The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-02
CONFESSION GOES
INTO MINUTEST
DETAILS OF CRIME
Lay in Wait All Day Rather IMAM
Risk Killing Mrs. Ellard-Story
as Told to Solicitor Helm
at the Wetumpka
! = Prison
nv HIGH w. RonEnTs

the asApk, horrible and hideous story Oh
lated by nation of Felix Ellard, as re-
TO Solicitor n. duncan in his confession
| OF how the ma
| lowered prepared " the deatn ua
Trained from shootingYke' no" ne
presence of Mrs. Ellard; Rlctim IN Tue
the second opportunity; how a~a''ed
in fear of those he thought had
to take his life: how he kept his n
as result of free indulgence in fiquoN
| how he clambered into the tops of trees
to note the approach of the man to be
| Killed.
| And then
Elard drives into view Duncan. bear-
| ing the shotgun. races from the "blnd'
in which he had hidden. He halts. eight
| feet from the roadside. He awaits. wet
ting his dry lips with his tongue. Ellard
| comes on TO his death.
II hear you are going TO kill mer Dun-
can mumbles. rising with gun extended.
his mind and heart inflamed with drink.
l1llard speaks. The words are the last
ever to escape from between his lips
The shot of Duncan rings out. The horse,
frightened, springs forward. The stricken
man lurches to the side of the buggy. His
hat falls from his head. Fifty yard
further his body jots to the roadsid
He lays very still
The Penitentiary Scene
The scene is the penitentiary at WI
tumpka. Duncan, very calm. but nd
without a strange ana unnatural pallot
sits facing Solicitor lIeflin. There arr
others present. possibly future witnesses
The stenographer Is ready. There ther
follows the confession u the crime which
startled Birmingham and aroused the
sleeping conscience of Jefferson county.
Duty. alarmed. rang out it's calls to
arms. Every official of the law from
constable to governor put himself upon
the trail. And the result--the clearing
up of the mystery. the punishment OF the
guilty, the wiping out of the element
which had given Beat 20 its bloody repu-
tation. and the instilation in the heart
of the evil-doer of an honest fear for his
ife-and his soul.
Nov, Teck, tell US all about it,
1t was the voice of the solicitor.
"All right" Mr.. Heflin, where shall
begin?'
well, Teck." returned the solicitor.
you might begin by telling us who killed
old man Elard.''
And the life convict replied: IT killed
him, Mr., Heflin. am the man.
Merciless to Himself
There is but One who knows whether
10 ell OH
that mandate to tell the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth. BS. the
fact remains. of which there Is abuIl. 1t
proof, that the criminal did not endeav>
to shield himself. He might have beeh>
as marvellous in his imaginative power
as Munchausen. But had he been. and
had he been obsessed by the morbid de-.
sire to convict himself of the sin OF
Cain, he could not under any condition
have better succeeded
~ killed him, Mr.. Heflin. / am the
man.
From that statement. Duncan followed
each thread of the narrowing narrative.
He told of the plans to assassinate Ell
lard. He told of his fear of Ellard, who.
he charged. was prepared to kill him. He
told of how he went upon the trail that
Monday morning with a pistol in his belt,
and his arms loaded down with guns
Winchester rifle, to be used from dis
tance, and a pump gun for deadly and
certain execution in close quarters.
Duncan approached the home OF FL
lard. He saw the old man moving
about the yard. but did not get an op-
portunity to shoot. About O'Clock
Ellard drove from his gate, but Mrs.
Eliard was with him. From the roadside.
I Duncan saw all--but did not fire IL
is possible, as he states, that he was
restrained through a sense OF chival-
rous regard
Agony of Delay
Ellard, the man doomed. passes. Dun
can Is therefore confronted with the
dire necessity of awaiting his return.
He goes TO the blind How slowly
the moments filter by. He remembers
that there are men on his own trail,
that at any moment. leaden missile
might enter his back and send his soul
scurrying along the banks of the Stys,
there to remain. Actually he trembles.s
Why doesn't the man return? He runs
to the roadside. and there. protecting
his eyes with his hand. gazed intentiy
| He shakes his head and trots like the
| thirsty dog, back to the blind. In hale
| an hour, he climbs to the top of a tree.
| From no direction comes Ellard. The
4 desperate man descends. His brain Is
| in whirl. He Graves drink--not the
water which is babbling at his feet. but
drink: strong drink and blood red. He
| lFemeHlberS tHitt at tue oid Dtc itilhc
is pint which he had hidden the pre-
! vious' Saturday night. He determines
to get II and drink it. He conceals
his guns and races away across the
fields, two miles. He lodges all men
who come and even slips behind tree
to escape the eye of the wood chopper.
For Duncan is afraid.
Murder of Ellard
Reaching the mine he drinks, drains
the flask and smashes 1t against the
ground. He feels his blood now racing
! Through his body and his system glow
ing with a delightful warmth. He il
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