The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-04-09
A BRUTAL MURDER.
Gus hennis Killed BIZ his Wife and IL Ne>
gro Man, With Whom ~he Became III
fuinaIed.

I A SRU Al MUHDER.
Gus ts-nnis Killed By his Wife and IL Ne>
gro Man, With Whom >he Became Ill
faIuatrd.
On Sunday night, 23rtl Of March, a
most brutal murder was committed
near Tradesvillein this county. About
10 o'clock that night the neighbors of
Augustus Hennis heard him begging
for mercy. They would have gone to
his rescue, but his plcadings soon
ceased and they supposed he was
wrong. The following day some one
of the neighbors in passing the house
inquired Of Henniss wife why her
! husband was begging so for his life
the night before. She protested that
she knew nothing Of it and that her
husband had left home early in the
morning for Brewer Nine. Her ae-
tions aroused the suspicion of the
party quizzing her and by Wednes-
day it was ascertained that Hennis
was not at the Brewer Mine nor was
he expected there. This made suspi-
| cion of foul play very strong and some
of the eighbors determined to make
search for the body. Roxy He1nis,
the wife of the murdered man, joined
in the search or pretended to.
Shortly after noon on Wednesday
the body was found by a woman by
the name of Wright. Il was lying in
ditch about 800 yards from the
house and covered over with leaves
| and trash. The body was taken out
and it was discovered that a most
foul murder had been committed.
From the waist up was beaten al
most to Jelly; part of the scalp OF
the head was removed, one ear was
gone, half the nose was cut off, the
cheek bone was scared up with a
knife, the throat was cut and there
were number of stabs IN the breast
| and back A gentleman who saw the
body told us it was the most horrible
sight he ever saw.
On Thursday Justice Funderburk
summoned jury of inquest. Mean
| while the wife Of Hennis and a bright
mulatto negro named Rachel Cato,
who lived five miles distant but who
was seen in that neighborhood on
| Monday morning, were charged with
| the crime and arrested. At the In
quest the woman broke down under
the questions and related the whole
| affair.
By an agreement with the negro
| she was to serve him one year if he
would Kill her husband. On Sunday
night Cato went to Hennis' house
carrying with him half q gallon o1
whiskey. He and Hennis took seve
raj drinks when Cato proposed to go
Hennis insisted on his staying al
| night. Cato induced Hennis to &c
| out with him and show him the pub
Lie road. Kennis went and was there
upon assaulted and slain. His body
was concealed as stated above. Cato
! claims that he had help in his fou,
work. That VIM. Clybun, colored
was in waiting on the outside ano
that they together despatched Hen
mis-. Clybu1n fed after the inquest
and has not been arrested. The sheriff
has several deputies out in search o1
him and if he has not left the State
be Will likely be overtaken.
Cato and the woman were LODGED
| in jail at this place Friday. The wo
man is about 19 years Of age and was
married to Hennis about two years
ago. The negro is a mulatto about q
years old.
Hennis the murdered man was
| from New York. He was q painter
and came to this country about
| three years ago. He has father and
| brother living in New York. They
| have been written to and informed o1
| his death.-Lancaster, S. c., Ledger