Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-10-29
J. KINGS SLAYER SENTENCED.
Nick Wilburn to BE Hanged-Vic-
TINS Widow to BE Tried,

| GrayS, Ca, Oct. 25.-"Guilty with
out recommendation OF mercy" was
the verdict Of the jury in the case Of
Nick Wilburn, the Jones county far
mer who has been on trial here since
Thursday for the murder Of James
| King.
The verdict was turned shortly
after | O'Clock this afternoon. The
| jury had been out since II o'clock.
The judge at once sentenced Wilburn
to hang on December II.
Mrs. Katherine King, wife Of Will
burns victim, was accused by the
defense of leading Wilburn to slay
King, and to have maintained rela-
tionship with Wilburn. Mrs. King
will face trial here Monday on the
charge of plotting with Wilburn to
bring about her husbands death.
She is in jail here, and Friday
night broke down, sobbing out accu-
SatiOns against Wilburn. declaring
that he forced to do his bidding, and
That she had no part in conspiracy
to bring about Kings death.
History Of Case.
The verdict in this case concludes
the first chapter in the most cele-
bratcd criminal case in the history
OF Jones county. In the latter part
OF December, 1912. James King, a
respected farmer living in the north
crn part Of the county, was found
dead in a field about one mile from
his home with a gunshOL wound in
his breast.
1t was known that he had suffered
financial reverSCS, and the current
report that he had committed suicide
was generally accepted
There were, however. among his
relations those who doubted the sui
eide theory. Detectives were en-
ployed, who, after several days in
NeStigation, secured sufficient cvi-
dence to warrant them in accusing
the wife of the dece" Sed and Nick
Wilburn, farm hand IN the employ
OF King, with having jointly plotted
and executed the murder.
Mrs. King and Nick Wilburn were
arrested, charged with the crime.
and, according to the testimony of
the detectives, confessed
Mrs. King, who is now in iail at
Gray, admits that she and the farm
hand, Wilburn, had been intimate a
number Of weeks before the murder;
that she feared Wilburn would do
violence to her husband, but that she
at no time consented to or counseled
the killing of her husband.
Mrs. King Not Guilty.
Grays, Ga, Oct. 2S.-At 4.O5 there
was a knock on the door Of the room
to which the jury trying the case OF
Mrs. Kate King had been sent, and
the bailiff in charge announced that
the jury had arrived at verdict.
Judge Park ordered the foreman
to deliver the verdict to Solicitor J.
E. Pottle, amidst the most dramatic
silence ever witnessed in a Jones
county court house. w. w. Barron.
the foreman Of the jury, handed the
indictment upon which was written
the verdict, to Solicitor Pottle. 1t
contained the simple statement:
We, the jury, find the defendant
not guilty"
This case has attracted so much
attention and the interest Of the peo-
pie in the result has been keyed to
such an extent that there was a
tenseness in the court room that
could not be broken in a moment.
Silence intense and dramatic held the
audience spellbound for more than
two minutes after the solicitor had
read the verdict.
Suddenly piercing shrek from
Mrs. King showed that the import Of
the verdict had found its way into
her mind. She fell sobbing into the
arms Of her brother, w. S. Simmons,
who has been the only friend out
side of her counsel who had stood by
her during the trial.
j. A. Henderson, representative in
the Legislature from Jones county,
and w. ID. McNeill, Senator from the
Twenty-second District, are being
congratulated on all sides upon their
victory. The burden of the argu-
ment for the defense was, "The wo-
man gave me OF the tree and | did
eat. The Bible was the principal
law book used by counsel for both
sides.