St. Landry democrat., 1880-02-21
A Chapter of Casualties Ending
i'm Death.
Lake Charles Echo, Feb. 14th.

Lake Charles Echo, Feb. 14th.l
Last Wednesday evening, at Cara
WAYS saloon, Lake Charles, Joseph
Mathis was shot in the foot. An
affidavit was made, charging a stranger
from Texas, named Shafer, with the
shooting, and under a warrant sheriff
David I'll. Lyons arrested Shafer and
put him in Jail. Matt Woodlief, Il
gambler, who has been here some two
or three months, said he was friend of
Shafer, and made some threatening
remarks about the sheriff in connection
with the arrest. That night, between
twelve and one o'clock, Burns Lyons
and captain John S. Hawkins went to
the sheritf7s house to inform him OF
some suspicious sounds about the Jail,
pointing to Jail delivery. At the gate
they met two cOlored men, about to
visit a sick colored woman in the sheriff.
employ. All went up to the front
gallery, and Hawkins tried to open the
door. The sheriff was in bed, and
hearing the efforts to open the door
called loudly, three times, "Who are
you I" There was no reply. Getting
up, he took his rifle, and his wife raised
d front window, and by the dla1 light Of
a lantern, held by one of the negroes,
mistook the black faces Of the latter for
masks, and exclaimed For Gods
sake, Mr.. Lyons, be on your guard ;
are masked" The sheriff was then
satisfied that Woodlief was outside,
with party, intending to get the Jail
keys and release Shafer. Twice before,
during two years past, guns had been
snapped at the sheriff after dark at his
country residence, and he had been
once shot at in town after dark.
Leveling his rifle through the window,
lie exclaimed "who are you give your
name or I'm going to shoot" There
was no answer. He again demanded
"Who are you ?"-and receiving no
reply, he fired. Captain Hawkins fell
on the gallery, severely, but not
mortally, wounded, and Burns Lyons
aud the negroes ran away. Through
the now closed window the Sheriff and
his wife heard Hawkins say you have
shot your friend" After several
demands for his name, he finally gave
it and was brought into the house, and
the sheriff Immediately sent for a
surgeon to attend him.
Next morning, at ten o'clock the
sheriff and his deputies, on the court
house square, near the Jail, while
guarding the Jail, killed Matt Woodlief
while in the act of advancing on the
sheriff with drawn revolver. Hon.
Thos. B. Ferren, justice of the peace,
empanelled coroner's jury of inquest,
who, after taking the testimony Of
thirteen witnesses, covering seventeen
pages OF cap. paper, rendered the
following verdict:
"That the said Woodlief came to his
death from wounds inflicted by guns in
the hand of David II. Lyons, sheriff,
and his three deputies, Tom Smart, jeff
the time OF said killing the said
making an assault upon the
said David FL. Lyons, sheriff, with a
dangerous weapon, to wit, pistol, and
with the intent to murder the said
David II. Lyons, and was actually
upon the said Lyons with
such intent, and was upon the point Of
carrying out said intention at the time
he was killed; that the killing Of the
said Woodlief was necessary to protect
the life of the said David H. Lyons,
who was at the time OF said killing in
the peace OF the State, and in the proper
OF his duty, guarding the Jail,
and therefore the killing of said
Woodlief by said Lyons and his depu-
ties was justifiable, and in self-defence
the said deputies at the time being in
the discharge OF their duty guarding
the Jail, upon which the said Woodlief
was advancing, and protecting the life
Of their principal, the sheriff; and we
are therefore of the opinion that no guilt
Is cliargeable to any one on account Of
said killing" (Signed by the jury.)
VI. j. Rosteet, G. Hall, p. Brothersen,
D. H. Reese, B. Hutchins. L b. Ferreu,
Justice of the Peace, and acting
coroner.
We endeavored to give our readers |
his week a condensed statement of all |
he evidence before the coroner's jury,
put fiud it impossible to do SD. We
will publish such condensed statement
lext week.
1t will be seen by the evidence that
N00dllef expressed a settled determiua-
ion to get Shafer out of Jail ; that he
lsked for assistance to take him ont by
Gree; that he expressed contempt for
he sheriff, said he would as soon shoot
lin as a dog, and that he would have a
ough deal with him before night that
lie made repeated attempts to borrow a
Weapon, and finally got one, saying he
Intended to kill some body or get killed;
hat almost Immediately after getting
pistol he approached the sheriff, who,
With his deputies, was guarding the
all and that he was killed while
,dvancing on the sheriff, with his pistol
n his hand.
Captain Hawkins is doing very we'll,
nd his speedy recovery is expected.
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