were reported in the county that night. The murder of Norment provoked the ire of his brothers-in-law, John and A. C. Bridgers, so the gang resolved to kill them as well. They went to their plantation one evening and attempted to coax them outside by making loud noises. This failed, and with the outlaws unable to enter the home, they shot some of the Bridgers' dairy cattle and departed. King murder trial and escape from Lumberton and Wilmington jails On April 1, 1870 Applewhite and Steve Lowry were tried for the murder of King. Due to tensions in Lumberton, proceedings were conducted in Whiteville. Statements made by Dial were used as evidence against them, though when testifying in court he said been coerced into confessing. Regardless, Applewhite and Lowry were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. In the meantime, some of the gang members detained in Lumberton escaped from the jail there after a woman, probably Rhoda Strong, smuggled them an auger. Ewin was among those who broke out, and thereafter he disappeared. Those who remained in the possession of the authorities were transferred to the more secure brick jail in Wilmington, where Calvin and Henderson Oxendine were already being held. The gang members were held together in a maximum security cell, but managed to escape early on the morning of June 13. Lumbee oral tradition maintains that Rhoda Strong walked to Wilmington from Scuffletown and distracted the guards with "womanly charms" while an accomplice slipped the gang members tools to break out. A white prisoner later testified that a woman had some days before distracted the guards with an inquiry of another prisoner while Steve Lowry hauled tools tied by a string through a window. By his account, the gang members fashioned a lock pick out of one of the tools, allowing them to leave their cell at will, and this let Applewhite find an exterior wall which he chiseled through when the guards were not around. On the morning of their escape, the outlaws left their cell when the guard on duty went downstairs to speak with a colleague, climbed through the hole Applewhite had carved, and descended to the ground with a rope fashioned out of blankets. All of the members fled except Calvin, who declared that he was innocent of any crime and sought to be cleared in court. The other gang members slowly made