The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-05-02
CROsS-EXAMINED BY THE DEFENsE

and had the body removed
put the pistol in my nvercnat pocket
and hung nv coat on the rark IN the nall
where il remained until after supper.
held inquest on the body OF the deceased
Did not discover burnt powder on the
wound in the forehead. There was toe
much blood about the wound to show any
signs OF burnt powder. The hall in the
forehead ranged backward and q little
downward. perhaps about len degrees from
a straight line. Did not make critical
examination At first The wound in the
breast was directly inward perhaps il may
have been slightly upward "r dOxnNard.
SECOND WITNESS
W. w Trrnt was called bv the state and
sworn:
Reside at Boonville Knew AcDear.
mon and Thornton. Am county clerk. Saw
both mel at the time OF the difhcults. The
prosecuting attorney produced map
al the strert upon which the
tragedy took place, and the wit
ns.s proceeded to locate the parties at the
time of the shooting. The tragedy occur
red nearly in front Of Mrs. Henry's board
ing hoiise. lie Vas near Dr. Cooper's Of
iince when he heard the first shot The
shooting was about seventy-iivr or eighty
feet south. Looked ian The direction "f the
shot Saw Mr.. Thornton standing near
the edge "f the pavement His lett side
MAS turned towards me. When first saw
him his left hand WAS raised on level
with his::head Did net SCI his right hand.
McIearmon advanced towards Thornton.
Cannot tell which seized hold Of the other
-. kxA tx,~ .,,A
Desrmon. They kept advancing towards
the street and
THE SHOTS WE'RE IN RAPID srcrE~sIoK.
Could see smoke from the pistol. hut did
not SEE the weapon and did not know
who was doing the shooting counted four
shots. could only see the backs Of Thorn
ton and Mcl>esrmon, for a. they reached
the curb stone locust tree INSTRUCTED the
view Saw Thornton fall i'm the gutter
McDearmon turned and walked towards
me, but directly faced about and returned
to where Thornton had fallen. Pointing
AT the BODY with his finger, he said some
thing, but did not understand what il
wss. When close enough To be understood,
he remarked that Thornton pulled pis-
tOi on him and he killed him. now as
sisted in lifting decreased onto the sidewalk.
| was assisted bv Mr.. Townsley and Col.
Elliott. who were already there. and by Col
OBrien, who came soon after There were
Others present whom did not know
tieorge III. TownSley was next called for
the state live al Boonville. Am local
editor of the News: was connected with
the office at the time of the tragedy. De
ceased married nv half-aunt. know Mr.
McDcarIaon, also Mr.. Thornton. Was
with the deceased on the evening Of Noycm-
her 18th, when ne Was
ASSAULTED AND KILLED
nv Mclpearmon. Mr.. Thornton and left
the office together that evening; we had
started home to supper: lived with Mr.
Thornton. When we had reached the
point of the tragedy | discovered that Nc
Ibearmon was following uS, and calling To
Thornton to stop. told Mr.. Thornton
that McDearmon wanted To see him, and
we paused and waited. Mr.. Thornton
rested his back against the fence, opposite
Mrs. Henry's boarding house. ON Main
street, where he stood waiting, with his
hands in his overcoat pocket. McDearmon
came rapidly up 10 Thornton, saying:
did You pat this In your paper" allud-
the News, and at the same instant striking
with his left hand. The next instant
heard pistol shot. ! was looking al Mr.
Thornton he seemed much excited. Nc
learmon kept crowding Thornton. who
backed across the sidewalk and into the
gutter. When he reached the gutter Nc
Dearmon had hold OF him and MAS
STILL. FIRING HIs PISTOL
They now seemed TO move in a circle.
swinging back in the direction Of the start
ing point. McDearmon tired at Thorntonis
head and the ball missed. going 20 the left,
| crouched down TO save myself, as / WAS i'm
range of the shots At this moment About
this time another shot was fired. and saw
Thornton sink down in the gutter: he fell
in a sitting posture. MrDearmon then re-
marked: There, you s of b"
and pointing to a pistol which Law a,
Thornton's feet, continued: do not let
snybod touch that pistol" did not
coant the shots. McI)earmon did all the
shooting that was done Mr. Thornton
was about forty live years old, and weighed
about one hundred and thirty pounds.
When McIearm0n fired the last shot he
thrwst his pistol downward. ] saw the
pistol in his right hand saw no pistol in
the hand of Mr. Thornton during the shoot
ing.
On crosse am instior witness said
HE WARNED Mr.. THORNTON
that he would probably get into
trosble over the aforesaid article which
afterwards led to the shooting: that
Thornton said: II will shoot him Nc
INarmon); that the press cannot he bull
dOzed." Witness also testified to having
advised a modification of the language
which gave offense to McDearmon, previ-
Gus to putting the article in type. The
pistol wa also shown the witness. This
looks like the pistol found At the side OF
Thornton, but am not positive. Mr.
Thornton wrote the offensive local printed
in the paper OF November i9th The
paper was produced and the article pointed
out. We were about a block and half
from the scene OF the difficulty when |
warned Thornton that he would likely
have trouble with McDearmon. saw