The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-10
TWETNY
ACQUITTED AFTER
 YEARS.

l Went on Trial for Murder to Relieve | His Mind of Load That Was Too 1 Heavy.
 l Judge U l.. Meade, of Russellville, has just succeeded in winning re- l markahle criminal case before jury at | Bonham, Tex. He secured the acquit-
 tai of Louis Stephens Mears of Killing done twenty years ago,
 l On June il. 1882, MT Mears became engaged in difficulty at his home, in Fannin county, Texas, with William Si- monds, in which he stabbed Simonds, who died three days later Mtars was 1 twenty-seven years old at the time and l had just married He feared to remain and face trial, and so fled and all ef- forts to locate him proved unavailing.
 He went first to Mississippi. where his wife joined him. He dropped his sur name and was known as l.. Stephens Eighteen years ago they located in Pope county Ark, six miles west of Russellville, where he lived an exem- pary life, accommodating considerable property as a farmer, and raised a fam fly of nine children. Several years ago
 he ran a most creditable race for rep
 resentatlve of the county. He wac
 prosperous, esteemed and apparently in
 the most enviable circumstances, but
 the memory of the life which he had
 taken even under provocation, so many
 years ago could not be effaced from his
 mind, although no one suspected the
 dark secret which lay so heavily upon
 Itt txN, II l,a 1I1 bnt l,.,
 carry the load no longer, so he confided
 in Judge Meade and arranged that he
 should go to Bonram and make ar
 arrangements for his surrender Judge
 Meade went to Bouram last August and
 made the necessary arrangement for
 him to stand trial on the old indict-
 ment The bond was also made and
 tfe case set for trial March 10, 1902,
 MT. Stephens went to Bonham and
 surrendered and then returned to Pope county to await the day of trial.
 On the date named he and his attor-
 ney appeared at Bonham and pleaded not guilty. The case was bitterly con- tested for two days It developed that the deceased was farm hand who had only recently come to the locality from an adjacent county and was considered a bad man. He made threat few days before that he would drive Mears out of the county for months wages. This was communicated to Mears by friend who heard 1t.
 A. few days later Meafs met Simonds, who was leading two horses at the time, and the theory of the defendant is that he dropped the ropes and started toward him with an oath that he did say 1t and that he could do as he had threatened. Then he struck Mears on the mouth with his left hand and reached toward his hip pocket, At this juncture and acting under the impulse of elf-protection, Mears stabbed him once with his pocket knife in the abdo- men Simonds fell and Mears prom ised to help him up and send for a phy- sician. The wounded man declined the proffered assistance and made the re- mark, T think you have killed me but if l live I will kill you for this, and if I see I am going to die i wifi fix 1t so this will break your neck.
 There were but two eye-witnesses of the killing and only one of them could be secured to testify at the trial; he corroborated the testimony of the de- fendart The deceased before his death and in contemplation of death, made q statement that the defendant provoked him, and that in the difficulty the horses he was leading became fright