The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-08
TWO MEN HANGED TO A TREE,
MISSOURI MOB MAKES SHORT
WORK OF MURDERERs.

The Jailor Refuses to Surrender His
Prisoners or Keys and the Mob
ThereupOn storms the Jail-The'r
Victims Deny Their Guilt - The
Wife of One of the Men Lynchcd
Their Alleged Victim-Many Mem
bers of the Mob Known and viii
BE Prosecuted.
Lexington, Mo-. Dec. 7.-About l o'clock
this morning large number of men from
Ray county came into town for the pur-
pose of lynching Jesse Winner and James
Nelson, who were confined here on the
charge of numbering Mrs. Winner and her
two babies. near Richmond, Mo-, Oct. 26.
They broke into the Jail with little diff
Guilty and speedily accomplished their OBJ
ject of melting out punishment to the al
legged murderers. Lon Lackey, who has
also been in jail here under charge Of
completely in the murder. was taken back
to Richmond Saturday, which alone saved
his life,' as he certainly would have been
lynched with the others. The probabili-
ties are that vengeance will be meted out
to him later
The mob was composed of $50 men, all
unmasked. They overpowered the jailor
and his guards and demanded the keys to
the cell that Nelson and Winner were
locked in. but were refused. The doors
were then battered down, and the pris-
oners tied and led out. The leader of
the mob was asked where he was going
to hang them, and he said that they were
going to Ray county, so that Lafayette
would not have to bear the expense OF
burying them. Winner came out trem-
bling with fear. Nelson said not a word,
but clearly showed that he was not afraid.
Both men pleaded with the mob for their
lives, and asserted their innocence.
Standing before Almighty God, swear
1 never murdered my wife," said Winner.
81 swear I'm Innocent" added Nelson,
but the mob paid no attention to the
pleadings.
Several attempts were made to lynch
Winner and Lackey while they were in jail
at Richmond, which led to their removal
here for safe-keeping. Nelson has been in
Jail here since Saturday, having been ar
rested on the strength of a confession
made by Miss Maggie Katron, who made
Il
I4ackey and Nelson committed the muir
der
The mob crossed the river, coming over
at II O'clock in skiffs. At 1880 they re-
crossed with the prisoners and hanged
them to q tree. The mob made no effort
| to conceal the identity of it's members, and
| many of them could be easily recognized.
| The overcoat worn by the leader is in pos
session of one of the deputies. A major
ity of the mob were young men.
1t is said here that it was the intention
of the mob to burn Nelson and winner
Winner admitted to a prisoner in the jail
last night that he was guilty.
The bodies were found this morning
half a mile from the river, in Ray county,
| hanging to an oak tree. Their hands were
tied behind their backs and they were
swinging from the same limb. Nelson s
| feet barely touched the ground. His face
| bore the same grave look as when he was
taken from Jail. Winners face bore a
look of cowardice and had an expression
| of horror upon 1t.
winners watch, which had stopped at
8 a. M, was still in his pocket His feet
! touched the ground, but his legs were
| bent at the knees Hundreds of people
| hocked to the scene of the lynching to
view the dead bodies, which, at O'Clock,
were still hanging to the limb.
Prosecuting Attorney William Aull says:
| some of the members of the mob and have
| the names of many others, and also prop
| erty belonging to some of them. If it is
the last act of my life, expect to bring
the perpetrators to justice, and shall re-
| quest the assistance of the attorney gen.
| eral and all the power that the state
| can lend to see that conspiracies against
| the law are punished and the conspirators
brought to justice. They treated one Off
Ger like a brute and showed that they
had as little regard for law as for the
alleged murderers they were seeking. Had
they come Saturday some of them would
themselves be in the hands of the under
taker or in Lafayette county jail. The
officers did their full duty, but were help
less under the circumstances"
Richmond, Mo. Dec. Lon Lackey,
one of the alleged murderers of the Win
ner family, who was secretly brought to
this place Friday night, in the hope that
he would make a confession of his COM
plicity in the crime, has been taken to a
safer place. When it was reported early
| this morning that the mob which lynched
Winner and Nelson at Lexington, was on
its way to this jail the sheriff spirited
Lackey away, and refuses to give any in
Lii. L.