Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1885-06-27

to his knees, but did not open his lips.
Mrs. Trainor, dressed in her widows
weeds, who with a female friend oc-
cupied seats on the scaffold, viewed the
satisfied expression upon her face when
SHE DESCENDED THE STEPS
of the gall0ws, and in answer to questions
addressed her afterward by a representa-
tive OF the APPEAL, said: "My nerves were
as much composed as they are at this mo-
ment. / felt proud to see him hung, and
don't think l would have been satisfied
if / had not. have never seen him or
talked with him since he was first ar
rested, but believE he would have con-
fessed on the scsffold if he had not been 30
much excited"
The Crime.
The opinion of the Supreme Court, SEN
fencing McKeever to be hanged, reviews
all OF the evidence in the case, sitting out
all irrelevant details. 1t is given below
because ofits lucidity and the plain logical
way in which all the facts are stated. The
Court ,ys:
The prisoner has been convicted of muir
der in the first degree and the extreme
penalty OF the law pronounced upon him.
The deceased, William l. TrainoT, for
whose murder he was indicted, on the
morning OF the 18th of December, 1884,
having borrowed a shotgun from a colored
man named Henry Fisher, left his home
in Memphis about 8 o'clock am, and
started to 20 hunting. He went down the
track Of the Vieksburg railroad. He never
returned. The day he left being Wednes-
day, his continued absence having pro-
duced very great anxiety on the part of
his friends, they set out to hunt for him,
and on the following monday his body
was found about three miles from the CITY,
and about 100 yards from the track of the
said railroad, in briar thicket. He had
been shot through the head with shot or
slugs, the load entering the back OF his
head and passing nearly horjz ontally
through, the shot entering so near together
| as to make but one large hole, but scatter
| ing as they passed through the head and
| coming out at different places on his face,
nose and forehead. His body had been
| stripped of his clothing except his under
shirt, drawers and boots.
The weather had been verycold and the
body was covered with ice and sleet. He
wore, when he left home, dark-colored
overcoat and silver watch with heavy
| gold-plated chain. The watch had an open
face, the crystal being cracked, and had
his initials, w. l. T., on one side of il. and
his name, W. |. Trainor, written on the
other side of the case in his own hand
| writing.
The prisoner also started hunting from
the suburbs of Memphis early on the same
morning, 1.-THE 18th of December, 1884,
accompanied by small cOlored boy named
Lindsey Long. Defendant had borrowed
a musket from the father of this boy with
which to go hunting. Defendant had also
gone with the boy down the Vicksburg
railroad as far as high trestle, so the boy
states, and turned back in the direction oil
Memphis, when they met a white man
with a shotgun going down the railroad.
The defendant asked the white man fol
a chew of tobacco, and was given some
After meeting this white man the defendant
stopped and directed the boy to 90 bach
home; the boy being unwilling to go the
defendant told him to go back home anC
get his breakfast they had started before
breaktast), and that he would wait for hin
until he came back. Thereupon the box
went home, got his breakfast and return
ed, but could find nothing of this defend
ant. He says he returned to the plac6
two or three times that morning, but coulC
not ind the defendent any more, and new
er saw anything more of him that day,
The gun that the deceased had horrweC
was douhle-barrel shotgun and had som,
wire wrapped around the trigger-guard
some of which passed inside the guarc
near the trigger. The gun the defendan
borrowed from Long was not returned
One of the sleeVe-buttons Of the deceased
was found near his body. Between 9 anC
8 O'Clock p NJ, of December II, 1884
Wednesday night, the defendant and
small negro man stopped in at the store @
L. Castrix, who lived near the corporation
line of Memphis.
The defendant then had on a dark-col
ored overcost The is shown not to havt
worn any when he left that morning. anC
had with him a bundle of clothes which
he laid just inside of the store door as b.
entered. Both the defendant and the ne
gro with him had guns, and the defendan
offered to sell Casti1 a,double-b barrel shot
gun that had wire wrapped around thr
trigger guard, The other gun was mus
ket.
: The defendant was arrested on Monday
the same day the body OF the deceased wa
found, and upon being searched Their,
were found in his pocket two pawnbrokers
checks, and upon carrying these checks t.
| said pawnbrokere, it was found that tn,
defendant had pawned the watch of tn
deceased with one of them on Friday. tn,
, 18Th and his ogerSoat 20 the other on tn
10th of December, 1GS4-the one for "a 81
} and the other for s..
Upon the house of the defendant bein,
searched, the dress-coat, vest, pants anC
one OF the sleeve-buttons of the deceased
were found in his house, as well as tn,
musket he had borrowed from Long.
All the articles OF clothing, as well a
'ne o'eicoA' anu WIZ .'--.., were proven mos
positively and conclusively to have beer
those of the deceased, and which wer,
worn off by him on the morning of thu
18th, as well as the watch and sleeve
button, the watch by number of person
who knew it, and knew it to have beer
owned and worn by the deceased for twt
years prior to his death, and his nam
written in the back of it was proved to b.
In his own handwriting; and the clothini
, being identified most conclusiyely bl
special marks and sewing which his wifi
had done upon most of the articles, q
well as the general appearance.
The defendant was proved by woman
with whom he was living, to have brough
all these articles, including said watch an,
heavy chain, to his house on Thursda,
before he was arrested, and that he hat
never had any of them before.
There was blood found on defendant
coat, which he said he got on it in helpin
, a man kill beef, but he did not designat
what man he had helped to kill beef O
. offer to show in any manner that he hai
! done so. His attempt to account Tor tn
possession of the above enumerated article
, was inconsistent, improbable, and in mos
cases shown by abundant and reliabl
, testimony to be false.
, The defendant only introduced tw
, witnesses, one Of them a brother, RobeI
McKeeyer, who testified that on Wednes
! day, which he says was g week and si
days before Christmas, the defendant wa
at his house all day at work, and upon hi
r attention being called to the length c
time it was before Christmas, testife
positively that it was week and six day
before Christmas.
The other witness for defendant, Matti
: Walker, testified that the defendant wen
! a hunting on Wednesday, which wa
i eight days before Christmas. There wer
, other facts and circumstances proved b
the State of more or less significance. a
r tending to inculpate the defendant.
: 1t is sufficient to state that the facts an
circumstances proved, all taken together
I leave no possible room to doubt his gull
1t was shown from the character of tn
: wound, it's direction, etc, that it was i'm
possible for it to have been self-inficte
or the result OF an accident from a gun i
the hands of deceased.
3 | EVERY frst-olass dealer sells Oper Puff
5 Cigarettes; cents for 10; 10 cents for 20.
!, 1