Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1910-12-31


has occurred in Martinsburg in re
cent years took place about s O'Clock
Saturday night at a point directly in
front Of the Kinsey Creque saloon on
West King street, and as result
James b. Myers, aged about 20 years,
spent Christmas in jail ON the charge
Of murder, and the dead body OF
Walter Rideout, a colored man aged
about 80 years, reposed in the Wiien
establishment, awaiting
the disposition of the authorities.
As far as can be learned, the nun
der was the direct outcome of quar-.
rel between Myers and Rideort after
the two men had left the saloon, the
fatal shot being fired on the sidewalk
a few minutes after they reached the
street. Many persons were%in the
neighborhood at the time and crowd
quickly collected and considerable
excitement prevailed. After firing the
shot that ended Rdeout's life, Myers
ran across the public square to the
Flick corner, where he stopped for
moment. Chief of Police Rind and
officer Seibert, who were standing
upon the corner at the Old National
Bank and heard the shot, gave chase
to Myers and captured him at the
corner Queen and John street. Be
lieving that some one had been shot
by Myers, Chief Rind said to him:
What did you do that for?'
Myers quickly replied Il had to do
it; there were four or five of them on
me-"
Myers was then taken to the lookup
and later removed to jail, where he is
being held awaiting a preliminary
hearing. He will undoubtedly be re-
handed to prison without bail 70
await the action of the next grand
jury, arldewill probably face a charge
Of firstdegree murder in the Circuit
Court. a.
The body OF Rideout was taken TO
the Wilen undertaking establishment
where 1t remained until Tuesday after
noon. when the funeral was held The
remains were inferred in the Douglas
Grove cemetery, about four miles
southeast of this city, near where the
dead man had made his home for
years. The funeral was attended by a
number of colored people from that
section of the county.
II developed after the tragedy that
Rideout and Myers had been in the
saloon, but whether they had been
drinking could not be learned Ride
out left the saloon first, and Myers
followed in a minute or two. Some
sort of an alteration occurred on
the sidewalk, and it is said that Ride
cut either struck or pushed Myers.
whereupon the latter pulled his re-
Volver with the remark that he would
kill all the niggers" He then
fired, the heavy bullet striking Ride
out almost directly over the heart.
Rideout fell but recovered himself
and walked into the saloon, where he
was met by his brothers, who sup.
ported him to the sidewalk Here the
injured man collapsed and was laid
eli the sidewalk. He died about one
minute after being shot
One of the first men on the scene
after the shooting was States Attor-
ney Noll, who took charge of the case.
IN. C. E. Clay was summoned and
made an examination and pronounced
the man dead. Coroner Kline was
also one of the first upon the scene,
and later arranged for an inquest,
which was held in Wilen's undertake
ing establishment Sunday, following
gentlemen composing the jury: F.. ID.
Staley H. S. Cushwa, Lee Siler, C. C.
ner. After hearing the testimony of
number of witnesses, the jury re-
turned the following verdict:
I'VE find that Walter Rideout came
to his death from a wound inflicted
by a pistol in the hands of James b.
Myers"
The testimony as TO the incidents
leading up to the murder was not
very clear. Mr., Creque testified that
the men had been in his place but had
rot quarreled in the room. He could
not tell whether they had been drink
ing, as there were a number of men
IN the saloon at the time and he paid
no particular attention to any one.
Scott Redmond, a colored friend Of
Rideout, gave about the only positive
testimony at the inquest. He stated
, that Myers came out OF the saloon a
minute or two after Rideout left, and
that Rideout was standing on the side
walk when approached by Myers. The
two men engaged in conversation.
and while standing in front of the
door four or five men came out of the
saloon in a body and pushed against
! Myers, who was showed against to-
ward Rideout. The latter it was
| claimed by Redmond, pushed Myers
] from him, when Myers drew his re