i
The Newark Journal.
PUBLISHED IN THE FAMOUS Big BOTTOM
Country. Where Alfalfa Is King.
$1 Per Annum.
-mm
Newark, Independence County, Arkansas, Friday, October 28, 19(14.
Vol. 4. No. 44.
CROSBY GIVEN TH
Slayer of Sheriff Morgan Convicted
of Murder in First Degree.
Jury Returns a Verdict After Being Out Only Thirty
Minutes-=-Judge Fulkerson Sets Day of Exe
cution For Friday, November 25.
Robert Crosby, who shot and
killed Sheriff Jeff 1>. Morgan a
short time ago, was placed on trial
in the circuit court at Batesville
Thursday of last week.
Some difficulty was experienced
in securing a jury, and although
the work of selecting a jury began
early in tin* morning, it was not
until 2:30 in the afternoon that
the jury was completed. Seven
ty-one men were examined before
the twelve were finall.vr secured,
and it was 3 o’clock when the trial
was called. The following gentle
men composed the jury: L. H.
Clark, Peter Ford, F. W. Pear
son, Jake I Juneau, T. P>. Cantrell,
Earl Wade, 8. E. W’ells, W. W.
Wade, Z. T. Northern, J. ( .Whit
ed, George Witt and Alex Shipp.
JAMES IIAItDY’s TESTIMONY.
The first witness on the stand
was James Hardy. He testified
that Crosby came to his stable and
called for a rig to go out in the
country a few miles, and that he
hired him the team, and went out
on the street to find a boy to drive
for him. While at Denison’s store
Ed Reeves, a clerk in the store,
# asked him if lie knew who the man
was that was going out in the
country, and then told him t .ial it
was Crosby, who was wanted in
Izard county for grand larceny.
He then told Seeritl Morgan over
the telephone to come down there
at once; that his man was there
and was going to leave. Sheriff
Morgan came hurriedly and Hardy
pointed out the man to him as he
was coming out of the City hotel
<t It l\n ro I lit n itt i liUoL'U irn nn/lne
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ROBERT CROSBY,
Convicted For the Murder of Sherifl
Morgan, and Sentenced to Hang
Friday, November 25.
the stand, said lie was coming up
Main street at the time of the oc
currence, and the first lie knew of
it was when Crosby turned around
and, taking aim with both hands,
fired deliberately at Morgan, paus
ing a moment after the shot to see
its effect. 11 is testimony in other
respects was the same as Mi-. Har
dy’s except that he said that Mor
gan had died in only a few sec
onds after falling.
I.AWKENCK la'DIlKI.l. TESTIFIES.
Lawrence Kuddell, who was
down the street below Crosby,
standing in the door of Rosen
thal's hardware store, said he had
not seen the attempted arrest, but
had first noticed it when Crosby
was running down the street, pull
ing his gun, and saw him pause,
take deliberate aim and fire, Mor
gan's pistol being discharged as he
fell. Witness then joined in pur
suit of the fleeing murderer.
SHOT HIM LIKE A m-L'„
his arm. Morgan went up to him
and asked him if his name was
Crosby, and the man said “No,”
and started to run, with Morgan
after him and trying to grab him.
Hardy said he shouted, ‘‘Catch
him, Jeff,” and that in the mean
time Crosby, who had drawn his
gun, turned on Morgan and took
deliberate aim at him, using one
hand as a rest for his gun. Mor
gan in the meantime had paused
when Crosby drew his gun, and
had stepped back in trying to
draw his gun, which caught in his j
pocket. He had partly turned and
was drawing his gun when the fa
tal shot was tired. He staggered
forward and fired one shot, then
fell. Handing his gun to Hardy j
he said, “Catch him, Jim; he has
killed me.” Hardy then took the
gun from Morgan’s hands and
pursued the fleeing man. Hardy’s
testimony, as well as the testimony
of others, revealed the fact that
Morgan was not in pursuit of the
man at the time the shot was fired,
and that Crosby had turned and
was taking aim with both hands
when he fired the fatal shot.
11. 1,. MI1X.ER ON THE STAND.
II. li. Miller, the next man on
Gib Cook, a negro employe in
Hardy’s stable, gave some valua
ble testimony, as he was holding
the team in front of the stable
and was close to the men. He
said that he watched Crosby dur
ing the whole time, and when
Sheriff Morgan accosted him Cros
by commenced running and drew
his gun immediately, and then
stopped and aimed at him with
both hands, sighting at him ” as
he expressed it, “like he would
to kill a deer,” and after shooting
paused to see if he had hit him be
fore running.
TESTIMONY OF OTHER WITNESSES
Other witnesses als„ testigw
nlona the same lino, and all o
them corroborated the testimony
that Crosby had used both hands
!lr * MorxJn
\\. A hike testltled that helm
a warrant in his hands tor Crosby
I c,,ar«inK liim with grand larceny,
and had turned it over to Morgan.
Shcn irt- dames Harris of Izard
c°unt.\ was placed on the stand,
land testified that he had two war
J,anfs ,or Crosby, charging him
i with fiiand larceny and burglary,
| and that Morgan had called him
up over the phone, asking if he
; still wanted the man, and, saying
I ><'>, warned Morgan that
,( roshy was a desperate man, and
j to take ro chances with him.
^ Billingsley of Izard
county also testified to taking
( rosby to Salem, Fulton county,
and placing him in jail there, from
which place he escaped later by
knocking the jailer in the head.
CROSBY S VERSION OF THE TRAGEDY
( rosby next testified in his own
behalf, and alter telling about the
laets leading up to the shooting
he said he had just come out of
the C it.v hotel, and was intending
to get in the rig he had hired to
go out in the country, when a man
he did not know stepped up and
asked him if he was Robert Cros
by. He testified that he did not
answer, but dropped Ins bundles
and commenced to run, drawing
bis gun as lie ran, and whirled
and took a quick shot at the man
and continued running. When
asked by Mr. Oldfield, the prose
cuting attorney, he said he did not
know that Morgan was the sheriff,
but simply shot to got away. Af
ter a severe cross-examination he
admitted that he was afraid of ar
rest while in the town, and it was
not his intention to be taken. He
' also admitted upon cross-examina
tion that lie thought Morgan was
an officer, and that he fired so as
to get away.
After this Cro>by\s mother tes
tified briefly in his favor.
This linished the taking of testi
mony, and at 5:30 court adjourn
ed until Friday morning.
FRIDAY'S PROCKEDIJJC.S .
At S;30 Friday morning the
trial was resumed, and after the
judge's instructions to the jury,;
which wer1 v ry plain and speci
fic, Attorney Dene H. Coleman
i addressed the jury in defense of
i Crosby, and considering the fact
that he had but little room for de
fense, is said to have made a
| splendid plea to reduce the charge
to murder in the second degree.
Prosecuting Attorney \\. A.
j Oldfield then addressed the jury
for the state. He dwelled at length
on the judge’s instructions to the
WAS BURNED TO A CRISP
Demented Man Set Fire to Calaboose
at Jackson port and Perished
in the Flames.
II. B. Williams, who for sever
al years was confined in the asylum
at Tuscaloosa, Ala., but who re
cently returned to his home at
Jackson port, wh*>re he was kindly
provided for by his brother, M. B.
Williams, was burned to death
Sunday night in the calaboose at
Jackson port. He had that day
been subject, to violent manifesta
tions of insanity, and wanted to
kill members of the family. For
safekeeping and to prevent such a
tragedy he was confined to the
calaboose, and to make him as
comfortable as possible bed cloth
ing was placed in his cell.
It was not known that he had
matches upon his person, and that
night lie set fire to the building,
which was almost entirely consum
ed before the fire was discovered.
The body of the demented and un
fortunate man was found in the
emIters, burned to a crisp. Coro
DIM* K .1 1 I U rriCAtl a ti i no.t
Monday.
-.»♦»
KILLING NEAR DE ANN.
Saturday a deadly encounter
occurred near De Ann, eight miles
north of Hope, the result of which
is that .John Coffee is dead, while
Samuel Thomas and his son, Ben,
are wounded. The trouble was
the outgrowth of a feud *>f long
■standing. Coffee and Thomas
lave lived for years in the same
section, and had not been on good
terms for some time.
Their enmity culminated in the
bloody battle on the highway Sat
irday evening. Thomas was with
lis son, the latter about 20 years
>ld, when Coffee met them. It is
lot known who tired first, but the
shooting soon became brisk on
;ach side. Coffee fell after the
second shot and expired, but not
in til afterdie had wounded Thom-'
is and his son. The wounds of i
die latter are not serious.
Fire at an early hour Sunday
norning destroyed three resi
lences in Texarkana, entailing a
sotal loss of $d,000.
jury, ami showed tiiat uncicr tiic
law there could onl.v he one con
clusion to arrive at, and told them
that the state and Independence
county demanded justice for the
foul murder of her best citizen.
At 10:45 the jury retired, and,
notwithstanding the fact that his
life now hung in the balance,
Crosby remained perfectly calm
and seemed to be absolutely unaf
fected by the fact that his fate
would soon be made known.
the jury’s verdict.
After being out 30 minutes the
jury returned with a verdict of
murder in the first degree. The
verdict was passed to the clerk to
be read, and as the clerk pronoun
ced the words which sealed his
doom Crosby, who, previous to
this time, had remained calm and
indifferent, broke down and wept.
Crosby was then returned to Ins
cellin' the jail, and as the officers
were taking him hack to jail he
I continued on PACE 4.1
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A FATAL MOSQUITO BITE
Two-Year-Old Child at England, Arlr.
Died Last Saturday From Ef
fects of Mosquito Bite.
England, Ark., Oct. 22.—Blood
poisoning, caused by a mosquito
bite, is given as the cause of death
in the case of Forrest, the 2-year
: old son of Mrs. Beulah Hicks,
i The child died this morning at 11
! o’clock.
| About four weeks ago the boy
was bitten b.v a mosquito, and in
flammation ensued in a short time.
Blood poisoning set in a little lat
er, and did not yield to the most
skillful medical treatment, the lit
tle sufferer lingering until today,
when death came to his relief.
FATAL ACCIDENT AT CASA.
Casa, Ark., Oct. 24. — A terri
ble accident occurred one milo
from this place yesterday after
noon; and as a result one young"
lady is dead and another severely
injured. A company of young
people had been out driving and
were returning home, when, with
in a mile of Casa, at the top of
Hardin mountain, all of those oc
cupying a three-seated hack go*
out to walk down the hill, except
(irover Pearce, who was driving,
and Misses Lottie McCoy and Eva
Ellis, who remained in the hack.
When about two-thirds of the wg^y
n ••• i I. ^ ^ A. — 1 i. 1 i .. .. _
v*w m w UIC XIIWUUUUU tile II alvlvf
came loose from the vehicle and
the team of mules became fright
ened and started to run. The*
driver exerted every possible eff
ort to stop them, but he was jerk
ed out of the hack, and at the*
same time Misses Lottie McCoy
and Eva Ellis were thrown out.
Miss Ellis sustained injuries from
which she died in a short time.
Miss McCoy was severely injured,
having sustained a broken collar
bone and bruises about the hern!
and face, but will recover.
«»>
Hon. Robert L. Lawrence Dead.
Hon. Robert L. Lawrence, ono
of the best knowm lawyers in thn
state and prosecuting attorney of
the Fifth Judicial Circuit, died
at his home in Russellville Mon
day afternoon at 4 o’clock iron*
t.\ phoid fever.