The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-04
CONFESSED HIS GUILT.
The Slayer Of Eliza Martin ACkROWl-
edges The Crime.

Remorse and Prefers Punishment to
Constant Fear-To b5 Brought Here
To-day by Detective Morgan.
Lawrence Williams, the murderer of
Eliza Martin in Savannah Dec. s, is in
Jail in Augusta, having surrendered him
self TO the police there yesterday morn
ing at 30 o'clock. Williams has made
full confession of the murder. A tele-
gram from Augusta to the MORNING News
says that he seems to be the victim Of
remorse aud declares he would rather
submit to his trial and receive his sem
tence t1an continue in constant appre-
hension Of arrest. He confessed all the
horrible details of the murder.
The killing Of Eliza Martin was one Of
most brutal and disgusting crimes which
has ever been recorded in Savannah. The
Martin woman was the keeper of a house
OF low repute at No. 36 South Broad
street occupied by colored women, and
Williams was her paramour.
BRUTAL MURDER.
The killing is still fresh in the minds Of
the people of Savannah. IL occurred late
in the afternoon, and was at once charged
to Lawrence Williams, who had made the
womau's house his headquarters for some
time. From all the circumstances sur
rounding the case at the time, there APP
peared to be no doubt of the guilt of Will
liams and a verdict of murder was re-
turned against him by the coroner's jury
at the inquest the next day. Williams
had been at the woman's house nearly all
day. He was drinking freely and APP
peared to be in an ugly humor. To parties
who talked with him only an
hour or two before the
murder, he made threats against
the woman and declared that he would be
revenged on her for some alleged griev
ance. At 5:45 o'clock he was seen to en-
ter the womans house and was said by
the inmates to have gone to her room with
her. The two had been in the room only
few minutes when the women was
heard screaming in agony.
THE SCENE OF THE CRIME.
When the other woman reached her she
was lying on her face on the floor of the
hallway with a knife sticking in her back.
The knife was one which Williams had
given the woman some time before, and
had afterwards taken away with MIN.
One OF the women of the house, who ran
into the street, said that she saw Williams
run up South Broad street TO Habersham
street, where he turned the corner and
was lost sight Of.
The attack upon the Martin woman was
most brutal and savage. She received
three wounds, one a deep stab in the right
breast, one blow from the knife, which
nearly severed her right arm, and the last
deep stab in the back the knife
being left in the wound. 1t was drievn
in to the hilt and required some effort to
withdraw it. The woman never spoke
after she fell and died in few minutes
The house in which the murder was
committed was one of the lowest of its
kind in the city and the Martin woman
was the proprietress. 1t was claimed by
the inmates that she had been Williams
mistress and that he had once before
made deadly assault upon her.
GOT OUT OF THE WAY.
Williams valise was found in the
house and was taken possession of by
Chief of Police Green. Williams was
seen in the streets shortly after the muir
der occurred, and before it became gen
orally known. He got out Of the way,
however, before the police were put upon
the case. 1t was said by a relative
OF Williams that he was at his
fathers house in the southern suburbs
the night after the murder while the po-
lice were watching the house. From Sa-
vannah Williams is believed to have
made his way to Augusta, where he had
formerly lived, and where he is said to
have first met the Martin woman.
A sister of Eliza Martin, living in
Augusta, reported to the police there
several DAYS after the murder, that she
had seen Williams on the street.
Some one afterwards went to
her house at night and fired pistol
shot into it. In relating the incident
to the police the woman said that the
man gave his name as Lawrence Williams
and demanded admittance and after being
refused admittance, he fired the pistol
into the'house. She did not see the man,
but said she knew Williams voice.
Williams made the following statement
at the police barracks, in Augusta, when
he surrendered himself:
My name is Lawrence williams, and my
home is in Savannah. My father is L. w.
| Williams, section master on the Savannah
Florida and Western railroad / will be ~
years old in September. Before left Savan-
nah worked for the street railway as a mo-
torman l left Savannah on Nov. ID and
! have not been there since that date. went
] to Charleston, and from there to Raleigh N.
| C., afterwards from there to Charlotte. N. c.,
and Spartanburg, S. c., from which place
came to Augusta, arriving last night. 1 do
not know any reason why this crime should
| be charged to me, as was not in Savannah
on Dec. 8. knew the woman Liza Martin
and also knew her sister, Mary Martin, who
! lives in Augusta read the account OF the
murder OF Liza Martin in piece of the
1 SAVANNAH NEWS while was in Charleston
know nothing about the crime except what
read
ARMED WHEN ARRESTED.
A 36-caliber Harrington & Richards re-
volver with thirty-six cartridges was
found upon Williams when he was
searched at the police barracks. They
were not found in his pockets, but in his
underdrawers above the ankle, the pistol
being on one side and the cartridges tied
up in handkerchief on the other
Williams was known as a very tough
citizen before the murder of the Martin
woman. He had the reputation of being
a most desperate character for so young a
man. He appeared to have given
himself up to the life of desperate, and
at 20 years of age had reached the very
bottom level of depravity. The best that
he can hope for is a life sentence. There
is nothing to prevent him, however, from
recalling his confession and seeking a
trial, in which case it is reasonably GER
tain that he would finish his career at
the end of a rope
Williams crime is one which excited
the deepest condemnation and disgust
among all classes, and he is the recipient
of little sympathy.