St. Landry democrat., 1879-04-05
The Kentucky Tragedy.
PARTICULARS or THE ELLIOTT ASSAS-
SlNATIOS,

! tLoutsvil}c tuurer-Joulnal1
! FRANKFORT, March 26.--4At quarter
past o'clock this afternoon, in front OF
! the ladies entrance of the Capital Hotel
Col. Thomas Rufurd. of Henry county
shot and killed Judge John NJ. Elliot
OF the Court Of Appeals.
. The weapou used MAS a double bar
relied shot &uu loaded with twelve buck
shot in each barrel.
Judge Elliott, Ia company with Judg,
Tho>. Il. tllHeS, was comin.. ND AM
street, when they Mere met at Tie step:
Of the side emtrAnce OF the hotel b,
/ lnford, who appeared equipped fo
Bntord spoke first to Judge Elliott
saying. Judge, believe [ will &c
Snipe. hunting. Won't you go along?'
Judge Elliott replied, NO"
Well, then" said Buford, "won'
you go and take drink 2"
At this point Judge Hines turned
away, and had gone about six feet
when the gun was fired, and Judge
Elliott fell upon the sidewalk without
uttllring Il word.
Buford looked down upon him anG
said, I'm sorry"
He then lifted his head and Put his
Buf0rd's) hat under it.
Judge Hines turned back and tried tC
raise the body, but life was extinct. He
thought it was an accident until BufOrt
spoke to the Deputy Sheriff and a police
man who came up immediately to the
| scene.
Buford gave mp his gun, saying to the
policemen, be careful with that gun
put twelve buckshot in for Pryor"
Submitting to arrest, he was taken
before Esquire Gwinn, and upon brief
examination was committed to Jail.
On his way to the magistrates office,
or before he started, Buford handed I,
letter to the Deputy Sheriff addressed
as follows:
Whoever may get this note | ask
earnestly to deliver it to the person to
whom it is directed.n
The letters contents were as follows
CAPITAL HOTEL, March 26, 1870
w Whatever may happen to me, [ desire
that my niece, Annie o. Wall;lce, shall
have everything, both in equity and
law, that belongs to me. | only ask
that my body shall be laid by my sister,
Mary +. ButOrd, whom loved so well.
whose robbery and assassination [ wish
to try, THOMAS BUIoRD."
The body of Judge Elliott was TIA ken
to a room in the Capital Hotel. and a
coroner's inquest held, and the follow
ing verdict rendered:
1--WE, the jury, find that the dead
body now before us is that OF John
Elliott, of Boyd county, Kentucky, who
was at the time of his death q Judge OF
the Court of Appeals, and residing tenn
po"arily at Frankfort, was killed and
murdered in said city, Oh thu Goth inst,
by beng shot through the body by
Thomas BufOrd, with a dcuble- barreled
SHOTGUN"
= In Ten minutes after Buford was taken
to Jail your correspondent called upon
him and obtained the following infor-
nation:
Correspondent" Have you any OBJ
jections to talking with me upon the
subject OF the killing OF Judge Elliott 20
Buford-" None in the least; | will
tell all about it."
Here he entered into the particulars
of the lawsuit lately decided against
him in the Court of Appeals, entitled
Buford's administrator VS.. Guthrie"
He went over the whole ground, and
said his sister, Mary T. Bufo,d, had
been robbed and murdered by the de-
cision Of the Court of Appeals.
Correspondence Please give me the
particulars of the killing"
Mr.. Buford-"Oh, that is easily told,
| made up my mind to kill him.
thought gu Monday [ world kill both
him and Judge Pryor, but [ thought of
Judge Pryors children and took a walk
to see if | could not save Pryor on ac-
count of his children. In finally con-
cluded to do so. Twelve months ago,
in March or April, | came to Frankfort
determined to kill Judge Pryor. | had
twenty-fOur buckshOt in a flannel bag
for him and somebody else, but Ichang-
ed my mind.
Correspondent" Well, why did you
change your mind2"
Bufolal-" Judge Pryor knew all the
PARTICULARS of my case; he knew how
my sister had been wronged, and could
have controlled the decision, but the
case was not yet decided, and l deter
mined to wait"
Correspondent" Well, tell me about
the killing of Judge Elliot"
Buford-"l made up my mind to kill
him, not because he was the first to de-
eide the case against me, but because he
gave me Judas kiss. He came to me
after the decision and said: Colonel,
did all I could for you" | knew. that
was a lie. | knew the profession was
against me-"
Here he went again into the particu-
lars OF the case, and, upon being asked
to tell about the shooting of Judge
Elliott, said:
My gun was loaded with twelve
buckshot in each barrel. | thought this
morning would go snipe hunting. |
met Judge Elliott and said to him
Judge, | believe will go snipe hunt
ing; won't you go along ?" He said,
: No.
Il then asked him if lie wouldn't go
and take a drink and raised my gun
and pulled the trigger. Invent off clear
as bell. He fell upon the pavement,
and placed my hat under his head. |
wished to treat him with as much cour-
tesy as he had shown in the robbery
and assassination of my sister by his
decision. 1t was the most ignominious
game that my gun ever killed. l was
then and gave the Sheriff a
letter to my niece, Annie o. Wallace. |
Ion can see the letter. | simply gave |
her all my estate in law and equity and |
asked to be buried by my sister. / did |
not intend to kill Judge Hiues or Judge !
Pryor. killed Elliott to try my case,
to show that they could not rob and |
with impunity. Last week
was down in Henry, and knelt on
my sisters grave and swore TO gain this
suit or die with her. | know what !
have done. ! made up my mind, and !
anl ready to take the consequences. |
bad a pistol in my pocket and intended
to use 1t, it the shotgun failed; but it
did not fail.''
The announcement of this horrible crime
put an end to all business in this city.
The streets baye been crowded with
people all this afternoon, and it has
been seriously apprehended that there
will be mob.