The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-05-01
Killed Negro Woman and
Made Vicious Attack
on Late Employer
AFTER PROMINENT
RICHMOND MEN
Declared He Has Engagement to
Kill Wcll-Known Merchant
This Morning-Regretted
That He Did Not Make
Good Job with Fore.
man Smith.

81 have an engagement to kill Mr..
- tomorrow morning at
o clock" remarked James b. Pettus.
a young white man. who was locked
up yesterday on the charge of MUIR
dering colored woman, Lizzie Allen,
and attempting to murder white
man, Foreman William III. Smith. In
the new annex to Miller S Rhoads's
store. In the blank space was tho
name of one of the best-known busi-
ness men of Richmond
Pettus shows every mark Of having
been on a protracted spree, and. in
deed, admits drinking heavily for sew
crai days. Yesterday morning about
IL o'clock he attacked Lizzie Allen
colored, about fifty years old, the cook
at the home of Mrs Il, 3. Kidd, No.
III North Nineteenth Street. cutting
her throat from ear to ear. and killin.
her almost at once. Later dn tho
morning he made a similar attack with
a razor on the plumbing foreman. by
whom he had been recently discharged.
second murder.
Commissioned to hell.
When seen in his cell at the First
Police Station last night Pettus seemed
| much excited.
Almighty God told me to kill three
persons. and 1 did it, he said. 1.-TWO
of them We're in Fulton yesterday. and
one was on Broad Street.
When told that Smith was still liv-
ing and likely to get we'll. Pettus
begged to be allowed to go and finish
the Job.
Il was commissioned to kill three
| male people" be declared. "I don't
know what will happen to me IL I
don't do it,
He denied any knowledge of having
murdered Lizzie Allen. tho colored
woman. saying that he hadn't seen her
since yesterday.
On other matters Pettus seems req
sonably ear-headed though somewhat
wrought up. He was able to give
! his address. and to tell of his past
| life with some degree OF accuracy He
| is a Richmond man, about twenty-six
years Of age. and says he was born on
! the 18th of April, 1881. He was some
! what wild as to his relatives. however.
mentioning a number of we'll known
| Richmond people as his first cousins.
| among others two young society men,
! whom he stated he would kill as soon
as he gets out, because of their fall
| ure to go to see him..
After working in a laundry here for
a number of years, Pettus went, early
| in the winter, to Norfolk, where he got
! out of a job and took to drink, accord
| ing to his own story. He had an attack
| of fever and was sick a long time, and
| still appears thin and underfed. He
came back to Richmond about the last
| of March and applied to prominent
business man, who. he stated, is his
| first cousin, for $40. The gentleman
| referred him to the Associated Charities,
giving him a card of introduction,
| whereupon Pettus took an oath to kill
| this cousin" whenever they should
| meet. He said yesterday that he had
| called on him more than once to ac-
| complish his purpose. but had found
! him out.
For the past week or two Pettus
| has worked for plumbing and heat
| ing company, laying steam pipes In the
| new annex to Miller & Rhoads store.
Yesterday he was discharged for being
| what the foreman described as blind, &
crazy drunk and If he was drunk In
| the morning he must have been stu
| drunker at night, since he claims -
| have no recollection of events since he
| was discharged until he attacked Smith
| at the place of his former employment.
Murder of Negro Woman.
Yesterday morning about IL o'clock
| Lizzie Allen, who was cook and house
servant at Mrs. Kidd's boarding-house.
No. Ill North Nineteenth Street. Went
up to Pettus's room to clean up, and
what happened there is largely cons
lecture Certainly Lizzie had been
drinking By the way. she was In the
Police Court few days ago for that
same ofense.
| Whatever occurred in the room, tho
woman's throat was cut, the wound
starting at the middle of the back Sof
| the neck, and making clear wipe
around the throat to an inch below the
left ear. The windpipe, jugnlar veins
and two arteries were severed. the cut
being delivered with most cXtraordina-
ry energy. Coroner Taylor. who viewed
the body. said that it was the cut OF
! A. strong man, thoroughly aroused, the
wound being made by a sharp razor.
+ Pettus was seen by Mrs. Kidd in the
bathroom on the floor below, and later.
when leaving the house, he passed ans
other servant before any alarm was
| given, The other servant, Sarah Rob-
| inson, went to find Lizzie after time,
and discovered the door looked. With
Mrs, Kidd's assistance the lock was
broken, and a most gruesAme sight
was presented
Captain Barfoot, OF the First Sta
ton. was notified. and. With Detective
Forest Bailey went at once To tho
place. Onicers We're put on the tracis8
of Pettus, and the railroad stations
We're notified. The shirt and trousers
of the murderer, both saturated With
blood, We're found in the room. show.
ing that he had changed his oatee
clothing after committing the crime.
! When searched at the police station
! later III the day, stains We're noticas.
on his underclothing TO correspond
with the blotches on the shirt. whicnS
was taken by Detective Bailey,
The negroes OF the IeighborhoodI l
| we're greatly eAciiei hy ths news ori
| the murder, and all day long passed
.ne house and SaSed W 81 tAa wt4~4