Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-10-29
J. KINGS SLAYER SENTENCED.
Nick Wilburn to he 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.
rhe verdict was returned 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 ~.
Mrs. Katherine King, wife of Will
! burns victim, was accused by the
defense Of leading Wilburn to sIay
King, and to have maintained rela-
tionship with Wilburn. Mrs. King
will face trial here Monday on the
charge of plotting with Wilbn"n to
bring about her husbands death.
She is in Jail here, and Friday
night broke down. sobbing out accu-
Sations against Wilburn. declaring
mat he forced to do his bidding, and
that She had no part in Il conspiracy
TO bring about Kings death.
History OF Case.
The verdict in this case concludes
the frs; chapter in the most cele-
or Jones county. In the latter part
OF December, 1912, James King,
respected farmer living in the north
ern part Of the county, was found
dead in a field about one mil. from
ms nome with gunshOt wound in
his breast
1t was known that he had suffered
lnancia! reverscs, and the current
report that he had committed suicide
was generally accepted.
There were, however, among his
relations those w. } doubted the sui
eide theory. Detectives wero en-
pioyed, who, aftel several days in
NeStigation, secured sufficient cvi-
dence to warrant them in accusing
the wife Of the deceased and Nick
Wllburn, 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 Jail at
Gray, admits that she and the farm
hahd, Wilburn, had been intimate a
NUMBER .. weeks before the murder;
that she feared Wilburn would do |
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 knock on the door of the room
to which the jury trying the case of
MIS-. Kate King had been sent, and |
the Dallif in charge announced that |
the jury had arrived at a verdict.
Judge Park ordered the foreman |
TO deliver the verdict to Solicitor J.
r.: 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. If
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 |
audlence spellbound for more than |
TWO minutes after the solicitor had |
read the verdict.
suddenly a 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 |
'lWenty-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 |
cat. The Bible was the principal |
law book used by counsel for both |
sides.