Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1905-01-20
he would not commit suicide.
The death watch has been set and the
doomed man put on prison fare

I
doomed man put on prison fare
SEEMS TO HAVE LOST HOPE.
When his brother, Edward G. Nc
| Cue, visited the jail this morning the
condemned man inquired whether there
was any news from Richmond. There
was not at that time, but the fatal
news came at 11:30. The convicted
man did not again inquire. although
be had an opportunity to do SO. He
probably inferred from the refusal to
admit any visitors that his appeal had
failed.
So far as anything he said was con-
cerned the prisoner does not show any
expectation of escape from the execu-
tion of the sentence.
THE MURDER OF MRS. McCUE.
The trial OF J. Samuel McCue on the
charge of numbering his wife, Mrs.
Fannie M. McCue, was one of the most
sensational in the criminal records of
Virginia. For years one of the lead
ing attorneys at the local bar and twice
elected Mayor of Charlottesv lille, he
was one of the most prominent men
ever tried for his life in the State.
Mrs. Fannie M. McCue was murder
ed in the handsome McCue home in
the residence section of Charlottesville
on Sunday night, September 4 last.
She had been to church and had just
returned with her husband from the
evening service when she was..killed.
When the tragedy occurred McCue
and negro stable boy were the only
persons 10 the house. DR.. McCue, the
brother of the former Mayor, was one
of the first to reach the scene. He
found the ex- Mayor apparently in a
semi-dazed condition, bleeding slight
ly from wound on the face. McCue
stated that a burglar had attacked his
wife and when the husband went to
defend her had struck him on the head
with baseball bat, leaving the eX-
Mayor, according to his own story. I'M
conscious.
BODY FOUND IN BATHTUB.
A search revealed the body of Mrs.
McCne lying in the bathtnb. The
wounds on her body showed that she
had been struck blow over the bead
that probably knocked her senseless
aud split her ear. But she had EVIL
IDENTIFY been killed by shotgun, the
position of the wound indicating that
the body had been placed in the bath
tub after the crime was committed.
A bloody baseball bat was found in
one corner and shotgun in another.
These were evidently the weapons
used.
The doctors testified that the wounds
on McCue's face were too slight to
cause unconsciousness. and the prose-
cution commended that they were either
received in the struggle with the wo-
man or were self-infiicted.
An undershit of McCue bearing stains
of blood was also found. 1t was torn in
front as if it had been torn in strug-
gle.
THE TRIAL OF THE EX-MAYOR.
McCue was arrested on September I,
and on the next day the verdict of the
corners jury, holding him for the muir
der OF bis wife, was made public. On
September 10 the grand jury returned
true bill against the former Mayor,
charging him with the murder. Nc
Cue was arralgned on September %,
and the Judge set October is as the
date on which the trial would be gin.
In order to secure a jury the officers
| were compelled to go outside the cOun.
| ty. The case mad attracted such wide
| attention that it was hard to secure
| men who had not formed an opinion
regarding the guilt or innocence of the
prisoner. Special Yenires were sum
moned from Petersb burg, Richmond
Fredericksburg and other towns, ant
over 800 veniremen were summoned
before jury was secured.