Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1909-11-20

tHerald Specially

tHerald Special
San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 20.-Cfr
cumstances of peculiar interest sur,
round the killing of Nat B. Jones, a
prominent lawyer of this city. His
wife, Fay Heard Jones, is in custody
charged with the murder, and pleads
self-defense.
Jones' was killed at a local fashion
able boarding house in what has been
described as particularly cold
blooded manner. Four shots were
fired at the man, and when other oc-
cupants of the house rushed into the
room, only his wife was seen. Jones
rolled on the floor in culvulsions and
died shortly after his transfer to the
hospital.
The only statement made so far by
the woman is that her husband had
threatened her with a razor and that
she had fired the shots to protect her
own life. Around this statement the
mystery in the case circles. The fact
that large leather-cushioned chair
was covered with blood and that two
of the bullets had penetrated the
back of the chair indicates definite
ly that the victim was sitting in the
chair at the time he was shot. 1t is
not thought that the man could have
threatened the woman effectively in
that position, and that had he done
so, the woman could have made her
escape through the door, The razor
was found under the body of the man,
and its case under the bed AS yet it
is not definitely known which of the
shots penetrating the back of the chair
proved fatal to the man. Two of the
wounds inflicted were not such as to
render him helpless, but the others
we're of that nature The question
now is, was the man shot before he
sat down in the chair to receive his
quietus there, or was he sitting when
the fussilade began 1t is not improb-
able that the victim fell into the chair
after one or even two shots and that |
in doing this dropped the razor where
it was found There is a theory, how
ever, that he would have been hardly |
able to gain the chair in that case,
for the succession of shots is alleged |
to have been too rapid, the gun used
being an automatic
All in all, the case is one of the
most mystifying that has come to the
attention of the local authorities. So
far as the facts in the case are known,
the man must have been sitting in the
chair when the woman began to fire
at sin. The most peculiar circum-
stance in the whole case is the fact
that finger marks on the blade of the
razor are not those of the murdered |
man. When the razor was found,
Chief of Police Van Ripper was careful
to close it without touching the blade.
The razor, instead of having been
opened by the extension of the back of
the blade, as is invariably done by
men familiar with its use, had been
opened like a pocket knife On one
side the imprint of the tip of
thumb are plainly visible and on the
other the mark of a finger tip appears.
Impressions made of the fingers of the
dead man are said not to correspond
with the lines left on the razor. What
is SO unusual is the fact that the
razor is one used as a rule by BARRIERS
only, being of the BARRIERS Choice"
brand. The appearance of its edge
shows that it had been handled by
professional barber. At the store
at which the razor had been bought it
was said that both Mr.. Jones and his
wife dealt there considerably, but that