Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1896-01-02
KILLED by a MOB.
Terrible Fate of n entity Pair i'm
Kentucky,

Lebanon. KY, Dec. 3l.-Within two
miles Of this city last night il "eleIlt'
less mob burned to death n pregnant
| woman and riddled with bullets her
| gray haired paramount. The biackened
and disfigured corpses of the victims
Mrs. Thomas West and William De-
| veres. were found in the ruins of the
| woman's home to-day by the fourteen
| year-old daughter of the murdered
man.
The tragedy was one of the most
| brutal ever enacted under the grue-
some sway OF dread Judge Lynch.
| Despite the pleadings for her fathers
life of a half-clad, frightened child,
and the prayers and tears of the i'll
and helpless woman, the mob went
through with its work, the cold
blooded, cruel deliberation, and only
left when certain that both man and
woman were dead.
The affair was the OutgrOwth of the
old story of n faithleSs wife and Il
vengeful husband. Several months
ago Dcveres, a middle aged widower,
was accused by Thomas West, n pros
porous farmer. of intimacy with Mrs.
West. Quarrel followed quarrel
throughout the family until West in
stituted divorce proceedings and de
clared Deveres must die. The men
met in Lebanon. West snapped his
revolver. which missed fire, and De
veres killed him on the spot. On the
plea of s~elf-defense the murderer Sc
cured bail and scandali2ed the neigh
borhood by taking his two daughters
and moving into Vests house. The
relatives of the murdered husband
Swore vengeance
and last night it came. Close to 10
O'Clock q Dand of men rode up to the
West homestead and demanded adj
mittance. Tom West is dead. Now
1t is your turn" the spokesman called,
md Deveres and the woman awoke
10 find their house surrounded. Mrs.
West rushed to . GarEened window
and began 4 wild hySterical plea for
mercy. A dozen bullets answered her
cries and the demand for immediate
surrender was rel"ated. DeYereS. tc0.
asked for Il hearing, but his request
was greeted with a shower Of shots.
Wen give you ten minutes to open
I'D. Then you burn" said the leaGNr
Of the mob, and his men quietly re-
tired from the door. \ hurried con-
sultation was held inside the house,
ltiu litI, " hAlt hLN bCLloA ~ ~ NIt-s
the little girl OF DCvereS was thrust
out to plead with the mob. Clad in
her night robe. ~barefooted and unpro-
tected, she 'brayelT walked out into
the moonlight and sObbed out a prayer
for her white-haired fathers life.
Get out; you're liable to get shot
Yourself" q ruttian shouted, and thor
ough!y panic-stricken the child fled
to the cabin of a negro neighbor. Mrs.
West then appeared at the door, and,
| referring to her condition. made
A Last Appeal for Mercy.
| It was ~unavailing, and in another mo
ment the house was fired. The shrieks
of the imprisoned wretches failed to
move their tormentors, who, after the
flames reached the living room, could
| see the mar and woman in the agony
Of death by the fire. Just before the
| roof fell the woman was seen to reel
across the room and plunged headlong
into the fireplace among the burning
Goals, and there she died. Wild with
pain, Devcres at the last moment,
made a dash for liberty, but a
of bullets stopped him half u dozen
STEPS from the door.
This morning the little girl led her
negro protector to the scene. and there
the bodies, scorched beyond recogni-
ton, were found. untoushed by the
lyncherS. The scene of the horror was
visited by crowds of curious people to-
day, and it was well toward moor be-
| fore the bodies were cared for by an
undertaken. Mrs. Vests corpse was
charred almost beyond human sem
blance. Overcome by the flames she
had fallen into the large old fashioned
fireplace of the living room, and her
| head was almost burned from her
| body. Devere's body was pierced by
| at least twenty-five bullets. Before
| his desperate dash for liberty he had
| been frightfully burned and would
probably have died without the gun
| shot wounds. His hair and beard
F., were burned off, his clothes were in
charred shreds, and his face blistered
and blackened.
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