Goldsboro semi-weekly argus., 1909-06-30
HE KILLED FRED HOLT
Solomon Shepard the Negro
Suspect COnfeSseS
His Guilt.
Says He Was Alone in His Crime, and
His Shot Was Not Intended for
the Engineer But for the
Brakeman.

Brakeman.
Durham, N. c., June 27.-Solomon
Shepard, the negro of mysterious ac-
ton, has confessed that he killed En-
gineer Holt near Durham last Decem-
Der and that he had no assistant.
This startling turn in the dreadful
affair came last night, when DR.. N. M.
johnson went into the Jail to attend
a sick prisoner. Shepard had spent
the day reading the Bible, and getting.
religion. Why he took notion to un-
burden himself to the doctor, is not
known. but he did and said that ht
slew the engineer that night without
the aid of anyone.
The negro tells a reasonable story.
There never has been any large num-
ber of people who did not believe that
Engineer Holt met death meant for an
other man. The wanton use of shot
gun was commonly called Reuben
Barbee characteristic, but nobody
ever found the motive whereby Reu-
ben Barbee became the assassin of
Fred Holt. The brothers of the dead
man believed that their kinsman had
been murdered by mistake and the
negro says so.
Shot Intended for Brakeman.
Shepard says that he was put off
the train by a brakeman whose life he
sought. The engine that Mr.. Holt
drove was an extra and the negro was
on the lookout for another. There
were several men on the cab at that
time and murderer expected to get the
brakeman. He failed. Leaving the
coal chute, he said he fired at it ''just
to scare somebody" It had the de-
sired effect The Greenbergs have not
recovered. It was the Greenberg in
cident that had much to do with the
arrest of Barbee. He had trouble with
them, hated the family. The officers
figured it out that the man who killed
Holt, fired into that house. They
knew that Barbee hated them, there
fore Barbee fired the shot. But they
reasoned only half right,
Shepard remained in Durham until
about six weeks ago. The fact that
another man was sweating for his
crime kept him brave. He went over
to Petersburg and was arrested there,
but escaped after telling something OF
the connection he had with the Holt
murder. What prompted him to con-
fess cannot be guessed now.
It was not long after the murder
before some of the officers got on
; Shepard's trail, but having too little
evidence for an arrest, never gave the
cease away. He had been seen the
might of the assassination with a
shotgun, but he had not been more
closely connected with the crime.
That was two hours before the COM
mission of the crime. After the arrest
of Reuben Barbee, there was nothing
to fear. In that connection, it was
worthy of note that the tracks made
by the murderer did not in single
wise correspond with the shoes of
Barbee, but he was held and is still
in jail.
The doctor tried hard to keep down
the story that the negro gave him,
but it leaked out last night and swept
the city after midnight. 1t even
reached other towns. The press of
the North is following it closely and
there is big demand for copy from 10
cal newspaper men.
A strange coincidence in this case
is that noted by men who know Shep-
ard and Koonce Patterson. The only
crime ever charged up against Shep-
ard was that of seriously cutting
Koonce Patterson. Both are occupy
ing the same cell and each is charged
with a capital felony, Patterson hav-
ing broken into the house of DR.. j. w
Petty.
Had No AccOmplice.
1t is understood that Shepard haG
mentioned the name of man who
was with him and that the fellow lef
here the first of last week. The coun
ty officers incline to the belief that HI
had a white accomplice, but his con
fession settles everything.
Until this morning but little ere
dence had. been put in the Shepar'
story in Ohio. Reuben Barbee, who |
regarded as a shrewd and calculating
scoundre1, was supposed to hav
worked up this new excitement an
the scheme was believed to have bee
his own. But Barbee fought for tria
a few days ago, and that circumstanc
could not be explained. 1t now seem
that a man with bad name ha
spent six months in Jail for Grim
that had not been committed by him
On the strength of the latest caoe
of Shepard, It is understood that tn
attorneys OF Barbee will ask his II
lease. Habeas corpus proceeding