Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-01-19
NOT GUILTY.
A Crippled Mother Becomes Frantic
with JOY Mt the Acquittal OF
Her Two Boys.
How Little Fun Caused the Death of
Three Peoplo--Narrow Escape of
Three Necks from the Moose.
special to tho Gazette.

special to the Gazette.
FT. SMITH, ARK, Jan, ,ls.-Ou Tues
day last Bradford Johnson, Nose and
Robert Lillard were placed on trial in the
federal court for the crime of murder.
As the trial progressed noS evidence was
produced against Johnson and he was
discharged This evening the case was
gwen to the jury and it returned YER
diet of not guilty as to both the Lillards
The mother of the boys was present az
the trial and when the verdict was
brought In she went wild with Joy, shout
ing and screaming at the top OF her voice
and Notwithstanding she Is cripple aud
walks with crutch IL took two
or three men to hold her,
so frantic was she at the
release of the boys from prison, where
one of them has been since January last,
The young men proved an excellent char
acter, which had much TO do with the find
ing of the jury, as the case was considera-
bly, against them, as the following state
ment would indicate;
On the night of February %, 1855, three
or four men went 10 the house OF Richard
Colbert, colorcd man living near Stone
wall, Chickasaw nation, and, knocking at
the door, asked Colbert TO come out and
show them the way to Stonewall, repre-
senting that they were strangers and
were lost Colbert refused to open the
door, but parleyed with them through an
aperture over the door, telling them that
he knew who they We're. The men, II
seems, had their faces blackened. Finally
one of them drew his pistol and fired
through the door, when Col
bert returned the fire and they
ran off, one of them firing
two shots into the house as they retreated.
lIamp Bowlin was one of the men, and
was wounded severely In the arm by Col
bert's shot. The shots fired into the
house killed the wife OF Colbert, who was
pregnant at the time, and the bullet that
put an end TO her also broke the skull OF
her unborn babe, which was nearly fully
developed, A small child that was asleep
In the bed was also wounded. This oe
CURED Sunday night, and on the follow.
Ing Friday Hamp Bowlin die@ # his
| wound, erysipeas having set in. Befor,
death he stated that himself and the tw,
| lillard boys had gone 10 Colberps hous,
for the purpose OF having some Jun, bu
with no intention of committing crime
and that he fired through the door first
and as they ran OF Bob Lillard tlred TIVE
! NnOlS INTO Nut lpuNe, inht AolutIN SUN
/ through the door and wounded him, an,
that his shot and Cohorts were free
close together. The two billiards. wer
arrested aud placed IN jail mere shortl,
after the murders occurred, hut subSe
quently one of them gave bond, All ih'
/ evidence there was against Bradford
johnson was that Colbert swore he recog
niged ,Iohnsou's voice on the night of th,
murder. The LIZARDS did not deny thei
presence at Colbert's house on the nigh
I In question, but laid all the blame OF
Hamp Bowlln, saying that he did all tn
shooting. They claimed that they ha,
nothing whatever against Colbert, an,
merely went down 10 have little fun on
OF him. Colbert recognized the two Ill
lards and Bowlin on the night Of the muir
der, so he testified, but dld not see Brad
| ford Johnson