Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-05-21
MURDER WILL OUT.
CONVICTED FOURTEEN YEARS AFTER
THE COMMISSION OF THE CRIME.
Lave Hall, the Murderer Of Charles BOW
yer, Sentenced to the Peni'entiary
from Montgomery County
,oo,r,.,onaepce Of the Richmond plspatch.l

T(t8D0nOHUft
CrsysTIAxsBvRe, VA. May Is, 1896.
Our Circuit Cour-Judge Blair pre-.
si.'inp--has been In session since the lOth OF
mis- month, There has been nothing of
speciel interest before II until to-day, when
the ease OF s. David Hall came up and was
decided.
HISTORY or TUT CASE.
Dave Hail Is n son OF Thomas y. Hall,
a. this county. who Is n man oil soine
wealth. In the fall Of 1872, now nearly
fourteen years ago, he Killed Charlie; BOW
yer, also q this county. The circum-
stances were these: For some years Ds-
fore the killing there had been icuu oe-
tween Thomas Hall and the BOWIE.
brothers, John and Charles, gro ing 9u5
of business transactions. THOMAS hn
had secured in these Transactions Az OF
nearly all the estate OF the Bowyers,, Wuo
were his near nciehbors. TINS nau eur
FILTERED them The more, ana aoou. .ue
tine Of the killing the feeling between 'n y,
psr,,es was 20 bitter that whenever any OF
hem me, there was quarTelling and some
times lighting.
Y0USG NAS's DARK DEED.
inst after one Of these fights between ASA
Hall. Dawes older brother, and the bow.
rers. Dave. who was then young man %
nineteen or twenty. encountered 'n'r'ss
Bower in q secluded grove. lie han been
hunting and was returning home. Tvs gun
was 'osded with squirrcl-shot. Whl oc'
CURED between the men no one Know
hut Dave shot ard Killed Bowyer'
just as the fatal shot was cred an oiu hr''
Pillows, with Der little daughter OF t"etNe
years old. crossed fence near the parties
and saw the shooting. She and tae GNU
recognized. Hall, and sho saw -!
fail. though The child did not l',, n'i
RED off home and made his escape on morse
hack. Search was made for bin but the
officers could not find him. IL mas since
transDlrcd that he went 20 Tennessee ior
about wear. lie finally went oil tn NoTlu
Carolina, where he married ana seVleu
Here he lived. under false name for e'ghl
or nine wears. lie made frequent trips 10
his fathers, in this county, In the mean
time, always coming and going in tae
night.
Inst fen wears after the murder, on one
NJ these trirs, while returning % North
Carolina, with buggy and horse given
him by his father. as he was dIlNinS
through FLOYD county during the night, ne
took a saddle from the porch or platform
of a house which was on the roadside
some one In the house was awakened,
and, looking ont, saw him get ou' OF MS
buggy and take the saddle. Pursuit was
made. the saddle recovered, and Hall was
csptured, brought back, and lodged IN the
Floyd-county Jail. II was not krownlhere
who he was. but only that he was from
this county. A T,mOr soon reached
CIristiansburgt that the prisoner was proba-
bly Dave Hall, and when one or two par
ties went from here 10 see. he was rec0g'
niyed and brought here. This was in lSS2.
MURDER IN The FIRST DEGREE.
In 1884 he was tried and found guilty OF
murder in The first degree. Inc trial was
long one, with able counsel on DCth Nide'.
Exceptions were taken, and the case ws...
10 the Court Of Appeals. which granted
bin new trial. For various reasons the
second trial has been delayed. At the
present term Of the court 1t was to have
been taken up early in the term, but the
sickness OF the most material witness i0r
The deieGce caused delay. and 1t was iound
Eat il could not be proceeded with NJ ali'
Four or five Of the material witnesses Tor
the Commonwealth now live in Kansas. ana
had been brought here al great expense. III
have TO be incurred again. Under these
circumstances a compromise was agreed
upon by all parties.
lie GETS ELEVEN YEARS.
The Jury. without trial, brought IN
verdict condemning Hall 10 eleven years IN
the penitentiaIy. and the Judge so SEN
fenced him. Hall has been In iaii here
nearly four years. and al that time confined
In the cage. which is small. Altogether he
has passed through terrible ordeal OF sur
icr,ng, aud should he live through eleven
years in the penitentary his punishment
will, many think, be sufficient. The only
witness to the murder is dead, and the little
girl who SAW the shooting is married wo-
man end lives in Missouri. she. together
with nm aunt and two or three cousins OF
Halls, were the principal witnesses against
him. Though they have all been induced
voluntarily TO return aud give their lesli-
mony against him, the death OF old Mrs
pillows. who was alive at the time OF the
first tiial. probably made difference in the
verdict Of jury. John Bowyer Is also
dead, and he was an important witness
against Hall. MONTGOMERY.