Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1912-03-14
JUDGE AND JURY
ARE SHOT DOWN
District Attorney and Sheriff
Fall Dead in Hail
of Bullets
The Popular Agitation Against
Courts Has Merely Logical
Consequence.

Consequence.
! (By Special Leased Wire to New MeXican)
i Hillsville, Virginia, March 14.-In a
flame Of unprecedented outlaWry, the
entire human fabric of the Carroll
county circuit court in session here
today was wiped out by assassination
Just as Judge Thornton Massie had
sentenced Floyd Allen to one year in
prison, for aiding in the escape of a
county prisoner, two of Aliens broth
ers and several OF their friends open
ed fire with revolvers Judge Massie
fell dead in his place on the bench
the first volley.
District Attorney Falls Dead.
! Then the weapons were turned on
Commonwealth Attorney William FOs-
ter, and he sank to the floor with sew
eral bullets in his body, death being
instantaneous. Sheriff Lewis Webb,
who made a frantic effort to reach the
i ringleaders. was shot dead before he
had taken ten steps. Several of the
!! jurors who had tried the case We're
) wounded seriously, J. H. Blankenship
) probably fatally. The Aliens includ-
/, ing the prisoner and their friends,
!, after the killing of the sheriff, backed
!, slowly out of the room, holding all
would-be pursuers in check at the
i, point of revOlvers. Once outside they
!, made dash for the mountains on
, horseback.
Posse in Pursuit
A posse OF citizens sGOn was in pur-
suit and reports reached here that
:, one of the mountaineers have been
;, wounded in a pitched battle with the
posse. Special officers are being rush
ed into the county to help in running
down the murderers. Governor Mann
is holding two companies of militia in
readiness in case the Aliens and their
friends gather recruits in the noun
tain fastness. Hillsville is in re-
mote quarter, fifteen miles from Bar
ren Springs, the nearest railroad sta
ton and outside help will be late in
: arriving.
: Wholesale Murder.
The scene of the wholesale murder
was the quiet little old fashioned red
brick county court house, Hillsville
> being the seat Of Carroll county
There had been reports that an at
tempt might be made to rescue Allen
\ who himself had aided prisoner
I friend recently to escape county Off
GERS. The trial had been in progress
for several days, however, without
> any indication becoming public of the
t carefully planned plot of the Allen
brothers and their associates.
Floyd Allen had been found guilty
Il and had been called for sentence to
S day. The stuffy little court room
IL with its old stove and crude tuTni
} ture was crowded. Sidney and Jacl
> Allen were among the first arrival;
> and were seen to take their places
: near the rail marking the enclosure
l for prisoner and counsel engaged il
the case. Standing nearby We're thei
associates and friends from the Blu
q Ridge mountains.
q Judge Falls Bleeding.
Judge Massie went about the sen
:. fencing of the prisoner in the usua
, matter of fact way, but the words "on
year at hard labor" had scarcel,
passed his lips when there came tn
crack of a revolver. In an instan
this was followed by volley Of shot
and the judge who had partly risen a
the first shot. fell dead, and bleedin
on the bench. Commonwealth Attol
!. ney Foster was sitting directly i
front of the bench and vas the mex
to succumb to the leaden hail of tn
outlaws.
y Storm of Bullets.
The jurors wounded were struc
during the first fusilade, but Sheri
Webb, whipping out his own gul
made for Floyd. who had joined i
The shooting with an oath and decl;
e ration that he would never go to jai
y The officer was stopped by storm {
bullets and crumpled dead in hea
=, on the floor.
District Clerk Dying.
By this time the shooting in tn
court room had become general an
there was a wild rush of the unarme
for windows and doors. Dexter Goa
- clerk of the court, received bull'
wound in his neck and is desperatel
81 hurt. His death would mean the wi
'e ing out of the last of the court of
Ie GERS.
a. Judge Massie was one of the mo-
IL prominent jurists of the state, and r
I'd Gently was considered for promote
Id to the Virginia supreme bench,
n Mountaineers Defy Posses.
" Cincinnati, Ohio, March IA sp
e. cial from Bristol, Tenn, says that sc
H. enteen of the mountaineers who maj
ps their escape from Hillsville took re
&c uge in an old barn in mountaino1
# spot and prepared to resist the posse
g All are said to be plentifully supple
- with ammunition and from the adva
tageous position of the barn cou
withstand a much larger body of me
se $1,000 Reward.
~ Richmond, Va, March 14.-Govern
nc Mann has offered a reward of $40
for the murderers who escaped fro
re Hillsville court house, after havil
W. slain the court officers. The COVER
he or has also ordered Roanoke al
lri Lynchburg militia companies to
en-
CONTINUED on Page Five.)