The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1855-10-29
,,,s.,oxpEscE orrHE pIspArcH

(nG4<&<--AfFtSs ~" 1870
f-ta,ond ritA sae Murder.
.eaaEsrosDEscE or THE ptsPAr en-.
HORSE PASTURE, HENRY CorSrr,l
October -, ls55.
The whole community in this section Of the
.eputry has been In high state Of excitement for
several weeks on account of the mysterious murder
Of A Young man named Green ID. Satterfield. which
happened the 30th Of September last at or near
abc house Of Col Meekins Reynolds, in Patrick
county. AZ the time of the murder. IT was GENE
rally sapposed fhat the murderer inisfooA sous s
satterfeld for one IS Col Reynolds sons: sha ' ne.
hs was killed through mistake .accorulns ~
statements made by Coz keyn%'a nse,n thai saasr
aald xyas engaged in doing isv OF carpeh1ers
work AZ REYNOLDS, aud on the neriang OF me niu.
aer. (which was Sunday) he weiS 20 a .1paseS
-, sifuated on the side Of pTtssc road, ana
f,n. one hundred yards from Col NIB house,
hen Mrs r. heard gun fire. and Satteffem ex.
c.sir, ",nurder!' and uhen the family rssehed
him he was near dead as TO be unable 10 sPeAH,
and In few minutes expired Two men. hooeri
Carter and Gabriel Deal, were arrested and exam
ined. and il was proven that each Of them had had
a difficulty with Col Reynolds eldest SON. Aiexah-
der X Reynolds, and one OF them had oeen hea,d 70
1oeke threats against him; but both proved an
c.,b; and were discharged. The lur. found q
,,ordct to the effect that Satterfeld came to his
dsa.h by pistol gun shot. III the hanus OF some
rerson to them unknown. Subsequent events,
However l,sye lead 10 the suspicion that he was
rnurdered by some members Of Col Reynolds
family, and the body was taken up, and another
;nry e,npanneIled This was composed OF mteili-
gent and highly respectable men, who after Ia
norious and thorough investigation of the matter,
after session Of eight days issued warrants, and
arrested Col Reynolds and his two sons, Alexander
b and Hardin Reynolds
The main facts elected in the last examination,
are substantially as follows: The body was first
found In position that 1t would not seem probable
he would bave fallen from the effects of az deadly
a wound as that which he received; that 1t appear
TIL hota Iaap MIA paff hRrp
,res extinct The wound was In the left side. two
inches below the heart, and the whole charge OF
.ho, had entered his body, making wound near
the size of hens egg small STICK OK green
wood bent up, was also found in the body which
had boon undoubtedly shot from the gun or pistol.
There was very little blood his Clothes still less
On the ground where he was lying, and not more
than gallon in his abdomen. 1t had been raining
yerv hard that morning. and at the time the family
saw he was shot, and the path from the dwelling
house TO the barn was wet and muddy, yet there
was no mud his Shoes nor on his stockings, Gas
one of his shoes worn through near the middle
az the footl The whole family argree in the
statement that the murder committed about
o'clock in the morning and one OF them stated that
he went to the house of the nearest neghbor, i'm
rpediately afterwards, which was one mile distant,
and gave the ALARM and the persons who came 10
The scene of the murder from that house, state that
;he body Of Satterfield was cold and stiff, which
does not seem probable if he had just been killed
hit on the contrary II would have been warm and
his Joints flexible They further say that he had
boon TO breakfast, yet his stomach was empty,
though there were some indications of his having
vomited near the place, where he was said to have
been shot Most of the family were unwilling to
touch the body, and they objected TO his being
carried to the house to be shrouded. A woman
living in the neighborhood, who was assisting to
make the shroud, saw young Hardin Reynolds go
caudeetinely to shot bag and take out something,
which she believed to be shot, and then he went in
& the direction of the woods A shot gun belonging
70 the family was examined, and the ram-rod was
found about three inches too short for the barrel
and a man living in the vicinity testified that he
had hunted squirrels with this Hardin REYNOLDS
with this identical gun, and knows that he was in
the habit of running down a Bonded twig the
top of the last ad in order to force the charge &c
the bottom Of the barrel and that he generally shot
Il out with the charge. Many other minor circu1n
stances were sdduce,d, all tending to fix guilt on
the family.
The most reasonable hypothesis is, that II he was
murdered by the Reynolds they killed him on
Saturday night by strangulation, (as bruises were
on his neck0 and afterwards carried him to
the barn and shot his body, to make the impression
that he was murdered there. No malice has been
positively proven existing FROM any of the Rey-
Dolds' towards young Satterfed, and il is supposed
that if they did kill him, it done on o sudden
quarrel. The family consists of Col Reynolds, his
vito, two sons, an idiot daughter and two negroes
Col r. is about 70 years of age. Alexander K. a.
and Hardin II. They have heretofore been con-
Sdered az toleraby respectable people, and Col.
Reynolds was, few years since, a candidate for
sheriff in Patrick, and received very good vote
Whether guilty or not, public sentiment ia decided
ly against them, and will continue until they es-
tablish their innocence and place the guilt of the
murder on some other person, by stronger evidence
than has yet been brought forward. What adds to
the mystery Of this horrible affair is the fact that
tho deceased was most amiable and excellent
young man. He was not known to have an enemy
In the world, and he had for several years been
Idous member of the Baptist church, and was loved
and respected by all who knew him. The citizens
of Patrick have discharged their duty whether or
not the real murderers have been detected Every
effort has been made that could be to get at all the
acte in the Such another crime 80 a,y-
fnl and mysterious was never before committed
IN this heretofore peaceful and orderly community
and it is 10 be hoped that the ike may never be
witnessed again. HENRY.