The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-03-16
HAYES mot GUILTY"
JURY THINKS The KILLIEG OF FLOYD
Was JUSTIFlABlE
VERDICT SURPRISE TO MANY

uLilUlUI UutlI HUI III WihNi
A Summary of the Testimony in the
Famous Whiteville Trial. SIay-
ers OF Floyd Stunned by Leading
People. Verdict Received in Sill
ence.
A jury says Mrs Rosa Hayes is
mot guilty" of the murder of Rob-
ert M. Floyd. The verdict was
reached Saturday afternoon and
came as a surprise to many of the
best people in Whiteville. The state
made out n strong case. 1t was
shown beyond a shadow of doubt
that a conspiracy existed to murder
Floyd and that Floyd was lead to
his death like a pig to n slaughter
pen, but in the face of the evidence
the jury saw fit to return a verdict
of not guilty. When the verdict
was announced there was a ripple of
applause from the friends of the de-
PENDANTS which was quickly sup
pressed. 1t is gathered from the
press dispatches that feeling against
the Hayeses was bitter--that only a
tions after the verdict was read.
few people volunteered congratula-
Following is a summary OF the testi-
mony 1T the closing days of the
trial.
Summed up, the prosecution con-
tends that Mrs. Hayes, although
married, loved Robert Floyd, the
loved III vain; that in desperation,
her advances having been spurned,
urged or forced by the will of Il
jealous husband who had gained the
uawelcomed secret, she took the life
she adored. Bearing out this the
ory, the prosecution sought TO
show, in spite Of her declarations to
the contrary, that Mrs. Hayes had
always loved Floyd; that she wrote
him letters i'll endearing terms af-
ter her marriage; that she told Il
young woman that she wanted to
leave her husband, go where she
was not known and have Robert
come to her." that so jealous was
this unlawful love, the unhappy wo-
man dogged the steps Of her beloved
when he went to visit one to whom
he was paying court; that on this
trip she followed his every move
with watchful eyes; that so enam-
oured was she that her ten-months'-
old baby boy was negligently left at
home from Sunday morning until
Tuesday morning, and that disap-
pointed in the failure of her cher
ished desires, her fury knew no
bounds Against Neal Hayes, the
state held that, knowing the state of
his wife's heart, either forced her to
kill his rival or agreed with her
that he should ne killed and helped
devise plans by which it might be
accomplished. To show this, the
target practice with his wife, the
letter he wrote to Floyd urging him
to come to Tabor, and the two sec
ret councils he had with her the af-
ternoon of his arrival, are circum-
stances introduced in evidence.
The Defence.
AS stated in previous dispatches,
the defense admits the killing of
Floyd by Mrs. Hayes, but claims that
it was justifia5le-an act necessary
in the defence of herself. To estab-
lish this, Mrs. Hayes testiony was
offered. Regarding the circumstan-
ces introduced by the prosecution,
the defence denied those which were
perse discriminating and contended
that the others were without sig
nificance From the nature of the
defence set up by Mrs. Hayes, that
it was an act prompted by the ne
cessity of the moment, it follows
that under such a plea Neal Hayes
could have had no knowledge of nor
any part in the killing.
State Scores Heavily.
The prosecution scored heavily to-
day with the testimony offered in
rebuttal' BY responsible citizens OF
Tabor it was shown that the bed
on which Mrs. Hayes says she scuf-
fled strenuously with her alleged
a4sailant was, forty minutes after
the tragedy, unruffled, except near
the foot, where a baby might have
been lying.
Seeking to show a malicious de-
liberateness and an awful determin-
alton to kill and to be certain that
she had killed her victim, the State
introduced two witnesses with whom
Mrs. Hayes talked soon after the
tragedy. who testified that the wo-