The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-04-01
MURDERED (
MAN TO WE'D
ARTHUR WOODEN COULD NOT
SAVE MONEY AS A FARM HAND
EAGER TO MARRY.
CRIME WAS A BRUTAL ONE
Yesterday the 1sYesr.oId Boy Con-
fessed He Killed Lonely. White
Haired Old Man for S615-First
Money Spent for Suit Of Clothes.

Carrolton, Mo, March 3l.-Was it
Arthur Wooden's easerness to marry
that prompted him to murder George
W. Smith in his lonely cabin in the
woods last Friday night? Wooden Is
Is years old To-day he confessed that
he had beaten the old man to death
with hammer in order to take from
him S6l5 check More than q year
ago Wooden lett his fathers farm
and since then he has hired out to
other farmers around the ne!ghbor-
hood a farm hand is doing well II
he makes SIS a month, board and
place TO sleep.
1 Lately wooden has been employed
/ by John Miles. a farmer, living half
mile down the road from the Smith
pasture gate. Through this gate two
wheel.tracks wind across the pasture
! to the little one-roomed log cabin back
, among the trees, where. since the
death OF his wife. five years ago.
George w. Smith. white haired and
I bearded. had lived alone.
II am going to bring my litur girl in
and get married" Wooden told clerk
in the New York Store here Sat
urday morning as he sized up the
tit of a new $40 suit before a mirror.
Wooden had come TO town that
morning and cashed s6l5 check. IT
was that action which led to his ar
rest. Monday G.. w. Smith was found
dead in his bed in his cabin. His
throat had been cut and his skull
fractured in three places. Several days
before Smith had sold lot of mules
and had received in payment check
for s6l5. The check could not b,
found in the cabin.
Il killed old man Smith Wooden
told the prosecutor this morning. !
did it by myself and for that s6l5
the road after he had sold his mules.
He showed me the check. IL would
take me many years to save S6l5.
think | never could save 1t. Last FRI
day night | left Miles house, where
| was working. jus, after dark. | took
with me hammer
AS | walked up through the pas
ture to Smiths cabin the door was
open. The light was shining out
against the trees in front. The old man
was sitting just in front of the door
reading a newspaper. lie never knew
| came. Neither of Us said word
hit him twice on the head with the
hammer and he fell out of the chair
| hit him again and he lay still. Then
| cut his throat searched his pock'
cts and couldn't find the check look
ed through his trunk and found the
check in the till with about 81 in
change.
Then picked the old man mp. put
him on the bed and covered him al
up. put some old coats over the blood
spots and went out and chained the
door on the outside. That was all ex'
cept that the next morning got of
from work and came to Carrolton to
cash the check.
Arthur Wooden is the son of Hence
Wooden, prosperous farmer who
= lives in the neighborhood of the
Smith cabin. Smith had lived In the
little house of logs chinked with NOR
tar for more than thirty years and own
ed the SO-acre farm he lived on. The
place is eight miles from Bogard, the
nearest postoffice. Arthur Wooden is
in the county Jail tonight Arthur Hu
ber one of Wooden's companions
who was arrested with him was re-
leased today.