The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-11-18
TRIAL OF TUTEN
He Is Accused Of Huldsrirs J R. Lang
ford in Hampton County
WHAT WITNESSES SAID.

II reary HarT1S, the w ute w Oudn Ill Cue
Case, the Principle Witness for the
State, Testified that Tuten, the De-
fendapt, Did the killing of Lang
ford, Which the State Claims.
Leroy B. Tuten, of Hampton
County, is not guilty of the murder
Of j. R. Langford, according to the
decision reached by the jury in the
case early Thursday afternoon. Two
and half days were consumed in the
trial of the case which was brought
to Bamberg from Hampton, and ac-
cording to statements made, it took
the jury scarcely three minutes to de-
eide the case, once the matter was
in it's hands.
The case Of the State against Le-
Roy s. Auten was begun in the court
cf general sessions at Bamberg on
Tuesday. The defendant is charged
with the murder of J. R. Langford,
just outside Of the town of Brun-
son, in Hampton county, about a
year ago. Both the deceased and the
defendants come from large and
prominent families. The case was
transferred to Bamberg County on the
ground that fair and impartial trial
could not be had at Hampton. Below
we give the testimony in the case:
The first witness called by the
State was DR.. J. w. Mole of Brunson,
who held an autopsy the day after the
killing. This witness testified that
the body of Langford was found in
the woods near Hampton, and that a
wound was discovered near the left
ear. The skin was not severely In
jured and the skull was not fractur-
ed, a hemorrhage near the brain be-
ing the mediate cause of death.
DR.. ]. L. Folk, the next witness,
testified that he yas the family ply
sician of,s,Langford and that he had
never seen any evidence Of apoplexy
about the deceased.
e. w. Addison stated that he saw
Tuten the day after the burial, Octo-
i, and that Tuten told him that
he had been near the place where
the body was found, on the morning
of the killing, and that he had been
hunting birds there. The witness
testified that a horse and buggy was
tied to tree about SO feet from the
spot where Mr.. Langford's body was
discovered.
1t was testified by Gray Rivers that
he saw Langford leave Brunson on
the mroning Of the killing, and that
he himself was in the party that
found the body about 8:45 that
night. He stated that Langford was
found lying on lap robe, and that a
horse and buggy was hitched to a
nearby tree.
J. C. Bowling told of finding the
body of the deceased in the woods,
and also stated that about a week
after the killing Tuten had said to
him that he had been near the place
of the killing on November 20, look
ing for covey Of birds. After find
ing the body, several men went to the
htuse of Mary Harris, and took her
to the Hampton Jail.
John Allen, a colored hand of Tu-
ten, testified that Tuten offered to d.
vide $100 among Allen and some 9TH
er negroes If they would tell the
truth at the trial. Allen swore that
Mr.. Tuten was in the field with his
hands at about sunrise, and was in
their sight almost all the time until
the train went by, which other wit
nesses testified was about $3.50 in the
morning.
A good deal Of Wednesdays ses-
sion was taken up with the testimony
Of Mary Harris, who has played a
most important part in the case. The
night of the killing this woman was
arrested, and after biting confined in
the Hampton Jail for a. time, she was
removed to the penitentiary, where
she had been kept since. Richard
Williams, the negro, whose name ap-
pears often in the testimony, has
also spent some time in the peniten-
tiary, where he was hurried soon af-
ter the homicide, the offers faring
that he might be lynched.
The testimony of Mary Harris, the
principal witness for the State, was
greatly weakened by the proof
brought out on cross-eXamination
that she had made a number Of con.
ficting statements as to who struck
the fatal blow. She stated on the
stand Wednesday that the defendant,
Leroy B. Tuten, hit Langford on the
head with his gun, but it was shown
that soon after the killing she told a
number of people that the act wat
committed by Richard Williams, and
told another man that Mr.. Langford
died a natural death. Several spirit
ed contests by counsel over the ad-
mission of evidence arose during the
examination of this witness.
The defendant sits in the court
room beside his counsel and apDears