Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-07-03
sseHG'0B|assst Murderer P|I|sads
sung any Throws Himself
Upon Courts RepCg.
SAYS Ne WAS III DRUNKEN FRENZY
Judge sarham Hears testimony and
Dssldea That Prisoner Is Guilty Of
6 Murder Ii the Second Degree
! Story Of the Killing Of Matte
Lindsay, lsas

ss story o. the Rltling Of Matte
b Lindsay, ..5ss
..ss.s pleading guilty and throwing him.
ssEself upon the mercy of the court. Ed.
Z win Curtis Hammond was adiudgad
guilty Of murder m tho second dasrec
5ssi.ahd sentenced to fifteen years IL the
spenltentlary By Judge BnlHam in The
Il Corporation Court yesterday after.
noon. The prisoner received the yer.
dict In silence. but he WIZ WILL salts.
fled with tho judges decision. Had
= he been tried by jury eighteen years
Very probably would have been HIS
sentence and It Is possible that he
would have gone to tho 2allnws.
4; ~ Killed His Mistress.
3 Hammond Is u young mulatto cnok
who has worked In several of the locnl
hotels. On the night of Ap.ll 2. last,
he shot and killed Maths Lindsay, II
woman with whom he lived and who
was believed by all their acGunlnt.
nncos to he his wife,. Til, killing
d occurred ut 1924 Thlrty..rst slreat. IL
small house In Il respectable negro
neighborhood. in which HaTmoud and
the woman Occupied nicely furnished
and kept rooms on the lower floor.
In Drunken Frenzy.
! According to his own story AMI that
4 of the witnesses, Hammond waa In Il
drunken frenzy when he committed
the murder. There Ind been no trou.
bio before hand. the murder was not
planned and In all probability Tie
Ia a 80 It'll .
when he was firing the pistol
When Hammond went home IN the
night of the murder he fired his PISTOL
! on the back porch for apparently no
purpose. Matte Lindsay ca'lcl to the
people who lived upstairs to try to get
him In the house. hut about that time
.le entered the hnll and hogan quarrel.
Ing with the woman. Then Tho poo.
q Pile upstairs heard two shots. ani the
! womaa fled upstairs closely followed
by Hammond. who was Furnishing his
!, revolver.
Bullet Through Her Mach.
~ After chasing the woman In and out
OF two rooms. Hammond fired M.
other shot and ended tho race. Matte
I Lindsay fell dead In her tracks. i,st
at tho top OF tho steps. with II hi!le,
5 through her neck.
The murderer went downstairs. hut
1 soon returned. iTc knclt beside the
body. calling to tho dead woman IN
endenrlng terms aud finally sayilg:
MY God! I've killed hrr!"
He then left the house and escaped
from the city. He got into West
4 Virginia. hut Chief of Police Reynolds
6 located him and had Him arrested.
Pleaded Guilty.
Upon the advice OF j. r. Nowsomc.
the A colored attorney. Hammond
sspleaded guilty tn the Indictment.
(which was for murder in tho second
s3degree.i. Under such circumstances
ut ts the duty OF the Judge to hear
s8Seyidence and decide for himself
ssssyghs ther the prisoner Is guilty of first
s:1Ts second degree murder.
; 81 Judge RarhRm heard number of
witnesses. including the prisoner him.
saelf Hammond frankly told the story
sSnf the shooting as tits given above
llliam and Rosa Johnson. negroes
vhos occupied the upper floor of the
Ahouse In which the murder was com.
4 f1itted, told OF what they saw AMI
Sheard !.
4 Previous Good Character.
Other witnesses were examined,
& among them several well-known CTS.
zenss who testified as to Hammond's !;
previous good character.
Commonwealth's Attorney Robinson
ssssypas present during the trial to rep.
#fesentS the commonwealth. j T.. Now.
some looked after the interests of the
rlsoner, although Hammond was not
abie to employ counsel.
q