Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-11-07
was standing before neighboring win
dow and preparing to retire.

dow ana preparing TO retire.
On cross-examination by Major Hart.
Mr.. Duff, is this the first man you ever
found dead on the streets of Blacksburg
Yes, sir.
| Worry dark night was it?
No, sir; it was not so dark that could
not have seen the body of the deceased, if
I had been looking ahead.
Major Hart asked witness if he had not
contributed money to employ detective
to run down the slayer of the deceased.
The solicitor objected. His honor re-
marked that if witness had. contributed
money there certainly was nothing in
that which was not to be expected of any
good citizen. Witness said he had con-
tributed IS on one occasion to employ
L. NJ. Holland. Witness had also been
deputized along with three others after
the verdict of the coroner's jury, to arrest
Reese and Luckie. About IL or Is men
went along with him to the house
of Mrs. Anderson. Witness did not
90 inside. If Mrs. Anderson was ill
witness was not aware of the fact. Had
seen her on the streets of Blacksburg
often but did not remember to have
seen her at any time Immediately pre-
ceding tne tragedy.
DIR. J. T. Darwin testified that he was
not acquainted with the deceased but
remembered the killing. He had per-
formed post mortem examination and
found death to have been caused by a
gunshot that had entered the back Of the
neck at the fourth or fifth cerebral verte-
brae, shattering the spinal column at the
base of the brain. The ball had ranged
upward, and from appearance the indi-
vidual who fired the shot was directly
behind and lower down, or the head of
the deceased was bent forward. Witness
removed ball from the jaw of the deceas-
ed. He supposed it to be 3S-calibre. In
ordinary scales it balanced 3S.calibre
exactly but in more sensitive scales was
a grain or grain and half lighter. The
deceased appeared to be man of about 5
feet inches height, $50 pounds weight
and of rather heavy build. He was neat
! ly dressed in light colored overcoat and
black dress coat, and had on woolen
gloves. His vest was tightly buttoned ;
but his coat and overcoat were open.
Shortly before witness had been apprised
of the finding of the body, at or $50
o'clock, he had heard three shots-one and
then two more. 1t was not raining that
night. The stars were out, and as witness
was returning home he could see the out
| line of his wife and sister-in-law standing
at the gate of his yard some 70 yards
away. The body was lying almost direct
ly opposite the Sumner house. Beside
the pistol shot wound there was slight
bruise on the forehead. Witness had
failed to feel the body for temperature and
did not know whether it was cold or
warm.
On cross examination DR.. Darwin said
that there was no light on the scene until
Is. or 20 minutes after his arrival.
The first lantern was brought by Mr.. j.
w. Thomson. Did not know the weight
of the bullet, as he had only balanced it
| in the scales with another one. The
wound was not quite as smooth as if it
had entered fleshy part of the body.
There was no sign of powder burning on
neck of the deceased; but as to whether
there was anything of the kind on the
coat witness did not know.
DR.. Darwin, were you ever shot at?
No, have never been shot at.
One night while you were in the vicini-
ty Of Cherokee Inn, did not bullet
come whistling by you?
Yes, one night while 1 was in the vi
cinity of Cherokee Inn bullet came
whistling by me.
And you did not know from whence it
came or whittier it went?
And I did not know from whence it
came or whittier it went.
There was laughter at expense Of coun-
sci. AS the examination proceeded, wit
ness explained that bullet had whistled
uncomfortably close to him one night.
He had not employed detective; but
told Policeman Duncan to investigate the
matter, and had heard nothing more OF
it. Witness did not examine the con.
tents of the dead mans pocket. He had
seen some money, letters and notes; that
was all.
Did you see any rubber goods?
| No.
Did not Mr.. Duncan or Mr.. Thompson
show you q bottle of medicine which was
labeled as an antidote or preventative
against certain diseases?
Not that remember.
Doctor, believe you stated in your
evidence before the coroner that man
shot as this man was might have walked
some distance before falling?
I No, sir; 1 did not say it.
If you did say it, it was wrong?
i I never said it.
Counsel produced the signed statement.
Witness identified his signature, said that
the testimony had been read over to him
before he signed it but that he had not
made such a statement; that it had been
taken down wrong.
Are you in the habit Of signing papers
without reading them?
l have done such thing.
Well this was taken down in writing,
Several months have elapsed since that
time. Is it not more likely that you are
mistaken now than that the man who
wrote it down was mistaken then
1t does not make any difference whether
it has been six months or hundred