The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-07-20
LYNCHING is MURDER.
Judge Kefron's Emphatic Charge to a Grand
Jury Concerning the Lynching at Shoals.

sSecial to the indianapolis Journal
WASHINGTON, Ind, July 19-Judge David
j. Hefron, of this-the Forty -ninth-judicial
circuit, at Shoals. to-day, gave the following in
structions to the Martin Circuit Court grand
jury regarding the recent triple lynching at
West Shoals:
1T is now matter of public history that
prior to the last term Of this court there were
confined in the Jail of this county three men
under indictment for murder, and that the State
was in full possession of all the evidence neces
sary to secure their conviction if guilty; that
on the 9th of March, 1885, and within FIVE days
of the convening of the court at which they were
to be tried, lawless band of men. in the night
time battered down the doors Of the jail over
powered the sheriff, and took those defenseess
prisoners from the custody of the law and hanged
them--mur1ered them within the very shadow
of this court house. The enormitv of this crime
must impress everyone with sense of danger
and insecurity to life and property, and be a
source of regret and humiliation to every lover
of law and social order to realize that crime of
such atrocity could be committed in your midst.
1T becomes my duty to especially direct your
attention to this grave offense, to the end that
you may employ nll the power at your command
to bring the guilty. parties to justice,
and to further admonish you that it is
your duty to see to it that crime against life and
property. offenses that sap and mine the very
foundations upon which our social FABRIC rests,
must not be passed lightly by Outside the pale
of the law there is no security Organized or
unorganiZed violence must not be recognized or
tolerated for it is destructive of every essential
element of good government 1t is the absence
of reason and law; it is the absence of discrimi-
nation, justice and mercy. If rightful support is
furnished by the people, the courts 'of
this ceuntry are fully competent
and capable to punish criminals, and the
law is annie to afford protection to all. The
first duty that every citizen owes to government
and society is obedience to law. That consti-
tutes good citizenship. That maintains peace
and order, for our rights and liberties exist by
force of law; our churches and schools flourish
by virtue of law. Everything you have on earth
is protected by law; it is law alone that keeps oil
things in order, and when you break down the
barriers which the law throws around the citi-
zen and society, you leave life and property at
the mercy of brute force, and anarchy, ruin and
death will mark the pathway of the assassin.
THE crime, under the statutes, of which these
men stand charged is murder and the penalty
prescribed by law for that offense is death. or
Imprisonment for life. 1t is said that the men
who committed this crime came from an adioin-
ing county; it is wholly immaterial to you where
they came from, or who they are. The crime
was committed within your Jurisdiction, and it
is your duty to bring the guilty parties to jus
tice. That this triple m urder was committed by
large body of men does not lessen the degree
of the crime; it is as much murder for hun
dred men to unlawfully kill another as
it is for one man to do it. And bear in mind,
in your investigation, that every man who aided,
abetted or encouraged the commission of this
crime, is equally as guilty as the man who
pulled the rope. You are not to be deferred or
shrink from your duty in this matter on account
of the great number that may have been en-
gagged in this crime; the State of Indiana has
pride enough, and is strong enough. to enforce
obedience to her laws, and to punish those who
violate her criminal statutes.
Il no not care to say more to you on this
subject l have said what regarded it my duty
to say. and l submit the matter to your careful
consideration, with the confident expectation
that you will have the courage and the manhood
to do your duty in the premises"