The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-04-23

by begged the coroner to take it ava
early in his confession. He deniet
that the jagged hole in the back O
the head had been made by a blum
instrument, as at first supposed, de
claring that he never touched the
body after it fell.
| Little Excitement.
The verdict of the jury was tha
McShann came to his death at the
hands of G. L. Crosby and his VILE
Minnie Crosby, and the two prisoner;
were returned to the county Jail where
they will await trial at the term ol
the Forrest county circuit court which
| convenes on May 10. The personnel
OF the jury was as follows: David
Farley. coroner; H. H. Warren, w A,
Lovett. A. A. Sumrall. w. L. McKin.
non, John Eure and J. H. Huff.
There is little excitement over the
affair, despite the atrocity of the
crime. McShann had few acquaint-
ances in Hattiesburg, and these have
made no threats of lynching the pris.
oners, though it is generally remarked
that the new gallows on top of the
new county Jail will shortly be press
ed into service.
The arrest of Crosby and his wife
was effected by Deputy Sheriff T. B.
Riley and Constable M. Riley, whu
were en- route to Petal to intercept
the murderers before the dead body
was found in the swamp by John Nc
Duff yesterday afternoon. Crosby was
taken in charge by the officers as
he alighted from the dummy train of
the McInnis Lumber company at
Petal about 5 o'clock Wednesday aft.
ernoon.
Additional kilograms have been sent
to McShann's relatives at McShann,
Ala, and his sister, Mrs. Mollie How
ell at Steen, Miss, has also been no
titled of the confession of the Cros-
bys. None of them have thus far
been heard from.
A surprising feature of the case is
that neither of the defendants he's
yet employed counsel, and it is doubt
full if they will do so, though relatives
of the woman, who are said to be
well to do, may try to save her from
death or life term in the peniten.
tiary.
Sherff's Good Work.
Sheriff j. c. Magruder is receiving
the congratulations of the people of
Hattiesburg for the manner in which
he went about the capture of the mur.
derers of J. R. McShann.
The disappearance of McShann
from his boarding house on Easter
Sunday was reported to the sheriffs
office early in the week, and foul
play was Immediately suspected
There was no evidence, but suspicion
at once pointed to the woman who had
written the letters asking the young
man to meet her at the Bouie street
bridge. While these letters were sign
ed Minnie JONES'" 1t was ascertained
through the postmistress at Petal
hat letters addressed to Minnie
Jones was called for by Mrs. Minnie
Crosby, whose name was Minnie
Jones before her marriage.
The best deputies attached to the
sheriff's office were put on the case,
and two of them were stationed at
Petal to watch the movements of tho
Crosbys, while others were detailed
to scour the swamps in the hope of
finding the body of the missing man.
The matter was kept secret
While The News knew of McShann's
mysterious disappearance, the paper
was requested to await developments,
and the request was granted.
While the sheriff's office has given
out no information to that effect, it
is believed now that the body of Nc
Sham was discovered much earlier
in the day than at first announced.
1t is certain that Deputy Sheriff T. B.
Riley and Constable M. Riley, two of
the best officers in the county, were
already on their way to Petal when
the news reached the city that the
body of McShann had been found in
the swamp. They were on foot and
had to run more than half a mile lr
order to arrive at Petal before the
train on the McInnis dummy line
reached the station. 1t was feared
that Crosby, who was known to be on
this train, would reach Petal in time
to board the southbound Northeastern
train and make his escape.
Officers had already interviewed
Mrs. Minnie Crosby and Mr.. and Mrs
E. L. Woodruff, and these three were