The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-02-02
WHO KILLED MYRTLE HAWKINS?
Judge Ewart Startles Hendersonville
With Theory-Responsible Party
Free Man.

Hendersonville, N. c., Jan. 30.-Like
the famous ghost, the Myrtle Hawkins
murder case will not down. Never,
since the horrible crime was commit
ted, has the public felt that sufficient
effort has been made to bring the
guilty fiends to justice. There has been
an undercurrent of feeling all these
months that the light had not been
turned on either long enough or
searchingly enough. Probably few
gullible souls have been satisfied
with the official declaration Of the
authorities that myrtle Hawkins
came to her death at the hands Of
parties unknown to the jury" But
and here comes the rub-the vast ma
jority of people never felt that the
"party" or parties" should remain
unknown" to the jury and author1-
ties. OF course, due allowance is made
for the wiseacres, amateur sleuths and
others who shake their heads and look
knowingly whenever a murder is de-
clared a mystery" But the feeling
that "the lid had been put on in this
case, for various and sundry specula-
T tive reasons, was and. is shared by a
large percentage Of the intelligent citt-
zens Of this place. In fact all Western
North Carolina Is deeply interested in
the case, and will not drop the demand
that the guilty parties be brought to
trial.
/: A Confirmed Sceptic. -.
Perhaps the most confirmed sceptic
| regarding the efforts Of the authorities
to go to the bottom Of the mystery is
the editor of the Asheville Citizen.
That gentleman through the columns
Of his paper has kept the story Of the
crime before the public almost daily,
under the caption, who Killed Myr-
! tie Hawkins? ?" In season and out Of
season the editor has hammered out
! that question. As was to be expected
a perfect torrent Of answers have
steadily poured into the editorial sane
tum, and some reproduced in the
newspaper. Every conceivable theory
has been advanced, from suicide to
the statement that Myrtle Hawkins is
still alive. This last was based on
the correspondents opinion that the
| coroner's jury could not possibly have
| identified the body, because of the ad-
vanced putrifaction of the body when
found. Other theories, including cold
blooded murder, accidental manslaugh-
| ter and what not, have been advanced
Some writers abused the officials, some
defended them. The local newspapers
have fairly rung with the clash be-
tween those holding divergent opin-
:crS = -,.c,y -:.c, --:t1;-, -;:t..;;--, the truth to say
that 10 crime in the history of a long
lis: C b.ac7l c-i:le- hSc 50 stirred the
people OF Western North Carolina as
has the killing Of Myrtle hawkins.
History of the Crime.
One Sunday morning in early Sep
tenber Of last year, long bef3r2 thu
! summer visitors hal begun to turn
their faces toward home this quiet
resort among the mountains was
shocked and thrilled by the announce
ment that terrible m1rdar had been
committed in Hendersonyil'e. Coming
as it did on top Of several tragic deaths
from automobile accidents hcreabouts,
the whole population was keyed up to
the highest tension. The demand for
details was Unsuitable. Every news
paper that contained a line in refer
ence to the singular case was immed-
lately bought up. For several Gays
the entire people we're 80 astoun9ed ny
the little scattered bits Of news con-
cerning the case that it was impossl-
BILE to get the straight of the matter.
Hysteria seemed to have suddenly
seized upon every one officially con-
nected with the case. But as was in
evitable, the story in some of its re-