Richmond planet., 1900-01-13
A Brutal Murder At Newport
News, Virginia.
THE OFFICERS YIELD UP THE PRISONER
Charged with Heinous Crime No Effort to Punish tht
Lynchers ATtss;c Scene at the Great Ship-build-
ers Centre. The State Officials Silent


The punishment meted out to w. w.
Watts, the white man who assaulted
Mrs. T. 81. Simpson (white) yesterday
sfterneos, was swift and terrible.
He was found this morning in the
woods on the edge of the city. Just east
of the Chesapeake and Ohio junction,
tied by the hands to q ssppling, his
, body riddled with bullets.
TIE AGONY OF DEATH.
The rope which fastened his hands
to the tree had slipped down possibly
= several feet, probably while the man
was writhing IN agony of death. The
: body was in half recumbent position,
the feet stretched out on the ground.
1.-THE hands in the heRpen moose blue
. and elenched. Upon the face of the
man look OF saortal terror was frozen,
rs q snake suddenlyffrng into alcohol,
.aghastly grin, which had Trithsd upon
his lips, had been caught and fixed by
death.
The news of the lYnching spread like
wild fire through the. city, and by 8
O'Clock hundreds OF people had fiocked
tothe scene. AS the morning grew
old, hundreds increased to thousands.
1t vas as though the entire male popu
lation OF the city had turned out to
witness the aftermath of the first lynch
ing in the history ofNewpert News In
the s-owd, too, were many white and
eolored women.
MANY VIEW .THEs BODY.
Workmen on their way to the ship
yards stopped en- route aud .plunged in
woods n eli 80 h,
ghsstlv sight. There were men with
pieces OF gas pipe in their hsnds, with
saws and hammers, with planes and
anisels. with kodaks. There were.men
en foot, on horseback, on bicycles and
in buggiss.
Forming q close ring arOCnd the
corpse, several officers kept the gath
ering crowd back. Now and then q
hat was passed around in the. crowd
and many contributed aickels, dimes
and suarters to q fund that wss being
raised ss q mark of appreciation OF the
services rendered by Tom Sally, the
boy who jumped the Chesapeake and
Ohio train as it was leaving yestsrdsy.
captured the man rs he was fleeing
from justice, and brought him back to
the city.
TER ROPE CUT.
About 10 O'Clock some one cut the
rope that held the body suspended,
and It fell to the ground. Later on as
the county authorities, in whose iuris-
diction the tragedy occurred, took
charge or the corpse and removed 1T
from the gaze OF curious eyes.
The episode is probably the most re
markable in the criminal annals of the
Old Dominion; the most dramatic.
Ohief-of. P0liee harwood learned this
morning that Watts father is on the
Lynchburg police force, and that his
home is at 1908 Clay street IN that city.
The Chief telegraphe6 the father, stat
in brief the details of the lynehing and
notifying him that he could have the
body il he chose to claim it.
LOCKED IN A CELL.
Watts, upon the arrest, had been
taken back into the lookup and i'm
INJURED In q felony cell. Two locked
iron doors we're between him and free
dem. In the 6ergeant's office were
House Sergeant Booker, who is on
night duty, and Tom Sally. As early
as ni6 6night, there were yumors that
an attempt would be made to lynch
the prisoner, anc hearing these, Officer
Booker went to lawyer aud asked
Wbht ne snouJd DO IN cRSe mob came
and tried to get the man out.
HIS DUTY AZ AN oFTIcKR.
The lawyer told him that he was q
sworn officer, and that il there were
only two or three, he should resist. II
he was ovsrpowered, however, ne was
advise d that it would be foolish to re-
sist. ss q mob would get the prisoner
anyway If he WAS wanted.
Everything was quiet, however, and
the ofhcer did not believe that there
would be any trouble. No additional
guard WAS put on, and the man was
not removed to the Jail "a, it is seen
now, he should have been.
About $3.50 O'Clock in the morning
Special OHicer Orange came to the sta
tion-house and told Officer Booker
thas he thought there would be On ct.
tempt to lynch the prisoner.