The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-15
LIFE ITEM
 FOR ANDREWS Verdict of Jury in Cam den Court. PRISONER SHOWS RELIEF Evident That He is Glad to
 Escape Death.
  Case of Bob Andrews, the Brother Also Indicted for Murder of Father
 and step-Mosher,
 Goes over.
PRISONER SHOWS RELIEF
Fly win T. sheehsn.

Camden. Nov. 14.-(Staf Correspond ence. )-John Andrews must spend the rest of his natural life in prison fol the part he had in the cowardly mur- der of his step-mother Bama Andrews A verdict for life Imprisonment was returned this morning at S:2e o'clock by the jury which tried the case.
 The verdict was manifestly relief a qualification, to the prisoner. Unless all signs were wrong the prisoner acutely feared gallows sentence, He was plainly nervous when the jury filed in this morning and the an nouncement was made that verdict had been reached. His face brightened perceptibly. his face showed his pleas ure when he learned that the jury had determined upon a life sentence In prison instead of the death penalty. The verdict may have been q disap' pointment to the attorneys who labor ed so ably and so energetically to save the neck of John Andrews, hue to him beyond doubt It was a gratifying sur prise.
 Verdict a Compromise.
 It Is believed that the verdict was in the nature of a compromise. There were evidently some members of the jury who did not believe that they should hang a man on the evidence of two children whose testimony might possibly have been drilled in them by some person interested in sending John and Bob Andrews to the galiows. Strong circumstantial evidence was presented showing the responsibility of the two brothers for the murder of Bama Andrews. but the only direct ev. idence as to the guilt of the two men was presented by Agee and Annie An drews, the natural children. of Jim An drews. the murdered man. The de. fense endeavored to show and nn doubt with success. that the children were under the domination of the strong-minded aunt, who was the backbone of the. prosecution and who was claimed by the defense to have ln- terested herself in the con nvictton of tho. accused men.
 The guilt of John Andrews was no doubt evident to the jury so far as cir cumstantia1 evidence could make ie But with all the circumstantial evi- dence and with the direct evidence fur nished by the two children, there re- mained in the minds of the jury the doubt as to the positive guilt of the accused men. And so the prisoner who feared the gallows and the moose plainly frightened when the verdict Of the jury was read. .ss
 Read by the Clerk.
 The charge of Judge B. M. Miller was completed yesterday evening at $50 o'clock. Court convened again this morning at S:30 o'clock. It had been rumored throughout Camden that the jury had reached a verdict in the case which has stirred Wilcox County as no other case in recent years has stirred the county. The Court House was crowded with people anxiously await ing the verdict which report said was ready to be handed in. As soon as court was convened the jury filed in and the foreman handed in the verdict to the clerk who read in clear tones, We the jury find the prisoner guilty as charged in the indictment and fix the punishment as Imprisonment in the pen itentiasy for his natural life"
 The verdict was received with mixed feelings by the crowd. Perhaps a ma jority of those present believed that the death sentence should have been inn posed, but understanding the responsi- bilities and the doubts under which the jury labored the crowd was willing to accept the verdict with feeling of sat isfaction.
 Trial of Bob Andrews Goes Over.
 Announcement was made that the case against Bob Andrews would of ne- cessity be postponed until the next term of court Two other capital cases
 
 Court of Wilcox County and special ve- hires have been drawn for them. To have tried Bob Andrews at this term of court it would have been necessary to have postponed both of those cases, to have wiped out the two venires already drawn and to have prepared for a new venire. Because of this Bob Andrews jointly indicted with his brother John Andrews will not, be tried until the next term of court.
 The crime for which John Andrews will serve term in the penitentiary as long as his natural life, was com mitted December 17 last. On that night Jim Andrews and his young wife were brutally and cowardly murdered at the little station of Schusters on the Selma and Flomaton Railroad. in Wilcox Coun- ty, near the Monroe County line. On that night shots were heard, mingled with the screams of children and wo- man, followed by the moans of a man lamenting that he had killed his poor old daddy"
 An hour later when the neighbors arrived on the scene they found old man Jim Andrews dead with a bullet hole in his abdomen and his hands fold ed across his breast, Some yards away was the body of his wife. Bama Am drews, with a bullet hole through the body and with the face and neck hor- rlbly gashed and stabbed. In posses sion of the bodies and the house were the two grown sons of Jim Andrews. John and Bob.
 Four Children at Scene.
 Nearby were four children, two of then. mere babes. the children of the murdered woman and the other two. Agee and Annie Andrews. children of Mag Holder. and acknowledged as the natural children of Jim Andrews.
 At the first coroner's inquest these TWO children testified that they were on the railroad hundred yards away with Bob and John Andrews when the fatal shots were fired. They later changed their testimony and swore that John Andrews killed both his father and his step-mother and that while the woman lay dying on the ground Bob Andrews ran up and stabbed her in the throat saying. e. D. you, I wish you could feel it." They declared that their first statement was made because John and Bob Andrews swore that they would kill them if they did not make fl.
 Defense of PrisOasTs.
 Bob and John Andrews& united in sa vina that they had been summoned