Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1906-01-30
in DEATH
STRUGGLE
Poor Old Tom Hopkins
Fought Hard For His
Life.
SMOKING WHEN SEIZED,
Story of the Murder AS it
Occurred in the Darkness
of Midnight.

Evidence is accumulating that
poor old Tom Hopkins was brutally
murdered and his body placed on the
L. & N. Railroad track, where it
was cut to pieces last Thursday
night,
The post norton examination or
dered by County Attorney Duffy on
information from Officers Duke and
Claxtpn and DR.. T. w. Blakey, L. &
N. physician, after an inquest had
been held returning a verdict of &C
cidental death, which changed the
whole aspect of things. DR.. Andrew
Sargent positively asserted that at
least three knife wounds were found
on his body, besides numerous cuts
made by some sharp instrument,
possibly an iron pin.
Subsequent examination of the
scene of the murder throws addi-
tional light on the murder. Late
Wednesday night Hopkins was seen
near the Acme Mills talking to some
negroes about taking him to Walter
.O'Neal's. They disappeared togeth-
er. The negroes are known. Less
than two hours later the old mans
'mutilated corpse was found. The
wounds on his body show that he
was seized from behind and reaching
over his right shoulder-the old
man was short of stature-a knife
was raked across his throat, which
did not make a deep cut, and
vicious stab was made into his throat
and the knife turned round. The
jugular vein was not cut and the
muscular old Irishman dropped his
pipe from his mouth and scuffie
ensued. This stRggle carried them
to the bottom of an embankment of
several feet where the cob pipe still
filled with half burned tobacco was
picked up. Finally the old man was
brought to his knees by the blows
on his head. A place on the ground
plainly showed the imprint of the
cloth over his knee. Then while on
his knees or lying PROSTATE on the
ground, the deep lunge was made
into his side, making a hole one
inch in diameter, four inches to the
left Of the navel.
Then the old man was dragged up
the embankment like a hog and
placed upon the railroad track. The
place where he was dragged was
plainly shown on the bank. The old |
man may not have been entirely !
dead when hit by the train, but he
was undoubtedly helpless and dying,
unable to even crawl out of danger. |
DR.. Sargent was not sure from the
wounds made by the rails whether
they were made before or after
death. The decorations were bright
red, but the chemicals used may
have caused the bright appearance
of the wounds. Whether he was
dead or merely beaten into insensi-
bility the work was completed in the
dead hours of midnight, and the old
mans body scattered along the rail-
road in ''San Domingo" one of the
most unsavory negro settlements in
the county.
The order for So which he tried to
nave cashed the evening before was
not found in his pocket. If it had
been cashed, the money was gone.
This is an important point in the
case.
The murder could hardly have
been carried out with more brutal
ty. The old man was harmless as a
child. He was drinking some, just
enough to make him happy and good
At 10 o'clock he was sing
ing jolly song on Ninth street, the
last man on earth who would think
Of suicide. The theory of suicide is |
ridiculous and not to be considered
seriously.
It was murder. bloody. brutsk