware store wrapper which almost
certainly had contained dynamite fuse pur-
chased one day, or two days before the
murders; (6) information that alibis were
being rigged for suspects.

In their possession, also, were threaten-
ing letters allegedly written Gouge by Mae
Tollett. But, these only added confusion
to the picture.

Each of the suspects, now numbering —

fourteen, stuck to his or her original story.
Those accused of murder denied being
near the scene of the. dynamiting and
offered to prove it. Those accused as ac-

cessories professed not the slightest idea
who could have committed the outrage and
several offered support to the alibis of the
murder suspects.

Confronted with each bit of newly dis-
covered evidence, none of the prisoners
showed a sign of breaking.

Before the officers lay the task of
smashing alibis and of supplying. many
missing links ‘between ‘principal suspects
and the crime. The officers were weary
and haggard but their determination that
fiends who could heartlessly murder chil-
dren should not go unpunished. Their prin-
cipal hope lay in obtaining a confession,

Wednesday arrived and the state, its
case far from complete, again obtained con-
tinuance of a hearing until Saturday.

Sheriff Walling, indignant over his
arrest, instituted habeas corpus proceedings.
His bond at the time of arrest was fixed at
$50,000. The state still was not ready to
unmask evidence in the case the investi-
gators were buildirig, and so it agreed to
release Walling in $5,000 bond. Before the
order of his-release could be served on
the Carter jailer, Sheriff Moreland ob-
tained a new warrant for Walling charg-
ing him with aiding and abetting murder
of the Gouge children. Walling: continued
his fight for release but was forced to” re-
main in jail with fellow Bledsoe Countians
«until the preliminary hearing. '

As Moreland, Avery and Kitts con-
vened their nightly conference at an Eliza-
bethton -hotel Thursday, near exhaustion
but unshaken in their’ purpose, the Carter
sheriff received a telephone call from his
jailer., Little dreaming of its import, the
sheriff wearily answered, then was gal-
vanized to alert attention.

Speechless for the moment, he ordered
in the next breath, with suppressed excite-
ment: “Yes, yes. Bring him over .. .
NOW.” Then he turned to his fellow in-
vestigators: “Boys,” he almost shouted,
“Lee Walker wants to talk!”

ITH frayed nerves keyed to highest

pitch, the three who had worked so
hard, so long, so faithfully for a solution,
waited and wondered whether at last their
break had come. Or was it to be just
another denial and alibi story which sus-
pects had poured out with monotonous
regularity ?

Lee Walker was plainly nervous. when
escorted into the presence of the officers
at the hotel. He was haggard and trem-
bling, but the look in his eyes was that of
a man who had wrestled with a burdened
conscience and who had come to a des-
perate decision. y

“Sheriff,” he faltered, addressing More-
land, “I want to talk to you alone. I want
to tell you... I want to tell you all...
all about it.”

Dazed and happy, but not daring to let
hope soar too high, Moreland led Walker
into an adjoining room, closed the door
and waited. ;

There was a long, awkward pause before
Walker blurted, like one anxious to un-
burden a tortured soul:

“Sheriff, would you like to know the
truth?”

Moreland’s gaze bored long and steadily

into’ Walker’s eyes before he replied stern-

ly, but not unkindly :
“Yes, I certainly would like to know the
truth—the TRUTH.”

“Well—”
wistfully
want to go
I'll have t
I ought t
electric ch

“T can't
Lee,” said
easier wit!
a thing |i
be best to

The un!
I've thous

Wheres
plete and
land, in |
proceed.
interrupt:

“Lee,
writing

“Yes,

And
and into
question!
poured «

| less cam
} * mon Gor

lett.

' E t
Th
Tollett <

tive of |
accomp:

“Whi

inquirec

“Kall

hesitati:

— —

io Bark)

aamrusT se

the slightest idea
ted the outrage and
to the alibis of the

: bit of newly dis-
2 of the prisoners
ing.

lay the task of

supplying many

principal suspects
ficers were weary
determination that
‘essly murder chil-
nished, Their prin-
ing a confession.
and the state, its
again obtained con-
atil Saturday.
dignant over his
corpus proceedings.
arrest was fixed at
was not ready to
: case the investi-
id so it agreed to
0 bond. Before the
vuld be served on
ciff Moreland ob-
or Walling charg-
1 abetting murder
Walling: continued
was forced to’ re-
Bledsoe Countians
ring.

and Kitts con-
rence at an Eliza-
. near exhaustion
irpose, the Carter
one call from his
f its import, the
1, then was gal-
1

ment, he ordered
suppressed excite-
‘ him over...
to his fellow in-
almost shouted,
valk!”

> keyed to highest
10 had worked so
ly for a solution,
ether at last their
as it to be just
story which sus-
with monotonous

ly nervous when
‘e of the officers
.ggard and trem-
eyes was that of
with a burdened
come to a des-

addressing More-
you alone. I want
> tell you all...
not daring to let
‘land led Walker
closed the door

vard pause before
anxious to un-

ke to know the

ong and steadily
he replied stern-

like to know the

%
ie

“Well—” the prisoner paused and gazed
wistfully through the window, “I don’t
want to go to the electric chair; I know
I'll have to be punished, but I don’t think
I ought to—I don’t want to go to the
electric chair.” ou

“I can’t bargain with you about that,
Lee,” said Moreland, “but it might go

easier with you if you tell the truth. With -
a thing like this on your soul, it would-

be best to get right with God.”

The unhappy man nodded slowly. “Yes,
T’ve thought about that, too.”

Whereupon he began a story, so com-
plete and shocking in its details that More-
land, in fascinated silence allowed him to
proceed. After a time the Carter sheriff
interrupted the narrative. .

“Lee, will you put your statement in
writing before witnesses?”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

And so he did. ‘Throughout the night
and into early morning, under the expert
questioning of Investigator Avery, Walker
poured out the complete story of a merci-
less campaign of revenge directed at Har-
7% Gouge for the slaying of Arnold Tol-
ett.

E told the officers that at 7. o’clock
Thursday night, January 6th, White
Tollett and Ulysses Walling, a distant rela-
tive of the Bledsoe sheriff, invited him to
accompany them to Carter County.
“What was the purpose of that trip?”
inquired Avery. ;
“Killing Harmon Gouge,” was the un-
hesitating reply.

AMERICAN DETECTIVE

Before proceeding with details of move-
ments on the night before and the morn-
ing of the murders, Walker told the in-
vestigator that on a- Tuesday late last
October he, White Miller Tollett and
Church Lester made a trip to Carter Coun-
ty “to kill Harmon Gouge.” He described
how several sticks of dynamite were
planted beneath the floorboard of Gouge’s
automobile and the fuse connected to the
car’s exhaust pipe. He said he drove the
other two conspirators to Hampton after
meeting them at Crave Tollett’s café in
Pikeville. He said that while White Tollett
and Lester installed the bomb in Gouge’s
automobile, he had driven their car away
from the scene and later returned, picked
them up and drove them back to Bledsoe
County. On the following Thursday Gouge
had his first close brush with, and miracu-
lous escape from, death.

Returning to his confession relating to
the dynamite’ murders, Walker said he,
White. Tollett and Walling drove from
their meeting place at Crave Tollett’s
café in Pikeville to the country home of
Tollett’s relative, where Church Lester
awaited their arrival.

Walker said White Tollett, leaving his
brother’s restaurant, brought with him
several pints of liquor and “a package.”

After the rendezvous the four—Tollett,
Walker, Walling and Lester—started on
their mission of murder, two hundred miles
away. The confession was complete in
every detail, even as to the route taken,
where drivers were changed, the fact that
Walling drove his own car, Lester and

White Tollett rode in the rear seat, with a
sack of dynamite—‘“about a case’’—at their
feet. Walker rode in front and presently
relieved Walling at the wheel.

ALKER told how the murder-bent

quartet stopped at a bridge near
High Cliff, scene of the Gouge-Arnold Tol-
lett business venture, while Lester and Tol-
lett spliced the fuse. He told of employing
a rubber contraceptive to seal the fuse
connection—vital cortoborative detail—how
short pieces of fuse were spliced and lighted
to test the effectiveness of their methods;
how White Tollett had said concerning the
fuse: “Me and Ulysses went to Chattanooga
and got it.”

The confessed murder conspirator told
his fascinated listeners that considerable
fuse was left over, was rewrapped and
replaced in the car. He said that Lester
cut two holes in the sack containing the

dynamite, withdrew two sticks of explosive, °

and bored them for insertion of. detonation
caps. Then the four, with Walker driving,
proceeded to a spot near the Harmon
Gouge home. Tollett, Lester and Walling
alighted, taking with them the dynamite
and prepared fuse; Walker drove away,

_under instructions to return for the trio

in 15 minutes.

Walker said that he returned at the ap-
pointed moment, the three reentered the
car and all started toward Pikeville, their
grim mission fulfilled. He said Walling
laughingly remarked :

“Somebody will go to hell soon!”

Officers, startled when Walker named

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128

mated, stood outside the church when
funeral services were held Sunday afler-
noon, and the streets and highways were
so crowded with traffic that the cortege
could not get through to the cemetery.
Burial had to be delayed until Monday.

Shrouding their movements in decp
secrecy, Sheriff Moreland, Avery and Kitts,
were pushing the investigation without
pausing even for sleep. It wasn’t until the
ond of the week—Saturday, January 15th—
that any of their findings were made pub-
lic. In the meantime, Mae Tollett had
been released from jail under $10,000
bond, and Sheriff Walling also had been
bailed out, after his bond had been
dropped from $50,000 to $5,000.

All of those held were arraigned in jus-
fice court Saturday morning, the 15th,
and then it beeame apparent that solution
of the crime might be at hand, The
tentative charges placed against Mae
Tollett, Frank Thompson, Clyde and Tom
DeLoach, Jim Greer, Bruce Pierce and
Orie I.awson, all were dismissed. It was
announced that they had been cleared of
all suspicion, even of guilly knowledge of
the crime.

OWEVER, High Sheriff Walling,

Myrtle Ferguson, sweetheart of White
Miller Tollett, her brother, Walter Fergu-
son, and Johnny Vaughn, the Pikeville
auto dealer, were charged as accessories
after the fact of murder, in that they were
helping the accused to “frame” alibis.
Sheriff Walling already had been released
under bond. The three others waived the
charges to Circuit Court, and posted bond
of $10.000 each for their release.

Finally, murder charges were placed
against White Miller Tollett, Lee Walker
and Alva Ulysses Walling, another Bledsoe
County deputy sheriff, while Crave Tollett
was charged with being an accessory be-
fore the fact in the crime. Ulysses Walling,
who claimed no kinship to the High
Sheriff of the same name, had bcen ar-
rested in Pikeville only a few hours before

’ the hearing.

Then newspapermen were informed that
Lee Walker and Ulysses Walling had made
complete confessions of their rdles in the
fiendish dynamiting, and in their state-
ments had implicated White Miller Tollett
and Church Lester, the latter the minister’s
son from Walden’s Ridge. Lester, the
newspapermen were informed, had_sur-
rendered to highway patrolmen in Bled-
soe County that morning, and would soon
be jailed in Elizabethton with the others.
The case was complete—trial would begin
as soon as possible, the authorities said.

Then Avery. Kitts and Sheriff Moreland
described in detail their movements dur-
ing the last week. They had become con-
vinced, they said, from what they had
learned in Bledsoe County, that Miller
Tollett and Lee Walker were not telling
the truth. So they devoted much time
to questioning Lee Walker, and reminding
him of discrepancies in his story. Long
after midnight Wednesday, he began
wavering. He leaned forward across a
table, buried his face in his arms, and
sat motionless for more than fifteen min-
utes. When he finally raised his head.
Avery saw that he had been weeping.

“Lil give it to you straight,” he said,
simply. :

A stenographer was called in, and he
told the true story, holding back nol a
single detail. He had driven the car to
Carter County in November, he admitted,
when White Miller Tollett and Church
Lester had fixed the dynamite in Harmon
Gouge’s sedan. It was Ulysses Walling’s
auto they used, he said, when they can
on the night of January 6th to place thi
charge beneath the Hampton bungalow.
Walling drove part of the way, and he
drove the rest of the time. Walling sat

True Detective Mysteries

beside the highway while White Miller
and Lester set the explosives beneath the
window, and lit the fuse.

Ulysses Walling had made his confession
immediately after he had been brought _to
Elizabethton, the investigators said. He
had verified every detail of the Walker
statement. Furthermore, both men had
told of throwing a length of unused fuse,
wrapped in the paper from the Agnew
lardware Company, into the Doe River
at the tunnel bridge, while the four dealers
in death were racing back to the Bledsoe
mountains. Sheriff Moreland, and Deputy
Harlan Oaks. had waded down the river,
and Oaks had recovered about fifty feet of
the fuse. This was held as evidence.

A few days before the trial, attorneys
representing the four Bledsonians charged
wilh being accessories after the fact, ap-
peared in Circuit Court at Mlizabethton
asking dismissal of the charges. They

Arnold Tollett, whose death started
an amazing trail of violence

argued that the accused quartet, if they
were guilty at all, which they denied, must
have acted in Bledsoe County, therefore,
the Carter County court had no jurisdic-
tion. The point was well taken, legally,
and the charges against High Sheriff
Walling, Myrtle and Walter Ferguson and
Johnny Vaughn, were dismissed.

The trial of Lester, Crave and Miller
Tollett, Ulysses Walling and Lee Walker
began in Eizabethton on Tuesday, Febru-
ary 22nd—Washington’s Birthday—before
Cireuit’ Judge Ben Allen. The Tollett
brothers and Lester were represented by
five attorneys, Ulysses Walling and Walker
one, and Harmon Gouge had hired_ five
counselors to aid Attorney-General Luke
Grayson and his capable assistant, Dennis
Erwin, for the State. Two of the prose-
cution staff were former jurists—Judge
D. A. Vines and Judge W. R. Allen, dis-
tinguished father of presiding Judge Allen.

The case was hard fought throughout
but it was soon apparent, after the jury
had been drawn, that-at least four of the
defendants would be convicted. The only
question was what their punishment would
be. No person had ever been sentenced
to die in Carter County Circuit Court.
Spectators filled every available seat in
the courtroom, and a public address sys-
tem was set up to carry proceedings to
the overflow crowd outside.

Mrs. Ivelyn Gouge, mother of the little
ones, who had fully recovered from her
injuries, was one.of the first witnesses.

“How could anyone be so revengeful,
so heartless...’ she cried. The tense

spectators sobbed audibly.

Ulysses Walling and Walker repeated
their confessions from the witness box.
Church Lester took the stand, and_at-
tempted to establish that he was in: Bled-
soe County the night the bungalow was
dynamited. Two of his witnesses—Perry
Thurman and Homer Creek—swore that
they saw him there that night. When
they stepped from the box and left the
courtroom, Sheriff Moreland jailed them
on perjury charges. They were freed under
nominal bond, and as these words were
written their case was scheduled for an
carly hearing, as were those of three other
Bledsonians who had been held in con-
tempt of court because they had failed to
answer summons to testify.

The jury returned its verdict Thursday
morning, March 3rd—not quite — two
months after the little girls had been
blown to eternity. Rain was beating
against. the courtroom windows when the
foreman read his words of doom, even
as it was beating down on the Gouge
bungalow that fatal carly morning of
January 7th.

Church Lester, White Miller Tollett,
Ulysses Walling and Lee Walker were
found guilty of murder in the first degree.
Church Lester and White Miller Tollett
were sentenced to die in the electric chair.
Ulysses Walling and Lee Walker were sen-
teneed to serve twenty-one vears in prison,
ne minimum penalty for first degree mur-
der.

Crave Tollett was acquitted of the
charge of being an accessory before the
faci—a charge which carrics the death
sentence as a maximum penalty. He, as
well as the others, had been tried for the
murder of Roma Jean Gouge. There
remained two other murders under the in-
dictment. Crave was rearrested on the
same charge on one of the other counts,
and released under $10,000 bail. Sheriff
Moreland announced he would push his
prosecution at a later date,

ut Ne. usual appeals were made for Lester
and Miller Tollett, after they were sen-
tenced to die on May 28th. It was under-
stood that death would be deferred until
such time as the higher court passed a
verdict, probably in September. Ulysses
Walling and Walker began their terms on
March 7th, in the Brushy Mountain
prison at Petros, Tennessee.

Harmon Gouge was tried on the charge
of slaying Arnold Tollett during a special

. term of Carter County Court which con-

vened the first week in April. A blackjack,
which the slain man had been carrying at
the time he was shot down, was produced
as evidence and the jury deliberated less
than an hour before returning a not guilty
verdict. |

I talked with Church Lester alone in his
cell after he had been sentenced to die.
He repeated his alibi story, but his eyes
wavered. He told me of his life in the
mountains, of Catstep Path, the rocky
foot trail which leads to his father’s cabin,
a mile and a half above the nearest auto

- yoad. As I was leaving he said:

“T don’t calculate to sit in that chair
with a lie on my soul.”

His eyes met mine squarely this time,
and I went away believing that he in-
tended to confess. But he never did. Ten
days later, jailers found him dead in his
coll. He had fashioned a noose from his
leather belt and had hanged himself.

Violets and daffodils have sprung up
over the graves of the three innocent
little Gouge girls—and over Arnold
Tollett’s grave, too. A mound of more
freshly turned earth marks the spot where
Church Lester lies. Five lives have been
taken so far—how many more graves must
be dug before the Gouge-Tollett tragedy
is forgotten?

TOLLETT, White Miller, wh, elec. TN (Carter) January 11, 1939

a mm

*
=,
g f

Church Lester hanging in his cell while

Sheriff Moreland watches Coroner
Porter as he reads the suicide verdict.

believable in its cold, grim merciless-
ness.
Back in Bledsoe County Arnold
Tollett had a bosom friend named
Church Lester and after Arnold’s
death this lank backwoodsman led the
Tolletts in a terrible and relentless
campaign to “git” Harmon Gouge.
Supporting the Tolletts were two
other young, gray-eyed mountaineers
—Ulysses Walling and Lee Walker.
At various times different members
of the Tollett clan came down out of
wild Bledsoe County to seek for an
opportunity to “fix” Harmon Gouge
emt and many attempts were made on his
life by “unknown parties.” Once his
car was blown up a moment after he
left it to enter a garage.

Finally Harmon Gouge, unknown to
the Tolletts, stopped staying at home
‘at night, staying instead in Elizabeth-
ton, He had concluded his plans for
moving his family here when Tennes-
see’s blackest crime occurred.

It was a crime which startled,
shocked and horrified the whole
Southland. On a cold winter morn-
ing two hours before dawn there came
an explosion mighty enough to be
heard several miles away. The great
blast tore Harmon Gouge’s six-room
bungalow to pieces; killed his three
small daughters and dreadfully in-
jured his wife.

“The drunken, hate-filled, ignorant
fools” Sheriff J. M. Moreland said to
a deputy. “This isn’t any mystery at
all, It’s just a case of gathering the
Tollett clan in and making ’em talk.”

5
>
-

é€

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

ARMON GOUGE, who operated
a restaurant in Elizabethton,
Tennessee but who lived in the
little village of Hampton, six miles
away, shot and killed Arnold Tollett
during a fight in Elizabethton. Arnold
Tollett was a member of the famous
Tollett clan of wild Bledsoe County,
which is made up mostly of a deep
and lonely wilderness little known to
the outside world—and “whar furri-
ners ain’t much welcome.”

The fatal gun battle between Har-
mon Gouge and Arnold Tollett looked
like a clear case of self defense on
Gouge’s part, which it later was
proved to be but this circumstance
did not deter the Tolletts and their
henchmen from declaring a blood
feud against Harmon Gouge which
finally resulted in a crime almost un-

CRIME CONFESSIONS, August, 1940

nty

‘e put
nlighten

up in
“Why,
iy Pike-
wouldn’t
was up

two,”
to talk

the tele-
» Sheriff
ve Tollett
ng, and it
hy? He

‘ginning to

their cars
med. By
had been
jail, and
Pikeville

alker, that

her-in-law
identified,
LeLoach,
and all
ds, and
sroprietor
formerly
‘amp.
each one
iy guilty
ae. Their
ough, but
vy further
«, More-
posted a
which he
most in
ed long
d, to be
roughout
ig states,
‘ent sales

land and
Saturday

Agents
dered to
in Knox-
iction be-
been car-
Connor,

arrived,
ick, Ten-
Virgil M.
~. Avery,
National
e if they

could be of assistance.

Early Saturday morning, Sheriff More-
land, Avery and Deputy Fire Marshal
Kitts closeted themselves and took stock
of the situation. Nine Tolletts, or their
sympathizers, were locked up, but not one
could be classified as a definite suspect.
In fact, there were no definite suspects.
And in the way of evidence, there was
only the piece of paper bearing the name
of the Chattanooga hardware firm, the
burned fuse and the burlap bag that had
held the explosives. No witnesses had re-
ported seeing any suspicious persons in or
near Hampton, let alone spotting men who
might have been the dynamiters.

How could the investigation proceed?
Moreland still was certain that the Tol-
letts were implicated. But which ones?
Finally it was decided that Avery and
Kitts would proceed to Bledsoe County,
and endeavor to uncover a lead there. In
the meantime, Moreland and his men
would continue to question the persons
under arrest, and follow any new clue, if
and when one appeared.

Deputy Sheriff Williams had reported
by telephone that he was en route back
from Chattanooga with J. L. Green, one

Sympathetic thousands thronged the
town as funeral services were held for
the three little Gouge girls

of the proprietors of the Agnew Hard-
ware Company, who recalled selling a dy-
namite fuse a couple of days before the
Hampton blast. However, Green could
not remember to whom he had sold it,
and he held grave doubts that he would be
able to identify the purchaser, even if he
should meet him face to face. He could
not make the identification, it developed.

Before setting out for Pikeville, Avery
and Kitts interviewed Miller Tollett and
Lee Walker. The Bledsonians said that
the evening preceding the bombing they
had driven in the rain to the home of
Miss Myrtle Ferguson, Miller’s fiancée, in
the mountains about fifteen miles from
Pikeville. They had seen her, and her
brother, Walter. They remained there a
couple of hours, they said, and then re-
turned to Pikeville where they spent the
rest of the night in Room No. 6, at the
Greer Hotel, which was occupied by
Johnny Vaughn, Pikeville auto dealer.
Vaughn had returned home from the wrest-
ling matches in Chattanooga about four
A.M., and they had slept three in the same
bed until daybreak when they went to the
Tollett café. It was there that they
learned that Sheriff Walling was seeking
them, at the request of Carter County
authorities.

Avery and Kitts drove to Pikeville at
the best speed they could, and noted it
took them nearly five hours to make the
trip. First, they went to the Greer Hotel
and interviewed Mrs. Isa G. Spence, the
proprietress. She said that Miller Tollett
und other friends sometimes slept in
Johnny Vaughn’s room, and without regis-
tering. However, she couldn’t say that
he and Walker had, or had not, slept there
the night of the blast. She hadn’t seen
them enter or leave.

The two investigators examined the
room and found that it contained only a

True Detective Mysteries

three-quarters size bed. Three large men
might be able to sleep in it—but they
wondered,

Then Avery and Kitts went to the
Ferguson place, and talked with the
mother of the large family of boys and
girls. There they got their first break.
Mrs. Ferguson couldn’t be certain that it
was Thursday evening, instead of Wednes-
day evening, when White Miller Tollett
had come a-calling. Avery and Kitts
drove back down the mountains, and tele-
phoned this information to Sheriff More-
land in Elizabethton.

“I’m going to arrest Myrtle Ferguson.

and her brother as accessories,” snapped
Moreland.

Next, the investigators called at the
Walker home in the river valley, and in-
terviewed Lee’s aged parents. They
frankly stated that their son had not been
at home Thursday night, and that they
hadn’t seen him until about eleven A.M.
Friday when he had come in to change
clothes and tell them that he had to go
to Elizabethton where he might remain
for a few days “on business.”

Avery and Kitts talked to several more
Bledsonians, and then drove back to
Carter County. When they arrived there,
they were apprised of other startling de-
velopments. In the first place, Sheriff
Moreland had learned that Mae Tollett
had telephoned Sheriff Walling at Pike-
ville immediately after the Hampton
blast, and had requested Walling to notify
Crave Tollett of what had happened. This
explained why the Bledsoe officer had told
Moreland over the telephone that he had
seen and talked with Cine Tollett that
early morning.

Saturday afternoon, Sheriff Moreland
had again telephoned Pikeville, to ask
Walling to arrest Crave Tollett.

“Pll bring him up myself, and we'll be
ey by dawn on Sunday,” Walling had
said.

B= when they had not arrived, nor
sent any word, by -Sunday noon,
Sheriff Moreland asked Joe Boyd Wil-
liams, head of the State Highway Patrol,
with headquarters in Nashville, to send
men to Bledsoe to make the arrest. Com-
mander Williams had reported back that
Sheriff Walling had assured him he would
co-operate in every way.

Finally, just before daybreak Monday,
Sheriff Walling and his prisoner arrived at
the Elizabethton jail, accompanied by a
dozen Pikeville friends. Moreland ‘im-
mediately arrested Crave Tollett on a
murder charge.

“And Sheriff Walling, you’re under ar-
rest, too,” the Carter County official said,
sternly. “I’m charging you with being an
accessory after the fact in this case, and
with concealing and assisting a person
charged with murder, and helping such
& person escape the law. Hand over your
pistol.”

News that the High Sheriff of Bledsoe
County had been arrested, and that mur-
der charges had been filed against Crave
and White Miller Tollett, and Lee Walker,
spread quickly. The newspapers told of
it in headlines and pointed out that Crave
Tollett and Tee Walker were deputy
sheriffs, while White Miller Tollett was
Coroner of Biiusoe County.

Already, thousands of persons had visited
the scene of the tragedy in Hampton, and
more thousands had filed silently through
the undertaking establishment to gaze up-
on the stilled faces of the three little girls.
They lay in identical white coffins, each
dressed in a little frock of white silk, with
garlands of small flowers twined in their
hair. Many persons, gazing upon them
with tear-dimmed eyes, thought the
flowers appeared as tiny haloes,

More than 6,000 persons, it was esti-

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The grim confession of a mountaineer who played one of the leading roles in Tennessee's blackest crimes.

And in the end he cheated the law in his death, as in his life he had cheated every law of God and man.

Within three days fourteen men and
two women had been brought to
Elizabethton and placed in the county
jail.

And now there took place, for
twenty-four hours a day, such a grill-
ing and questioning of suspects as
East Tennessee had never before wit-
nessed. A hardware clerk was brought
from Chattanooga to see if he could
identify a stranger to whom he had
sold several yards of dynamite fuse.
A young man and his best girl drove
into town and sought to establish a
crude alibi for two of the suspects—
two who were later proved guilty.
The young mountaineer and his girl
became confused, did some “cross-
swearing” and were put in jail.

Finally, the law felt sure that guilt
for the terrible crime rested upon
four young backwoodsmen. They
were: White Tollett, brother to the
man whom Harmon Gouge had shot;
and Church Lester, Lee Walker and
Ulysses Walling, three henchmen of
the Tollett clan.

The law did not know who was the
most guilty, however, until the sen-
sational examining trial, when Ulysses
Walling and Lee Walker, with the
hope of missing the electric chair, ad-
mitted that “we was with the fellers
that done the blastin’.” They named
White Tollett and Church Lester as
the persons who actually placed the
dynamite under Harmon Gouge’s
house and sent to their deaths his
three small daughters.

And then, after the examining trial,
when the two killers who were most
guilty saw that they were doomed,
the anxious law got what it had been
on edge to hear: the full, horrible de-
tails of Tennessee’s blackest crime.

The confession that follows came
from the pale lips of lank Church
Lester, who had been Arnold Tollett’s
bosom friend and who was called, in
spite of the crudeness of this crime,
one of the most cunning woodsmen
ever to trod the silent forests of
Bledsoe County.

Shattered, with her three
children dead, Mrs. Gouge lies
in hospital after the explosion
that blasted her happy home.

‘bered that White Tollett was in the

THE CONFESSION

HE thing that split the works,
men, was that fool alibi that a
busybody and his gal tried to
fix up for two of us. They come
bustin’ in here from Bledsoe,
you'll recollect, and made oath that
late on the night of the dynamitin’
White Tollett and Lee Walker was
visitin’ at Walt Ferguson’s house, a
hundred mile from where the crime
happened. Then they crossed their-
selves up enough to git in jail. And
then when Walt and Myrtle Fergu-
son was fetched in, Walt remem-

house while Lee Walker waited out-
side in a car, and then Walt’s sister
Myrtle got mixed up and said White
Tollett and Lee Walker was both
in the house, talkin’ to her. Well,
the law couldn’t see how two men
could be in a house with one of ’em
waitin’ outside in a car. So Walt
and Myrtle was locked up too.

So that fool meant-to-be alibi was
ruined. That give the law its first
foot-hold, and the law grabbed it
like a hungry hound eatin’ chicken
bones and went on from there to
spike other might-of-been alibis
and cause a lot of cross-swearing—
and to send, I reckon, me and White
Tollett to the chair. That’s what the
law thinks. Fact is, though, I ain’t
aimin’ to go to no chair.

The law never would of ketched
up with me if I had pulled this thing
by myself, or if I had just used
White Tollett, maybe, to help me.
The law would of done a lot of in-
vestigatin’ and guessin’, and some
arrestin’, of course, but it wouldn’t
of got me where I am now. The law
couldn’t find out where that case of
dynamite come from, and you know
it, and the clerk from the hardware
store in Chattanooga wasn’t able to
say he’d sold that coil of fuse to one
of us.

The mistake me and White Tollett
made was in taking Ulysses Walling

afternoon of | the 15th or in

Honorable Tugh Stanton

‘Attorney ° 7 Oo. YA
Columbien Mutusl Tower . oy _? |
Memphis Oy cemnesees . 3 on

Deas Mr. Stanton

Te wild be conventent for me.

to see you and Nr « Draper on either the

the moming
on the 16th. a shall be happy to ‘g00 you

at either time « _ god
With best wishes,

Sincerely.

Jim McCord

partir te Lge Neti a
Columbian Mutual To
Re BEN gh 5 RARE 4

FEN emphis 3, Tenn.

cpemennee tetra e tr
Wr arin At heh ise see
PoE das ae eee

Wwe per rerrs *

January 7, 1946

Honorable Jim McCord
Governor of Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee

My dear Governor:

Mr. R. G. Draper and myself represent Thomas
Walker, who was sentenced to death by the Supreme
Court on January 5th. I handled his case as Public
Defender and Mr, Draper has been retained after the
case was tried in the Trial Court.

We are very anxious to talk this case over
with you relative to a commutation. I have to be in
Nashville on the 15th, Mr. Draper and I would like
to be able to talk to you on the 15th, if possible.
I have another case in the Supreme Court, and I
wouldn't hardly be able to get to your office until
the afternoon, If it would be more convenient, we
could wait over and see you the morning of the 16th.

If we can see you the 15th or the 16th, would
you kindly confirm same by letter.

With very best wishes for a Happy New Year and
a successful program, I am

Sincerely yours,

HUGH STANTON

fof
Stanton — ee CEE

Columbian Mutual Tower

Memphis 3, Tenn.

January 9, 1945
a v1)

Honorable Jim McCord | | oO
Governor of Tennessee \ \' \ :
Executive Office - ;
Nashville, Tennessee =
My dear Governor: Se

Your letter of the 8th received, os

Mr. Draper and I will call at oo
your office either the afternoon of
the 15th or the morning of the 16th,
depending upon my Supreme Court engage~
ment, _

With very best wishes, I am i eee |

Sincerely yours, : pe

HUGH STANTON ho
HS:efb ! Co Se

a Sa eee ran ce peg i age re

‘ . i tarsi ir geet ag Meakin tw
Pte ai ae AR w i capisriae ELM A palleyay O68) a SB et a 5 a

Behe Yo 8h nS sii! ae

TIPTON, Catlett, and WYNN, Sleas, whites, hanged at Sevierville, Tenn., on 7=5=1899,

"Knoxville, TN, Nove 8, 1901. (Special.) = After being a fugitive from justice since
May, 1899, Robert L. Catlett has surrendered to Sheriff R. H. Shields, of Sevier Co.,
and will in January be tried on an indictment charging him with being an accessory to
the murder of Mrs. Laura Whaley in Sevier County, December 26, 1896, Catlett is now at
liberty under ak $1,000 bond. The bond was made and accepted before Catlett surrendered,
His son, William Catlett, negotiated the surrender a week before it occurred. It is
said Catlett has been hiding in South Carolina for the past two years, This surrender
opens another chapter in the white-cap work in Sevier County previous to 1898 as a rew
sult of which a number of lives were lost. On the night of Dec. 26, 1896, William and
Laura “haley were murdered in cold blood by white cappers, Four arrests were mad€.
Pleas Wynne and Catlett Tipton were hanged July 5, 1899, after having confessed to the
crime, They swore Robert Catlett had hired them to commit the murders. Catlett's

case was nolle prossed and he disappeared, He was later reindicted and on that indict-
ment he will now be tried." CONSTITUTION, Atlanta, Gas, Nove 9, 1901 (15/3.)

so
A

eagig Na

Riven

B Me
S's

S. 7
Mee he aA .
AST medics
eae

Bradley Cou
ee ‘Executed at

Capit Teg ye i Oat convicted, murderer went ta his
death in: the electric chair here
today after calmly telling prison
officials “'80 long.” é

He was Barney Thompson, 3
year-old Bradley ‘ounty Nesro,
who was given the death sen
tence for the fatal knifing of a
Negro woman. Maggie Ashwood,

, $3; mother of five children, in
what was called a “10% ers’ quar-

SHS
Po ae traeh

EM pa be a sat slatiieies Cc oe itera fis nt = st
Pein Ak i tS Me Ba pitta ?
Rpigietesttie oe RPE A > Sa
oy r 3 is tt * - >

DOE & MEANS

E 1-7-1960.

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ee, Sa wind

Fpacusesny Like Tilt ees ie scintettosiade

Pepe, | V-IS= 9S
Wal et

haze Aapsed Cee Moovee tng afte Ze LL eAp tg, Prcttn. rseidey Dba TAA

Sete Pita ba DLAN lta. ay: Pro. Logo, az wekdeus lorekeA Ba
Y, gS 9 Se TIPOP sf sé He t-te Coy, 7 Le

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Hc bs htetas op ages aot Ae hAse Gewen « Lhe

jee Moy 7 j a! Sf tse dine it (Le
hiplired at Lee Weal Geny hy evry tl, Antread bt
cpeneg Copeased.; “bikyang Beotits Zor Lu lrteey Last Lito

ake Merce, taleheag. Oe desea hile td KGeag

RESIOENCE

METHOD

APPEALS

b 4/5 sw(2) I!

LAST WORDS

Crt dtu 79 ry) CE (34:

EXECUTION

Yuvill, Ww. Leta fof 96 D

FRANK NEWTON OFFICE SUPPLY=OOTHAN

me ¢ Board 6¢ Direc: | Pent. Bid 2 : : fod
| tors of, ‘the, eoale Lacd Company, to-} “white } Bey Seat 1030). BY

ae the ‘acepertY an take en out. of. thel < ang lerville at o'clock last hight fire broke ouk the}.
“\ wands of the Trops (and over | 1:02 *€ ee confectionery ‘of fine Joho Murphy, en-| ™
‘|ban d'tarned O'COCK 100Ry ert the large stork: apd

+ Uy the 5 ‘Tennessee is a

erie th store
Fto the. gofling

-| being: broken “py the’ eis ee Wrnh|
died from: ‘strangulation Mires Tipton, |
ies wife of the m yrderer, and bis five ‘chi ee) t
on dren were present’ ‘at the scaffold
ite with loa an The crime: for: which: these two imen
{mm ‘development of'sthe were ‘banged was one of the. worst in|: : aay A i ats pea “popping
Hell open offices tn New the bistory “of: ‘whitecapyism © im the| sound, _ seemn -the> contet-
‘ aot § a ie ge ‘Naghyille and. Birg- Souths. At occurred on the night of De-4 tonery.
“Town 8° ce or’ vandpbably in other.citles, 2 io. 7, in’ the mountailis of | to, Inventigs
28 reectherhie oe VL “expects have the “benefit of 8 7 There cwere several siderable | headway in: ‘ae ‘gant ted.
F ‘ourth of. Talk zt \us, miilion-and gut dollars capital, ow pands of whitecaps: jn the ‘county, ane | of the store. a Be ace A Fee
1g, 04 : controlled b larga building and joan. of: which Catiett ‘Tipton was supposed |: 4 06 - ‘alarm was’ shinediately elven, es
: ued to to bulid house a ito: be the jJeader. ot. ‘has. been ‘charged dnd the hose company. ‘appeared, ° nly

. ion ‘Yeat wr: ; . space Se ne ere enat: ‘Robert. rt Catiett. was the leader of
4 . i eal the. organization dp the county of Be!

to keep the ‘flames from: the: adjoining: ii

a miiltonaité

vier. He was, know te have’ watted pulldings., This was fortunate,, for the
Ir. ee as elected Walter and Laura, W haley out of te, block contains some of the handsomest
i “of jone ‘of the largest away pecanse they had testified. agains and largest business hogses Jn the elty.
Jreiped to make eta ugtry, which’ ts com-| WU’ na rhitecnpping case me itis thong the loss {s:covered by {n-th
feted Fourth in g iste Jy. ag mos{of real estate, was elect: AWynn and Tipton poth ‘awore of 08 t

“i B. | after thelr own: convictiost of the mur | Ae
ing. of ry roe as ie pe ‘der that they were hired: to comimit.At}: raskaloosa had a hot old “rag time”

PES Kennedy, chatenah ate , Bgiman - tty. befn, by. Robert: atlett. “There were mother | of it yesteyday. The Fourth ‘was eb- | ®&
angement. Committee,: ‘st splendid iter fe hn rk di erat tis ‘ af hos vircomstantial ev ee against . cea served in most ‘glorious and approved
Bedale pete : aeons and) ter, Jr AS “M. Shook, both - of iput be escaped on & a mi istrial, ean oa Age divedsy: > houses. che
| Nashvill¢ i oy. in| i oe cet r ay TOR toda
at (er, of fa oe e ‘William: A. one ey ran and ‘Zipt went: ‘to the Uittle|:. The grand firemen’s picnic, which: for RON ESD
i ' n ere e Whaley’ gon the; the past s¢veral weeks had been so'ex-| “fo.

: ‘ ecto te ce Fe -
othe Louleville and Ball-. sagas fico, wilt at once open |! e 2g and shot 1h. tensively. advertised, drew thousands
ad offic

- bringing io cy “down, Mrs. ‘of visitors trom Birmingbam, Bloctou,
pulled ‘i ral ao The seosid ol rae a tortreawa an. Wualey’s sister, ‘Lizale. Chandler, was Columbus,. Meridian: and other nejg*-
‘yarosly eutimated, some claim. Bekins § soaahine LA rs reasurer|, igen under a bed. It wae Muiedy on boring cities, and certainly the geblal
there were’ from ‘8,000 to 10,000. sites spertose of ee ting fo. vher etidence_that they. vere convicted, fire company of this city. trebted them

4 ture bere. aX conservative estimate the Net ork Investors” the, lndnces she having recognized th ein; aithous®? royady.~ ‘No jneney- or-pains were aper:|
those from @ distance. however, 18 ments ft are Dow, being offered at) the ey “were: masked. AB effort was! gd to make the occasion a success. | oy
jught to be about 6.00%, ipa , fog 4 : ‘ulldips te manufactir-) made to kidnap: Taazle Chandler by the} nthe barbepue at Lake Lorraine, thé
By eee whitecaps. : atnleti@y sports, the races ~of every.
es pian out owith. ‘tt ue adenty, erpecied & that uring| Catlett Tipton 1 “supposed. to. cbaye| ‘known kind, the gun shoot, all drew

bitch. Meyor McEnjr wei- this. ngs additional | gred the. shots which: xiled ome thelimmense crowds. Every: ‘detail of en-
viet tors vy ens ddress a the aici Le acne ken bY “ibe woman and the map, tertainment. itor the day had been. care-| hea
, when h : fujly arrang ss,

In Wetec | oe _Digectors poeay A str ictly aaa ee “Tohe F. Ry an, ot the local <om-|
aa + Adgee mine? 4: ao” tyler: é rey) pany, Wai e moving spirit of the oc,

y ibs game of ba Lege fa ae genes. ‘tonight aut Ww. 1 S- casion, and to Rim more than any one
4 ina score Of 19 Vu voip of

vite af owls) else is due the remarkable | success of bw

semer, Ab even better Kathe - ae Pee 000. ; ee =e oN {the day.
ayed early ib: Timtenenmge' tte | ; & Ag 3 | At about 290° the. tesitvitiés began

‘seemier eng Ere Re ecore be ay = ; : poe ne eS at R the shape of & tasguite parbe
hes peat t hoys. © |. RF: a ihe coer ‘the Al negro- drayman was se severely... |eue,- handsomely thd
: ; 3 metry yesterday in-wy na way on Nine-i busepers ‘Mutton, pork, 7
venue: bales pared were ip #0

\E
A

igent legisla-
ding to curb

prison regu-
g of inmates
isant place to

me and crim-
in all books,

creasingly
ales and regis

ify country’s
lized national

ics out of the
political ob-
‘deral offense.

officer-heroes
idents of men

rigorous cam-
criminals from

form codes of
» cut red tape

irate a federal
ul prospective

monthly -by Country
isville, Ky, Entered
e at Louisville, Ky.,
additional entry at
501 Broadway, New
s AND PICTURES
AUTHOR'S RISK,
‘AGE ADDRESSED
ice 15 cents a copy;
possessions; foreign
1 U.S. A. Copyright
sing forms close the
of issue, Advertis-
iy; Chicago, 360 N.
mn-Retlly, 1014 Russ
“‘Aeld Bldg.
“ULATIONS.

aa.

LBERT WEINER, alias “Kid”
Ketchel, was dropped by quick-
shooting Edmund W. May, when

* * *

Three murderers from New York’s
East Side walked the last mile at
Sing Sing prison when they were ex-
ecuted in the electric chair. Dominick
Guariglia, 19, Arthur Friedman, 22, and
Joseph O’Loughlin, 24,
had been convicted. of
the slaying of Detective
Michael Foley in a cafe
holdup. Twocompanions
in the holdup were
spared the same fate
when a late reprieve
came through from the
executive mansion. Ef-
forts to obtain clemency
for the three killers
failed when Governor
Herbert Lehinan, after reviewing the
case, refused to commute their sentences
to life imprisonment.

bd * *

Tennessee’s electric chair ended the ca-
reer of White Tollet, slayer of three little
daughters of Herman Gouge, on Jan. 11.
Tollet was convicted of the dynamiting of
the Gouge Home, in which the children
were killed and Mrs, Gouge critically in-
jured. The condemned man protested his
innocence to the last.

= * oe

Vincent Forti, 20, was executed in the
Sing Sing electric chair after being twice
convicted of.the murder of Berle Wolko-
witz, Brooklyn grocer.: Forti eased the
tension of his last hours by playing swing
records on a victrola which prison au-
thorities permitted him to use.

* * *

Gangland’s slugs put an end to the ca-
reer of three members of its own ranks
recently, John Minogue, described as “one
of the toughest hoodlums in Chicago,”
refused to name his assailants before he
died in Holy Cross hospital. Robert
“Fat” Lewis was taken for a one-way ride
and dumped alongside the road a few days
after John Balma, alleged head of a slot-

machine hijacking gang, met the same
fate.

“Triggerman”
O'Loughlin

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PCTTM a voiccntcug te sete lonees STATE...........

er) 1-11-1929,

RES fe
ot es pela
71 “ *

Steck uted Tenkessee.
oh erate

P| \ 4

1 fr

olletis and |

ACTUAL DETECTIVE STORILS OF WOMEN: IN CRIME

: ° 74 Z ass
1 Magazine, April 4, 1938,
Pt: an :

‘
mi

‘. | Although their father was out On bond for gh
defense,” the Children of Harmon Gouge had n
‘ mother, Sonia June, nine, stands beside Mrs,

ocoting his business Partner,

othing to fear when they Posed for this picture with their
Gouge; Roma Jean, six, and Luena, seven, are in front of group

Arnold Tollett, in “self.

Unafraid even with their father absent in Johnson City, the children went to
bed happily in their Carter County, Tennessee, home on the night of January 7,
1938. At4a.m., suddenly and with a roar, the house blew up and was demolished

sul ww AME ey

: pre
3 Neighbors and friends who ran to the splintered wreckage searched for the 4 Sheriff J. M. Moreland of Carter County reached the.”

whole Gouge family, thinking Harmon had been there with his loved ones. dreadful scene at 4:35 a.m. After Surveying the wreckage
They found Mrs. Gouge critically injured—the bodies of three little girls he wondered about the possibility of “mountain vengeance” *

AD®

5 When daylight came his deputies were able to make an extensive Search of the disaster and were rewarded by finding a fuse. Approximately 125

Was this hideous massacre inten-
The Sheriff decided he should act

feet long, two wires stretched from the light-pole in front of the house toa spot directly under the two bedrooms.
tional? Had it been planned in advance in retaliation for Gouge’s “self-defense” killing of Arnold Tollett?

The fuse was the

only clew More-
land had and he or-
dered Crave Tollett,
left, held for ques-
tioning. He remem-
bered an abortive
effort to blow up
Gouge the previous
November. Gouge
had escaped then

Another ordered

arrested was a
friend of Tollett’s,
Lee Walker, right,
who is reported to
have made a 400-
word confession in-
volving three men
who were arrested,
and then went on
trial with Walker

LINDSEY MELTON
CAMDEN, TENNESSEE

August-17th-1948-
Governor Jim McCon@-- |
Nashville, tenn.

Dear Governor-
f

In re to J.C.Turner-Col-"

ee. ee I write you in the interest of one-J.0.Turner-a

sos

eolord boy- who was reared in this | county near Camden='

-I do thts. tor in ny juagement- that Since this” |
boy went to the city-and there took Up. with the vices- of :
city- and was ‘not: regarded here as a orinéiel -but as a good ae
negro boy-! think this matter should appeal: to you-and that =:
you should exervice the power ‘you have as the Governor of our
state-and commute his sentence-and thereby save him from the
electric chair-

| I do hope that you will take this step-and save
the young negro-He has a lot of folks here-and they are just
poor-negroes-and are good negroes-and are so regarded by all
Herve whos know then- | |

| With great reepect-I am sincerely,

LeMeltorwe ©

Psa

a es

che

OFFICIA

Hutchison came as a surprise to

everyone. Everyone, that is, ex-
cept the Nashville, Tennessee, police
force.

Until the night of the murder the
officers hadn’t known who the victim
would be, or just when the slaying
would occur. But for four long months
every man in the department, at one
time or another, had experienced a
growing tenseness, an uneasiness which
could be described only as a premoni-
tion of certain tragedy. Long, hard
experience had taught them that when-
ever a trigger-happy shotgun bandit is
on the loose in a city as large as Nash-

T= Slaying of 54-year-old Louis

‘ ville somebody is sure to die.

It was too bad, the police conceded,
that it had to be a nice little guy like
Louie.

Zone Car Patrolman Benton R. Hicks,
Junior, found Hutchison at 12:30 a. m.,
on August 27, 1953. He was lying face
down, his own blood spreading around
him, in a tiny back closet of the South-
erner Liquor Store at No. 1604 Church
Street, where he had worked as a clerk.
The left side of his face had been torn
away by a single shotgun blast; the
cash register and a small office safe had
been opened and cleaned out with the
exception of a few pennies.

The patrolman had been dispatched

“to the scene after the desk lieutenant
at Headquarters received a frantic tele-
phone call from the whisky clerk’s sis-
ter, Miss Agnes Hutchison.

“Louis always gets home by half-past
eleven,” she told him. “It’s midnight
now; I’m afraid something has hap-
pened.” :

“Maybe he had some late bookkeep-
ing to do,” the lieutenant replied, trying
to reassure the anxious woman. .

“T’ve been calling the liquor store
since a quarter to twelve. All I get is
a busy signal. The operator finally told
me the phone might be off the hook.”

So the lieutenant promised to look
into the matter at once. And Hicks had
found him and knelt beside Hutchison’s
limp form, feeling for a pulse beat.
There was none. Louis Hutchison was
beyond all human help.

By 12:45, the long stucco building was
crowded with cops. In the first group
to arrive were Sergeant N. L. Luther,
veteran chief of the city Homicide Divi-
sion; Detectives George Balthrop, R. L.
Morrison, Rex White, W. W. Cavender
and J. H. Raby, and Sergeant A. F.
Gregory of the Uniformed Division.

The prowl-car officer who had made
the grisly discovery brought Luther up
to date.

“The killer must have left in a hur-
ry,’”’ Hicks concluded. “When I got here

gi.

ps.

James Cox: When he died, police

knew that another was innocent

the front door was wide open and all
the lights were on.”

Luther looked around the interior
quickly, noting particularly the telltale
signs of a struggle. The telephone was
lying on the floor, the receiver off its
hook. Shattered remnants of a thick
glass ash tray glistened from the floor
just behind the counter. The cash-reg-
ister drawer was open; so was the safe.

“It’s a pretty obvious robbery kill-
ing,” he remarked softly. “I’ve been
afraid this was going to happen. It had
to sooner or later.” He turned away
angrily. “I’ve got a month's pay it was
that punk, Curly-Top, the one with the
sawed-off shotgun.” ;

The other officers in the building

Detective Cavender with the
mysteriously broken ash tray

VOSS, Samuel Le, black, electrocuted Tennessee *(Davidson Co.) on April 15, 1955,
: : pee

L DETECTIVE, April, 195).

__ ByE. V. Aimes

Special Investigator for
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES

And He Roamed Nashville,

Tenn., at Will, Raiding, —

Robbing, Killing. Had He
Taken a Girl With Him the
Night He Blasted Away at.
The Liquor-Store Employe?

They Called Him Curly-Top

aes. «PHONE 3091 oe NIGHT PHONE 4921

MELTON HOTEL .

ROY MELTON

CAMDEN, TENNESSEE

August 16, 19487

Governor Jim MéCord
State Capitol
Nashville, Tennessee

Dear Governor:

is sentenced to be-electrocuted’on August 31, next. I:do. this.in.behalf

of his family, who are good repectfuly colored people, and I.know his Father Se

and Mother and know that they are good citizehs . coe a See Bee

This boy was a good boy and was brought up by good people, and, it was “ast
until he went ue the city that he bec ame+involved with the wrong kind of |
people, and was therefore enticed or forged. ‘to do things that he would not
have done otherwise. . : alee

I have known this boys family for years, and I know that they are a good
family of colored people, and I do hope that you — emvend to hima
commutation of a life sentence. .

Thanking you, I am

Very pig Yours,

Roy 7.

GJS Se Wires
4131 |u¢
TSLtA

Cit: Me Cord ia an
Box (3 VleY

Ut MERTS DEATH |
WitHOUT PLINCHING}

a stat Pinter. ther eoten citehy
of this sw, who bad jnugt
his a

d tantastie, “Not ontit ithe a
tie tome aie hove before thee
“yg ave, Bele
n 20 years! old,
ot Beauntel hile courts and!
y a wile, three children, (
Croce and hie parents. dle as edn:
vieted of murdering Condra in. Maria
county. While robbing hiny of 8800,
lu declining | 10 interfere with thie
execution of Tate, joy, Peuy en

ip coungy

j current tore

that the bead ject. 0
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a nee. fe. ‘an .
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dedlintog, Eos

execttion of Trobe od Ns

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of rege

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$23 To a

ent limp in his
vas dead.

xdy bruised and
lifted into a car
un Hospital in
celand was called
is within a few
ell of dynamite
rand the sheriff
se was blown up
ried to kill Har-

aree Gouge chil-
ich as has seldom
‘Tennessee. Men
streets of Hamp-
‘lizabethton, and
subdued tones.

ken by the trag-
the first thing he
rned to his office
on his knees and
help in bringing
cpetrators of this

-civen to the Ra-
Johnson City to
1 Gouge. They
» him as gently as
paled but he said
ed out of his hotel
friend’s car and
in Hospital where
sd, the doctors of-
e that she would
clousness. He sat
e, held her hand,

hook with heavy .

Moreland finished
ot inta action. He
| built, with curly
lligent and aggres-
ed.all his deputies

to pick up every
y one of their sup-
nd in this county,”
of them are living
sraemar. There are
lred of them there
m are law-abiding
d to believe that a
do anything like:
all picked up anc

x when the sheriff
ruins, Virgil Kitts,
or ‘Tennessee, had
1 by State Fire Mar-
‘ormick. Kitts had
linary investigation
ed his way through
iad gathered on the

” Kitts told the
pieces of wire and
over the dynamite,
us much good as

yt here by car,” the
re are two ways to
‘is from the center
he killers wouldn't
ie road that comes
dge at Doe Creek.
e for them to take.”
tts started jn the di-
vay, walking slowly
ound closely. They

got on the highway and as far. as the
bridge about a mile from Hampton. A
piece of heavy oiled paper had been
blown against the concrete rail of the
bridge. he sheriff picked it up. On a
label was printed:

Agnew Hardware Company
Hardware and Paints
Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“This paper,” Kitts said, “is the type
used to wrap dynamite in.”

The sheriff had crawled down the side
of the creek bank. A burlap sack lay at
the water’s edge. He reached down and
pulled it out of the water, and when he
dumped the contents out on the river
bank, he was looking at several sticks of
dynamite, a bundle of fuse wire and sevy-
eral dynamite caps.

The discovery of the oiled paper with
the hardware-company label on it and
the burlap bag were definite leads. More-
land and Kitts returned to the shcriff’s
office. Sheriff Moreland instructed Deputy
A. B. Williams to drive to Chattanooga
to talk to the clerks in the Agnew Hard-
ware store and bring in the one who had
sold the dynamite.

Meanwhile, members of the Tollett
family, accompanied by deputy sheriffs,
started to arrive in Hampton. The first
to be questioned by Sheriff Moreland was
Mae Tollett, prim and sharp faced, who
had been the first Tollett to leave Bled-
soe County and who had persuaded the
others to follow her to Carter County.

“If this ghastly crime was the work of
any member of my family,’’ she said to
the sheriff, “I will be the first one to help
you find him, The Tolletts are not cow-
ards. They don’t kill children. I left Bled-
soe County to get away from all the hate’
and killing. If it is going to start here,
I'll be your strongest supporter to stop
it.”

Other members of the family were
brought in. All denied any knowledge of
the crime, and the sheriff let them go.

Public indignation had reached such
a pitch that a collection was taken up for
a reward to be paid to anybody giving
information that would lead to the arrest
of the men responsible for the hideous
crime. Within an hour more than $5,000
had been raised.

Two FBI Special Agents from the
Knoxville field office arrived in Eliza-

_ bethton to assist the sheriff. The FBI was

called in on the chance that the dynamite
might have been imported from another
state, thus involving a violation of the
interstate commerce statute. Harry
Avery, special investigator for the Na-
tional. Board of Fire Underwriters, a
sleuth whose reputation was well known
throughout the South, reported to Sheriff
Moreland to offer any assistance he or
his organization could gives John O’Con-
ner, private detective from Knoxville and
well known throughout the state, had
been hired by a group of citizens to take
part in the investigation.

Sheriff Moreland held a conference
with these officers and gave them as much
of the background of the case as he knew
or had learned.

“Harmon Gouge killed a Tollett,” the

sheriff said. “It was obviously a. case of
self defense. If this had happened down
in Bledsoe County, Gouge would prob-
ably have been shot and the matter
ended. But up here things are different.
Gouge’s trial has been postponed several
times. The clans have a peculiar code of
honor. If Gouge were tried and acquitted,
it would be honorable for the clan to
kill him when he walked away from the
courthouse. But he hasn’t been tried and
this opportunity hasn’t presented itself.”

“I have never heard of the members
of a family in a feud blowing a house up
and killing three innocent children,”
Avery replied. “That just doesn’t fit into
the picture.”

“The Tolletts that live up here are
good people,” the sheriff answered. “But
right after Gouge’s car was blown up—
and that was obviously an attempt to kill
him—two members of the Tollett clan
were here from Bledsoe County. They
were Crave Tollett and White Miller
Tollett. With them was a companion,
Lee Walker. I had a hunch I ought to
pick them up when Gouge’s car blew up,
but they disappeared. My suggestion is
that we have the sheriff down there arrest
them for questioning. It’s a long shot,
but we haven't anything else to work on.”

The other officers agreed and Sheriff
Moreland picked up his phone and called
High Sheriff H. L. Walling in Pikesville.

“You're crazy,” High Sheriff Walling

said to Sheriff Moreland over the phone. _

“Crave Tollett couldn’t be mixed up in
that crime. Hell, man, I was talking to
him at daybreak this morning. He

wouldn’t have had time to get back from.

Hampton.”

“Very well,” Sheriff Moreland replied.
“Pick u
talk to Crave Tollett later.” .

When Sheriff Moreland hung up, he
commented dryly: “Sheriff Walling says
he was talking to Crave Tollett at day-
break this morning. Why would he be
talking to anybody at that hour?”

“Aren't the Wallings related to the
Tolletts?’” Avery suggested. “If we want

’ to arrest those three men, we’ll probably

have to go down there ourselves.”

Deputy Williams, who had gone to
Chattanooga to question the clerks at the
Agnew Hardware store, telephoned
Sheriff Moreland that he was on his way
back to Elizabethton with one of the
clerks at the store.

“But I am afraid we won't get much
information of value from him,” Wil-
liams concluded. “He remembers selling
the dynamite to a couple of men, but he
isn’t sure he can remember what they
looked like. He said the sale was made
about three days ago. I’m bringing him
up anyway. He may remember things
better if you question him.”

Sheriff Moreland and Avery didn’t
have to go down to Bledsoe County to
question Lee Walker and White Miller
Tollett. High Sheriff Walling called back
and said that the two would come to
Elizabethton voluntarily and that they

-were leaving at once. “ih

Playing a hunch, John O'Conner, the
private detective, went to the telephone
company to check long-distance calls

from Hampton. This required a number

Bay
|

|
{
{

the two other men. I want to

4
of hours and it was late in the afternoon
when he had finished.

Lee Walker and White Miller Tollett
drove into Elizabethton at 6 o'clock.
Walker was a deputy sheriff in Bledsoe
and White Miller Tollett was the county
coroner. They were followed by a long
line of cars filled with their friends from
Pikesville.

Sheriff Moreland took them to his of-
fice. Both Walker and White Miller Tol-
lett were glib talkers and they didn’t
appear nervous or under any strain.

“All right, sheriff,” White Miller Tol-
lett said. ‘You want to know what we
did last night. Our story is simple and
you won't have any trouble checking it
down in Bledsoe County. Lee and I drove
in the rain to the home of Myrtle Fergu-
son, who is my fiancée. Myrtle lives in the
mountains about 15 miles from Pikes-
ville. We stayed there a couple of hours
and then returned to Pikesville. “Then
we went to Johnny Vaughn’s room, which
is Number Six in the Greer Hotel in
Pikesville, and we spent the night with
him. Vaughn wasn’t in when we got
there, He returned from Chattanooga at
4 o'clock. He had been to the wrestling
matches.”

“Was Crave Tollett with you?’ the
sheriff asked.

“We didn’t see Crave Tollett last
night,” Lee Walker answered.

“How many beds does Vaughn have
in his room?” the sheriff questioned.

White Miller Tollett laughed. “Only
one, and we all slept in it and it was
damned crowded. We got up about day-
break and went to the Tollett cafe. After
a while Sheriff Walling told us that you
wanted to talk to us and here we are.”

The sheriff didn’t ask them many more
questions. The two strutted out of the
courthouse 10 minutes later, and their
ary of friends gathered around them
and escorted them to their car; then the
long line of cars drove out of Elizabeth-
ton for Pikesville.

As the two left the sheriff's office, De-
tective O’Conner walked in. ‘‘Here is
something that might be important, sher-
iff,” he said. “I have checked the long-
distance phone calls going out of the
towns around here. | learned that Mae
Tollett over in Braemar called Sheriff
Walling about half an hour after the
Gouge home was blown up. There is a
very co-operative telephone girl over in
Braemar. She listened to the conversa-
tion and says that Mae told the Sheriff
to get in touch with Crave Tollett and
tell him what had happened.”

“Interesting,” the sheriff commented.
“1 think I'll take a trip down to Pikes-
ville the first thing in the morning. There
are several points I want to check on the
story told by Lee Walker and White
Miller Tollett.”’

Deputy Williams arrived late that
night with the salesman at the Agnew
Hardware store. The clerk didn’t prove
to be of any help whatever. He told Sher-
iff Moreland that he sold some dynamite
and fuses to two men, but he wasn’t posi-
tive that he could identify them. He
added that selling dynamite wasn’t un-
usual, as a great deal is used by farmers.

“The one manAhat could break the

‘ $ 41

story,” the sheriff said to Avery, “and
he doesn’t remember anything! Maybe
he doesn’t want to get mixed up in any
feud.” ~

Early the next morning the sheriff and
Avery drove to’ Pikesville. The two FBI
Special Agents, O’Conner and Kitts re-
mained in Elizabethton,-questioning any-
body who knew about the Tolletts. The
brown paper, the fuse wire and the dyna-
mite caps found by the sheriff at the
bridge over Doe Creek had been’ sent to
the technical laboratory in Washington.

It took the sheriff and Avery a good
five hours to reach Pikesville and they
drove at a high rate of speed. In Pikes-
ville they went to the Greer Hotel. Mrs.
Isa Spence, the owner, an agreeable and
pleasant woman, said that she believed
White Miller Tollett had sometimes
spent the night with Johnny Vaughn,
who, she explained, sold secondhand au-
tomobiles; but she didn’t recall seeing
him night before last. She didn’t remem-
ber ever seeing Lee Walker with Vaughn.

The sheriff and Avery went upstairs
and looked at the bed. It was a single
size and it was hard to imagine how
three large men could sleep in it. The
room was small, hardly big enough for
the single bed, the bureau and the one
chair. :

Thanking Mrs. Spence, the sheriff and
Avery left the hotel convinced that Lee
Walker and White Miller Tollett’s story,
was pretty weak. They drove out to the
Ferguson home in the mountains. Myrtle
wasn't there, but her mother was. She
wasn't sure what night Lee Walker and
Tollett had visited her daughter, but she
was almost positive it wasn’t the night
the Gouge home was blown up.

Myrtle came in while the two officers
were questioning her mother. ‘You're
wrong, Mother,” she said. “Lee and
Miller were here night before last.”

“Myre,” the sheriff said, “you'd better
be sure about this or you may get into
trouble.”

“I’m sure,” the girl fairly screamed.

The two officers returned to Pikesville.
They talked to some of the residents,
but they didn’t learn much. The resi-
dents didn’t want to talk and they obvi-
ously didn’t like the two foreign officers.
Sheriff Walling was in his office when
Sheriff Moreland and Avery entered.

“We want to talk to Crave Tollett,”
Sheriff Moreland said.

Sheriff Walling was fat, with a pouchy
face. “I haven't seen Crave around all
day,” he answered, “but as soon as I find
him, ll bring him to Elizabethton.”

“Be sure you find him soon,” Sheriff
Moreland said.

Evelyn Gouge was in the hospital,
hovering between life and death. Her
husband seldom left her bedside. He had
no knowledge of what the police were
doing and he appeared too stunned by
grief to show much interest.

“We have one chance,” Sheriff More-
land said. ‘I’m going to arrest Lee Walker
and White Miller Tollett for the mur-
ders. | want the two here in Elizabeth-
ton. There is one point ‘in’ their story
weak enough to make one of them break.
I am going to do more than arrest those
two. 1 am going to arrest Sheriff Walling

aan i” i!

and ‘charge him with being an accessory
after the fact.”

It was daybreak the next morning when
Sheriff Walling, with his two prisoners,
drove down the main street of Elizabeth-
ton, followed by cars filled with their
friends from Bledsoe. Sheriff Moreland
was there to greet Sheriff Walling when
he got out of his car.

“Walling,” Sheriff Moreland said, “I
am arresting you on the charge of being
an accessory after the fact in this case
and with concealing and assisting a per-
son charged with murder. Hand over your
pistol.”

The next moment was tense for Sheriff
Moreland. ‘The friends of Sheriff Walling
jumped out of their cars.sMany of them
were carrying rifles. Sheriff Walling had
paled and his face twisted with anger.

“I would suggest,” Sheriff Moreland
said, “that you hand over your revolveré
If you want shooting you can have it.
But it won’t go well with you.”

Sheriff Walling stood there, unable ta
make up his mind what to do. Then he
handed his revolver to Sheriff Moreland
and waved to his friends to get back in
their cars. He and his two prisoners were
taken to the county jail and locked up.

The news spread rapidly over Tennes-
see and the South that not only had two
men been arrested for the murder of
the Gouge children, one of them a dep-
uty sheriff in Bledsoe County and ‘one
the county coroner, but the high sheriff
of that same county had also been ar-
rested, charged with being an accessory
after the fact.

An his office Sheriff Moreland, Avery
and the two FBI Agents were facing a
trembling and terrified Lee Walker.

“Lee,” the sheriff said, “the story you
told us was a lie and you know it. You
didn’t stay at the Greer Hotel that night
and you didn’t go out to the Ferguson
home with White Tollett.”

“It’s the truth,” Lee Walker shouted.

“We've arrested Sheriff Walling,”
Moreland continued. “You're not a
Tollett or a Walling. Why do you want
to go to the electric chair for their
crimes?”

“I don’t know anything about the

murder of those three kids,” Walker an-
swered weakly.

Then Sheriff Moreland said: “Do you
want to tell me you were lying about
your actions on the night of the murder?
One little detail will put you in the elec-
tric chair.”

Lee Walker's face blanched every time
the electric chair was mentioned. Sheriff
Moreland continued: “Going to the elec-
tric chair isn’t nice, Lee. You don't want
to do that, do you?”

Lee Walker started trembling and his
face got whiter... .

Early the next morning, when the ques-
tioning began again, Lee Walker's confes-
sion came in a burst of hysterical words.
He said that he, Miller Tollett and
Church Lester drove to Carter County
and put the dynamite charges under
Gouge’s car. They had expected the dyna-
mite to go off within 20 minutes, but
they made a mistake about the fuse and
it didn’t explode until: an hour had
passed, ~

kent Maka |

He named Ulysses Walling (no rela-
tion to Sheriff Walling) as the fourth
man of the group who put the dynamite
under the Gouge home. The dynamite
had been purchased from the Agnew

store in Chattanooga. Church Lester ‘and:

White Tollett had put the charges of
explosive under the house and lighted the
fuse while he and Ulysses Walling had
sat in the car down the road.

It was White Miller Tollett who had

first advanced the thought that the fam- .

ily honor must be avenged when Arnold
Tollett was killed. He had called the four

men together and had talked to them.

under the ancient tree of death a few
days before the Gouge home had been
blown up. Walker claimed he thought
Harmon Gouge was at home at the
time.

Ulysses Walling and Church Lester
were arrested. Ulysses Walling, faced with
Walker’s confession, broke and told al-
most the same story as Walker. Mae and
Crave Tollett were cleared of any con-
nection with the dynamite crimes. At-
torneys tor Sheriff Walling, who had been
released on bond, appeared before Judge
Minor Smith in the Elizabethton Circuit
Court and asked that the charges be dis-
missed on the technical ground that the
act, if it did take place, was in Bledsoe

County and not in Carter County. The.

judge sustained the contention and he
was released.

The trial of the four defendants started
on February 22nd. The crowds in Eliza-
bethton were so great that the small city
could hardly take care of them. One
special point of interest was that no per-
son had ever been sentenced to die in
Carter County.

Evelyn Gouge had recovered and was
a witness for the State. “How could any-
body be so cowardly .. . so heartless?”
were her first words when she got on the
witness stand. She wasn’t able to con-
tinue and was led away from the witness
stand. Walker and Ulysses Walling were
the main witnesses for the State. They
repeated their confessions. Church Lester
and Miller Tollett tried to prove alibis.
The jury wasn’t impressed and they
found the four guilty of murder in the
first degree. Church Lester and White
Tollett were sentenced to die in the eélec-
tric chair. Lee Walker and Ulysses Wall-
ing got 20 years.

White Miller Tollett and Church Les-
ter appealed, but the higher court up-
held the sentence. Ulysses Walling and
Lee Walker were taken to the Brushy
Mountain prison at Petros, Tennessee.
Church Lester, who had been born in
a house of worship, and White Miller
Tollett, who had planned the crime,
waited to be taken to the death house.

Church Lester never went. On the
morning of August 14th, Jailor Bill
Coruy walked into Lester’s cell. It looked
as if Lester were standing there, ready
to talk to him. But Lester couldn't talk.
He was dead, hanging from the top of
the cell bunk with his feet just touch-
ing the floor. ,

Two months later White Miller Tollett
paid with his life for the most brutal
and vicious crime in the history of the
South, . :

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She'll thrill you
of the night. .
night black neg!
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black rayon r:

charms! Sparkli
buttons hug her
QO-LA-LA ... sh

every filmy inch

Please sen:

Satisfied, |’

ADDRESS__
CITY_—____

Tennessee Mountain Feud.

[Continued from page 30]

The explosion was so terrific that it had
been heard for a radius of a mile. Dayton
Hill and the men in his store came run-
ning out. Other men were coming from
all directions. Jt was Hill who crawled
under the car and found the two unex-
ploded sticks of dynamite hooked under
the rear scat.

“Harmon,” he commented, dryly, . “it
looks like somebody wants to kill you.”

Sheriff Moreland had heen called. He
shook his head when somebody suggested
that it night have been the work of the
Tolletts.

“There are about 500 Tolletts in Ten-
nessee,’’ he said. ‘Those that came
up here long ago have forgotten
the old law of the feud. Besides, a
Tollett doesn’t kill like this. They
will with rifles, and no mattcr what «
you can say about them you have
to admit they have always been
couragcous men, They wouldn’t re-
sort to such a dastardly way of kill-
ing a man.”

The attempt on his life had
convinced Harmon Gouge that he
would have to stay away from his
home. Gouge was a heavy set,
powerful man, known for his per-
sonal bravery, but when dynamite
was being used, his family might
be in danger if he was in the house.
So he had gone to Johnson City,
nine miles west of Elizabethton,
purchased oy goa interest in a lunch
counter, and arranged for a room
in the Ramona Hotel.

The attempt on her husband’s
life had been a shock to Evelyn
Gouge, and the fact that this same
killer would strike again, terrified
her. The separation from her hus-
band, and the cloud of doubt and
impending tragedy that had come
so suddenly into their lives—these
things, she assured herself, were the
cause of her nervousness.

Suddenly the phone rang. She
walked slowly and weakly to it and said:
“This is Mrs, Gouge speaking.”

“Hello, sweetheart.” Her husband’s
voice was cheery, “I just called to see if
you and the kids are all right.”

With relief, Evelyn answered: “Oh,
honey, we are fine, The,children went to
bed some time ago.”

“Well, kiss them for me,'and honey,
don’t worry. This will be straightened
out soon and we'll be together again.”

“Be careful, Harmon,” Evelyn said. “1
worry so much about you.”

“Don’t worry, dear. 1 can take care of
myself. Get to bed now' and get some
sleep.”

The phone call made Evelyn feel bet-
ter. She tiptoed to thé door of the chil-
dren’s room, looked in. Roma Jean, 11,

was sleeping with Luena, 4, and Roma
Jean had her arm around her younger
sister. Sonia, the baby, was asleep in her
crib, Outside, a cold rain was falling and
the drops beat on the roof of the bunga-
low with a dreary monotony.

Miduarght came and paar and the

ih pany 4

rain drops were still thumping on the
roof.. Evelyn Gouge stirred restlessly in
her sleep. Two o’clock and the rain was
tapering off. Out in front of the Gouge
house a car stopped. Two men, black
yhantoms in the moonless night, walked
rarriedty toward the house. A few min-
utes later they were running back to the
car and it moved away.

Roma Jean cuddled closer to Luena
to keep warm. In her crib Sonia was lying
on. her back, sleeping with her mouth
open, The minutes ticked away slowly.
Evelyn Gouge reached for the covers in
her sleep, pulled them up over her body.

And then...

‘The roaring explosion shook the earth.
A blaze of shooting white darted toward
the sky, and where the bungalow had
stood there now was only a pile of broken

Under this ancient tree of death, ven-
geance was brewed by Ulysses Walling,
Lee Walker, Church Lester and White
Tollett, seen clockwise from top, right.

debris. The blast shattered windows in
the houses nearby.

Fletcher Gouge, brother of Harmon,
who lived two houses away, was knocked
out of bed by the blast. Dazed and
stunned, he struggled to his feet, grabbed
his clothes and pulled them on, and ran
out into the night.

A fire had started to burn in the wreck-
age of his btother’s house. He ran toward
it. Somebody was screaming in that dark-
ened heap of debris. The fire grew
stronger, the flames dancing up and down
like laughing devils.

Fletcher Gouge was at the side of Eve-
lyn, She was — “My children...
my children... my...” Then her moans
died away as consciousness left. her.

It was a grim, silent crowd of men who
picked the lifeless bodies of little Sonia

. and” Roma Jean from the splintered
ra They were dead, but the terrific
0s

ian had not marred their bodies.

T es looked as if they were still sleeping.
Luena was breathing, but as Fletcher
~ carried her toward his home, she uttered

Tra

a gasping moan and went limp in his
arms, and he knew she was dead.

Evelyn Gouge, her body bruised and
covered with blood, was lifted into a car
and rushed to the Shoun Hospital in
Elizabethton. Sheriff Moreland was called
and he got to the ruins within a few
minutes. The acrid smell of dynamite
filled the damp night’air,and the sheriff
said hoarsely: “The house was blown up
just the way somebody tried to kill Har-
mon Gouge.”

The murder of the three Gouge chil-
dren produced a furor such ag has seldom
been seen in the state of ‘Tennessee. Men
stood in crowds on the streets of Hamp-
ton, Johnson City and Elizabethton, and
they talked in low and subdyed tones.

Sheriff Moreland, shaken by the trag-
edy, later admitted that the first thing he
did when he returned to his office
was to get down on his knees and
pray to God for help in bringing
to justice the perpetrators of this
horrifying crime.

Friends had driven to the Ra-
mona Hotel in Johnsan City to
awaken Harmon Gauge. They
broke the news to him as gently as
possible. His face paled but he said
nothing. He walked out of his hotel
room, got in a friend’s car and
drove to the Shoun Hospital where
his wife lay in bed, the doctors of-
fering little hope that she would
ever regain consciousness. He sat
down by her side, held her hand,

sobs. ;

When Sheriff Moreland finished
his prayers, he got inta action, He
was tall and well built, with curly

sive face. He called.all his deputies
_ into his office.

“IT want you to pick up every
Tollett and every one af their sup-
porters you can find in this county,’
he said. “Most of then, are living
in and around Braemar, There are
probably a hundred of them there
and most of them are law-abiding
citizens. It’s hard to believe that a
Tollett would do anything like

this, but I want them all boi up and
brought here.”

Dawn was breaking when the sheriff
got back to the pile of ruins. Virgil Kitts,
deputy fire marshal for Tennessee, had
been sent to Hampton by State Fire Mar-
shal Joseph M. McCormick. Kitts had
just finished his preliminary investigation
when the sheriff pushed his way through
the great crowd that had gathered on the
street.

“It was dynamite,” Kitts told the
sheriff. “I have some pieces of wire and
some paper used to cover the dynamite,
but these won’t do us much good as
clues.”

“The dynamiters got here hy car,” the
sheriff replied. “There are two ways to
reach the house. One is from the center

of the town, which the killers wouldn't .

use. The other is the road that comes
over the tunnel bridge at Doe Creek.
That is the logical one for them to take.”

The sheriff and Kitts started jn the di-
rection of this highway, walking slowly
and studying the ground clasely. They

and his body shook with heavy .

hair and an intelligent and aggres-

F
ad
(
i
HH

got on the
bridge about
piece of he:
blown again
bridge. ‘The
label was pr

Agnew
Hardy
Chatta

“This pap:
used to wrap

The sheriff
of the creek
the water's c
pulled it out
dumped the
bank, he was
dynamite, a |
eral dynamit.

The discov
the hardware
the burlap ba
land and Kit
office. Sheriff :
A. B. Williar
to talk to the
ware store an
sold the dyna

Meanwhi
family, accon
started to arr
to be questioi
Mae Tollett,
had been the
soe County a
others to follc

“If this gha
any member
the sheriff, ‘I
you find him.
ards. They do
soe County to
and killing. 1
I'll be your s
it.”

Other men
brought in. A)
the crime, an

Public indi
a pitch that a
a reward to |
information tl
of the men r¢
crime. Within
had been raise

Two FBI
Knoxville fie]

_ bethton to ass)

called in on th
might have be
state, thus in\
interstate co
Avery, special
tional. Board
sleuth whose r
throughout thi
Moreland to «
his organizatio
ner, private de
well known t
been hired by
part in the iny

Sheriff Mor
with these offic
of the backgro
or had learned

“Harmon Gi

Re ee
. TOLLETT, White M., wh, elec. TN (Carter) January 11, 1939.

and

FO Fee ee Pe -

Reg. U. 8. Pat. Off.

Wy
KILLER HANGS SELF
SEE PAGE 32

\ DYNAMIC DETECTIVE, June, 1938.

“Mrs. Tucker’s purse was not. touched
—there seems to have been no other rob-
bery intention. Is that right?”

The husband smiled wanly. “I guess
there ain’t much here to tempt a robber,”
he admitted. “We've been hoeing a pretty
hard row... .” ;

“So the motive must have been a per-
sonal one,” the police chief reasoned.
“Hatred, revenge, jealousy. The murder
must have been planned. If such was the
case we could expect the killer to come
here armed and ready. Unless it hap-
pened he was somebody who knew that
knife was handy. Or unless he did have
some other weapon and grabbed up the
knife when he found it, thinking that by
using it he’d leave one less clue.

“It could be,” Cannon went on, “that
the murderer was a woman, or a kind of
weak man. You see, one stab would have
killed Mrs. Tucker, but the person who
attacked her was in a rage. He—or she—
struck again. And probably would have
inflicted additional wounds, except that
the blade was stuck and he couldn’t
wrench it loose. That’s the most likely
theory, and we’ll string along with it
awhile. Any possible suspect come to
mind? A woman who didn’t like Minnie ?
Or a rather puny man?”

James Tucker shook his head. “I can’t
think of a soul who'd harm her,” he said. ’
Cannon dismissed him.

Reports of Sergeant Craig and Lieu-
tenant Ellis seemed to put the husband
beyond any ugly shadow of suspicion.
Samples, the shoe store clerk, said Tucker
had visited him a little before 6, and that
they had discussed a weekend fishing trip
to be undertaken while Minnie was at her
mother’s,

‘Further, a neighbor woman directly
across Trinity Lane had been on her front
porch when Tucker came up the walk to
his home at a few minutes past 6 o’clock.
According to Ellis, this neighbor said the
husband was in his house for no more
than half a minute before he rushed out
with the baby in his arms, screaming that
his wife had been killed. Another nearby
resident then called police.

From the neighbors also detectives
learned that no one had entered the-
Tucker home through the front door ‘on
that afternoon of May 21. Knowledge
that the killer must have gained access
to and fled from the cottage by way of
the rear gave especial significance to the
footprint—obviously a fresh track—in the
sodden area a long stride from the stoop.

Cannon and his men soon welcomed to
the crime scene several additional investi-
gators. They were Chief Deputy Sheriff
Charles Smith and Tom Aldred and R. L.
Tarkington, ace sleuths of the staff of
District Attorney Carlton J. Loser.

Satisfied that all angles of the crime
had been probed at the actual scene, the
officials mapped out the neighborhood
and began a systematic, thorough canvass
of it.

Lieutenant Ellis and Sergéant Craig
soon uncovered a story which was to de-
fine the course of the probe thereafter.

“A young man who sells toilet articles
from a truck has been stopping a lot at the
Tucker house since they moved in,” a
nearby woman resident said.

“‘Oftener than he visited other homes ?”

32 Ellis queried. j

“Well,” came the reply, “he only called

on the rest of us every ten days or so.
But his truck’s been parked in the alley
back of the Tucker place nearly every
afternoon for the last two or three weeks.
Sometimes he’d be in the house only a
few minutes. But other times he’d come
about 4 and leave just before 6, when Mr.
Tucker was due home.”

“When was the last time you saw him
at No. 411?”

“T don’t like to be mixed up in anything
like this,” the neighbor evaded.

“You're already too far in to back out
now,” Craig told her. “When was the

last time this young salesman was at Mrs. _

Tucker’s ?”

“This afternoon. I was on the porotf
doing some sewing for my little grand-
daughter. I saw the young man leave the
Tucker house about an hour before Mr.
Tucker came home.”

She said the. toilet goods salesman was’

Arthur Garret, and produced a wall calen-
dar bearing the name of his firm—a well
known house—with Garret’s name and
home address in Nashville imprinted in
a space provided for that purpose.

Upon a telephoned request from Chief
Cannon, headquarters dispatched a squad
to pick up Garret. The chief~questioned
James Tucker about the salesman.

“I know Minnie bought quite a lot of
stuff from him,” the husband admitted.
“But I didn’t ever guess they were to-

gether for any reason except his busi- .

ness.”

“Tt couldn’t have been you the neigh-
bors, saw entering and leaving by the
back alley?” Cannon prodded.

“No.” The answer was direct, emphatic.
“I never used the. back way since we
moved here. Never once.”

About Garret, Tucker did remember
Minnie’s telling him the salesman had

offered to drive her and the baby to her .

mother’s in the truck, if he finished his
route for the day in time. Since he’d been
seen at the place only about an hour be-
fore the slaying was discovered, he ap-
parently had had the time.

“There’s one other thing,” the husband

it, it was strange how he used to drive
out in the country when we were living

on my uncle’s farm, just to sell Minnie a -

cake of soap or some other little thing.”
Tucker explained that he’d been so busy
trying to provide for his family that he
never suspected what probably had been
going on. .

WHILE WAITING to hear fromthe

men detailed to bring in the sales-

man, the officers came upon still another
report that gave them considerable con-
cern. Some of the Trinity Lane residents
described a tall, middle-aged man as a
frequent visitor in the Tucker home.

“He drives a nice sedan,” one of the
informers explained. “And he has been
taking Mrs. Tucker and the baby out in
the car pretty often. They seemed very
friendly. She always rode with him on
the front seat. And he appeared to be
very fond of the baby. They would sit
on the front porch, with him holding the
baby while they talked.”

“Did you ever hear this man’s name ?”
Deputy Smith asked.

“No, You ‘see, these Tucker people

we stoma, ait Rt Sry

“JUST WHY," asked Police Chief Ray-
mond Cannon of Nashville, “was Minnie
going back to her mother’s?” He knew
already the motive behind the crime.

just moved in here a few weeks ago, and
not many of us knew them well. There’s
just one family that’s really acquainted
with them—the Hendrys. They live next
door and I guess they could tell you all
about who came and went there.”
However, the Hendrys were not at
home. Leaving some of the officers at
the murder scene, Cannon returned to
headquarters to direct the investigation.
There he learned that Garret had ar-
rived at his home a few minutes after 6.
Without taking time to eat a supper his
mother had prepared, he hurriedly
changed clothes, packed a suitcase and
drove away without explaining where he
was going or when he expected to return.
A teletype message went out from
headquarters, giving a description of
Garret and asking that he be arrested
and held for the Nashville authorities.
That same night detectives found the
middle-aged visitor who had taken Mrs.

Tucker and the baby riding in the sedan. -

He was Joseph Haynes, a brother of the
murdered girl. He had just returned
from making arrangements to have her
funeral at his home the following after-
noon when the officers talked with him.
“Yes,” he said, “I guess I’m the man
those people told you about. I’ve been

stopping by pretty often ever since James.

and Minnie moved to the place on Trinity
Lane. You see, chief, they had a hard
time getting started. They got marrieil
here in Nashville a couple of years ago.
James did the best he could, I reckon, but
after the baby came he lost his job. They
moved out on White Creek Pike to live
with his uncle, J. C. Abernathy, on a
farm,

“My young sister had never lived in
the country, so she was dissatisfied and
wanted to come back to town. She finally
reached the point where she wouldn’t live
out there any longer. One day she just
bundled up the baby and came in to

stay with our mother,

ae -
% a 7 “af
sas abe Eibach

ate 5
ir ec gins Vd

“Then Ja:
Trinity Lan
city., It wa
find a worth:
So we relat;
he went to

Cannon w:
Haynes,” he
sister and h
there any. rez
her harm?”

The broth
that’s a ques
swer. But I
gone all day
he got back.”

“Yes, that
agreed. ‘But
felt toward e
of her?”

“Yes, I'll h
don’t believe
be, but he’s
much attentic
him that it we
I don’t think j

“Who were

“One was /
Arthur were
knew each ot!
the same neig]
does.. Arthur
Minnie when
lately he’d bee
right often try
off with him.
told me.”

“Had he be:
knowledge ?”

“I can’t say
tried to keep |
of trouble bety

“Were ther:

“Yes. For
fellow named }
to them. Jam
because the ty

and often visit
I had to scold
founded jealou:

“What abou
been in any trc

“No. In my
so foolish about
he’s a very f
worker. I und
a right profitabl

A STIR WA
when infor
the police at
Garret was be
willing to wai
nessee,

Chief, Deputy
and Investigato:
ing the three |:
of Davidson Co:
charging the fu;
to the Alabama

The suspect
countenance wh:
office the next m
the officers. His
nervously about

“He denies e
announced, with
accused. “But \
down there he w

“What about i
manded. - “Did y.

“ asked Police Chief Ray-
of Nashville, “was Minnie
her mother’s?” He knew
motive behind the crime.

‘ea few weeks ago, and
new them well. There’s
that’s really acquainted
fendrys. They live next
they could tell you all
und went there.”
Hendrys were not at
some of the officers at
e, Cannon returned to
lirect the investigation.
1 that Garret had ar-
: a few minutes after 6.
ime to eat a supper his
epared, he hurriedly
packed a suitcase and
nut explaining where he
n he expected to return.
2ssage went out from
ving a description of
1g that he be arrested
Nashville authorities.
ht detectives found the
or who had taken Mrs.

aby riding in the sedan. -

faynes, a brother of the
He had just returned
angements to have her
me the following after-
ficers talked with him.
. “T guess I’m the man
| you about. I’ve been

y often ever since James,

d to the place on Trinity
chief, they had a hard
ted. They got marrici
‘a couple of years ago.
t he could, I reckon, but
ne he lost his job. They
hite Creek Pike to live
J. C. Abernathy, on a

ster had never lived in
she was dissatisfied and
ack to town. She finally
where she wouldn’t live
iger. One day she just
baby and came in to
ther.

“Then James rented the little place on
Trinity Lane and they came back to the
city., It was hard going. He couldn’t
find a worthwhile job, as he has no trade.
So we relatives joined in to help while
he went to school.”

Cannon was listening attentively. “Mr.
Haynes,” he asked quietly, “how did your
sister and her husband get along? Is
there any. reason to suspect him of doing
her harm?”

The brother seemed startled. “Chief,
that’s a question I’m afraid I can’t an-
swer. But I’ve understood that he was
gone all day and found her dead when
he got back.”

“Yes, that seems to be true,” Cannon
agreed. “But we’d like to know how they
felt toward each other. Was he jealous
of her?”

“Yes, I’ll have to admit that he was. I
don’t believe he had any good reason to
be, but he’s accused her of paying too
much attention to other men. I’ve told
him that it was just his imagination. But
I don’t think it did much good.”

“Who were the men?” ‘

“One was Arthur Garret. Minnie and
Arthur were about the same age and
knew each other for years. He lives in
the same neighborhood where our mother
does.. Arthur was very much in love with
Minnie when she married James, and
lately he’d been coming around the house

right often trying to persuade her to run -

off with him. At least, that’s what she
told me.”

“Had he been threatening her to your
knowledge ?”

“I can’t say about.threats. But she
tried to keep him away. She was afraid
of trouble between him and James.”

“Were there any others?”

“Yes. For instance, there’s a young
fellow named Hendry. He lives next door
to them. James raved about him just
because the two families were friendly
and often visited with each other. Lately
I had to scold James for his crazy, un-
founded jealousy.”

“What about Garret?. Has he ever
been in any trouble?”

“No. In my opinion, except for being
so foolish about Minnie, and her married,
he’s a very fine young man—a_ hard
worker. I understand that he’s built up
a right profitable business with his truck.”
A STIR WAS created at headquarters

when information was received from
the police at Birmingham, Ala., that
Garret was being held there and was
willing to waive extradition to,-Ten-
nessee,

Chief. Deputy Smith, Lieutenant Craig
and Investigator Tarkington, represent-
ing the three law enforcement agencies
of Davidson County, carrying a warrant
charging the fugitive with murder, sped
to the Alabama city.

The ‘suspect presented a- dejected
countenance when he entered Cannon’s
office the next morning in the custody of
the officers. His red-rimmed eyes darted
nervously about the room. :

“He denies everything, chief,” Craig
announced, with a sharp look at the
accused. “But when they stopped him
down there he was-on his way south.”

“What about it, Garret?” Cannon de-
manded. - “Did you kill Minnie Tucker ?”

“Chief Cannon,” the prisoner replied,
“I know I was a fool to run'away. But
when I explain everything, I hope you'll
understand. I admit that I’ve been in

_love with Minnie for a long. time—for
years,

“Even after she married. Tucker, I
kept trying to see her. Sometimes she
was friendly and at other times she tried
to make me stay away. When they moved
out to the farm, she didn’t like it and left
her husband and came to town to live
with her mother.”

He paused. “Let’s have the rest of it,”
Cannon encouraged.

“Well, after that we got to seeing each
other regularly. She went so far as to
tell me that if it wasn’t for the baby she
would divorce James and marry me. Then
Tucker left the farm.and rented the place
on Trinity Lane. She went back to him
but said it was all right for me to visit
her on my selling rounds.

“Day before yesterday afternoon I
parked across the street and went in the
back door. I found Minnie crying. She
said that James had been accusing her of
flirting with a neighbor boy, and had
threatened to kill both of them.- She said
she had told him that morning that if he
kept getting nasty she was going to
leave him. :

“Well, I told her that I would come by
the next day—yesterday—and’ if she
wanted to go to her mother’s, I would
take her. I kept my word and stopped a
few minutes yesterday afternoon. She
was packing to go but said she had. prom-
ised James she wouldn’t leave until he
got home. She didn’t know whether or
not he would take her and the baby to
the bus Tine. If he didn’t, she suggested
that I pick them up a couple of blocks

Aas

wish
< VY, a
yt

toot lass, intending to process them for fingerprints
one last look ‘at the safe. = se

‘its back, a jagged hole in its bottom. He studied the
t-mindedly, then straightened up and called,
c sthere’s a_ little blood. Our yegg.must have cut his

from the house. -I agreed to the plan.

“About five-thirty I parked at our meet-
ing place. In a few minutes I ‘noticed
James coming from the bus line. He
crossed over to that back street, walking
slow like he was trying to see if anyone
came out of his back door.” —

“You mean Tucker didn’t go up
Trinity Lane like he usually did?”

“No. And he didn’t come ‘back that
way, either. In about ten minutes I saw
him again. He was hurrying up the
alley, almost running. He went toward
Dickerson Road.” :

“Did you see him again ?”

“Yes—I5 or 20 minutes later. This
time he was on Trinity Lane, just walking
along. In five or ten minutes after he
had time to get home, I heard the police
and I went out where I could see the
excitement, out there in front.”

“What happened next?”

“Well, I left my car parked where I
had been waiting and went up there in
the crowd. As soon as I heard that
Minnie had been killed, I was. scared half
to death. I knew that some of those
people had seen me around the place and
that I might be arrested. The longer I
thought about it the more nervous I got.
Suddenly I made for my truck and drove
away. I just sort of lost my head and
skipped out of town.”

“Where were you going when they
stopped you in Birmingham ?”

“God only knows, chief. I guess if
they hadn’t caught me, I would’ve gone
on to New Orleans. I’ve an uncle there.”

“Are you positive it was Tucker who
went up that side street ?”

“Absolutely. I couldn’t see him all the

_ way to the house, but he was headed for

the back door.” (Continued on page 47)

Ae ak eke ed an eee
EEE pose eS ae

CHEESE/7 /
THE BURGLAR who. broke into the Union Produce *
NC at Pecan’ Gap, Tex., used rm’s own
“hammer and chisel to open the’ safe. His loot,
aie tamale elie eee on a pair of cotton
‘floor: showed: that criminal: ae tage

¢ Texas Ranger-sent to help Sheriff J. G. McKee gathere
and a hunk of cheese out of which a bite had been taken. He picked up

incash
up the tools,

gat'the sheriff nabbed a suspect, Myre! Sullivan, a floating

way of proving it. Are |

t fe He was tall and bushy-haired. His
on a-drinking bout with a bunch of the
had been hurt, he said, in a scrap with one of

ha oh sa

opsérved. He was
hand. “But if you're not the guy we

against Sullivan’s

marks fook pretty much alike.” : ;

ously. matching groove made by his |
gue over: that tooth and grinned

N TRACY. .

illivan Sour’ years in the Texas penitentiary.

lars for it. We are
because the district
\l the funds of our
ke.”

eyed the defendants
: said firmly, “A man
, in the interval of
vuuld not go out and

ce. I am going to-

arted to inquire into
h—the bogus “Father
letectives unearthed
irmation.

ited himself as a
en living for some
me at 30-45 Godwin
ied by Mrs. Elizabeth

siderably taken aback
Hirsch, said that he
vedding of her son,
from October 1944
paid his rent with
h, all issued by the

s one of the princi-
‘yarks, Hirsch and
November 15, 1945,
rrett Wallace and a

opportunity earlier
is waiting for con-
be sentenced.

lady testified that
1er out often, they

ork businessmen
ed generously to
appeared in their
with tales of the

eagues appeared in
schewing their cleri-

-day trial, all three .

zuilty on charges of
y, and 15 counts of
d. Tyarks, the bogus
.s a Protestant as he
court clerk.

an was jubilant over
‘sophisticated” New
1aking contributions,

.ppy hunting ground
irities. The evidence
at our sophisticated
us and very gullible
e defendants, opera-
‘ise behind a pious
ing New York busi-
f dollars.”
yarks was sentenced
x’ ison; Appleby to 5
5% to 11 years; and
ally pleaded guilty,

WHY?

rried polished
ird from after
‘yy changed to
and, Ore., and

that Cline had-
‘ years. Most
1 cremated on
rime had been

stigation,

-empril 12

7 . ” ae

Trinity Lane

(Continued from page 33)

Garret, Chief Cannon decided after hear-
ing the young man’s story and having studied
him for some time, was scarcely ingenious
enough to have woven the tale out of whole
cloth—particularly the detail about Tucker’s
suspicion that his wife and the neighbor
youth were too friendly.

“Let’s see what the Hendrys have to say,””

non suggested.

Dan Hendry and his wife backed up the:
stories that James Tucker was exceedingly |

jealous of his pretty young. wife.

“And early yesterday morning,” Mrs. Hen--

dry refated, “I heard Minnie crying, and
that man of hers raging at her. I listened,
because I. heard the name of our boy Steve
mentioned. Minnie was begging Tucker not
to beat her any more. He was yelling that
she was chasing after other men, and our
own son was one of them he accused. That
was ridiculous. Steve’s only a boy. He
liked Minnie Tucker—all of us did. But only
as a neighbor.”

Mrs. Hendry said that Tucker had beaten
his wife again right after that. “I went over
to stop it, but he left the house as I stepped
out my door. I found Minnie weeping and
saying she’d not live another day under his
roof. She told me she was going to take
the baby and go to her mother’s.”

CHIEF CANNON sent a squad to pick up
James Tucker, who returned to head-
quarters willingly enough, when it was ex-
plained there were a few. details. he might
clarify, since Arthur Garret was in custody.

“We're positive..now,” the police chief
began, “that we know the motive behind
your wife’s murder. It was jealousy. She
was young and pretty. Other’ men were
attracted to her, perhaps in love with her.
Who do you think killed her?” -

“Art Garret,” came the instant reply. “He
was always hanging around, trying to talk
her into leaving me.”

“And she wouldn’t, of course?” Cannon’s
question was answered with a nod. “Just
why was Minnie going to her mother’s?”

“Just to visit.”

“But she apparently planned to stay some
time,” the chief pointed out. “She was pack-
ing a suitcase when she was stabbed to
death. Had you and Minnie quarreled ?”

“No. We never fought. Not more’n
married people always do, and then we'd
kiss and make up right away. I loved my
wife, chief. I never harmed her.” |

“Tucker, you're lying. You were insanely
jealous of the girl you married. You con-
tinually accused her of infidelity. You beat
her. As a matter of fact you slapped her
around yesterday morning . . .”
_ “You've been talking with them ‘damned
Hendrys!” Tucker strained forward.

“Calm yourself, son. You were quarreli

with Minnie. You were jealous. You've
threatened her in the past, often accused her
unjustly, made life miserable for her. Why ?”

“That Garret fellow,” came the mumbled
reply. “Him, and others, Young Steve
Hendry was one...”

Cannon looked up from a notepad he was
studying... “And yesterday afternoon, some-
time before 5 o'clock, you went to your
home through the. back alley so none of
the neighbors would see Be ae dd

“I did not!”

“Thinking you were unobserved, you
slipped into the house and killed your wife!”

“You're crazy, chief! You fellows checked

Garret, I tell you. d
Tucker was badly frightened. The swea'
stood out on his forehead. :

- Cannon ordered Garret brought in. “There
is one thing we do know about this crime,”
he said. “The killer entéred and left by the
back door, so that the neighbors across the
street on their porches did not see him. He
was somebody whom Minnie knew and had
no reason to fear, for she did not cry out.

“When the murderer ran away, he jumped
from the back stoop and left one.clear. foot-
print in the soggy ground by the hydrant.
It must have been his track since it was
only a few hours old when we made a
cast of it. ;

“Now Garret claims he was on the prem-
ises for only a couple of minutes yesterday,
and you, Jimmy, say you left in the morning
and returned at a little after 6 in the evening.
You also swear you were not in the back of

the house. Let’s see whose foot matchés our

print.”

The cast was brought out. Garret’s boot |

did not fit. But James Tucker’s did.

“Do you want to tell us the truth now?”
Chief Cannon asked quietly. “The whole
story, James .. . how about it?”

“Yeah,” Tucker admitted. “I. might as
well. I killed my wife. I had to—I was
oing crazy, I guess, crazy with jealousy.

innie was younger than me, ten years
younger. She liked to have fun, and I was
trying to provide for my family, so I didn’t
have much time for fun, and other fellows
did. I took her out to my uncle’s place in the
country-because I figured that-way the boys
she-knew wouldn’t be seeing her any more.

“Minnie didn’t like farm: life. She came
back to stay with her mother. Garret, there,”

_ he snarled, glowering at the salesman, “talked

her into that, if you ask me. Then, after she
finally got me to come back and we took the
place out in Trinity Lane, it was worse than
ever. Garret came by about. every day. That
Hendry kid started hanging around. .What
would any fellow think?

“Yesterday morning we battled. She ad-
mitted Steve Hendry had kissed her. I
slapped her. She started crying, said she was
going back to her mother. She bragged
that Garret, here, would come and haul her
and the baby off in his truck.

“I brooded all day. Then, when I got out
of school, I slipped in the back way -hoping
to catch Garret there and kill them both.
He wasn’t around, bat she was about packed,
ready to leave. I told her to go ahead. But
when she picked up the baby’s cap and I
realized that she was taking my child away
from me, I couldn’t stand it. TI grabbed the
knife and stabbed her, Then I ran out~the
back way to the shoe store. I stayed in there
talking to Samples awhile, and about 6
o’clock ‘I walked up Trinity Lane and went
in the front door. That’s when I pretended to
find Minnie dead.”

The confession was reduced to writing
and signed by the killer. He was immediately
lodged in Davidson County jail and held
without bond. Meanwhile investigation dis-
closed that his suspicions of his wife were
without real foundation.

On November 29, 1942, the 29-year-old
defendant went on trial before Judge Chester
K. Hart in the Criminal court in Nashville
for the slaying of his wife the previous May.
While he pleaded temporary insanity, the

‘jury ignored his excuse, found him guilty

of first degree murder and fixed the penalty
at death.

Defense counsel moved for a new trial.
This was overruled by the trial judge.. The
state Supreme court reviewed and affirmed
the decision. On July 15, 1943, the jealous
knife wielder paid the supreme penalty in the
— chair at the penitentiary at Nash-
ville, :

Eprror’s Nore: To Spare possible em-
barrassment to innocent persons, the names
Arthur Garret, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Hendry
and Steve Hendry, used in this story, are
not reat but fictitious, \ .

‘2 CeneROR ana ariem prt ometeemem imme: am

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By Circuit Judge L. D. Miller of Chattanooga, Tenn.

tage at 411 Trinity Lane in Nashville,

drawn shades shut out the bright
splendor of the setting sun as if purposely
to cloak the dreadful scene with sombre
propriety.

Chief Raymond Cannon of the Ingle-
wood-Madison police, in the van of the
group of men who burst into the house,
paused momentarily on the threshold of
the murder room. Lieutenant A. T. Ellis
and Sergeant Elmer Craig crowded close
behind him, peering over his shoulders
into the gloom.

The chief strode across the chamber,

| N THE SINGLE bedroom of the cot-

skirting a shadowy. outline on the floor, :

and jerked up the blinds. Slanting
through the panes, the evening sun re-
vealed the body of Minnie Margaret
Tucker crumpled upon the floor beside
the double bed.

She was fully dressed, even to a light
topcoat. The pallid fingers of an_out-
flung hand gripped a pink knit infant’s
cap. Several rivulets of blood had chan-
neled out from beneath the corpse across
the shiny linoleum rug. Chief Cannon’s
glance took in these items and then
fastened itself upon Mrs, Tucker’s back.

There the hilt of a butcher knife pro-
truded. Cannon lifted his eyes to his
aides, still standing in the doorway, and
there was no rieed for him to warn them
to stay out of the room. Given a chance,
laboratory technicians and identification
experts might be able to develop impor-
tant clues in this shocking crime.

Cannon himself tiptoed around the
body to the door. Passing into the living
room, he met the coroner and behind this
officer came the others—print men, a
- photographer, lab experts. The chief ex-
plained that he had touched only the win-
diow shades. Then he stepped out to the
front veranda.

There, slumped in a chair, so dazed by
‘shock and grief that he seemed unaware
of the crowd of curious spectators who
stood on the front lawn staring at him,
was young James Felix Tucker, 29-year-
old husband of the dead girl-wife. Minnie
was only 19; they had one child, a baby
daughter 11 months old whom he’d already
taken to the home of a neighbor.

It was Tucker who had found his wife’s

corpse when he came home at a few
minutes past. 6 o’clock, he said, after
being away for the day. Speaking like
a man stunned by a blow, he assured the
police chief he could imagine no motive
for the crime, could think of no one who
might be suspected of the butchery.

“We've only lived here about a month,”
he said. “There’s nobody but what’s been
as. friendly as could be.”

“You were away all day?” Cannon
quizzed. “Where?”

“At Central High school. I take a
course there in electrical welding. I fig-
ured on getting me a war job when I
knew enough .. .”

“You were at class all day?”
“Up till 5, when we all left. I got o
the bus and stopped a minute to see a
friend of mine. He’s George Samples.
Clerks in a shoe store on Dickerson Road.
It was 6 or a little after when I finally
got here. The front door was shut, but
we didn’t keep it locked. When I came
inside I saw the back way was open, but
I didn’t think anything of that. Then I

went on in the bedroom . . .”

For the time being, Chief Cannon
realized, James Tucker was worth little
as a witness. Later, when he had recov-
ered from his shock, when some clue de-
veloped by the detectives might stir a
vague memory—then he would be ques-
tioned again. Cannon left him in the chair
and returned inside to hear the coroner’s
preliminary report.

Minnie Tucker had been stabbed twice
in the back. With the first thrust the
blade had pierced her heart, causing death
ajmost instantaneously.

“The second time,” the: medical exam-
iner said, “the knife got stuck between
two vertebrae.” .

Fingerprint men had examined the
weapon’s hilt, but it bore only useless
smudges. In the bedroom detectives had
found the victim’s purse lying unopened on
a dressing table. A small suitcase contain-
ing some of her garments and a handful
of baby clothes stood near a closet. There
was nothing else.

Cannon sent Sergeant Craig to the
Dickerson Road shoe shop to talk with
the clerk Tucker had named. He detailed
Lieutenant Ellis to take-as many men as

he needed to extend the search for clues
around the premises. The chief then
turned again to the coroner.

“So the knife was wedged between two
vertebrae?” he queried. ‘Was it hard to
extract ?”

“Had to use both hands,” came the
reply. “Even then it was all I could do
to yank it out.”

Mrs. Tucker’s body was taken to the
Phillips-Robinson Funeral Home on Gal-
latin Road. The coroner said that from
the condition of the remains, death prob-
ably had occurred at around 4:30 in the
afternoon. He left with the hearse to
perform an autopsy.

[TEUTENANT Ellis and his assistants

found but one suspicious item, a clear
footprint in soft ground a few feet from
the rear porch, where a hydrant had
dripped, soaking the earth. A moulage
expert prepared a cast of the track while
Ellis reported its discovery.

“It looks to me,” he said, “like some
fellow in a whale of a hurry jumped off
the porch and ran up the alley.”

Cannon summoned Tucker from the
veranda.

“Now, perhaps, you can help us,” he
said. “First. of all, do you recognize
this ?”

Tucker stared at the knife which the
chief held before him. “Yeah,” he said
weakly. “I made it for Minnie myself in
the workshop at school. That was two,
maybe three weeks ago. She used it
around the kitchen.”

“Your wife was dressed as if she in-
tended to go somewhere,” Cannon said.
“There is a suitcase in the bedroom,
partly packed with her clothes and the
baby’s. What was the reason?”

“She was intending to spend a few
days with her mother, who lives over on
the far side of town. When I left this
morning she said she’d wait until I got
back so I could carry the baby to the bus.”’

“Well, Jimmy, here’s what we've got to
go on. Let’s see if it makes any sense to
you.” Cannon was distilling the essence
of his clues as much for his own purposes
as in any hope that the sorrowing husband
might find something incriminating in
them. ’

WALKER, Wsniifled, black, elec, Tenn, (Jefferson) 1-8-1920.

his SRST ee | ‘eee Oy rs ee
ae ae fake” Ca424,

ete JBL LOS CF ce ay Soe SEE ee
x Page 3 96s eae 440 F — Pree 2 hss ie
Page ies ue tUeetke, of pff- Cs bite ov .

Bee te. ee Me SAAT Whe Me 9 OS Saree aud

are a Ss a Besinles, Age by,

le Te be Fadia Mee eee
e eat a ee
=) < iia hy eee % Abee Epeele 2 Sent! Z

, Pegestet Mithiow foo a Yleey_ Dilek fp L Prowl

oe Poge Yas. pry: Hee Allen, (seb. Whechek, oy WBoethr.
aise S81 ChhaW £ ‘iam ; Grew jaf lew / ee Vor ‘114 ©
eee Mack Frentliv' Jae .Chwe =: Wipe a Shea tet

@ et etl LAS! ak Luadshtd Gia?"
SS i Se ea, Oo wide wer Wes i sa

VOL.2. _ 2 “WOODBURY, TI oo ie Rt | NUMBER 39, 2S
= eT pa A “ae

"PAID THE RENALTY.

| wanted to murder me,--and be Court’ Gast spring that court * F j

Be the awfu) ler: iwould if Ldid not do whathesaid. heard ty case, aftirmed the de- ba : =;
: Ps * i Accurdir B.,Lgaid no I will not:do it’ He cision «f the court below, and - s - fF Paes >
a bo. ck ee >in Nove: ber bertson and het changed shoes at the gate aud fixed Vatitiesday, May 2us the” *- ‘ Se
ig ee tan ora <s |e | Woodgu vy, vB} i. tok a-pair from under his coat oy of e€eutions § J eke red
es oe : ot gS nee es Laybey hat s bat Pal 1¢ fand puton, and gavemetheshoes »-Mrs. Warre - Wife of theton. 2. ag =
‘ard Warren y Passes int Eternity Por eg yan 3 3 ‘he pulled off and told me to hold demmed fan, has yee faithful. »
: 4 ; , E I i “ , eed ee RR 18 emp {spr till be ag . u rik - her §feorts. touve her hus. aa a
ear: } sder of I. bb. ans. > - ah e WOU wish him AY Wiehe came bari he saidthe band’s fie.. She. presented a ~s e
ans the * Ture ‘ il do Bd Vansx work ~ eet ea, un e Nuwsuit was = letween him petition taertk yMillin with a4 * {
. me ap ; is some day I'he ie said ‘you -could 500 neges, praying exccutive® So oy
\ Nove m ry 1898, \ wh tas much asflot dollars iu the clemenyy, but Se failed gti mR. emg >
: i ma 7 2 Hee ee ‘ints troubly ues 4 sod! ipye T have been sway, if you the nanps o! the trial Judge, the © * oy f
< Meus OM Say Ts Te ee - ‘ujd him vit) his : rif Woold have done it He said he States Sttorney. and the jr ‘vy. 3 Pech e: aac
in 2% ! ' ; we and the jury.
Tepe eee NS page AE RR ps see Ma es ite shouldy st th ; ; her had vo shot, but he'gaessed what — Gov. MeMillip, reviewed all the eae o
ao yoda Supt. 23.-+ the apy ga thve to sng. ee a ow conn _ iff site rtic ule us be paris his gun was enough, facts concerning the cuse with * 2 fa | Ld
\ which A.D. Warren bade aden} The noose: pwns? adjusted by bdogert > er Ci on “AR f ‘ Re ee W DON Wi urges pals, and two days before FES oy
<# 1 7 0 BES “ , 4 Were ul ‘ 4 4 “Ue Wy SUD Ur exec ’ » + r «i
‘ > to eagilh: and. eorthif 4 lage) Shevift Shirley by request of the jut no ’¢ ini understanciny (én sons om Pensdes aaa ll ee eee
7 downed glear-and, eattifuly but prisemet, nt tay, wart precisely ag OOS arritg. at. ca AF “nd hod. é : diy, Jone “8. in order. thatag . Sire
£ ¢ 1 rind” Me. J : o)
Se ey te ee aie Pay : ae : roun thetic Bye at ue site | fi) aT Sit neve ito might ope furtaa diue to hi Se Awe
© mg-the oming sadvatics (thin 1:30 the drup fell, The body sli 6; month the ito Fere ata sule in} Went at ouce to Warren Hi place this work’ it, he, would tigate the proof, “Lathes hott tee toe ee
“clouds Gdershadswed the enrth, downward dnd reounded a fev) er neigh Rerbepd, nagerbe Be bap hiehad ene ae mat ill me, t an siahene 30)-Day” wed flue “the ace ne wy ‘ee
Me Tinian dls chink i ee see eS : istla was dor Qarren asked Lay-rGoing bo e woods the, He .$ds ffom E's house wh the proache reat eitodksh we PO Be Oe
e = Be wl gw bbe Rlguns that uready ‘inches by the spring ol the ee hew to bel it driveacalfhoine,: find Warren, but passin: 1 fired,” * : Doone mf yf ne SNPS es
trap flpde Ly th & -o'ctdc. this From that the vody remainal- which he & | nught that day.” sowe little children cott:| din the preliminary hearing eoAdomie’ taniste hyo Wie Gok! oe rf et
727 macaing mixh “doubt | sdox perfectly ino} onless, not coama yhew si.fl apo age hoe hohe that Waren we. 1 be Hoot ete made @ more lengthy ernor “efatte theseutence-to - ys ™~ :
. ae : A r fey had reac 1€¢ ghouse some une ff nod svatement than the ybove, but it life impr fomment, but this offort : = >
“pressed adty UB fae of | if plans to~ cow nit’) ee the dog on the , y he: wis practically on t tis line and | fuiled. . "Be Governot did, how- ig
"bat ot faat: hoge .all dot rwere fully ma- ‘ed it back to “Mien’s' embodied pretty Wel the: nite Gver, fea:b soother Saris ate es. e-
oe " . bouse, where the: officer##rind substance. ae ~ + [June 6 > Wednesday, Ang. 5 Byres H

fregarded by: hig “ute He was placed wi ar) In Fobruury 1899 th: twowsre!in view +f the fact thet Warre
finan of pliant nrind ‘rest, but: bitterly | denM any‘ indicted jointly, but on -aecount ; clatme erie pay) ete
“of resistance, and /kgowledze of the criu Joey, ount;clatmed pt he was not wholly
~t fear. — py ix YPayhew was ate places
Josition to yield to [prrest, and he, x0, Claim inued to June «ft the same} cd s Mightepron .
aifhe easily f Zeakteg, nat of the aT i “te ‘t i es ah jod that Je might propre for _

rey to.enter into /were kept guarde all dui bi Agtorney - General! Ui llar a! On the:brni os ge ae

Ve 3 ae glia has : vingof Aug. 9, fo

io. .parfetrate the aol sae nade for o@nee. ‘Thompson was assist d- in the hours bef Prttpectene onto!

pond anprovok yhew claimed to have © Preston. have takedplucs, Gov, McMillin
corded in the van: e ub the timesafty- dak baste co Sn ae
“ig a i ataleys Se aos

is wife inc fag w. pal ai: break

earned by 0 Sita:
* = fio$ Gey, Mefillin stat

re ~hecould pot sfirther
* * yA ao,
* S-with thejactiog of the Kyi

’ ae ven S:at : ‘ ' *
i ike,o child." He wast MSt busbaud wes- R be pti oe 3 ee = j
a e doomed pun o . ome on the nizht of te pe ciae hi a the ge
\ag-The dgpie 1 thab’s cov 3 et ctchbe’ ut Lae he! "s " : 5 ek E cs |

., Bunter Swith “hos whered 4). gh

Sestouues *Amaqpocy, pesuey “aqTyM

Senay pens bi Bie ey ot aan = :
: ma wi i ig <3 ee OLS Wile mdini wy hnd Ho: bolt te
ee at oo cdiehascsed (OE fate Ee reed idk cet parte ot Fae «
me gouraee Kenutstt bol th ‘ite Whigs morale Seattle and tock ap va vordigr Mulley'x, ko ews pene aes Fa
5B bia “Sk wmiBtL i me pagrte ape mene OS So etree te

ae
Z.

DRRD WARREN!

Oe Gs Pc
Weeks W
vaca J. G.

+ ted to Las

bg “ought tu b ee te
‘they reack Cho killed El Ev gR?"" stu “head. fubm :
idred 5 rd: Dan Layhew, raging. ponny wits nait had bean eut oft = beyern ke

<i faet iat onthe inch”

- ling Mis. Warren:

Whit were you
taat nigh?” 2

ra | driven about an.

: Warren h

*006T $12 #5 quis}

ne palo) Sg, at art a een Set aes aA an Owens, rai jenes ond ean ce va
after, serviees the ‘condenmgd | Lafaph ae Ucleerbiimeaamtulein (scat ue, piting.”.. = Zz ephis wife, who lived cat eet Sy shu
£4 ‘tion of Wa ren's iumber at his ; men ‘ . , a ! dgstay untiher> hus was filet. .& very sharp
7 ade ; } rt pea : * that it ! ito burn houses: eElking--" Where were youre | to cone and stay un p busy Se or natl driven
3 man wade a statement in which home, gnd foyn! among Some Liu an. 06if be wouldnevermak was killed?” band retumed. He, quae ~in, point ant : eae “the hi al
he ssid that his Master told him toy a chet a Bey DIsve? Of the tif’ ad. fick. .-Fromthisplace sp = Varren-—“About 100 slabout LL o’olo¢k, and after Dal iain yes ot eneide. but 2
lust night that be wou! ‘get me tach ne BY 5 a ae told! ¢, the sotad the storiesefthetwo, fram E1’s house.” ; maining in the house for a fow | the re airy. short © Hs om
sight that be woul! “get MO | Svarren of his ‘discovery. War-: wae alee cis : 217 343 bi wi , if he| very detdly dirk. Two short sink
t CET Rae ee rineehikes bik, ya Mais y. Pi men comb. Warren™ claimed /;, Bikins—‘‘Did be kill him €]!h, minutes he asked Fuston if hej very: Y eucitg bad: ratwed Aigerden
further favors from the iovernor, be ye ith ra : Bem have after h sed ot that Layhewtook jour gun?” : | was a friend to him, Fustoii re- [ isos ot foo ia fy pe beeen - :
that he was prepared Be that 2 Re ‘ pu 1 ¥% ah us lurnber! tye gu. an vent in the directioe'| “4 Wary en—“ Yes.” ee i | plied that he wes. He then said | th the.} tiso tg Dac buildin: oe rae
~ Phin dead ainter visited. hip dub dition ff TOS Fo Evans, 0 | of fyi.s) i scand laterhoheard * Ekin Who loudedthgod ”. thet hehad gotten ine a little ting une t ees oe. he - we Loe
oe dead He wer visited hip: du tie - nee | bor Warren had! the gus fir hile La yhewclaims {* Warren—I had one pefitttrouble that pight wd thoped that te fre ag fart’ “ st i thes tin? <= _
ing the wight and“ le sax the tl feta sf en NS purposely, s that he reg ned at the gate, Un~¥ dedwithsmallshot. -daded, Fusten would not give him away. | 9 wen Be ‘ nah a apn wr ia Ne
cat hyve to whi. Ie Baht ides OF 8 ear himif be’ ger ye alt #E doath if he teft, the other burrel J ilo he Ww! He then went out and brought in, the stor oie cr By tag Meare aR
Ge : Lh ee Safy 5 at Lick.at the will. Qnite War@: went and did’ the hat be pat in it. “He as'@ me, his gun, ¥ hieh he bad left iu thefof iran abet four fot ong te s ce a
‘ waa going. Hebod nevercheen] n desired ty avoid any pub- public however, be: , t go to the house ‘rithb! :Asaid jail, Anothee witeaee for the | used hg. ST igtasnton is potted
sworn in regard to the crime and}. “i : ts : it went to thehouse, Be, me ond Elare not at good! defense stated that he was at) thougn wt poy Aue " ey ore
“‘Huiuvor ean fomnions hie huct te ‘tt per ss aben'e of dropthe and they eng divided us to wholt:derstagding and T willpt go! Warren’s house ou the day of the, this F pcos ane iar see Bah pee
~~ _, Whateve r confessions b t hath to a ns hes Be i t may Pk it. fired the (@ 4 “shot. Only the: Luyhew went to the bog. the killing, andhesaw nothing wrons. | estows ' roa id. the Jai er bang Bur bs
_ 2 touke hewould make te Gul. _} Evans refus bto take the money, tyaeks of ogi man could ever be: gun tired and they bean to! When eroxs questioned by tho | should Giswaver as me locke She Be
aes After servicds the prisoner re tuund leavin: the house, and’that scream, Be ran back t: ig and state he revealed the fact that, would: ho, oar Se eabl : A hae
ee ai + la tiedte and old {fhe lumber’ val corri track is s fd io-correspond , with Frid, “1 jctess he will no ctiahy Warron had killed 9 ehickg:n drat) pepper 3b ue eon tat ns
3 ~ quested that his relatives asd ola, Je Wann ber ves dorried back, bui Warpens shh. But. which didgnore tiles.’ He saidit pnebim day, shooting it with a site gun. have. a ebanve toescape, {tls ae
i wrobubia that the fact that Mr. Petite &

“ud to see him kick. ff sid, When asked why he didat sheet) Pre abe
be vou have not. killed hig, hove thechicken witht his shot gun hej Shire hyd Mr. Kikins on guacd

~ pacquiintances only be allowed to nat
Ak. A lined eurrenc
* uined currenc y reonecrna, 23

4 edsse ‘ , ; yth men scem to 9F,. : ’
> r = enter the parlor to bud bind good.) that Beuts would prosecute War- ‘deeply 8 with the crimes sou? IfLhad known “fut you replied that he hoard’ Warren tell ,at the door, Lt was tt i j 4
oes bye. .; This req iost was con gies | F On that yivit the Evans’? omer? ?s caing to kill him ye f should ene of bis children that) he had jeusto, Was ull hut bain 7 Rear
i? iit or rie abirley Sir Wee i je the October aon reeset | hoes wht femlenneepaed Cosgned tocvie haste? BAT essen, (Vt 88 Lae eb tein logded with slugs, to, pion from buing piendows out. ea ES
- with by Sherif Shirley, ror whied ¢ tus’ Cat Udita 0 nd contentment with nothoaghé! went buck: he went to Ws house) shoot & turkey, : S| Efi pre aw, voowived thy im lc
ern of the (aegis Courteumeou of danger. Mrs. Evans and_oab anit T went tu mine.” vA fter the conclision of the ar. | fengot ot the hinds of Warrets 35

%
o'*

he gas nnjuathy censured t, fie! ates fae
; ; Ls i and the grand jury issued w-sub-! of the sons hed been engaged ins Upon the faith of this . state: | suiment and the “charge of the, or fPyeap ou was held by: EAS

pi Bs ak Ae ii vn fol My. Ev )
oom ap dous'epowd oa the oulsifes = | poems fol My. Evans to uppear) , game ot checkers, but had Suyment Mr. Elkins and Gharley: court the jney vetted, and fter her rhaps witewever
, > P AtSnoof the oprisnnet ala 4 before thet ey. SILMTAOM pete tide coi, a wee Trepaa) Bi eatairg bekeera 4 Me) no eee OA HaM ned Matalin nee Hug Ke Uy abut Ube tates bee. Be +4
i. > COA SIGS ND Pe | - inna. ‘After soe ithe qos foUUkTy ur to “BT. Mr. or ag T “As orglarned | with Gayhew. ftummed a verdet df i: wurde: in Ue mit believe that Warngn was >
‘ reasofiably heurty Gimbyt. | Ug P er Evans told the | just hand ¢d his wife the bubyandiue protested his innocengsall thes first degree. ‘ ‘ ‘the ftietor of the crime, and ios Fe.
hela whol storst phot the Jumber, jad turtyfi to adjust the fire forp*sy to town, and ina vet?” jolly¥] When asked by We court if be ‘iy tfeath all eet chat the ends *~ oe NS Ek es

r
ut-when adked if he wished © the nigut when a Peport of @ gumfimund he repeatedly told re ote thad apything farther to say) why ! of j Bo lave been amply met. ~~ FS). ;

en injae yarlor, aftor bag or i as prose} was heard from tlie outside and cers they would have to @rn hit} gentenes’ of death should not be: eo ‘ <
Res pfisoner yas ted to the frou! aera he >i don ee pots through an aperture caused by si when ery hued tov t.tpassed upon him, Varrep repli! Ids certainly peanut politics ee
age ae ae ae . EAS on land was discmrged. NO missing: peng from 8 window Ue was placed in the vp oateyted ‘that he di 4 yeu! \ { ‘ wise von. St eee aged
ee se « porch whys hie bid. fe well | bill was retured Rainsb Wars! cme aioe Wt that instant: fof the jel where he cgud. itl Judge eg pS she a tated the order sent front ~ wae oe

~~ “> the latge crowd und “askeed thu! for want of prosesutor, but it iSity sent BL. Evans to sternity- communicate with. Werf: wid! manner, passed néhierieelt Genth! Varfston for the removal of & <a ors
to. | they tule warngug from hin, * doubtful wheter or not. Evans, When the stiat caine Mr. Ewangt:n about two hours he § rt {} upon the prisoner, vad fixed July prog of Hon, Webster Davis . ;

a eee es ‘Ad ttf he was led to she = linew this., Ji is clearly evident: ul] into his wife’s ayms and of, (Mr, Elicins and Dallas (-@ mives, | Wth as the day of execution. [hj fron§ clerkship in the Kunsas oS
t Ry ocr ge Ab Def he was led toe $2 lon the otherfiand tha’ Warren ¢jyimed:y, ‘Oh, Helen Dmkitled!?\n whose place he was !gos.: uditha middle of the sentuuce the | City pstetice. - - ’ =
Looe «old in the back yard of: the jail. believed that he was indicted und | These wer: the last words heeve® nade the following stiiqheut to} Court was interrupted “hy the! ¥ Be eae is ae
A345 S Ow the mattold he salddd thobghe thas Ste ‘Junugh claiming that! ytrered, aml as they posséd frou thems rigmmer, who said: - “Wil Your! Spats SIREN erguuicnt
8 whe ettse ; ie Stee’ 4 he did not wantt have anything, pis jips le sank to the floor and} “LT came up from Dil! Cu n-; Honor allow me to saya word be ‘that §ugress is a useless branch : eb
at fee Indye Houston Was a tittle. 00 to do with it} was secretly & will yas dead. : >. mings’ about dark. wut 7! fore you gouny further?” The uf -of government is too imper- =

& $y “hard on we in his charzer EE he ing’ rosecutor. : .- |.) ‘The loac composed of both jvards from, my housd#Dilk rd| court paused and nodde(l assent. | ialisiffor fonrpl acceptance.
4 $ ‘ * Sook ith thimideytrmly fixed "im gp, and it is- supposed Warren Said ‘halt? I wag you to “Then,” said the “prisoner Eb oe , "4
n~dhe t sixty entered. Mr, 40 with me ti El Evuns $1 w.nt| want tosuy that J. Stop: is tha :

romise ly witness whoswore thi trat : ae
in my Tes aay have te dio for tis; Lut: th > boosting of His political
Jars to) Géd knows I did not do it... Lam lortuil by Boss Platt. .Heis to *
beech | nof p. fli-y.”” : have |Pitical prominence solely 42

theway. fo oS a
There was a man in the Dei Jodging

.gath the skin on~ the two old mules and fift;
porhaxtawho had formerfy._ lived | oppusite r ae

leas ee abe ‘compromise, abrut &
‘seaumtlings.”’ Whe we

x ae ee ‘. Banh Babin

on Warren’s plice, andover whom hon fn family “realized ~mhat: to the} -Beiore court ad} | 5 Lee thes

it-was ee ia we too bed- iete of John CG... Eve e suid! tion for caine _tijournied @ mo! | becau of his ability. That be
ty dol-/and . grgued; but the court over. | Dublic fad not previously anu,
ghtme|roled - motion and the defen-| ered | t gbilitys not the, fault ;

of Bo- F
¥

aid heldent appealed tu the Supreme
Seeder geek. Ee OK Sy

eee ee = ee wet, 5 oa toe Tepes,
y >) r > : ie? oe ; 5° Ait iggy cram —- ns sana ==
i : » 4 ‘OR ; eens
TOL. 2: “e WOODBURY, THAN, FRIVAY,'S RT. 98, 190 - NUMBER3 rR
—————_—_—_—_—_— eee fe ome Mes ~ NUMBERS, = 3
PAID THE PENALTY. [ive epumnserescts: {ater igi ep wate murder, mos ant he Co a
é E : view tup Cl chim to commi: ;fied until after daylight the 1 \ wanted t i E ts ae oe ies ak eels 4 :
é : . m2 . the awfu.:ler. remnan ie ee Upon sacar of Werciitd ifL be gaeigepo ion 4 Court, Gast -spring that court : Se f
; j a aos Aceurdi: dy d@ he first Monday; information, Sheriff Patton, | easel wil tat . ey aay heard ‘ye case, aftirmed the de- fbi
p as , in Nove: ber 4, they metr in; Robertson and o ars wer ghtichanged shoes at the 7 ny a pet neal Fs catalan wae
Ee oy rts tt i Wondbu-y, v#}e “Warren, told ‘once to the soune of ibe. Kis. wok a pair from unde — aud fixed Wednesday, May 2us the : no
-, - ae -Laybey hat §{ ns ought.nc tol: Mr. Patton carried with-hir: §: : r his cont day of exgeating, : : ;
1 \ err omy Phe: A 4 ; A ied with-hir: fre rand put on, and gave he sl wi
ure arren / (Vusaes rite Eternity For Vive top osee him; that flay- ‘of his blood hound’, but owiro The pulled off vt ge oo. aeshoes -- Mrs. Warren, Wwila of the Con- : a
4 oe ; - te edb. theft out inf this, the lapse ef tine sud fesbon dls Gone? patel tue to hold damned man, has yen faithful a
} \ . x f I that i : F AB y eae Say ue a y tig till he cume bask. in her $for ;
the Tw det 0) ie i; vans. vale hg ae Lieoet gehen vice ot “ rain ates AX Wier he came varie he said the band’s “bee gy ~—< . . , oe
: 2 3 e if Fear, un int night it bvas ijupossible foukhe Nawsuit was ended letween hi we biihs MOS: he eeaniad i i
November, 189s, \ Lecievoenyte rg wiceonnaeun ey aoe % — the trail, er! \pa El now. He said aicaaid rete oll ag bee ‘MeMitin with ‘
eo. be its sh aslo; HptifLiyhew got; giving up all hope of pur fing) iy ‘ ai . uyes, WoeNecutive <
: ; . \ : fee trouble ne sduld be fre tothe Ae arab of the foo he ate dl — 7 so —- FY, but cshe failed to get
, ; st {or weit hk ye lilees EE” é 2 uve ay 1e Maes © “i ae . wn
iin a % ars : Lyapronel e ya gon is idee nd mnegns vf the du, the fri sgoeld have done it! Tle waht’ be waar efile ye ae ia
Spay: Seg DF, 2 hd hy path we to sny J eye etitp trouble lay “ewent to Mrs Evans andask@her had ao shot, but he guessed what G ‘ Mi Ait yy. and the jury.
ile ; 5: we “yew could en thing for him. if she particularly suspidgned be hialinhis gun was e tov, MeMillip reviewed ail the
i whieh ALD. Warren bade adieu) ‘The noose was adjusted vy |. These Awd pther entreaties an one of the crime. Shpipiuc: Whoa we got back oa tine i Siceh eunogrning Bre wee with 7"
* to eagih, and earthy situs | Sherif Shirleys by request of the’ Lwere maga, iyhowonthatouy,> (intty ald nismvnat wi fur tuove Datlas Cammings’ he aid gs pains, ind tivo days before :
ie A : @ jut no @ ini® understanciny oreo was theouly ener y apr hus-, he had better kill Fein ; day Sedo vor edecunoga we * “
z downed clear an, beadtifil, but prisoner, xt £30), ated precisely ovas arritge at. : na had. Upon dew fhe selaaho uate fi vedios gall eens 9 a respite until Wednes- ae
nug-the “uit he ra , ahi | Lan Hieron fall if . gk: Un thetic py of tse sate Ra Shoei had Me, Lg son sroinined tr att ie wore oy Jure 8. in order that ay “
_hecthe uyorniny val wicdt thin, t:0 the drop fell. “The body swt youth the oso ere at a sale in} Went at once ty Warren house ' eNO han tee At dove |to misbt tpt furan howe toh ny ere
a : i : tat . bis place this wees it he would ti Lacacanely es
clouds overshacuywed the earth, downward and revounded a fyvi the emg Sap d, and «after the! but hchadgone “rabbit ging.” not kill me. hi L Mis ' re Vaine the proof, As-tha secoud .
addtyy ty tbe gloom that w ready ‘inches by the spring of the rope ‘nals was dur faurren avked Lay-2Going w the woods the, Bed tors. fds trom T's he use hie. ibe pecs fe the sxecution ep 0 Fg
ee remiipd, Upto & oe bdbie. th ee iB —\ hew to help wig driv vaculfhoime,: find Warren, but passin gious: & h fired.” ren the proached great evord wits nade ~
oe P | Wage ctdec. this From that) the body remainat which he fel pught that day, some fittle children tole @ oft! dn the vreliminary hear by friends and attorneys of the oa '
* mucaing much “doubt Se perfectly mofonless, nob even ya ay si pl — Phin hea fries that Warren ae Vthe!Liyhew made a ns lorasby en. ent be hh plata ars N\
S *ppessed-adty Up fae of Warren. | pat f fs ; _ call, and age vey had rcuched Jhouse some time befof} and sate é sthy ernor ciiatie the senience to :
; ae oe “ au of arten a moving. AG LAB the body | the houses 4. plans to com init "placing the dogon the gi he wis ea inatty ed ae : ad ate omment, but this aFert
ai at taut our call doutt as | was pronourerd Gad by Dy. the: foul pa: rwere fully ma- lollowed it back to “FRen’< embodied pretty wel the a ene ea —— did, how-
remo\d by 2 telephone: wssage: Mayne G..MaCrarys theattendin a oa ‘ _ “house, where the officers und substance “a +} June et ee ee
S05 Gar Moot ak aa ? ing | ayhew}asfregarded by. hig ute: He was placed wa) ar In Fobruury 1490 th: twower June 6p Wednesday, Aas. >
2 Ges, Me ulin stat » hit | physician. fier the body was neishborsgs «pinan ofpliant mind ‘rest, but bitterly deni] any | indicted j intly, but dtl eal edad the faci that Warren
he could hot sfdrther derfg.e | cut down it Was cxtimined by Dr. with no paerfuf resistance, and /kuowledze of the eri Dan of the occas ra adn mkt. claimed Bet fe was not wholly :
with the-action of the In Jin’ biol MeCrary't iby 3. Ct v partly thro fear and pv ‘is \ayhew was next place lider er at that thie sther i satistied fs te his fiture condi . Ty
nil Vig! she | aryandg Ur. J. hs Drennan through t sition te Yield to} yrest, and he, too, claim 4 eratinued to Tine 1d th wus , tion, and this rospite Was grant ’
taattor, * iz 3 who pronoghced “the neck not riory Say bey agai. been eee a uf the Pa oe two -euk ‘ a the mapsisst font fe night propare tor
. at sich cs : aod 3. the HVajren to-enter into jwere kept guarded all hie 6 tre: eet her ,
ape e. broken, ‘The drop was four feet iio sched, fo perpetrate the Atclewits made for oMnca ee ees Willard) Gn the prni.gof Aug, S four
fand as Mr. “Shirley spfung the most ag | ie yy anprovoked, yhew claimed to have th at sae: — an a A the ours bef: de the execuiion waste ee
lisa Fie Farnsd cok beet murder # ie rorded in the unpome all the time.afte: de bj y Jones reston have take 4 » Gov. Mee coe
ek Y vals 0 wg County. Sught; and his stabeinyt eek wt respite ah
lhis face in his hands abd wept! It was cu a sation. he. rohorated bg his wife ine - opp, 27, } On tet of |
‘like a child. He was rated to ws anpay mig mal ft Wares" at y pags pics Ww brews {
\. coy r 298, Wag on prould go 7% y-{hér husband wea ab-eng}om j hee was represe re res uepariied by Dopatios a
Ss pore ea ; Hews ho. fid the YO vould {home on the night of te Bing. | Vaace, Je. ee We AM nyele, f ie Shivieks ana 5. J, Kilns, :
4; \a¢/The dopned man’s cor set A. go _toged er {to Hn house, iThe day's investigatio. ted, the June terre u semuriaeeat thud ay lear + iat a
WwW. Sinitiian, whine bns tabéred |vHen Bape pa dere deal a = nahin a Laz heed | ws asked fof on the prt of hdres yar peg: . ye ibs “op Sunes:
denen putey she Asntence Comsumnge: | £ooi, Comm niga (ed moetgench ught £ >, tdfand | po, which wes granted by thesia ed ad oa eer they
MW so; ace ks ome: : 9 * F ° phone eS oe be ~)courm - ws ee ah EY if hh murder wud case i
+. gommauted giuyed jwith ‘him {stogk, fic fold Ars. Taphents? Ga tity followir BPP da ; . } dechirgd act baile oles —- Wils ees
pthc clr Bl Acco saul eaucamd theo he ta me By to got PLA" Fee tol Shortt} eomniuk | | Whion the dhy dnd frsfrarriiedt} sarge’ Bt) ebwining Goes
a plist Weewsates wel ath nite. to Ey? toga vied Ze make yostiter: ey pg poh pine Layh¢-v! pleaded tund- x: (lst: delonee: ang Henry © :
ont gi H od vayrdiett lonty. # . maine a
i yok an apf coed vor dict; Mulleu'y. gevying Pistol, About

bel d - t . ‘ ve .- --: -

€ — to thé priser in. bis “Test © the lawsif® Roonb.jegete uife mates” “EDE
| hours, vos ees M Aithat he salah ng to,cer, hevitg alresdy become :
‘ ~ Tac =} -_ | give Evans frvo.anules 2 tar fiftvavinend of Y aires: s guut, Ty \
, SPORY_OF 3 Bis Cia > fdollays tac#it op. Bethe weatthat he didnot avant to hedi
" heyw about L rds Slate “put that 8. J. £ :

ftom years Wie 1p wees ?
Warren protested his Huocer ¢ the jut fort Pt ae
{yp the last and was veal, Judge ng tg rs xi Het
531 W. G. Houston pre ding. * with ; Cases T-Qe shay) that
ys, the following sary: ] ‘#e, Todd, A loclt ref} .

ers: See ee ones. ware tag hak oles So
¥ DILLARD WARREN! **s LWwhich Pda sh 7 ede ee fo % frow the 1hse-and thie two guarty ms enieririg the yate, oud - “1g. dernigan, P. B. iuncan,’ Bata: Maton
Ens ehciluley whet Thies Wi = the nchamesieat, ek ¥ pHa” od tozethe oward Evaiis’ Rotise. Avis ied bo male wu” staveme? e*Roster, S. J. Jandrrty Jaros codar, ¥
: Minetiivtony ase This: tor? tye set ak aah CEE te rd EET ee EF pa TE LS Fe meg pes, th G, (baa Pat ae ‘
> ifhad his gull Sowetime ia theirs Pifn Me. Elkins. Mr Siidio gas. Saath, JW. Keéle, Wid. Vassar sunalf
. SH MLR, Cafey acd J: G3 found

Warren had-intima-/y3ked to ge into Warren’s
“that Evens! Rease eprn he. tala. He 24a
barned, ‘and when'ftetement: -

miatyn a nuriber of pers ws fol} Sumctibe Auring therear ison! oh
lowed Elder YC. Presto bh Hilder HBL. bvans, che yurdcred acen,. oe _
a tal MEP and Ditlars Warren had nin bert to lay
D.B. Vanew and. Rev M. OW. sawedkata cil, and when Evang, Uebi tu b. 4: 3 wee
partes to the jail, wher. ger “ices went to ha Vit’ b uiber away he. they reach ® a gate;e fow aun: } Biking—“Who Wiiled EIEN
Mi ondact . * misxsod tiwe pieges of bee hseant red: wd:from Evans? house, ¢ Warten —"Dan Layhew. ‘
re conducted for one ous iM fing 224, 4d at once suspe cod are” hafhd and tcfd- Baynew)}_ Elkias— What were YOu i "
that Warr thee gotten thei eee bs co @ make the fifty” dol, pbtuat night?” ~ a wt fight: ay
After services the « adeombd He afterwi ident json examin: ing prnieies and get a -bome for eae erre “We. were. 79
d ‘tion of Wa rants lumber at his’ 4 iw Layhew’ .staled (honting.
man wade astitement ‘a which home, end fount among some j; helLaito burn houses: gr F Alking-—"‘Where were yet
make lainbe dks. two pieces of Kilt an 96% he wouldnevermaka il was killed:”
the tif: d fuk. -Fromthisplace ; Warren-—“About 100

Ss Joshe trialo® Warres®
(the eviden we Was mage .cirym |
2” stantial. wostof it wes yer? dame} 4
sonny wire ni

1d the mal driven about at anch
to the tad of ; :
ahi wife, ca tha place, wood, Te otper ond of the nail cig
ato ene and stay until her, hus- | Was fet @ .8 very, Bo tis!
a. {band returned. He quae in, pein! atte; % smaller nail j :
is about tL o'clock, and after ra | CFOS mate but
i ‘the whos for g cerns |

like Fae aN,

ic parlor ofthe j iler's + sidenice.

he siid that his Master told him |"
m ‘iil nee weeh hiner, as at once told! : :
lust uight that he wow) get no | Warren of ie "uiseovery. War-! to the 10: the storiesof thetwo, (rer EV’s house.” ae | maining inthe house for a few | A sf ‘
‘men nig. Warren: claimed /,, Eikius—‘‘Did he kill him &fth minates he asked Fuston if hej very de: ily . dirk. Two short
2 'was a friend to him. Fuston re-, Peces of hoormg bad-been taised
rls.

renclaimed that it mus awa
uust hive arter his a
‘anid the prisoners had been

Sects as din weertoeel te tee beens put in oy ho his tainber! 4,
read l I" : 8 : What | through w mist.ce, Evans, eres Saese
Vin dead sister visited Lim dug {doubt, bet -ving iat Warren had ee ; i
itulsen dis fumtor purposely vthe gu. fir @ while Layhewclaims
posely, qhat he ren ued at the gate, un-.

threatened *o preseeute hinif he :
fr peeseant Hiatt? BO doy pe alt $e death if he feft, the other barrel. Ido ne Koow, Be then went out ane
whieh he bed le

further favors from ths covernor,

;

“Yes.” $s | plied that he wis. He then said 4 heshin

. 10 ieident theft "th he hud gotten inje a little ting uner the fluor by bulldiygs

Warren—"E had one pefeth trouble that pight 4% hoped that {ative ag inst the stone wet, TFA

adedwithsnmallshot. Lsdaded) Fusten would aot eivd him sway.) when he -tirowing water Bee USt ~
vad brobgbt in, the stor sie erack them. A ber ‘

ftiu the!ef iron about four feet long wus

ing the uidit ond bie sa ¥ thie

beautuulhiome te whi flys se al jdidn’ ii j
: finds idn't define Ht tack atthe mill) aan oy 1 /
waa voing, tlehud nover been Warren desived to Pa art i while see wenk and did the v+hat he put iu it. He asd me his gun,
i , ‘ilime. ‘ig public huwever, be- , ty go to the house vithb' . said jail, Another witress for the uscd te slell the stones Itis : ; if
quod! defensestated that he wits vt) though? thet they hud uboudongd
antl had decided Ao

r city of ng “s Te
sworn in cegurd to the erie and iD aia ~~ hey oe oe Aran, lieve ‘hey @ i went to thehouse, Eo, me end Elare not at
Matter and sayon Haine fais it viund they erg divided as to who !u:derstasding and I will
Evans retus hte take Toe nen fired the [@ 1 shot. Onty the, Liyhew went to the hog. the killing, andhesaw nethi:
f Ys tracks of og man could ever be-gun tired and they bean to’ When cross questioned by

he day of the, this projec!

Lesowd . roiad

the | Sheald discover that vie feck
wren: “baworky aad by throwie?

1 go.) Warren’s hous ont a { \
i Wwrond 1. the juler when he

whatever confessions hi vhatl to
<

tonlre he would make te Goal, tethiats I
- ; sayy that 1 ne wanted wis the eats ;
® After services the prisoner re- | iiimber dekverut at the Mill found avin: the house, and’that scream, Be ran pack tefie and staie be revealed the fa¢t that;
* track is seid io coyrespond _with svid, “1 guess he will no geli atv, Warren bad killed a ehiekjin chat) UoPpe! aa his: eyes they would
day, shooting if witha cifle gun. have 8 chance toescape. {bis
Uubia that the fact that Mr.

° : 1 :
— quested that his relaiives : Che dumber vah carried back :
of it bis relatives and old 1 { Carried back, bur -Wartens shi . But whick didjmore tales.” He suid if: neshtidit
id, When asked why he didult shoot Pro
had Mr. Bikins oa guacd

ov
tl cll Dekertees ai ‘ somehow thy upiter teaked . } 5
nequaintances only be allowed tol and the ant ie banen ra the shooting Sa matter o' sinall’ fwd to see him kick, B sid,
4 enter the parlor to bud bias ood; thet Evans would prosecute War- pconcern, 23 bth men scem to be 'yeu have not. leitled hf, heve theeLicken with bis shotgun he | Shirle
2 bye. This request was cannpyiod jren for theft. deeply conne ted with the crime. sou? If had known “fet you replied that he hoard Warren teil at th door, which was Ret tie
tA gs pte Pe pe Siaca a 1 Vbile t! in hess, fase. ine Shab On thit aivat the Evans? bomas Ys going to itt him ye § should cneef his children teat he ted Custos, was all thit saved the:
i with by Sheri: Shirley. fii ete] “ninds of he"peopie the October | ee a oor genes yet led uate? Lalit tara ger tose Leech Soin logded wth slags to! plan froin bing carried out.
he wis nnjustl censured by jhe tern of the Carcais Courtcumeou op 4 caer ites sp ! way - ra vent tris fouse shoot @ turkey. Fee ger pee MiMi, mpenayreck thy cS
5 ; s , anger.” Mrs. Evans:and one ant T went to mine. After the conelt si Car. fe: got as the bands ot Waris US
tite yo dous exowd ou the outstde, ‘d been engaged a * Upon the faith of this. stutes) scenvanpaik saat fe Tone! Ny a ot ne abies on held by ivy eons ey ‘
i A “ou : ean : iw nment Mr.” Bilkins and @harley court the jney vet eight ere SP in wil teever’ : she ny
a « t At ae : vette a an | ue eee poneen : aes “3 * a IPE: srourt the ry Ee ne A A sah hae wut F sé or si :
, reasonably he -dinnar After: oie : ek Nas: " ; reiasned With “Bayle ow, pao ritt Sahai ial UE, eae ee *
\ a agit aly: Lua ety Mie yabout the ugt er Bivens told the jist hand td his wife the bab apd {ite prot dtd his imnocen on bd id shes baw ieardes inthe werf belive that Warne 9S ee
i dinner services were again held lwhole stort phot the Jumber, aaa turn ti to adjust the fi ny for." oats Li ‘ He a first deyree f thebtisaor of the crime, and bY :
; ; 3 it eh - ¢ ur Ss ec fire forpwss “wn, undina vet? } iv?) When asker 4:3. beatae . pee eg ae pare P .
—. ¢. inghe parlor, after whisk the a = alee a if he * ishod W the nigut when w report of » gum} tpuod he repeatedly told $1e 0% had parafen ai? ws eomrt if be int eath all Cee{ chat the ends . a
Fe fi as + A pater iac nine eurered as prose} was heard from the outside and ‘cers they would have to fren bint Cary eee ing Irethar to gay why ‘ot jbo ihe been amply mete heal Ses
prisoner “as led to the frou cutor, he replind that he did not, through a: aperture caused by a {loose when they reneld tovs Bt ae | of death should not be ae ee ee . ;
porch whose he bid farewell 1 and ee ee ioavioacent eae | *, from a window ‘Ue was placed in the uppee st ltd that he bight pia « repli; PAs certainly peut pobties
sarge er ' ‘ sit Le beh a Theaitinc-aeeieg rent) caine a jo slugs that instant: jof the jail whe eds ‘ a 1 ondt, therenpon ! thatptated the or vy sont fom
the large crowd and asttad the! Lyoy want of prisesutor, bat Mt Ms ity vent E, Nistag to ‘stornity. ele ocrtilpor ag ae *; i d eo es enim dhe ree ‘4 rf for is seen Lote
“y surndue fr i whe Y eS aa here nied obit i, chs 1 ba) m “yo pusse * vd if a-§eton for tie re a
oy they take wornius from hin, doubtful wheter or not Evans. When the shut came Mr. Evans 70 ahaut two hours he #ntolr| a mega semenceof death}! Hon, Webster Davis
RY : —linew this. dis elearly evident! 41) into his wife’s ay ax (Mr. Enki a ; pon the prisoner, rud fixed July orote ot Hon, Webster Mavis
i Aé 1:15 he was led to the = geai : . ell into his wife’s ayms ana ex: |Mr. Elixins and Dallas( @ mires, } 2 . i ’ ‘i J Cent Sie
: on the othérfiand that Warren: ojyj ory We » 2sth ws the day of erecuti Ta trong clerkship in the Kansas
1 fold im the | urd of. the ~jail : : meng :elaimed 'r ‘Oh, Helen, I mkilied!”")n whose place he was | Boy, ud) th dd yecution, Tn treng clerhstup
fone old im the back yurd of. the -jAll. believed that he was indicted und | y Oh the lastwords he ev lind : / Heoge ' the middle of the sentence the City pstetice. eran
% *s k ; ‘ that Evans, ‘hough claiming th MA Sse «the lastwords heever nade the following sto cut to Court Was interr j : , * ‘i
On the soatfold "he suid-E thoaght | taat Bvans, © sh claiming that: ytrered, aml as they passed from ‘them: . f ie errupted by the’ ofan, Gage’s arguvent
Big did not want to have anything pj, jips | k to tl ai “1 . i risoner. who said: “WHE Yours) PR" ' ns
chis lips le sank to the floor and, came up from Dallg Cun | : ‘ é . nor ode
mings’ about dark u-, Honor allow me to say a jeord be ; that digress is a useless Fane
was ark. -Bout 75’ fore you gouny furthers" The of o Pyoverniment is too tm per-

Indze Houston was & fittle. too) to do with it, was secretly @ Will was dead.

‘The loadfgas composed of poth ivards from; my housDill rd} court paused and nodded assent, | ialistfor eeneral gece pian

°. “hard on me in bis charge? If he agp ee
: With this ides irmly fixed iD oht and’ sfigs and it is eupposel Sfarsen said, ‘halt? Tgp you to! “Then,” suid the prioner, “C! : Are eg
Mr. 4 with me to El Evans @i wut} want tu suy that J. Stow che the OL) oung Cormeias ¥ ei €
!derbis money had nothing todo . : ee

1, me ~ Rema \
aed had given me @ lifetime, mn ithe his mind, he, it seems, atonceset that abou sixty entered.
re ae wend favo prorated = — ot ars) of | Evans’ bor > meny of thers pene t0.0 and make a co@romise only witness Whoswore the trvat'
7; beried. : Ho ano: stated Pak he} mere was a man in the neigh: ene ee os kin 8 “the Sor gh desien and fiiy spies Low have to di for Hi ; Lut: “th op boosting of Bis yoitical
’ ' , Sm} el ail A ‘Magpuars to knows I did uc j joss 2 2
- ‘eon bie ni i sTdid wot do it, Lam lortu by Voss Blatt. He !s to
| compromise, absut + beech| not g. ili y. have jpities! prominence solely et «

a ]). + thought they acted with, partial: | borhyod awho had formerly. lived | Wyposi ‘lo. tie De
< ity when they. gave: the- guilty na Warren ps eng apenliornate | When le family realized — Scuntlings.’” When weg to the} ~Betore court adjourned

wne they were, too DAG Heke of Jobn. C., Ev: e svid/tion for anew trial ‘ead entered | Oecau of his Bbility. That the- mak

| publichad not previously discov- en:

‘and argued, but the court over- .
ruled the motion and the defen-| ered |

had beemd , ,
ed to send for” assist Hd $ yor wantto m katy dol-

| ed to send
th “ign ance thd te or gee t gbility 1s not the fault ;

and
map Sheri id he
Pe i age ae aoe ~ dent appealed to the Supreme} ot Bo-fPlat. Pans
, ee: = yim Meee A Fo og en Bee af a K- Se <n
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Metadata

Containers:: Box 36 (2-Documentation of Executions), Folder 13
Resource Type:: Document
Description:: Leo Temples executed on 1912-12-19 in Tennessee (TN)
Rights:: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Date Uploaded:: June 27, 2019

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