The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1914-06-18
LIFE IMPRISONMENT
y FOR JOHN SHEAD
Jury Returns Verdict Friday Morning
Motion for New Trial Filed.

Jury Returns Verdict Friday Morning
Motion for New Trial Filed.
John Shead was found guilty of
murder in the first degree and his
punishment assessed at life imprison.
ment in the penitentiary by the jury,
which returned a verdict Friday
morning at 8:15 o'clock.
The State made an exceedingly
strong case against Shead, and by
the testimony of sixty-three witnesses
wound so strong chain of direct and
circumstantial evidence about him
that the verdict came as no surprise
to the general public.
Following is brief outline of the
testimony:
State.
Drs. Crabtree, Williams and Della
meter testified to the location of the
wound, the bullet holes in Queens
clothing and the cause of Queens
death.
Seven witnesses testified that Shead
and Jones were seen with the Horton
car after it was stolen. Jones was
under arrest for the theft of this car
when Constable Queen was killed
and Jones liberated.
Seven witnesses testified to the as.
ISOLATION of Shead and Jones in and
about Rich Hill and Hume prior to
the killing of Queen, and three testi-
fled regarding the sales of apparently
stolen goods which Shead and Jones
conducted a, different times in Rich
Hill.
General H. C. Clark and Charley
Scott, who were on the train when
the killing occurred, testified that in
their judgment Shead was the man
who did the shooting.
Three witnesses stated that they
saw Shead in Rich Hill the day of the
shooting, and one testified that Shead
told him Jones had been "pinched"
in Hume.
Dan Lowery testified that he was
on the outside of the car when the
shooting commenced and that no
shots were fired from the outside.
He described the condition of the car.
Chas. Horton, Queens deputy, did
not get good look at the face of the
man who did the shooting, but fired
two shots at him as he left the car.
Seven witnesses testified that after
the shooting they saw Shead in the
company of Jones in different places
in Missouri and Kansas and six wit
nesses stated that Shead had said he
was in St. Louis when the shooting
occurred.
Defense
Seven witnesses were called for
the defense, two of them eye wit
nesses to the shooting testifying that
in their judgment Shead was not the
man who did the shooting.
Clark Richie testified that after
Jones was taken onto the train, a
stranger acting in strange and sus-
picious manner, purchased a ticket
to Butler.
Paul Jones, the father of Dale
Jones, stated that he bought the lat
ter ticket to Los Angeles, CAL, on
November %, and that he later re-
ceived letters from him in California.
Mary Coin of Rich Hill testified that
Jones wearing handouts came to her
house the night of the shooting in
company with a man named Lewis.
She admitted under cross examina.
ton that she had made mis-state-
ment to the prosecuting attorney in a
previous talk.
Cora Dixon of Rich Hill testified to
the reputation of the Lewis boys and
said they were in Rich Hill the night
of the shooting.
Motion for new trial was filed
Tuesday by the attorneys for the de-
Tense, which will be acted upon Sat-
urday when circuit court will again
convene here.