The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1904-08-26
GOES UP FOR LIFE.
White Murderer Gent tor the
Penitentiary from saluda.
A GOOD EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW.

Judge Watts Tells the Convicted
Man OF the Enormisy of his
Crime and the Justice OF
tho Sentence.
A special dispatch from Saluda to
The News and Courier says the nctice
Of motion for new trial In the
Thrailkill case, was abandoned by de.
fendant's attorneys, and the prisoner
arraigned for sentence. In passing
sentence Judge Watts said:
You have been tried and convicted
by jury of your country OF murder.
1t Is now my painful duty to pass sen.
tence upon you. 1 am always sorry
for any one who Is in trouble and dis
tress. But you have violated the law
OF your country. A jury Of your coun.
try have found you guilty Of murder,
and have recommended you to the
mercy OF the Court. am OF the opin-
ion that the verdict was warranted
absolutely by the facts of the case. 1
do not see how the jury could have
done otherwise under the testimony
In the case than to have found the
verdict they did. 1 think it is going
to have happy effect throughout the
State of South Carolina, because the
people of this State will learn that a
man OF respectable character and with
property can be convicted when he
commits crime, the same as the
poor, the ignorant and the unlettered.
There has been too much shooting in
South Carolina. Men too much have
taken the law In their own hands.
You cannot pick up newspaper but
what you will see that somebody has
been killed. Defendants come in
Court and make an effort at self-de-
fence. ] heard the Solicitor Of the
9th district say he was absolutely
afraid to blow his nose in the Court
House because he carried his handker.
chief in his hip pocket and was fear.
ful that somebody might take that as
an excuse for shooting him. There is
no doubt In my mind that you went
up to Monetta with malice in your
heart and blood on your mind. You
went up there to pick row, 1t seems
to me, with the school teacher. What
the cause of trouble was between you
and him l do not know, but he (the
teacher) seemed to be very inoffen.
Siv6 and quiet young fellow. You,
had no right to take the law in your
hands. The worst feature of your
whole case, to my mind, is that you
loaded your shotgun with buckshot
and you gave your eighteen. year.old
boy a pistol, and carried himf along
with you. boy especial ~ one Ia:
years old,,FHil do ING his father
aUd IL
more to be pitied than to be blamed.
He was acting under your orders.
You went up there to harm the school
teacher and got into an alteration
with the brother of the man you sub.
seQuently killed, and as far as can
learn you shot him for no cause at all,
and you concluded you would clean up
the crowd. When his brother came
down, as 1t was natural that he should
do, on hearing that his brother had
been shot, ycu shot him down With.
out giving him dogs chance. He
might have been a bad man. 1 do
not know any ything about that. The
testimony developed the fact that he
had had some fights In his life.
Unfortunately and unluckily all
OF US have done the same thing. 1
suppose II l was on trial you could
rake up some fight have had and so
far as that is concerned. most every
body else in this Court room. The
older man gets the more he realizes
that lighting does not pay. l would
t1kn a 6no1 hot
under any circumstances. The man
who wins his fight usually gets the
worst Of 1t. l would rather be the
dead man than the live one-that is,
| would rather be dead than to have
to Kill man. do not think man
has much happiness when he takes
the human life, unless he does it
acting strictly In self-defence. The
The law Is that no man can claim
self f-derence unless he Is without fault
In bringing on the quarrel and diff-
Guilty. 1t seemed to me as II you
could feel it In the air around the
Court House that those people around
about Monetta seemed to be afraid to
testify In this case. 1t actually looked
as if they had been terrorized some.
how. You are the most determin I'd
man ever saw. You went to
Monetta for a certain purpose and
you carried 1t into effect l think
the jury deserve great credit for find
ing the verdict they did, and | think
1t Is happy omen for this coun-
try, going TO show that the peo-
pie of Saluda County are tired OF
lawleSsneSs, are tired OF so much
bloodshed, and in fact they are deter
mined to cut it down and place this
county on an equality with other coun-
Ties In this State SO far as law and
good order are concerned.
This Is one OF the finest counties |
ever saw in my life. It's people, white
and black, are courteous and polite.
and l cannot understand why there
should be so much shooting. am sor-
ry for you, l am sorry for your wife, |
am sorry for your children. have got
live children myself. 1 have frequent.
ly wished, on occasions OF sentencing
defendants, that the punishment
could fall upon the guilty one. Your
wife and children will suffer because
of violation Of the laws OF the land,
Nothing that we can do can bring the
dead man back to life, and his wife
and three little children. 1t Is one OF
the saddest cases that l ever saw In
my life. l trust you will make you,