The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1910-12-02
MRS. MCMAHON ACQUITTED
Court Says Grounds For Acquitta
Must be Determined

Must be Determined
S~turgis-The acquittal of Mrs. Nc.
Mahon of the charge OF nu der, il!
this town.
The trouble leading up to the
tragedy vas Of several months stard
ing. Attorney Thomas had his Office
with Mrs McMahon's hus an dur!n:
Las lifetime, and the e ad hcen more
or less trouble between Tho as and
the accused woman over the Off 6
building following the d ath of Nc.
Mahon, who for thirty years had been
q resident of Sturgis and Meade u
ty.
1t was claimed that as the result Of
the trouble Thomas had tn eatened
Mrs. McMahon'S life a number OF
times. She went to his Office about
8 o'clock on the mornir 6 of ] ly 80
last. and the qua rel was renewed
At a certain stage in the pr C edings
Thomas is alleged to Rave reached
for his pistol, but he never 8 C eeded
in getting It out. MS. McNa.on i'm
mediately drew he" own wear n fro n
lax IOiuo " HcI uIeSS anu lI u, lie
bullet piercing Thomas head. He
died within a few moments. Mr.. Nc
Mahon was a med with a 3-ca'l Ell
Colts automatic revolver. TIL bull
let entered Thomas head over the
right eye, penetrating the brain.
There We're two eve with es to
the tragedy, One of these wa Will
liam Curper. who testified thet Mrs.
Mcmahon went into Thomas Office
and said:
Il want you to vacate this Office
According to the testin n o. Cur
per she then drew her revo' e and
fred. When size entered the Office,
Curper testified, ThomGs was standing
with his back to the doo~ taking to
Curper. He turned and SIN led. but
made no answe~. When sHot he fell
and died almost instantly, &C ording
to the testimony of Crrper The other
eye witness was w. H. Anderson.
After carefully inveetigat'ng the
tragedy, the c%o"oner's j ry 'etu ned a
verdict to the effect that Thomas came
to his death from a gus o. wound
inflicted by a pistol in the hands OF
Mrs. Nellie Mcmahon and furthe than
that no mention was made CT the
probable intention of the
Thomas refusal to vacate a peared
to be the only motive for the shoot
ing.
Thomas was about 35 years of age,
and was considered one OF the best
attorneys in western South Dakota.
His father and mother les de at
O'Neill. Neb. Mrs. Thomas father, C..
II. Hollingsworth. is a prominent citi-
zen of Hampton. La.
A big family reunion of the Thomas
and Hollingsworth families nd been
planned for August. All OF the mem
bers of the two families who 20 Id do
so We're to meet in Sturgis arfsA enjoy
what would have been one of the most
notable family reunions ever held in
the state.
On the morning of his death Thorn
as before he left his home. "a ked a
small suitcase, as he expected to take
the noon train for Deadw cd. On his
return in the evening he vas to AVE
been met by his wife and oh ldren
and all We're to have gone to Hot
Springs, S. D.. to spend Sunday at that
resort.
AS a sequel to the tragic death OF
Thomas. Mrs. Thomas, his widow, re-
Gently instituted a suit against Mrs.
Mcmahon by which she seeks to re-
cover damages in the sum of 10000
for the death of her husband. Mrs.
Thomas was left in neatly destitute
cir umstances, with five small chill
dren to support. The suit was insti-
tued for the purpose of compelling
Mrs. Mcmahon. who is a woman o.
considerable means to render all as
s~istance possible in the caring for and
education of the five children who
have been left homeless and father
less.
sturgis-In court this morning. the
court passed judgment that Mrs. Nellie
Mcmahon, who was last night cleared
by a jury of the murder of Attorney
Thomas, remain in custody of the
sheriff until her sanity has been
proven.