The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-03-31
OUR PEOPLE INDIGNANT.
At the Commutation Of the Sentence OF
Treasurer Copes' Murder.

=
Last Friday was the day, set for the
execution of Dan G. Aarphy,. fhs
murderer OF Treasurer Cooes,. button
Thursday afternoon Sheriff Dakss re.
ceived a letter from the private secre-
tary OF Governor Ellerbs stating EGat
Murphy's sentence had besn;conuut
ed to life imprisonment, andsene4es.
ing the necessary papers 10 tue case.
When the action of the Governor.ln
the case became known the people be.
came very indignant, as the oyer
whelming opinion in. this county Is
that Murphy is guilty Of the cHne,
and that he should have been eS9cat-
ed. The dissatisfaction amounts oAn-
dignatio1, and the general opinion Is
Governor Ellerbe has been hum nougged
and has made a mistake. Tne Courts
are criticised, and many, remark taat
it is no wonder that lynch law is So
often resorted to in the State, and IL Is
undoubtedly true that if Murphy mad
been in Orangeburg at the time OF th7
commutation he would never nave
lived to serve one minute OF MS sen.
tence.
There is no doubt about the Rev. E.
E. Murphy, upon whose testimony the
Governor based his action, being
native of this county and a re!atlVsof
Dane. Murphy, their fathers bang
first cousins. From the testimony OF
the one time preacher it will be seen
that he denies being any relation to
Dan G. Iurphy, which statement can
be easily disproved. As the Orange.
burg correspondent OF the News and
Courier says if the testimony oE'-the
Rev. Mr.. Murphy, raised that grave
doubt in Governor Elleroe's mind, II.
would not have been a dificnIsm
ter for the Governor to nave found
| witnesses enough in Orangeourg
County to have SET him straight. =
Again, it is not understood here
how the testimony as to the guns
spoken OF before Governor Effsroe
| could have been OF any advantage to
Murphy. He owned both. guns and
could have done the killing with e.,
ther gun. As to. his claim that he could
not bring any of his Witnesses to the
trial, Or was in any way ham pered In
his defence, it is q matter of record
that before his trial he informed the
officers in charge of him that If they
would write TO certain psoplein N Flor
ida they would testify that he was IN
Florida at the tinae the murder was
committed, but upon communlcatlng
with the parties ne mentioned they
replied that ne had been with them at
a: totally different time. Why Dan
Murphy did not req uest' that the Raw:
E. E. Murphy of Augusta, be com
municated with and brought here as
| witness when he was being tried is
question the people Of the couaty are
very naturally asking
T rom the above and other facts no
confidence is placed here In the So
called after discovered testimony OF
the so. called retired preacher. No one
here ever heard Of him in the case 'un-
til Carroll came on the scene with
this man. AS to his statement that
Murphy was at his house IN Augusta
on the day of the killing and the egen-
ing before, there is the evidence OF
| Murphy himself on that subject.l.He
stated to prominent citizens oEThls
place that he was over on his. fathers,
which was near the scene Of the, ,nur-
| der, and that it took him from Thurs
| day afternoon to Monday morning to
get to Sycamore, in Barnwell Couoty.
It was also shown at the trial that
Dan Murphy was in Sycamore on
| Monday, and that he had only Lett the
neighborhood OF the murder on Sat
| urday. The evidence adduc.d at the
| trial was clear on all OF these paints,
and it has never bsen claimed THAT ne
vas in Augusta or elsewhere other
than in the swamps or hiding out IN
the woods at that time. IN Lhe face
of all this here comes the R=y. Mr..
| Murphy with his little tale about
Dams being in Augusta on tue day OF
the murder and so impres ssed Eon the
Go 7ernor that that innocent swallow
ed it whole.
We heard all the e7iderce brought
out in the trial OF Murphy and ths na'
ture OF that testimony Was suca as 10
compel US to come to-. the c2nclu-
sion that he was guilty and taat the
jury brought in righteou: verdict.
Tne so-cailed after disco Vered evldenes
does not anect our belief in the guilt
OF Mui2hy one bit. Tura II as you
please and it is of the f;n'iesi: aad
| most iacreditable natur1, aud A0g
Governor EIlerbe allowed htmseH e.
be deceived by it is past ha1lns oat.
Times and Democrat