The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1906-2016, 1910-07-23
THE CASE IS NOW
WELL UNDER WAY
ONE WITNESS TESTIFIED THAT
HE SAW LYENS WHEN HE
FIRED SMITHS GUN.
The State is Making Out Strong
Case Against the Two Defendants
To Be Held.

Because of the illness of juror c..
C. Califf, the Lyons case was not re-
'sumed until ten o'clock yesterday
morning. At that time the stricken
juror, who is suffering from an attack
of billiousness, announced that he
thought he was able to resume the
work and he did SO, sticking out
splendidly all day.
The day was the most interesting
one during the process of the trial,
as the state devoted itself to the task
of building up and weaving about
the defendants a mass of almost un-
surmountable evidence and that, too,
on the part of new witnesses who did
not testify in the previous trial,
while those who had been sworn in
the first hearing of the case. were
equally as strong in their line of
testimony.
Strong Evidence.
During the day four Or five wit
nesses were introduced, and the evil
dence of some Of them was strong
and the large number of citizens
who spent almost the entire day in
the court room, were free to admit
after the days proceedings, that the
state had built up such a strong case
of murder against the defendants,
that they could hardly see how the
defense could overcome it. There
were witnesses who testified that
they saw Lyons shooting his pistol
that they saw him strike Fleming
Smith with a gun, and, seconl Or
two later, saw him fire the shot gun
of the dead man. The state is, as is
well known, contending TINT after
Smith had been murdered by the
two defendants the elder Lyons fired
off the gun of the decea sed and all
of the testimony so far introduced
has been to establish this fact Ev-
cry witness swears that there was
first fuslilade of pistol shots, then
a short interval, then another volley
and then, a few seconds later, two or
three more shots which sounied Iced
er than the first shots, indicating that
the last two shots were hose fired
from the dead man gun by Lyons.
When the case was taken up, J. J.
Hill, now Of Florida, formerly of les
up, was on the stand on the cross ex-
animation. 1t was Hill who had
slept at the Lyons hcme on the night
previous to the tragedy and who, on
the day of the killing, heard Lyens
say that he had already said enough
to Smith to make him fight or kill
and that he was going to see him
again that day. Though subjected to
a severe cross-examination, his evil
dence was not shaken in the slight
est. He swore in rebutal that there
was no strained relations between
himself and Lyons and that they had
always been perfect freinds"
The next witness sworn was Ben
Jamin Hops, clerk in the Office of
the Southern Express company at
Jesup, which is located close to the
drug store where the killing occu.
red. He testified that he saw Lyons |
on the morning of the day CT the |
killing and that in the presence of |
J. R. Thomas, one of the attorneys |
for the defense, he heard Lyons |
make use of this remark, "If Fleming |
Smith does not keep his mouth out |
of my business, l am going to blow
his c. D. head off," On the
cross examination, Mr.. Hops swore
that he did not tell the states coun-
sci of this conversation as he did not |
wish to get mixed up in the case. He
was positive that Attorney Thomas
overheard the conversation.
Damaging Testimony.
The most damaging testimony of |
the day, for the fact that it was new
evidence and included the dying de-
claration of the dead man, came from |
the next witness, Rev. A. J. Horton,
a minister who has churches at Win
ouka, Bristol and Consolation, little
towns near Jesup. Mr.. Hort)n is a |
Mason and stands well in Jesup, |
where he has resided all of his life, |
save for few years spent near there
He said that on the day of the shoot |
ing ne was in the neighborhood of
the drug store. and reached the scene
a few minutes after Smith had been
shot and after they had removed him |
to the rooms over the drug store but |