The Washington herald., 1909-07-22
STRUCK SUTTON
BEFORE SHOOTING

BEFORE SHOOTING
Continued from Page One.
with his right arm stretched along the
ground at right angles from his head
Jumped on him, taking him by the back
of the neck with my left hand and seiz-
ing his right wrist with my right hand.
My idea was TO prevent further use Of
the revolver by him. AS soon as / touched
him, however l knew he was dead His
wrist was absolutely limp l then took
the revolver out OF his hand and got up"
COrrObOrntes other Testimony.
As 20 the events that led up to the final
shooting. vikings testimony was. in the
main. corroborative Of that of Adams and
Bevan.
The first he knew of any trouble was
shortly after / o'clock the night Of the
tragedy when the corporal OF the guard
and Lieut.. Utley came into his room.
where he was lying asleep, awakened him
and told him there was a fight on at the
camp.
Dressing hurriedly, Willing went 20 the
camp. where he met Utley and Bevan.
Bevan told Willing that he had a few
volyers and had ordered him under ar
rest. but that Sutton had disregarded
the order ard started down toward the
campus, still armed.
Continuing his description OF the shoot
ing and the events that Immediately fol-
lowed IL. Willing said that when he saw
that Sutton was dead he took the re-
vOlver, which was a Colts .3S-caliber serv-
ice revolver, broke II and took out the
shells.
He left Sutton IN charge Of Bevan. who
was kneeling near mis- shoulders. and
Utley and De Hart. who had been sit
ting on him. He foun0 that two OF the
shells were empty and three were loaded
When Col. Doyen came up later Willing
handed him the revolver and the cart
ridges. but DOyen told him 10 keep them.
Subsequently Willing took the revolver
and cartridges and sealed them up In an
envelope. leaving them IN his safe until
he took them TO court the next day.
At the time of his death Sutton had but
one revolver, Willing said. The other
he found on the edge OF the parade
gDound about 100 yards from the scene
OF the tragedy the next morning. II was
a .3S-callber Smith & Wesson. shorter In
length than the service revolver. This
revolver he thought, belonged 20 Sutton
also. as Sutton had owned one exactly
Ike IT, This gun was also kept by
Willing and produced IN court.
Went To Rockers Aid.
Going back TO his story OF what fol-
lowed the shooting. Willing said that
when he found Sutton was dead he turned
his attention to Rocker, who was lying
q short distance away. lie put his hand
inside Rockers shirt 20 search for pos
sible bullet hole. He felt something soft,
bat could not tell what II was Finally
somebody struck a match so Willing
could look at his fingers 10 see II there
was blood on them. There was none Il
was subsequently found that the soft spot
on Rockers breast was a large blood
blister After a while Rocker came 10.
got up and said he was all right In the
meantime the Hospital Corps ambulance
came and took Sutton away.
Fired In Company Street.
Willing corroborated Bevan's story OF
how. one night Sutton walked out into
the company street al camp in the pres
ence of Willing and began firing his re-
volvers.
What was he shooting att" asked Maj
Leonard.
just pulling the triggers and making lit
tie display"
Did he try TO make any OF you dancer
He said something about Il. but Just
then the colonel came up. told him 10
hand over his guns. and consider him
self under arrest Sutton promptly
obeved."
When Lieut.. Adams was on the stand
during the morning session to-day Attor-
ney Henry E. Davis, representing the
Suttons, made a point which he and the
other Sutton attorneys consider damaging
TO the suicide theory. He showed that
Bevan. in his testimony to-day. said that
when the shot that ended SuttOn's life
was fired his right arm was stretched out
free from his body. Before the first
court. held the day after the tragedy,
Bevan said that both Sutton's arms were
folded under him when the last shot
was fired. The Suttons' attorneys MAIN
tanned that Sutton could not possibly
have killed himself in the manner de-
scribed by Bevan. since the wound that
caused his death was in the back Of his
neck.
Say Suicide Is Established.
The attorneys for Adams feel that the
has been exceptionally clear and concise
in the essential points. and that the sui
eide theory has been well established
To-day Bevan went over much the same
ground he covered yesterday.
II am certain. said Bevan. that the
shot which ended Suttons life was fired
from a revolver held in his own hand. I
know that nobody else was touching the
revolver when 1t was fired
Mrs. James n. Sutton. the mother Of
the dead lieutenant, who. with her daugh-
ter. Mrs Rose Sutton Parker. is in con-
tlnual attendance at the proceedings. to-
day fatty denied the rumor that an in
surance company had refused TO pay SUIT
tons life insurance because the first court
had found that he committed suicide.
Ever since Secretary Meyer, OF the
Navy Department, ordered a second in
quiry into the Sutton case, there has been
a rumor about that Sutton had life insur-
ance policies amounting to $4,000. which
had not been paid.