The Monticellonian., 1899-08-11
WILEY BuAN's STORY.
Segro.s Version of How He Killed Allen
 Martin In 1893.

Wiley Bunu is a tall. black negro, with prominent and protrading large | front teeth. and heavy mustaehe. His face is neither repulsive nor un- l pleasant. There is uaHght about his appearance to indicate that he is eith- CT ii murderer or the sufferer from ar 1 hallucination He has had the strong est and closest cell at the headquarters of the East St. Louis police depart ment. Yesterday the heat i'll his cell was almost unbearable. He had re moved his clothing and wore Haught l but q striped suit of under"afe ol rather good material On one of the l fonr hunks in his cell his clothing 1 could be seen carefully folded up The clothes were new and of late cut and pattern His hands are big and calIoased. with the thick, reddish nails cropped close to the skin. When ad- dressed. he rose from his bunk and pressed his face close to the wide, fla bars of iron which formed squares but little over two inches across. H@ l thrust his black fingers through the openings between the bars, and said in low, rather deep voice:
 Why did l kill Martin, sir? Because 1 he would have killed me. He has mad revenge on me long enough, now that he is dead. by coming back and haunt 1 ing me. and now I am ready to do any thing they want me to do. Every Tuesday since a month after killing Martin he has come back to me and e1utehed at my throat and tried to choke me.
 There was no evidence of excitement on the part of the negro as he made these statements His eyes looked clear and had nothing ill them of an uncertain light. such as is to be seen in the eyes of one who has been seized with an insane mania. He was asked if he meant that Martin came to him ill his dreams and reproaehed him, and answered without changing the eN- precision of his face:
 No; Martin himself comes back from the dead to haunt me IL don't seem like a dream, except that after he goes away l sort of fall asleep and then wake up suddenly with an awful feeling al my heart and with the touch of his fingers at my throat. He must have followed me from the place where l shot him down in the swamp 10 near where he lived. l didn't know that II was him then. 1 only knew that some. thlng uncertain and like light Was after me | walked so miles that first night, and for weeks and months | was hunted like a wild animal That ] something like light was after me all the time, but ii was month before l knew what it was
 BInn made these statements in a matter-of-fact way. His voice was low and always well modulated His fin gers were fastened in the bars. and there Was no sign of nervousness about his face or limbs \ question started him in further explanation.
 About q month after l killed Mar lin l knew if was him that came earlA in the night after had laid down to sleep, and he always staid all night We had some awful struggles He al ways looked into my face kind enough but he kept reaching for my throat and when he got hold then he held onto il. He almost tore my tongue out of my head last Tuesday night here in my cell. The white fellow in the next ceel thought was going te die. out about four o'clock in the morning l managed to throw Martin off and shot him again Then was able to sleep the rest of the morninu but l Was very sore and my throa: hurt me where he had tried to choke me. He only comes to me nov on Tuesday nights, and we have a very bad fight. You know, killed him on Tuesday evening.
 Runn' words might indicate insani- tF, but few moments conversation with him leads to a different cone,u. sion. In his uneducated state if i> hard for him to distinguish between q dream and the mental hallucinations which seize him and which perhaps a more intelligent person would de. scribe as nightmare" He speaks SC rational1y and intelligentIy of other things. and is able to describe his mental state with such elearness. that it k difficult to conclude that ponder. ing over his crime has weakened him mentally. He tells of frequent at. tendance at camp meetings and his odd ideas are only those which are held by hundreds of uneducated south ern negroe $. He was asked what he thought would become of him when he was taken 10 Arkansas. ana whether he gave himself up under the impression that he would be released from the persecution which Martin subjected him to.
 "l figure it out that the killing ,lid Was hanging crime, he replied. ''i don't mind the hanging. if they will send my trunk and my money to my wife in Arkansas. l have Sl60 ana some clothes in my trunk, and | don't want any of it spent for myself Ii my things are sent to my wife l don't mind what the sheriff does My falheI has 160 acres of land and my wife has our farm, which is as big but l don't me it will be all right. Perhaps they may take me from Jail and shoot me. Then l fguer it out that Martin and will have il out to finish You see. after they get through with me will be ir the same fix that Martin is. and guess they will let us get together, and the best man will win out. I'm not afraid of him nor anything else. living