The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1919-05-20
AARON WISEMAN IS
SENTENCED TO DIE
Convicted at Shelby of Murder
OF DIR. Tennessee in jan
uary, 1918.
DEATH IN ELECTRIC CHAIR
Climax to Feud Existing for
Years Between Hennessees
and Pittses in Western North
Carolina.

Carolina.
Shelby, ~ c., May 19.-Guilty of
murder in the first degree was the
verdict of the jury in the case of
Aaron Wiseman. of Avery county,
tried here for the murder of DR.. F..
A. Tennessee. at Glen Alpine on the
night of January 81. 1918. Wise
man received the verdict with slight
emotion The jury was out an hour
and 10 minutes, and it is reported
that on the first ballot nine were for,
acquittal and three for conviction.
on the second, IL to one. Two
friends of DR.. Tennessee went to the
box and shook hands with the iu-
rors
With no sign of fiinching, Aaron
Wiseman heard his death sentence
pronounced at $50 Saturday after
noon by Judge b. f. Long. Notice
of appeal was given by defendants
counsel When Solicitor Huffman
was notified by telephone at Nor
canton that verdict OF guilty had
been rendered, he asked the court
to await his arrival at 3 O'Clock.
The solicitor had gone home on ac-
count OF sickness and the court
waited half an hour after O'Clock.
but he was DELAYED on account of
heavy rain until after adjournment.
June 20 is the date for the electro
cution.
A singular thing in connection
with the Tennessee and Pitts affair
is that when DR.. Tennessee was
tried six years ago for killing a Pitts
one of his children died. When the
Pitts boys We're being tried their
grandmother died. and the day
Wiseman was arrested his father
died
Killing OF Dr. Tennessee.
The killing of DR.. Tennessee oc-
Cured on the evening of January
81. 1918. as the doctor stepped from
train No. 21 at Glen Alpine. DR..
Tennessee had been to Greensboro
on professional business, leaving
that city for his home on the mid
day train. When the train reached
| Glen Alpine DR.. Tennessee alighted.
He had gone but few steps from
the train when there was a fusilade
of shots and he fell mortally wound
ed An examination of the body-
showed that some 10 or IL shots
had taken effect. This led to the
assumption that two men did the
| shooting. The following day Gar
! field and Aaron Pitts were arrested
| charged with the murder They
were tried for the crime and acuuit-
ted. At the trial of the Pitts boys
there was evidence that a man wear
ing long coat did the shooting.
Aaron Wiseman was arrested for the
crime and at preliminary hearing
! held for the grand jury. true bill
was returned against him and the
case for trial at Morganton. When
IL came on for trial a motion to re-
move to some other county was
made and the presiding iudg order
! ed that the case he tried in Cleve-
| land county
In the trial here the state relied
principally on the testimony OF Fred
Amos and Mr.. Ramsey, of States
Vile. Amos and Ramsey were both
passengers on the train. They
swore that when the shooting start
ed they looked through the coach
windows and saw one man with a
revolver in each hand shoot DR..
Tennessee They identified Wise
man as the man who did the shoot
ing. Amos, who didn't testify at
the trial of the Pitts boys, said that
the reason he failed to make it
known that Wiseman was responsi-
BILE for the death of Tennessee was
because he was going to Chicago and
did not want to he held as a witness
Killing Created Excitement.
The killing OF DR.. Tennessee
more than a year ago created
great deal of excitement in Purke
county. Suspicion was directed at
once to the Pitts boys by reason OF
| the battle between the Pittses and
| DR. Tennessee some six or seven
/ years ago when a Pitts was killed nv