The Columbus weekly dispatch., 1909-01-14
SMITH INDICTED
AND ARRAIGNED
GRAND JURY LOSES NO TIME IN
INDICTING SLAYER OF LAU-
RENT, FINDING TRUE
BILL ON TUESDAY.
Smith Was Arraigned Yesterday and
Entered a Plea OF Not Guilty;
Case Will Probably Come
To Trial Next Week.

rent at Artesia. 1t was one O'Clock
when the inquisitorial body began its
deliberations, and at $3.50 the indict-
ment was in the hands OF Circuit
Clerk Gunter, having been returned
after only a little more than two
hours had been spent in Investigate
ing the case.
Sunday marked the arrival of Miss
Lelita King, the lady whose name has
been so prominently mentioned in the
killing of Laurent By Smith. Miss
King, accompanied by her father, Mr..
w. o. King, arrived over the Mobile
& Ohio at noon Sunday, and were
driven to the Stone Hotel, where they
were assigned rooms The same train
also brought w. r. McFadden, the
detective sent here by the Simmons
Hardware Company to investigate the
/, killing of Laurent. McFadden and
Hon. K. T. McConnico, leading coun-
sci for the prosecution, had met Miss
King and her father at Corinth, Mr.
McConnico, after a short conference
with the young lady, having proceed
ed to his home in Nashville
Miss King, while not beautiful, pos
sesses a rather attractive face. and
in manner is exceedingly vivacious
She talked freely to newspaper men,
but positively refused to discuss the
Smith Laurent killing or anything
connected with it. She talked of the
weather and on many other matters
entirely foreign to the killing, her
closest approach to the all-impOrtant
subject having been an enthusiastic
reference to the Smith home near Ar
tesla. When asked about the place
she replied:
"Oh, it is one of the loveliest
Southern homes you can imagine.
There is the funniest old negro out
there, named Bill, you ever saw in
your life.''
The importance of Miss Kings con-
nection with the case has been to
some extent nullified by the issuance
by Mr.. Smith of a card in which he
withdraws and apologies for the
statement made by him to the effect
that the young lady aided and abetted
Laurent in a successful effort to ac-
complish the ruin of his daughter
In this statement Smith says:
''The statement aspersing my rela-
tive, Miss King, was, as I stated at
the time, mere suspicion, and was
made without the slightest founda-
tion of fact, and was no more than
an absolutely unfounded suspicion of
man in the condition at the time
that rendered him absolutely ire
sponsible. I desire to completely
withdraw any statement of suspicion
made by me derogatory to my rela-
tive, Miss Kings, character, to apollo
gize for it, and to express my pro-
found regret that in an insane mo-
ment I stated my suspicious upon
mere appearances, which l now real |
ize were untrue"
1t has been rumored that Miss /
King intends to institute suit against |
Smith for large sum of money, al
legged defamation of character being |
the basis of the suit. The young 1
1ady's father was asked about this /
suit, but declined to either affirm or
deny the rumor.
Circuit Court convened Monday, |
and while Judge Buckley did not spe- |
mention the Smith-Laurent /
tragedy in his charge to the grand 4
jury he made it very plain to mem /
bers of the inquisitoria1 body that he /
expected an Indictment in the case. /
He told them emphatically that it was /
their duty to fully investigate all /
crimes and return indictments wher-
ever the law had been violated de-
claring that the grand jury was mere
ly an inquisitorial body and it should
be left to a court trial to determine
the guilt or innocence of the parties
accused. On several occasions during
recent years men who have taken hu-
man life have escaped indictment
influential friends in the grand jury
room, and Judge Buckley evidently
had knowledge of this fact. He i'm
pressed upon the jurymen the fact
that their deliberations must be kept
secret, and instructed the foreman to
promptly report TO the court any in
reference from extraneous sources.
That Judge Buck1ey's charge was not
without effect is evinced by the
with which the indict-
nent against Smith was returned.
Smith was arraigned before Judge
Buckley yesterday afternoon, and en-
tered plea of not guilty to the
charge of murder. Hon. S. A. With