The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1884-02-27
A COINCIDENCE.

The recent strange and unac
countable murder of Mrs. Carrie
Hunter, near Rogersville Junction
brings to our mind a similar case
which occurred in White county,
Tennessee, on the night of the 18th
of May, 1845, in which lady of the
same name, Hunter was shot thro
a window, about the same time OF
night, by an unknown person and
instantly killed. A man named
Kirby was afterwards arrested,
tried, found guilty and executed. 1t
was a case of eircumstantial testi-
mony entirely, and is reported in the
Supreme Court Reports of the State,
and makes exceedingly interesting
reading. 1t can be found in End
Humphreys. ns
On the night murdered, Mrs.
Hunter and two other ladies were
sitting in a room near low window
in the house of Mrs. Hunter, about
an hour in the night, engaged in
conversation, gun was fired from
without the house, the ball of which
passed through the window glass
and struck the lady In the neck, a
little below the ear, and passing
through the neck, caused her death
Immediately.
Who committed the crime2 That
was the question which engaged all
minds in the neighborhood. A rifle
ball was found in the room, which
was evidently the missile which had
done the deadly work That rife
ball had peculiar mark upon it
a small protubercnce near the neck,
caused by defect in tho moulds in
which the ball had been moulded.
William Daniel, a gun maker, prov
ed that he made the bullet moulds
for Gideon AndersOn-that after
the moulds he ran some
bullets, one of which he still had in
his possession. This ball was shown
and had the same mark or scar on
it as the one found in the room, and
the two balls weighed exactly the
same. 1t was inevitable therefore
that Mrs. Hunters death had been
caused by a bullet moulded in An
derson's moulds and shot from An
derson's rifle. 1t was proven that
Anderson had sold or traded the
rife to Kirby day or two before
the murder. That rife ball, with
the scar on it, was the first link in
the chain of eircumstantial evidence.
The next link was the tracks found
near the window. These were just |
such tracks as would have been
made by Kirby's shoes-except that
,he shoes which made the tracks |
lad no iron plates on the heels while |
he shoes which Kirby had on when
had. Upon closer scrutiny,
it was found that the
plates were old and much worn
While the nails which fasten them
o the shoe-heels were new. 1t was
therefore, evident that Kirby had
AIKEN the plates off before the shoot
ng and had replaced them after.
Yards with new nails. Another
ink in the chain were the horse
racks. A horse had been hitched
o a walnut tree near Mrs. Hunters
louse. 1t was noticed that one of
he tracks made by a hind foot was
secular and out of line with the
ther feet. Kirby owned small,
orrel mare with a crooked hind
Dot, and had been seen riding this
nimal in the direction of Mrs. Hun
er's in the afternoon of the day of
he murder at night. Kirby lived
wenty miles away from Mrs. Hun
err; he had been seen in her neigh
orhood late in the evening riding
he little sorrel mare with the crock
d foot. The next morning a man
tho lived near Kirby went to see
i'm about some business at 8 o'clock
4 the day, and found him sound
sleep; when awakened be looked I
startled and confused;
then arrested be gave contradict I
~ and badly mixed statements as
} where he bad been and what he /
ad been doing fer two or three days
revious to the murder and got1
angled up in three or four false /
Gods, and finally made such q /
mes" of the whole business that I
is jury convicted him of murder
nd the Supreme Court confirmed