The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-24
ISSUE WITH THE POLICE
CORONER FINDS HARVEY SINGLETON
CAL VORHIS.
Police Have Been Claiming and Hold
ing George White as the
Verdict Yesterday.

Coroner Castor has arrived at a verdict
in the case of the murder OF Calvin Worms
and he fixes the guilt upon Harvey Single
ton. The police have been holding George
White as the murderer and VIII Porter
as an accessory to the murder. The coro-
ner has examined all the eyewitnesses and
g. number of other persons whose testi-
mony might throw any light upon the case
and the written testimony is rather con-
elusive against Singleton.
From the testimony gathered it seems
that George White and Will Porter met
Harvey Singleton at a billiard hall and the
three went to a restaurant on Ohio street,
near the canal. White stopped to eat some
thing and the other two went out into the
street. When White came out he met Jewel
Hawkins and started to so home with her.
They went up to Indiana avenue and met
Singleton and Porter, who walked along
behind them. On the avenue they met
doc" Thornton, who tried to get the wom-
an to leave White. Then they met Vorhis
and he called to the woman, but she re-
fused to go to him, and then he tried to
pull her away. White and Vorhis quarreled
and were about to fight, when Singleton
pushed White aside and received the blow
which Vorhis aimed at White. He then
pulled his pistol and shot Vorhis, fired two
shots at Thornton and snapped the pistol
twice at Vorhis after the latter had fallen.
This is the substance of the testimony of
White and it is pretty well corroborated by
Thornton, Porter and Jewel Hawkins. The
Hawkins woman first told the police that
White did the shooting, but under oath to
the coroner she said she did not know
who fired the shots. She says that when
Vorhis came up to fight with White she
ran away a distance of about a hundred
feet and had not turned around until she
tnn r1 tho = g Chn trad Sha hen turned
and could see the body of Vorhis lying
on the ground and saw two other shots
fired. She explained that she had first said
that White did the shooting, because she
had left him and Vorhis about to fight and
they were alone.
Robert Docl Thornton testified that an
unknown MAI a friend of Whites, stepped
in between White and Vorhis and fired
the shot which killed Vorhis and then fired
two shots at him (Thornton) as he ran
across the street. He was positive that
neither White nor Porter did the shooting.
He did not know the man, but he was
the man who was walking with Porter
when they came. along the avenue behind
White and Jewel Hawkins.
George White testified that Vorhis was
drunk and wanted to take the woman away
from him and got Thornton to help him.
Vorhis said that he did not think he was
as good a man as White, but he felt will
ing to fight him anyway and he did strike
at him. Just as White was about to de-
fend himself from another blow Singleton
pulled him aside and the blow struck Sin
gleton. The latter then pulled his pistol
eNlio hlSo ST. e'AS III. IL LIS oiio v vi lllo
fell to the ground. With the first shot
Thornton ran across the street and Sim
gleton aimed two shots at him and then
snapped the pistol twice at Vorhis. Vorhis
said You have shot me through the
breast. but that will be all right" White
said he saw and heard all this and that
Singleton ran east toward the canal after
it was over, and that he followed him and
told him to go away. White then came
back to where Vorhis lay and Thornton
said to him Whitley. you know who done
this and if you don't tell, I'll say it was
you"
Thornton admitted saying this and thus
explained his first statement that White
did the shooting. The coroner's verdict in
the case is as follows:
II. Hiram c. Castor, coroner, having ex-
amiued the body of Calvin Vorhis and
heard the testimony of the wit
nesses. which said testimony is hereto at
tached, do hereby find that said deceased
came to his death the 18th day of October,
1896. at the City Hospital, from a pistol shot
wound and / further find that one Harvey
Singleton murder by firing the
fatal shot which caused the death of said
Calvin Vorhis.'