The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-11-06
AN AWFUL CRIME.
OF THE VOOLFOLK
MURDER IN GEORGIA
HANGED.
A WHOLE FAMILY MAssAORED.
Full Account of the Bloody Crime for
Which Tom Voolfolk Assembled
the 6allows.

PERRY, Ca, Oct. 2a.-Tom Voolfolk was
hanged here today for the murder of his
father, mother, sisters and brother three
years ago.
HISTORY OF THE CRIME.
| Before dawn on the morning Of Aug. 8,
1887, in Hazards district, Bib county,
some twelve miles from Macon, nine people
were brutally murdered by single assas-
sin. The victims of the awful butchery
were Capt. Richard E. Voolfolk, Sr., his
wife, Mrs. Matte Voolfolk, their childr, n,
Richard E Jr., aged 20, Susan Heart, aged
II, Annie, aged 10, Rosebud, aged 7, Char
lie, aged 5, Matte, aged IS months, and
Mrs. Temple West, aged 81. The scene of
the crime was the Voolfolk homestead, an
ordinary Southern country frame farm
house, one story high and with four rooms,
two on either side of the central corridor.
The dwelling stood facing to the east of
slight eminence set back little way from
the road in clump of oak trees. The sur
roundings betokened the home of a we'll
TODD Southern planter OF the better class
| 1t was here that Capt. Voolfolk and his
family were living at the time of the
| tragedy.
On Saturday night preceding the fatal
Sunday morning, there were ten members
OF the household present, including Mrs.
| West who was visitor, Thos. G. Voolfolk,
the Oldest son. Richard and Charlie were
| sleeping in the first room on the left of the
single front door. In the next apartment
Capt. and Mrs. Voolfolk and their infant
| child occupied one bed in the room The
other three children, Miss Pearl, Annie and
Rosebud and old Mrs. West occupied the
room on the opposite side of the hall across
from the parents room, the apartment at
the front on that side being utilized as a
parlor.
The first alarm of the tragedy came from
Tom Voolfolk, the only survivor of the
massacre. Tom went to the house OF
negro tenant named Green Socket, not far
from the Voolfolk house, about day and
called to him that some one had killed his
father The news that terrible crime had
been committed at the Voolfolk house
spread with phenomenal rapidly,
AMI soon great crowd gathered
about the place. Hurried Investigations
revealed that the crime had not been ex-
aggerated, Nine dead bodies were lying in
horrid confusion i'll the house, every one
Of them Drained with an ak that had evi
IDENTITY been secured from the yard. There
was nothing unusual found in the first
room on the left as one entered the house
but i" the room occupied by. the parents in
communication directly with the front
apartment were six bloody corpses-.lhe
bodies of Capt. Wolford his wife, their in
fant and Miss Pearl Voolfolk lay on a bed
in the corner. The father and mother
and baby having bt en- struck on the head
with the murderous axe, apparently, be-
fore they wakened, while the eldest
daughters body had been cast upon the
bed after death. On the floor were the
brother, Charles, weltering in pools of
blood. Death had been inflicted in each
case by blows with the butt end of
an axe, save in the case of the little boy
whose head had been cloven with the ak
blade. Not a blow had been struck except
on the head of the victims, and they lay in
their night gowns where they had been
struck down, and the blood and brains
from their crushed skulls had run out until
the room was a sea of gore. Three other
bodies lay stiff in death in the girls
room on the other side of the corridor. The
corpses of Mrs. West and OF Roselind, the
13-year-old daughter, reposed where they
lad slept, side by side In one of the two
beds in the room. The body of 10-yearo old
Annie Voolfolk lay near the wiz dow, as If
she had been warned of the approach of
the murderer and had sought to escape BY
| jumping out of the window. AS in the
case of those in the front room, the assassin
had dispatched them with his ak with blows
on the head. Nothing in The house had been
disturbed, and small amount of money
in the pockets of Richard, Jr., had not been
touched. There were no indications that
robbery had been the motive for the deed.
utrrt t,1I hui St., fNll bat
he had been aroused by hearing his father
cry out little before day. Just then Rich
ard jumped out of bed and ran into his
fathers room. He heard Richard knocked
down, and then fearing for his own life he
had fled, jumping out OF the window in his
room and running TO Green SocketL's cabin
to raise the alarm and secure help.
Voolfolk account of the crime was Ut
satisfactory and few believe it. Suspicion
| quickly fell on him as The murderer and he
was taken into custody. Investigation
showed that the only tracks about the house
| traced from the blood stained floor were
those of Voolfolk. Tom admitted they We're
his but said re made them when he went
into the bloody room alone after the muir
der. He was searched and on one leg about
the knee was found the imprint of bloody
hand. He had on shirt much too large
for him when searched and afterwards his
shirt was found in well, blood stained
and clotted with human brains. The
motive for The crime was found in Tom
Voolfolk enmitv for his step mother and
his desire to have undisputed possession
of his fathers property. Capt Voolfolk
was twice married, baving by his first
wife two daughters and one son, Tom.
On account of certain business com
plications he settled the bulk of his
property on his second wife, frsr, however,
giving his elder children their share. Tom
was not satisfied with his, and hated his
stepmother and children in consequence
At the time of the murder he had returned
to his fathers house, after having spent all
the money his father had given him, first
in farming and then in running a store in
Mason, Ga He was working on the farm
until he could get somet1ing better to do.
AT that time Voolfolk was u years old He
was average hei2ht, compactly built, but
not scout, with dark hair and eyes and a
| b sex mustache. His expression was