Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-12-04
CONVICT
MAY Be SET FREE
THE REV. w. HINsHAW, SEN
FENCED FOR WIFE MURDER,
MAY BE INNOCENT.


wife, nearly eight years ago, are rejoic.
ing in the new found hope that Mr. Hin.
shaw's innocence will soon be established
and that the prison doors will speedily
be opened to leave him a free man.
The murder of young Mrs. Hinshaw, the
subsequent trial of her husband his con
viction and sentence by the dictim of the
supreme court, and his solemn and re.
peated assertions of innocence make VI
one of the most interesting and at the
same time most pathetic stories in the
records of the Indiana courts.
Amazing are the circumstances which
led to the accusation and conviction OF
this apparently earnest and devout min.
lister of the gospel. Mr.. Hinshaw was the
pastor of the Methodist church in Bell.
VILE a town in Hendricks county, witnfi
a few miles of Danville. He was young
deeply interested in his work, and lived
in seeming happiness with his handsome
young wife, who had been a genuine help
mate in his pastoral labors.
Such was the state of affairs when
about 1 O'Clock in the morning of Jan.
uary 10. 1896, neighbors OF the family were
awakened by pistol shots in the street
Rushing out of doors, they found the
preacher lying on the sidewalk in from
of the house across the street, occupied
by a Mrs. Ticher.
Mr.. Hinshaw was clothed only in ar
undershirt and drawers. His feet anC
head were bare, and his face, hands, hail
and clothes were covered with blood. Or
being taken back into his house it was
found that he had been stabbed in eigh.
teen places. and that he had been shot
in the leg and the shoulder.
Bew1ldered and bleeding from his many
wounds, Mr.. Hinshaw told a strange tale
He said he had been awakened in the
night by a noise in his room, and, sittine
up in bed, half. awake he was alarmed
by a pistol shot, in the light of which
he saw two burglars close to the bed
The bullet struck Mrs. Hinshaw in the
head, but did not at once kill her.
Mr.. Hinshaw said he jumped up and
graphing with the intruders, cried aloud
for help. Shots were fired which went
wide Of the mark in the desperate strug.
gle that followed.
Burglars and preachers fought their way
to the back door, with Mrs. Hinshaw fol
lowing. On the steps leading into the
yard the wounded woman fell dead, and
the burglars, still struggling with Mr.
Hinshaw. returned to the house and es.
caped-how, their living victim could not
tell.
In the investigation which followed the
preachers trousers, his pocketbook and
his razor were found in an alley back OF
the wood shed. The contents of the peck
cts of the trousers were found on the
floor near the bed, the revolver was picked
up near the wood shed in the back yard
and near by, on a plank walk, half OBJ
liberated by snow, were footprints made
by a man or men wearing shoes. These
were all the clews left by the murderer
or murderers.
Authorities Become Suspicious.
Mr.. Hinshaw's story was believed al
first, but the authorities, Influenced by
the mans lack Of sorrow, began to sus-
pect that II was he who had killed his
wife and that his story of burglars was
a well prepared ruse to throw justice on
the track. 1t was charged that he was
enamored of a young woman of his
chunch, with whom he had had several
mysterious meetings. Finally he was ar
rested and charged with having murdered
his wife.
The trial lasted Ave weeks. Mr. Hin
shaw was found guilty Of murder in the
second degree and sentenced to impris-
onment for life.
When the verdict of the jury was pro-
nounced, the minister rose from his chair
and solemnly swore that he was innocent
of the crime. His words. loud, profound
and weighted with accents Of truth
caused a deep impression on all who heard
him.
The doors of the states prison closed
on William E. Hinshaw, the preacher,
but they did not close on James o. Park
err the lawyer who had defended him.
Mr.. Parker declared that Mr.. Hinshaw
was an innocent man, and swore he would
devote his fortune and the rest of his
life to prove it.
Mr.. Parker's friends rallied around him
and raised s., 900 to assist him in his work.
The lawyer refused to touch a penny of
the money, vowing he would spend his
own funds, so as to be perfectly free in
his actions. The committee which had
raised the money hired private detectives
from Chicago, but after an exhaustive
search they gave up the puzzle as hope
less.
At Work for Eight Years.
Mr. Parker, however, persevered. For
nearly eight years he labored necessarily
on this case. Meanwhile he became pres
ident Of the Ohio Valley Trust company.
in Evansville. and, prospecting in business.
he has had plenty of time and cash to de-
vote to his self-imposed work of justice.
Hundreds of clews were run down by the
indefatigable lawyer. The most import
ant of these was a story told by Noah
Baney, an all around criminal, who con-
fessed that he, together with two com
panions-''xilled" Whitney and Guy Van
Tassell-were guilty of the murder and
robbery. But Baney. on going before the
grand jury, repudiated this confession,
and said he made it to win favor as be-
ing desperate in the eyes of woman.
This was in 1897. Since that time, Mr..
Parker has been pursuing the clew given
by Baney. He has travelled thousands Of
miles in the work, sometimes with hope,
more often without
Baney, Whitney and Van Tassell have
been in prison for some time on convic-
lions for larceny. This simplified Mr..
Parker's task. He held several interviews
with the men, and at last frightened
Whitney into a half confession, but the
burglar quickly saw his mistake and re-
fused to say more.
Whitney however, had let slip word
about a cameo ring, which had fallen to
his share of the plumber taken from the
Hinshaw house. Mr.. Parker learned that
Whitney had given this ring to a girl
named Lou Phillips. This girl. when
dying, gave the ring to her sister, who,
in turn, gave 1t to her mother, and in the
possession of the mother it was found by
Mr.. Parker.
The lawyer then began to see light
He took the ring to Belleville, where 1T
was identified by Mrs. Hinshaw's friends,
as having been the property of the woman
who was murdered nearly eight years
ago.