The Mena weekly star., 1913-08-14
1 |CALLOWS SAYS
 HE IS INNOCENT
's Davidson, Boone County Man,
 noed at l1:02 O'Clock Monday s, Harrison for the Murder of Ella Barham.

HarrisOn. Aug. 11.-OduS DaNld- a aged 30 years, son of a former &Ijce of the peace, and member |a well known family, was hanged
 .02 o'clock this morning for < murder of Ella Barham, IS
 K old. daughter of a farmer, .ose mutilated remains were 'snd in a field near Pleasant Ridge, # county, November 2i, last. Da-
 ]son died instantly. He main |aed his innocence to the last. 4is last statement was:
 aPeople. l am innocent of the |ne and hope some day it will be |9Nn who did it"
 kn immense crowd was present, 4 ;here was no disturbance.
 History of the Crime.
 phe crime for which Odus David 4 today paid the death penalty x most atrocious one, and has msed interest all over the coun- 4 There is little sympathy nughout this section except for & family of the young man, who 4 highly respected and conducted &nselyes honorably throughout 8 trial.
 8n November 2l, 1912, Miss Ella eham. a young lady IS years old, 4ps near Pleasant Ridge, in the #ern part of this county, left |r home at : o'clock in the morn * to visit a neighbOr who had 8m,icd to help her trim a hat. R passed by the home of Odus kidsou. who lived with his father Ailc from the Barham home, n lo the neighbor's, and return I passed the Davidson home about
 B0. II was here she was seen &e for the last time, stopping to 4irc of Mrs. Davidson concern sick baby.
 # Committed in Il Graveyard. Between the Davidson and Bar zh farms there is a graveyard, kere it is thought the crime was bmtted,
 The srl not returning, the fam Ebecame alarmed during the aft hoou and her brother traced her #he neighbours house and back to R Davidson farm, where all traces ke out. The neighborhOod was hlmoued and hundreds of people arched the woods until 10 o'clock Rt night, when a hunting party Bs guided to the dismembered by by the scent of their dogs. 1hc head mad been cut off, the hy cut in two at the waist and k legs severed. The scattered re- aluS were across the creek in a har thicket from the road the girl kl been travelling.
 ln the opinion of those who stud ] the crime on the ground, she Fl been knocked from her horse Hh a big rock about quarter of ! Imile from the Davidson home, E the body hidden in the brush il after dark, when it was car Pd distance of half a mile across R creek and into an out-of-the- Hy place, where it was violated hI mutilated.
 Davidson Was Indifferent. When asked to assist in the hunt ! the girl Odus Davidson made lne excuse and did not go. This, eethcr with the fact that he was Projected suitor and had made RealS against her, added to other Epltions and led to the swearing II Of a warrant by the girls faith under which he was arrested. Nhen the sheriff went to arrest RNldson the young man was up- DTS, and before coming down he Pew from the window a pair of Fl socks with pepper in them, opposed to have been used to Pow the dogs off his scent. The lerlll also found at the woodpile a pody axe which experts decided ps stained with human blood. Impression of DavidsOn's Foot. |At the coroner's inquest an i'm |esslon of Davidson's foot was |ken in flour, which tallied re- nrkably with the impressions in le sand at the creek-side near Pere the body was found. A |other of the condemned man tes- 'led before the ceroner's jury that leit the house about o'clock lfFylng an axe, but afterward de- 'ed this at the trial.
 IpaVldSon was put on trial Janu- |y 2l' 1913, two months after the |ufder' Four days later he was 'uld guilty and sentenced to be phged March 2i. On the last 'elllhg of the trial, after the case pu gone to the jury, the court and 'sorheys for the defense became 'a,ined for fear of mob violence 'i1 \ a nad Davidson taken back to the pl at Berryville, where he had Pg sn confined. In order to have the Iuse do this, Davidson's attorneys 'eheu an agreement waiving his
 n enss to be present at the time the
 aqict was rendered. At & o'clock
 sna ,a. hlght the verdict of guilty was
 'uaed in by the jury.
 alllrmed by Supreme Court. III the motion for a new trial be- ba the Supreme court the fact ho paVldson was not present when t verdict was randered vas re-