The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1885-11-18
THE BELLINGER TRIAL.

Ihe case Heard Before Judge Cothran and
n Jury In Charleston ynops of tue
Evidence-.The Result.
The trial of DR.. A. N. Bellingcr for
the killing of Stephnoy Riley on the
9nd October last, was had before Judge
mencing on Tuesday. Solicitor Jcrvcy
appeared for the State, while the de-
fence was represented by Mcssrs.
Mitchell Il Smith and the Hon. ~. G..
Magrath. After several challenges n
jury, composed of twelve white men,
was empauelcd and sworn. The first
witness for the State was DR.. Kinloch,
who simply described the five wounds
two in the head and three in the
body.
w. w. DeVcaux described the ell
countcr-or so much of it rs he saw.
He stated that Riley was advancing on
DIR. Bcllinger with his head down and
his right arm out>trctchcd, and that
DR.. Is. fired five times rapidly. Riley
fell, and DR.. Bellingcr walked of.
James Wells, colorcd, stated the cir
cumstanccs ofthe encounter, and swore
that after DIR. Belllngcr fired twice
Riley fell, and that after he fell Dir.
Bellingcr shot him three times.
Selma Carter, colored, described the
difficulty of the night before tho kill
ing, but her acCount did not greatly
differ from DR.. Bellinger's, summarize
ed below. She saw only two shots,
being in the house, and then got
lNlcy's pistol and raised the alarm.
When she got to Riley he was dead.
Alexander Williams, colored, stated
that he saw the morning encounter,
and, after DR.. Bellinger shot Riley
twice he (witness) saw him standing
over Riley's PROSTATE body, and fire
three times.
Joseph Cain testified to the encoun-
ter, and said he saw Dir. Bellingcr
''staggcr back, and fire, and that the
- Doctor fired twice into Rilcy's pros
trate body, and snapped his pistol after
that.
Joseph Kennedy, colorcd, brought
out nothing new. He denied that he
treated from Riley into the middle of
tho street, and then fired.
The State here closed its case.
DIR. A. N. Bellinger, the defendant,
was now sworn. He stated thai on
the night before the killing he was in
the streets, attending to his regular
professional business, and that when
he came to a point on Bull street, be-
tween Smith and Rutledgc, he heard
loud strokes of a whip, and cursing.
He said to the man (whom he found
to be Riley), "You ought to be
ashamed Of beating that horse in that
manner; why don't you lead him on?'
Riley became angry and abused, cursed
defendant, tlourished his whip, and
came on him with a knife in his hand.
Defendant went off, leaving Riley
cursing and threatening.
Tl,a e,N,,r 80 AZ. l..ls l.
PENDANT went OH his usual rounds, by
no unusual route, and fearing violence
from Riley, put Il pistol in his pocket.
He met Riley at the corner of Bull
and Smith streets. He saw Riley with
his back to the fence, his arms akimbo
and legs stretched apart and glaring at
him in this manner. AS | got opposite
to him he said: 81 took you for Il
gentleman, but l never made such q
mistake in my life; you are a id
white ---." That was pretty gal |
ling. | turned and | said: ''Rilcv,
this thing has got to stop here. You
cursed me shamctullv last night and
threatened me. Now 0 have got to
rctract this" | said this in q voice
no louder than am talking in now.
Preserving the same position, he said
81 have got nothing to r%etract, and |
wont take back anything" and he
said, eff you want TO fight | am a
better man than YOU are and | will
give you HI" / said: 81 don't
want to fight, but you havc got to take
these things back and he said cd
d-n you, | will give you'll anyhow
and with that he made a rush at me,
and as | stepped back, having on low.
quartcrcd shoes, my foot turned and |
stumbled off the pavement and my hat
fell of. then jumped back a couple
of steps into the street, and when |
looked again he (Rilcy) was coming at
me with his knife in his hand, so.
(Witness indicated the position thus:
Head bent down, the left arm thrown
up as a shield aid the right hand with
the knife in it drawn back.)
@. Was the knife open?
a. Yes, open.
I'm which hand?