The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-16
BISHOP NOW BEFORE COURT Charged With the Mur-
 der of Reddoch. A cRENs, w COUNTY TRAGEDY IA WIS Infidelity and a Hus- bands Wrath. q liuc,paIn Two well Known and Es- 9 teemed Young Men of Luverne
 Who were Close Friends
 strong Legal Talent.
A GREENS, w COUNTY TRAGEDY
s Infidelity and a Illus bands Wrath.
px vii, T. sheehan.

Rx Will T. Sheehan.
 t,varne March -(special) )--Ap- ,,asI,nr to the unwritten law Oscar Bishop in the Circuit Court of Crenshaw County today ashs . iurv of his peers to free him from shs charre that he murdered Gordon Reddoch. ,
 He appeals to the unwritten law which makes the home breaker an outlaw-which puts him beyond eiie nrotection of the written law where ths dishonored husband, the disgraceu brother. or tho disgraced father goes forth to wreak his vengeance. lt IS lie rart to show that his best friend, Gordon Reddoch, young, prosperous and esteemed, dishonored his wire anu wrecked his home.
 Rut inc friends of Gordon Reddoch, dead and in his grave. are not content to have a stain upon his memory. Iney are not content to have 1t said that Gordon Reddoch, beliked by all who s,avy him and fiIiing a place of iul- nortance in the business and commer- ciaI life of Luverne. was a home nreak- CT and one who hunted down the Wits of his bosom friend. They are Tn the courts through some of the most ram ous criminal lawyers of Alabama, Tn sistent that his name be cleared ana that his slayer be punished
 
 safionel case ever brought to trial in the courts of Crenshaw county.
 On A warm night in July the men. women and children of Luverne were grouped about on the porches and yer andahs of their homes, flor the refresn- ments of the nights breeze. A teach ers institute was in the big two storted school house. and the lights from the windows was bright and cheerful. Elsewhere all was serene and quiet with the serenity of country town, when night has fallen. The big clock in the court house changed out the hour of nine in the still night air
 In a moment the quietude of the night was broken by a terrifying,omon- ous sound. The loud report of two gun shots fell upon the ears of the people sitting in the darkness of the reposeful night The shots were almost in the very heart of the little city.
 The alarmed people, anxious ana | frightened, rushed to the spot It was worse than any of them feared. In the yard of Dr. W. P. Knight under the sil1s of the rear of the house where 1t was high above the ground Gordon Reddoch lay writhing in his death agony. Near by nervous and ! wrought up to high tension his friend l oscar Bishop stood with a gun. the I barrels still hot in his hands. In the | house d WODldH WdS WSSpii]k DiNlCAlys ReddOcb Beyond Aid.
 There were hands ready to help Cor | don Reddoch. but he was beyond all 1 mortal help. A gaping wound was in | his abdomen and a gaping wound was 1 in his back
 Turn me over." he gasped to those | who came and again. give me some water" And that was ali. In an hour he was dead.
 TO those gathered about in the yard | Oscar Bishop said: T did 1t. I'd do il again under the same circumstances.' l The tragedy was upon the night oi July 21 oscar Bishop was given a preliminary trial since which time he 1 has been at liberty under bond of $3,' | 000
 The unhappy wife mas becn away | from Luverne since July. She is in At lanta, 1t Is said, at work in a millinery store. Gordon Reddoch and Oscar Bish' op are types of successful young bust ness men in a new Alabama town | young men who come to these new towns of which there are now so many in South Alabama. and grow to pros perity with the town. Reddoch was z member of a mercantile firm doing ont | of the largest businesses in Luverne | Bishop Is the head of a remunerative in | surance and real estate business.
 The two had much in common. The! | were members of the same lodges, in- terested in the same affairs. and eacl
 having an equally important part II these things that go to make up th' life of Luverne. At nightfall. just be | fore the killing, both were at work up
 on a committe engaged In reorganizini the Luverne military company.
 Mrs. Bishop, the unhappy cause Q ! the terrible tragedy in which frien' killed friend, was pretty, lively and at
 tractive. Of a petite figure, she wa
 famed both for grace and for tn
 sweetness of her voice.
 The prosecution in this case, of
 necessity, is called upon to defend tn
 memory of Gordon ReddOcn. It vii
 set forth the written law of the State 1 that no man is entitled to kill another
 even though he does 1t in the heat am
 excitement of sudden passion, when h
 knows that his home has been dishon
 ored A killing In such event would b
 manslaughter. And If the slayer,
 will be claimed lay In wait Tor m
 man and shot him down without hea
 of excitement, the offense would be tn
 crime of murder in the first degree.
 The prosecution will further SC
 forth, that it was the custom of Gordo
 Reddoch to step into the backyard O
 Dr. Knight. where Oscar Bishop an
 his wife boarded. to get drink of Wa | ter at convenient we'll IL Wl4A U
 further claimed that Reddoch was l
 the habit of playing dominoes at tn
 home of the Bishops, as well as else
 where. And attorneys for the prosecu
 tion claim. and will try to set fortl F that the husband had knowledge of
 hast infidelity of his wife
 Argument of Defense. . But the defense will point to tn ; place where Gordon Reddoch was foun | at the back door of his friends hous [ The defendant. it is said. will swea Q that as he stood waiting in the dark . ness of the house. he shot as he sa' l Gordon Reddoch stoop to slip unde - the house, and that when he fired h . did not know who it was that wa
 slipping through the darkness or tn
 night, although he had reasons to b'
 lieve that sooner or later some on was coming to meet his wife. And ! will swear, 1t Is said. that even as l fired the shot his wife was stealthn coming through the rear door or tf } house
 2 TherO may be strange dramat , | story brought out on the stand. as | tO etYdda0 bloOdV traEe0