The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-13
HIS BROTHERS. MURDERER.
RESULT OF INQUEST IN BUNCoMB
KILLING.

Coroner's Jury Holds James Bum
comb for the Murder of His Broth
err, JEFF Buncomb-The Trouble Be-
gun IN a Drunken Quarrel Because
James BuncOmb Demanded the
Money Which His Niece Had Earn
ed-The Woman Refused to Give
Up Her Money and He Undertook
to Beat Her, WhereupOn JEFF Bum
comb Interfercd to Protect the Girl
and Was Stabbed to the Heart
With a Knife.
An inquest into the death of Jeff Bun
comb, who was killed by his brother
Jsmes Buncomb. Saturday night, about
l! O'Clock, at No. AZ Lumber street, was
held by Coroner Goette at the Police
Court room yesterday afternoon. The
verdict was: I'VE, the jury, find that Jet
Buncomb came to his death by knife
wound at the hands of James Buncomb.
and we consider the same to be murder"
Martha Brown, a member of the Bun
comb household, was the first witness ex-
amned. She is the woman about whom
the row originated. She told practically
the story that she told a the time of the
arrest of James Buncomb, and which was
published in yesterdays Morning News.
| In substance, she said: 1.-The killing &C.
CURED last night. / and my uncle jeff,
the dead man, had been 10 my oldest
aunt's. We came back about 1890 o'clock.
| Uncle James was sitting on the back
stoop talking to a boy that lived in the
house with us. He had told me to let
him know when 1 got my money. 1 am
in service and work for Mr.. j. F. Sull-
van. 1 told him last night that 1 had
got it, and he asked me where it was.
l told him in the house. He told me %
bring it to him. 1 then said 1 had it. He
said let's see it, 1 said see it here. Then
l asked him what he was going to do
with it. He said that he only wanted 10
see it, and said I'd give it 10 you to keep
il YOU had any right to it, but If 1 did
you'd only take it to get drunk on.
He said hold on and went in the
mouse and came back with a strap. He
gave me three cuts with the strap around
the waist and then cut me with it on the
arm. L still have the mark of this blow.
Then 1 screamed and Uncle jeff said
You shouldn't take advantage of that
child like that" He said You take up
for her, eh?' and Uncle Jeff said, Yes,
she's just as much mine as yours" He
cut me for the fifth time then and 1 got
up from the chair and said: Uncle Jim
mic, I'll not take any whipping from you
! for what l work for" He threw the strap
down and Uncle Jeff said: Jim, you
ought'nt beat the child like that"
| stood on the steps crying. Uncle Jim
turned to uncle Jeff and said: You take
up for her, ehH' and Uncle Jeff said,
yes Uncle jeff was then standing in
the kitchen door. Then l heard Uncle
JEFF say, 20 my God you cut me?, and
1 turned around and saw Uncle jeff pull
his shirt open and saw the blood just
| jumping out
After Uncle jeff called out ran out to
call his sisters and when 1 came back
he was lying in the hall dead. Uncle Jim
was back in the dining room"
In reply to the question as to whether
| Jim Buncomb was drunk at the time of
the affair. she said that he was, and
that he was often in that condition. Asked
as to the whereabouts of the other wo-
man during the row and subsequent trag-
| edy, she eaid that Jeff's wife was in the
| front room and that Jim's wife had been
| on the stoop when the difficulty started,
but had gone in.
The absence of the women, she said,
| was explained by the fact that when
Jim was drunk he often beat all of the
members of the household and that it
was well to keep away from him. She
| stated that she did not see the knife
with which the deed was done.
Emma Buncomb, the wife of the dead
| man. testified that she was in the room,
when she heard JEFF say, 20, my God,
| you cut me!' Then jeff came into the
hall and fell near the door of the front
| room. She came from the room into the
hall and found her husband lying there
with the blood gushing out on the floor
and the table. She further stated that
she had heard the conversation that had
preceeed the difficulty and shortly before
Jeff's last exclamation had heard him
say, you got knife"
According to her story James Buncomb
had come into the hall after Jeff had
fallen to the floor and said to her. Sis
sic, JEFF came in here cut" and that she
had replied. mo, Jim, you cut him.
The jury decided on IT'S verdict in a
very few minutes. and commitment was
made out by the coroner, and James Bun
comb transferred the county Jail.
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