The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-03-16
AFuII Confession of the Hunt MurdeTeTs.

~ iuii Cuill0oolull vi tG ilulll lIlul uUl Glo
THE STORY GROWS IN ITS FIEN
DISH ATROCITY.
The Heartless Assassins Tell How
Their Victim Met His Tragic Death
They Robbed Him After He Was
Dead.
Grady Reynolds and Bud Brooks,
the murderers of Millard g.. Hunt, oi
Bolton, Ga, were taken to Atlanta
last week and lodged in the Jail there
Tor safe keeping. The feeling in
ia Jackson 81 and surrounding counties was
so ostrong against them that the officials
feared mob violence. The Jail at
Jefferson, where the prisoners had
been confined for several days, ia
comparatively insecure, and q mob
would have had little trouble in gain
Ing an entrance.
a reporter for the Constitution had
an Interview with the prisoners soon
alter their arrival in Atlanta, and
obtained from Grady Reynolds the
fullest confession yet made as to- the
most cold-blooded murder that has
ever been committed in the South.
The murder of Nj. c. Hunt Is one of
the most heartless crimes in the crimi-
nal history Of Georgia. Owing to the
remoteness of tho place, full details
could not be secured before, but the
murderers made u full confession for
the irst'time to a Constitution man in
the jail last night, giving full ac-
count of their narrowing deed in it's
every detail.
The self-confessed murderers make
no secret OF their awful crime. They
nave been forced by the convincing
PROOF against them to confess. They
are both guilty and will humbly sub
init To the dec zee of the law, whether
Tor life or death. They realize they
have no hope; they know they deserve
no mercy. Their crime has been q
helnous one, and they are prepared to
suffer for it,
Both are country men. rather poorly
dressed While their countenances
are not exactly angelic, their faces
would hardly Indicate such barbarous
natures. Brooks is probably the most
depraVed looking of the two. He has
heavy dark mustache and dark blue
eyes, with kind of hang-dog expres-
sion about his mouth.
Reynolds has an oval face, and hair
slightly red, with blurred gray eyes,
he looks like man who might have
oeen heavy drinkcr. He is atfabie
but as the awful crime he has com
mltted dawns more fully upon him,
much more poignant is his regret, and
he says he would give his life If neces-
sary, If he had not killed the merchant
p, Reynolds is the man who killed
Hunt. Brooks was in u field close by,
an eager witness of the proceedings.
he mad q hand in the plot; knew from
the very first Hunt was to be killed
Tor his money; was to receive part of
the proceeds for his trouble and in one
sense Is as guilty as the actual mur-
derer.
The story reads more like some wild
detective story than chapter from
real life. The two men led the mer-
chant out into the country by river,
Knocked him in the head with a rock,
then pounded his brains out with q
gun looted his pockets, cut his dead
BODY open with an ak, sank him to
the bottom Of the river with rocks,
divided the spoils and left; prompted
by the vain hope their guilt would
never find them out
But suspicion pointed their way.
They were arrested and thrown into
prison. One fled to South Carolina.
lie 81, 100 they took from the dead
merchants pocket has been recovered
the greater part OF which was buried
near the scene OF the murder. The
murderers themselves told where the
money could be found-in fact Rev
nolds, under heavy guard Wednesday
afternoon, found it himself by the side
of an oak tree which had been silent
witness to this most unparalleled
tragedy.
But the story is best told in Reynolds
own words, as he Sat trembling in one
corner of his cell last night and re-
lated 1T to Constitution man.
Brooks and were the perpetra-
tors of the plot said he. "We made
1t up to kill Hunt for his money.
was perhaps the start of the affair,
and Brooks was to help me carry it
out for a share of the dead mans booty.
Hunt was the proprietor OF store
at Belton. 1t was agreed that [ should
buy him out; offer him $1,000 for his
stock outright; take possession; have
Hunt sign the receipts for my pay
ment5; entice him to the bank of the
river; kill him. and tLke his money,
which | knew he always carried in
large sums on his person. We thought
the public would never know what
became of him; that no one would
know but that had paid him for his
store and that he had skipped the
country. | was to take charge of the
establishment after his death, and run,
1T for all 1T was worth, aided by the
money we would take from Hunts
dead body. That was the plot we at
tempted to carry through-w which we
dld carry through and which has Justly
caught us in the grip of the law.
BY the 18th of February, which
was Monday, | had perfected arrange
ments with Hunt for the purchase of
his store. | was engaged at the time
making rails twenty miles below Bel
ton, near Harmony Grove. 1t was
agreed that Hunt and | should drive
there in buggy, where l was to pay
him the money.
So Just before noon that day we
started for the scene of his death. He
sat on the right hand side of the buggy,
| and | on the left. We talked cheer.
fully, but had murder in my heart
all the while, and knew full well that
l would kill him when we arrived at
| the river, and that Brooks would be
there to help me.
| :" guess it was about A o'clock in
the afternoon when we passed through
Harmony Grove and drove over the
long bridge three miles below, near
the home of farmer, where we
stopped and hitched up our horse In
the stable. This was where worked
and | was familiar with the premises.
/ NJ lVV