The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1882-05-25

n Dor, and asked: whats the mat
j ter down therey' The proof is that
: from the time the gun was fired un-
r til Rea called to w. H. Trigg was,
at least five minutes. At the pre-
t liminary trial, the gun was un-
preached and the loads extracted.
: kept separate, and the piece of pa
| per and bullet picked up in Rea's
) lot. The pieces picked up at the
window were produced and sworn
to; each parcel was placed lii sepa-
rate wrappers, correctly marked and
left in the hands of the court, and
the court deposited them in bank
for safe keeping. During the No
vember term of the court previous
to the murder, Goodrum and three
others discredited Rea's oath in
court. A short time after there
was a wedding at Rea's house, to
which he thought Goodrum had an
invitation. Several Of those pres
ent at the wedding, some closely
connected with him by marriage,
heard him say, and so testified, that
if GOOdrum came on his premises
he would kill him. And one lady
testified that she positively heard
him say that he intended to kill
Goodrum. Several others testified
that they heard him make threats
that showed his hostile feelings us
late as May previous to the murder.
The day after the preliminary
trial at which he was committed to
Jail in Pulaski, the shot-pouch
was procured at Rea's house and !
pieces of paper were found in it.
These were also saved and deposi-
ted in bank for safe keeping. Cir
cult court then being in session a
true bill was found; his case was
called and continued. He then ap-
piled for bail. AT the bail trial the
pieces ofpaper and ball picked up
in Rea's lot where he discharged |
and reloaded his gun, the pieces
picked up at the window where the
gun was fired, the balls taken from
Goodrum's body, the paper and
balls taken from Rea's gun ut the
magistrates trial and the papers
found in the pouch, these were care
fully examined and compared and
found to correspond. All this ia
ken in connection with the tracks
and threats was so convincing that
the court refused bail. At the last
December term of the circuit court
the case was again called, and the
same overwhelming array of facts
were again adduced, and the court
unanimously found him guilty of
murder in the first degree, and he
was sentenced to be hung the Sd
day of February last. He then
took an appeal to the supreme
court, where he was recently tried
and found guilty Of murder in the
first degree, without mitigating cir
cumstances, the judgment Of the
lower court confirmed and sen
fenced to be hung the Dist day of
April, 1882; which sentence the
governor has respited until the
10th day Of May next.
Now for the proof as to the pa
pers and balls, etc. To cap the
climax of all, the paper found in
the lot, the paper found at the win '
dow where Goodrum was killed,
the paper taken from the gun and
dove-tail and fit exact !
ly into each other; so that parts of |
letters and parts of words and sen {
tences that had been torn asunder {
fit geometrically and literally into
each other, the pieces from the win !
dow, shot pouch, gun and lot uni c
ting and making complete letters, {
words and sentences. This of it /
self alone, or taken in connection a
with everything else, is the hand :
writing on the wall-the "Mene '
meme tekel upharsin' finger of v
God pointing out w. w. Rea as the
assassin as surely as the voice from
the clouds amid the lightning and t
thunder proclaimed the great L Am y y
to Moses on the mount. In the :
Morning World Of the 21st
inst, Rea is represented as calling t
upon God to witness that he is in {
nocent, and the reporter says: -''If
it is as he says, it seems not i'm
probable that he is the victim of a
plot successfully laid and executed" =
In this case fraud is not only i'm
probable, but impossible, as the
facts will show. No one knew or r
could know the dates of those pa
pers, until they were fully compared
with the duplicate copies, which t
was done at the bail trial. Now, Il
the whole question of q plot or II
fraud turns on this point: Could n
an unknown third party get the "
Nashville Banner, of March 2l, u
1881, and the Pulaski CITIZEN OF L
June 5, 1879, load his gun with u
them, and in so doing tear apart !,
certain letters, words and sentences, y
the picture of a large tape-worm, /
etc, and using the same sized balls, 81
kill Goodrum? Could w. w. Rea, p
an innocent party, knowing nothing y
Of these circumstances, take his O.
gun, take duplicate copies of the il
same date, the same sized balls, a
tear these same papers so as to di-
vide the same letters, the same a
words, the same sentences, the 4
same tape-w worm, etc, exactly in W
the same direction and in the same Il
place, so as to geometrically and lit v
terally dove-t tail into each other, pa L
per, letters, words and sentences? II
He says he is innocent and that a.
some other party did the killing. n
If he is innocent he has done exact r:
w what the unknown and guilty ~,
third party has done with the Ban u u
ler ofthe 21st of March, 1881, and ,
the Citizen of the 9th of June, 1879, Il
for he confessed to loading his gun h
and these papers were found in his D
ot, in his shot pouch, in his gun St S
md at the window through which =;
Goodrum was killed, torn and fit it
ing exactly as described. That he IL
AN be innocent in the light of these Il
'acts is not only improbable, but 81
perfect paradox. ..
will here give few words, torn W
from the different pieces of di
papers mentioned above. Nash n
lille Banner, March, p, 1881 IL
(MK1 n member of the