The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1893-01-25
MURDER WILL Out.
ESTING STORY OF A DE
AN c.TIr2 COUNTY MURDERER
who viii BE Tried in Bainoridge Ihl'
weights Flight to Arkansas I"eiSe
Years Ago Recently Captured

,,.aol,..4is Flight to Arkansas Twelve
wears Ago Recently Captured.
rrdoe Guerry has gone down to- Balm
,.i5oe to convene Decatur superior
sonrt to-day for Judge Bower, who Is
,i.,na1ifed in a number of cases.
Among the number of disqualified
cases 10 be disposed of is that of Walter
yilams. charged with the crime OF
murder A brief resume of the case
will be of interest. Some time during
the early part of 1881 the house OF John
nonnelson was entered during the night
and = trunk eontaing a large sum of
money WIS stolen. One party outside
the guilty ones knew whoicommitted the
crme-a Mrs Brockett, who lived near
nv she having seen the parties pass her
bouse the night the crime was commit
ted. Time passed on, and by mistake
Mrs Brockett killed cow belonging to
Mrs DOnneson, the wife of the party
whose money was stolen. Mrs. Donnel
SON after ascertaining who had the COW
killed insisted on prosecution. This
duty devolved upon Walter Williams,
who was a son-in-law of Mrs. Dom olson,
and through fear he had warrant sworn
out against Mrs. Brockett; she was ar
rested and gave bond for her appearance
She then sent for Williams and informed
him that unless the suit was withdrawn
she would ''tel ON him" She left the
house and few days afterwards she
was found dead in bed with bullet holes
in her back and a baby by her side.
The child, who is now about IA years of
are, bears a mark on her face where one
Of the bullets grazed
Suspicion rested upon Walter Will
Iams, and after sitting the matter thor
oughly, he was arrested, as was also
John Williams and Robert Durham.
During their stay in Jail the latter de-
cided to turn states evidence, and when
the trial took place he related the en-
tire history of the crime. From his
story It appeared that the William broth
eIS were anxious to get rid of Mrs. Brock
EFT on account of her knowledge of their
crime in stealing the monay from John
DonnelSOn. They made arrangements
with B b Durham that he should kill
her, for which he was to receive $50. On
the night when the murder waScOmmi
ted, John Williams, in order to prove an
albi if the worst should come to the |
worst, visited the house of a neighbor
very early on the eventful evening and |
remained there until late the next day. |
Durham was sentenced to the peniten-
tary for life, as was also John Williams. |
The former was taken to the mines, but |
the lattel remained in Decatur countys |
Jail pending an appeal to the supreme
court, and Walter Williams was released
on heavy bond, his case not having
been reached. When the news was re-
ceived that the supreme court had af-
tirmed the decision of this court, John
Williams broke out of Jail by some
means during the night and disappeared,
accompanied by Walter. All this OC-
CURED during the year 1881, and since
that time Sheriff l.. F. Patterson has
been on the lookout for the escaped |
prisoners. He made several trips west,
but before he reached the town where
they weie they had disappeared again.
They were traced to Mexico, Arkansas,
and louisiana. At last,
through some fine detective work, the
sheriff located them in August, 1892, at
warren, Ark, where they had been liv
hg Tor six years under assumed names.
Ihey were respected in the community,
'nd one of the daughters of Walter Will
lams had married a well-tO-do citizen in
hat county.
There was great surprise when the
sheriff visited the town and arrested the
TWO brothers, though no one knew the
w" were reated, one going under the
name OF Enrich and the other Hays.
With some little trouble they were
brought back here and placed in Jail.
'ohn Williams has been taken to the
mnes, and Walter is in Jail awaiting his
rial. Durham and John Williams
AVE been brought back from the
oal mines to testify in the case
no the probability is that Walter will
.lSo receive life sentence, thus ending
he history of one of the most infamous
Ilines ever perpetrated.
Church Matters.