The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-01
A MYSTERIOUS MURDER.
The COwaTdly Midnight Assassin
Leaves No CleW.

ror-stricken on Account of the
/ Shooting The Murderer Left Moth
/ ing by Which He Gould Be Traced.
One Of the most atrocious murders in
| the annals Of Chatham county's criminal
record was committed early yesterday
morning at Maj. G. NJ Ryals' place on the
/ Springfield plantation.
The crime was committed about or
2:90 O'Clock in the morning. Susan Jones
and her husband, Giles Jones, were sleep
/ ing in one of the houses on the place,
when the midnight assassin gently raised
the window next 10 the bed Of the sleep
ers, and fred what is supposed to have
been a double barreled shotgun loaded
with pieces Of lead and bits Of iron, as
was afterward determined by the discov-
cry Of pieces Of the ammunition in the
wall.
There was general CONSERVATION
among the negroes who work on the place
at the time, and after hearing the gun
shoa few Of them answered the calls for
help. On their arrival, however, they
discovered that Jones and his wife had
been shot, and that the woman was
breathing her last, she having died about
half an hour after the shooting took
place.
THE WORK OF AN ASSASSIN.
Both Jones and his wife were asleep at
the time, and neither of them were dis
turbed by any noise made in raising the
sash. 1t seems that the murderers lifted
it about three inches giving, just room
enough to get their gun through and fire
the shot when they made haste to escape.
Jones and his wife work on the place.
Their house. which is shared by Joe Jones
and his wife, a brother of Giles, is the
| second in a row Of houses built for the
use of the farm hands. There is quite a
little settlement of them around the
place at this point, and it must have re-
CURED good deal of boldness to go up
there with the intention of committing
| murder. A peculiar fact, however, was
that none of the negroes who answered
| the cries saw anyone running off, and a
! search for tracks at the window yester-
| day morning failed to reveal any signs of
| them.
TESTIMONY AT THE INQUEST.
Moses Marks, one of the farm hands
stated that the shot was heard about 9
o'clock in the morning, when he heard
! some one yell, and, after dressing, hur-
ried out to see what the matter was His
house was about forty feet away and he
! soon heard Giles Jones calling for
matches. He got the matches, went into
the room and lit the lamp. Giles was
crying out that he had been shot, while
| his wife was lying quietly on the bed.
Marks admitted before the jury that he
was pretty badly scared and so was Jones,
who at the time came out with the state
ment that he did not shoot his wife, which
was very evident from the fact that he
had been pretty badly shot himself.
Doc Perrymore testified pretty much to
the same effect, but stated that the
woman was still breathing when he went
into the room. Giles stated he had been
shot by gun from some one outside, and
that the gun had been put through the
window. Joe Jones, brother of Giles
who was sleeping in the back room at the
time, was the only other witness, but he
told the jury very little that was new.
TERROR AMONG THE NEGROES.
l The case seems to have been one of the
most cold blooded assassinatiouS, and the
work was evidently done by some one
familiar with the situation. 1t seems,
too, that he was after shooting Giles
Jones, as Giles was lying on the side of
the bed nearest the window, and his
wife was further away from the gun.
Jones, however was little too low, and
the greater part of the load struck his
wife. One of the pieces entered her
left temple, and this is the
wound that caused her death. Another
piece entered her shoulder and two other
pieces cut gashes about the base of her
arm. She lived, according to the testi-
mouy, about haf an hour after being
shot. Giles was shot only in the hand
and arm, and his wound, while painful,
was not dangerous.
The report of the gun undoubtedly
created much terror among the negroes
on the place, and it was some little time
before any of those outside the house
answered the cries. Even then they went
in fear and trem bling, and it was with
difficulty that their fear was allayed
sufficiently yesterday morning, in order
TO make them testify before the jury.
NO oLEw TO THE CRIMINAL.
There was no clew whatever to who
committed the crime. Jones said he
could make no explanation of it, He
knew of no one who had grudge against
him in particular, nor why any one should
want to shoot him. Neither could any
Of the other negroes on the
place explain the shooting, it
being equally mysterious to all
those who looked into it. Every gun on
the place was collected and brought be-
fore the jury Of inquest, but none could
be found that bore an appearance of hay
ing done the work. Coroner Dixon made
an investigation and found that several
pieces of the lead with which thegun was
loaded had lodged in the wall of the
room.
After as thorough an investigation as
was possible under the circumstances. the
jury brought in a verdict of murder by a
gunshot wound in the hand Of some party
or parties unknown to the jury. The wo-
man was buried yesterday afternoon, and
the man was taken to the Georgia In
Urinary, where his wounds were dressed.
Detective Morgan has the case in hand.
The crime is one for which the offenders
should be brought speedily TO Justice if
there is any means of laying hands on
them.
HE IG NOW a M a Jnn