Barton County democrat., 1914-09-25


cry of the murder of Lee Morgan,
Mamie McQuillen and Clarence
McGugin, one of the slayerS OF
the trio had been placed under
arrest and was confined iu the
Reno county Jail, and two days
after his first arrest and after he
had once been released from Jail
the officers had again had him
placed under arrest and had Sc
cured his full confession of his
share in the most brutal murder
ever committed in Barton county.
Tommy White, aged twenty-one
years, son of George White, Of this
city, and one of the we'll known
young men of the community,
early Sunday morning, in the
Reno county Jail, after repeated
questioning and after repeatedly
denying all knowledge of the
crime and stating time after time
to the officers that Morgan had
been all to him that a real father
could have been and that he wish
ed he had died with him, broke
down. and in full confession,
told the officials how he and Lou
McCurley, a young man who had
been around here for some time,
had planned and committed, de-
liberately, on the of The most cold
blOOded murders in the history of
the state.
Ever since last Friday night
when the triple murder was first
discovered by Danny Brown, a
neighbOr of Morgan'S, the sheriff
and his deputies and the county
attorney had been working hard
on the case, but at first it seemed
that there was but little clue upon
which they could work, although
young White had been somewhat
under suspicion from the start on
and the conflicting stories which
he told. Several people had over
heard a quarrel on the streets be-
tween him and Morgan while the
latter was in town on the day OF
the murder, and had known thai
Morgan had told him that he
wanted nothing more to do with
him, and had ordered White never
to speak to him or come on his
place again, from the fact thai
White had. quit him right in the
busy season and would not return
to work.
As young White was already
under suspicion as one of the per
petratorS of the deed, the officer:
at once began to follow out these
clues and found that he had hireC
a horse and buggy at the Daley
Livery Barn the night of the mur
der, and that he had returned the
rig about eleven o'clock tha
night. They also found that hi
had told his aunt, Mrs. ErneS
Beaman, where he roomed, tina
he was going duck hunting tha
night, and on searching the Bea
man home without his knowledge
the officers found a shot gun ant
a part of a box of shells of tn
same make as the used shell
found in and around the Morgal
home.
The officers wisely believed tha
the crime was one which, to ru
down, would require outside as
sistance, and secured the service
of James N. WilkerSon, of th
Burns Detective Agency, of Kar
saS City, and laid their variou
clues before him and he at ono
began work on the case. Whit
was at first merely questioned
a casual way by the officers an
was then let go with the impre'
sion that the officers were mer'
ly seeking information and did NJ
suspicion him as being implicatt
in the crime, but on last Friday
was placed under arrest and lOd
ed in the Hutchinson Jail while a
tending the Fair at that place, al
was given a thorough sweating
but he denied ali knowledge of L
crime. strictly maintained his i
nnetnce and offered &c lend wis