The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-11-25
1T WAS NOT SUICIDE
MIR. WM. L. CHERRY SHOT AND
KILLED FROM AMBUSH.
THE CORONek'S JURY INVESTIGATING
The Killing, The Cause and klI Else is ShrOud-
ded in Mystery. Doubtless Shot through
Door of House Where The Deed
Was Committed.

WILLIAMSON. \. c., November "a
Special )-On Tuesday evening about
dusk 6 o'clock. one of the foulest muir
ders in the knowledge of the writer oc-
Cured in WILLIAMSON, when VIM. +.
Cherry was shot and instantly killed by
some unknown person. Cherry was a
volunteer in the late war with Spain, be-
ing Il member of Capt. Cotten's company
Tarboro on Monday evening when he
received his pay and was discharged from
service. He had been drinking since
last Friday and on Monday and Tuesday
was drinking pretty heavily, so at times
he was pretty drunk. When in town he
stopped ut the house of James Bonds.
where the murder occurred. About ten
minutes before he was shot Mr. Bonds
assisted Mr.. Cherry to his house and
sat him down to the table, and his
daughter gave him some supper. Bonds
went back uptown and his daughter
went to the front part of the house and
sat down on the door steps. So far as
is known this daughter, about Is years
old, was the only person in the house
with Cherry when the shooting occurred,
She states that she was on the steps
when she heard the report OF the gun.
She jumped up ut once and ran to the
door dividing the two rooms of the house,
and found Cherry lying on the bed with
the blood gushing from him. She
screamed and in Il few moments there
were others on the scene and IL doctor
sent for, who got there just in time to
see the last breath leave him.
Cherry was lying diagonally across the
bed, inclining to the right side. with his
right leg under him and the left hanging
over the side and foot on the floor, his
shoes off His head was on the pillow
He had large gaping wound in his face
and neck, evidently made by n gun-shOt
and the gun, Il single barrel breech
loader, which had been standing against
the wall, behind the head of the bed on
which he lay, was lying about two feet
from him with the muzzle pointing toward
the back door The load entered cutting
out the left corner of his mouth and ex-
tending downward and cutting away
most of that side of the chin and
passed backward and downward Mt an
angle of about 10 degrees, tearing away
the jaw and fracturing the jaw bone
severing the large blood vessels in the
neck and passing into the lower part of
the neck behind the large muscle (sterno-
chido mastoid) of the neck, tearing away
the inside of same and buried itself IN
the lower part of the neck and upper part
Of the shoulder. The face was con
siderably blackened by the powder, but
not burnt and the hole made by the
entry of the load Of shot was about the
size of a silver dollar All these things
the range, being downward, the size of
the hole, the absence of burn the length
Of the gun and the position of the gun
go to prove it was not case of sui
eide. Some one standing i'll the little
piazza and pointing the gun through the
door clears up every mystery. Besides
| Cherry was not so very drunk and was
| in remarkably good humor. A special
coroner was appointed who Immediately
summoned a jury and began an inquest.
They worked until midnight, and satisfied
| themselves it was not case of suicide.
] but adjourned to meet again tonight
without getting any clue as to who com
mitted the murder.