The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-23
Jack Thompson Jumps
 From Court Room.
FALLS 35 FEET TO GROUND
White Man Charged With Double
 Murder in Conecuh.
Alleged That september Last He Slew His Wife snd Her Fathcr--2oo Persons Saw Desperate At-
 tempt for Freedom.
By win T. sheehaa.

BY VIII Ts Sheehan.
 Evergreen. Jan. s2.--tStaff Cores,
 ence )--JacIz Thompson. accused ]
 derer, this morning in the crov court room of the Circuit Court of necuh County. arose from his seat WI in tho railing and in tho presence If 1 200 people, threading his way through twelve jurymen sitting in the box. leaped head first from a second story window to the ground. thirty-ave feet l below.
 Ho jumped either for his death or for
 his liberty. but the fall won him neith- 1 CT. He lay unconscious upon the | ground for three or more minutes with
 the blood flowing from hts nose and with his face bleeding. for his head- 1 first struck the ground. but no injury 1 he sustained was serious. l His desperate jump had only one res
 suit: the trial of the case was posts poned until tomorrow. Thompson stands accused of an atrocious crixnes
 the murder of his wife. Mrs. Bella Thompson, and of her father. T. Ba Cooper. a man respected and admired throughout his life in Evergreen. 10 was sudden. and savage crime. Thompson went to the home of his 1 father-in-law, threw open the dining room door, and as his wife was busy about her household duties he sent her
 into eternity with q load of shot from double barrelled shotgun. Then shot Cid Man. He left the young woman gasplnB in her life blood and turned to meet her father coming around the corner of the house. His fell work as get un- finished, Thompson raised his sun second time and the gentle old man was stretched dying upon the ground This much, at least, is undisputed. Ia Is the purpose of the attorneys who ara laboring to save Thompson from the gallows to prove that not only ia Thompson insane, but that lie is of a family which has been attacked gen. eration after generation by insanity In 1 A ViruIent form. No such crime. no before been recorded in Conocuh Couif- | ty as this double tragedy of September l i4th. From county line 10 county Inc It's details have been told, it's horrors recited
 Thompson was to have been ar- raigned this morning before Judge Js l C. richardson to answer the tndict-
 ment In which tho State of Alabama accused him of the terrible thing he had done The court room was crowd ed to hear what could be heard of the sensational trial. Thompson was brought into the court room by Sher- iff w w. Pridgen and given seat
  peared to be in some sort of stupors feigned or real. Court had just com- menced: the court room was filling rapidly, several official matters wers calling for the attention of Sheriff Pridgen He stepped over the railing to talk to a deputy but was within two or three feet of Thompson. Ans other deputy was a few feet aways Lawyer E. c. Page was addressing the court on the uncompleted motion docket which was to be finished before the case of Thompson was to be called.
 Went Through Jury Box.
 The prisoner arose and threaded his way through the crowded court rooms He walked slowly but cunningly. He picked his way through the jury box filled with twelve juryInon and ats tracted no attention. At the window he paused not a moment. He touched the fingers of both hands lightly to the sill and dived over them into space. He struck the ground with stunning force.
 As he touched his hand to the win- dow sill, a deputy saw him and cried Look out The crowd in the court room had but glance at his feet in the air as he shot head first to the ground In the excitement that reigned 1t was believed that Thompson was dead, for
 
 tors found that while he was bruised about the face and suffering from the shock, he had no serious injuries from the awful drop through space.
 Thompson is q carpenter from Lake, land Ky He came to Evergreen some fifteen years ago and married tbc daughter of J. B. Cooper. while she was no more than a child. He took hIs child wifo back to Kentucky where three children were born to them. It is said that Thompson during ali that time refused to let his wife come back to Evergreen to see her mother and father. But her mother died some five years ago and as soon as she got a telegram that told her of 1t. Mrs. Thompson hurried to Evergreen to comfort her father.
 Thompson followed her and they cons ttnued 10 1.-Two here. Thompson was a drinking man and unpleasant. Some say he was odd.
 Mir Cooper who fell before the shot gun of his son-in-law was rensrkaDie for his slender physical proportions. JIe was less than five feet high, and his weight, so 1t Is said, was not so much as eighty pounds.
 rbe state proposes to establish a
 motive for the crime. Mrs. Cooper. when she died. left an estate- The s+ate yyil allege that Thompson was rn | soIi tbo property and turn the money over to him It will be alleged that cooner's refusal to do so enfuriated Thompson to that he threatened Coop CTS life and finally deliberately plan nod the atrocious murder
 The defense will tomorrow endeavor to secure a change of venue alleging tbot sentiment against Thompson in Evergreen is too strong for him to se- cure an impartial trial. If the trial is ordcred the defense will seek to prove that Thompson Is insane and a degen- crate.
 Solicitor c. R. Brieken Is being as- sisted in tho prosecution by County solicitor C. P, Walker and Ex-Con- gressman J. F. Stallings, of Birming- ham. For the defense tho attorneys are Col Claude Hamilton. W. C. Crumrton and State Senator D. NJ. Powell. 4 brother of Jack Thompson. uho is Chief of Police of Lakeland, Ky.s tu nttendfnr fha frlaI