El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-01-15
TRIAL
POSTPONED DAY
Delay of Arrival of Wit
nesses Is Cause; History
of Double Killing.

! san Angelo. Texas, Jan. 15.-Nhen
. the case of Harry ! SPANIEL. charged
f, with the murder Of his wife and Lieut..
Col NJ c. Butler, at Alpine last July,
1 was called in the district court today,
{ the court granted a postponement until
! 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. The de-
! fence explained that several of its wit
resses had not arrived, due TO delayed
/ trains.
: The killing in Alpine, Tex OF Lieut.
Col NJ c Butler. 9Th United States
/ cavalry. and Mrs. Harry J. SPANIEL by
/ Harry J. SPANIEL while the three were
I automObiling on July 20, 1916, and for
I which the latter was indicted on a
! charge of murder. caused a sensation
among army men on the Mexican bOr-
der. SPANIEL was indicted by the
grand jury at Alpine on a charge OF
murder but because of the local feel
| ing il was deemed advisable TO grant a
; change of venue and the trial was set
I for San Angelo
home at the Holland hotel, which Span
/ nell managed, and it was there that
! tbev met Lieut.-COl. Butler when the
I army officer came TO Alpine in com
mand of the cavalry troops on that part
of the border. Lieut--Col. Butler made
his Headquarters at the Holland hotel.
shooting In Automobile
On the evening of the tragedy Span
nell drove up 10 Allt AOhl OF LiAt AloAt-
in his automobile and invited Lieut.
Col. Butler to accompany him and MIS-
SPANIEL for a ride When only snort I
distance from te hotel and on the prin-
ciDal street of the little town. shots
were heard from the Spannell auto
mobile and Mrs SPANIEL was found IN
a dying condition in the rear seat o.
the car with Leut-Col. Buffers body
beside her. Her death followed soon
Col Butler ExOnerated.
Because of the prominence OF the !
victims board of inquiry was ap-
pointed from the army TO make an IN
vestigation of the facts leading up 10 J
the tragedy This board completely
Generated Iieut.-Col. Butler from any
blame and the report stated that the |
army officers friendship for Mr. ana
Mrs. SPANIEL was honorable and MS
conduct above reprOach at all times
Iieut-COl Butler was the son OF
Nai-ien Calvert Mathew Butler ire
tired) of South Carolina who was a
rife was the daughter of a leading
family of Nashville, Tenn
SPANIEL Arrested.
Spanuen was INN ediately arrested I
a,'j ca-ried 10 Fl Paso. where he re-
NAMED in jail for some time He was
then returned to Alpine and after nav
ing been indicted. the venue was
changed from Brewster to Tom Green |
county SPANIEL was brought 10 san
Angelo on Sept. -, 1915, and has been IN I,
this Jail since
SpannefIS 1tncT " TN
His father. Il years Of age iiIlNey
in san Angelo last Wednesday and
visited his son IN the JAIL rms Wa
the first meeting OF father ana soi III |
fou- years and both We're very emotion
al Tie elder SPANIEL IS harness
maker III the employ Of The LehiSn Coal I
Mining company. at Hazeltown. Pa
Spea king Of Mr- SPANIEL MIS- TAI
Conwav Tom Green county 1all keep 4
or saws. He has been GOOD pms
oner-' She makes many praisW worthy r. ]
III
duct She claims ne mas kept i-iuTl 4
peace among the other prisoners w 4
November. 1915. Mrs. CONWAY $ small 4
son fell from the clock tower or liiT
Tom Green county courthouse ana I'M
paled himself on the miniature steel 4
fence at its base He was hsld lheIe
several minutes before ne could De re- (
leased. After he had been carried home !
he fingered between life and death /,
for several DAYS. finally dying hurlHS I
that time SPANIEL kept the prisoners i
under such control that absolutely no I
noise could be heard down stairs WneIe |
The little lad lay dying
SPANIEL FrustrateS Jail Escape /
On another occasion. two prisoners 1
we're quarreiing on Christmas day !
They were at fighting point when /
SPANIEL said: in the name of the day !
we celebrate. let's have peace The 1
two prisoners Immediately laid aside !
their grievance shortly after the san i
Angelo fair. a number Of The prisoners /
MANNED an escape They notified span /!
nell that if he did not wish TO particl- /
pate in their escapade. that ne was
10 keep his mouth shut Through the /
efforts OF SPANIEL. though. the OH /
GERS learned Of the plot and intercepted /
Friends Of SPANIEL in his home !
town and in Waco raised "a large sum /.
TO employ a defence. Following are 4,
the attorneys employed for the defence !
l. A. Dale. Of FL PaSo- W y Anderson, /
Lee Upton. Of san Angelo. and Lud I
Williams. OF Waco Attorneys for the |
state are Walter ellis. of Del Rio, {
W. Van Syckle of Alpine: W. A. Wright 4
and }. A Thomas. Of San Angelo These
attorneys are now in san Angelo
Col Butler's Widow Arrives. /
Mrs NJ. c Butler. wife Of Col. Butler !
and her brother. r. =. 9 Howell. ar
rived in San Angelo Friday from Nash p
vile, Tenn {
Much interest Is being manifested IN
the case here ana considerable discus
sion is being made on the streets OF the
case Reservations have been made at !
several of the hotels in San Angelo
for out Of town people who expect 10 I
attend the trial.
Events in Spannelrs Life
Some Of the important things IN
Spannells life are
He was born in Ackermanville, Pa.
on June 8. 1873. and is of German deS-
his parents moved 10 Hazeltown, Pa,
where he was reared. There he was (
educa ted and graduated from their pub
lie schools. In 1896 he worked as min
ing engineer for the Lehigh Coal Min
ing company. near his home town.
From there he went TO Leipzig. Ger
many. where he studied four years in /
the Royal Conservatory Of Music. He 4
returned TO Hazeltown in 1901 and /
taught voice and music. During the
time he was teaching in his home town.
he was making weekly trips TO New 4
York. taking voice under nine Thurs
by. He also directed several church /
choirs at HazeltOwn-
Comes to Texas in 1904.
He came to Texas in 1904 and was J
at the head of the vocal department OF !
the Baylor university at Waco unJIf 1
1907. when he resigned and opened a |
private school and taught music and
voice privately for three years. He
was again induced to take charge of /
the vocal department at Baylor in 1910 |
and he held this place until 1914 While /
in Waco. ne directed several church /
choirs.
In 1914. his father-in-law. Col John
Holland. offered. as an inducement to |
get him to locate in Alpine, to give him I
the Holland hotel, located there. which |
he accepted. He moved 10 Alpine and !
was in charge of the hotel at the time /
of the fatal shooting While in Alpine
he taught music and voice privately.