The Mena weekly star., 1921-08-25
SHORTER FREEDOF
 MURDER CHARGE.
Court Declared Special Officer Was Justified in Killing Warden Dunni- gan, One of Men Who Assaulted
 Him-Three Held for Attack.

day night. Justice sam Smith, be- fore whom an examining trial was held Saturday morning, declared Shorter was justified m defending himself even to the extent of taking human nIe, and discharged the de- fendant.
 Shorter was formally charged with the murder of Dunnigan and the ses- sion of justice court held at the court house was for the purpose of taking official recognizance of the facts connected with the tragedy at the resort.
 Accompanied by his faithful wife and surrounded by friends, the de- fendant appeared in the circuit court room at the court house, still show ing effects of the life and death struggle in which he had engaged Wednesday night. Shorter's head was bandaged and he appeared weak from the injuries he had received. He was asked to testify in his own behalf, which he did, but his testimony did not add anything new to the story of the tragedy, being mainly a corrobor- ation of what other witnesses had told.
 On one point, however, the accused man was insistent and his declara- tions on the question of intoxication was emphatic. During the course of his examination Shorter said:
 "I understand they said 1 was drunk at the time of the shooting That aint so. was not drunk"
 Continuing his recital of the hap penings at the resort Shorter said that he was sitting down talking to Alb Ashford, when he was attacked without warning and from the rear. He did not know who struck him or what was used He said he knew he went down and it seemed that the whole top of his head was knocked off f. He tried to reach for his revolver and l it seemed like he could never reach it and get it from the holster because of the terrible weight that kept press 1 ing him down
 The witness told of how he finally got hold of his weapon in the struggle with his unknown opponents. While struggling with them he saw man with revolver in his hands and be- | lieving that he was about to be shot, fired. This was after he had heard some one in the crowd say:
 Shoot him, God damn him, kill him!"
 Shorter testified he did not know who spoke the words, nor did he know who had the gun He believed he fired three times. He remembered but little of struggling with Bell for the possession of his own revolver, but remembered telling Bell he would not kill him if Bell would let loose of the gun and submit to arrest. Short CT stated that he had only recently been named as a peace officer at the Bog Springs hotel.
 Previous to Shorter's appearance on the witness stand, the court heard the testimony of four eyewitnesses to the fatal shooting.
 Joe Jones told of hearing the first blow without seeing 1t. At the sound he turned and saw what he took to be chair wielded on Shorter's head. He did not recognize the man who had hold of the chair. He described the struggle between Shorter and the three men, none of whom he .ecog- niZed at the time. Later, after the shots had been fired, he recognized the dead man Dunnigan as one of | the three who had attacked Shorter. He also identified Grant Bell as be- I ing the man who had hold of Shorter's revolver, but did not learn the name until after Bell had been placed un- der arrest
 Art Herrin, whose home is at Hochatown, Ok, also witnessed the attack and described it in much the same manner as did Jones, making it clear Shorter was attacked first ] H. c. Mahan, of DeQueen, an em- ploye at the hotel, saw the struggle and declared Shorter had been set upon, but did not know the men who did it until told their names after the affray was over.
 | Walter Jones, proprietor of the Bog Springs hotel, testified he did not get to the scene until after Dun nigan had been killed. He identified Grant Bell as being the man who was struggling with Shorter when he ar rived and stated that Bell had hold of the officers gun. He heard Bell ask Shorter not to kill him and heard Shorter answer in return that he wouldn't shoot him, but would put him under arrest. Mr. Jones testi- fled Shorter did this.
 There was no direct evidence offered that Bill Johnson or George Jacobs participated in the struggle, but sev- eral of the witness told of believing they saw two unidentified men assist ing in the struggle. There was no evidence offered that Shorter had been drinking.
 At the conclusion of the. testimony
 Justice Smith declared his belief
 Shorter had done no more than any i reasonable minded man would have done under the circumstances and dis
 missed the charge of murder made
 against the special officer
 Sim and Charles Christopher of
 Nandervoort, who were suspected of
 having had part in the attack on
 Shorter, were arrested in Mena Sat-
 urday morning by Deputy c. w.
 folle, and they were given a hearing immediately following Shorter. The
 evidence against the accused was of
 the fiimsiest kind, and not one of the
 states witnesses could recall seeing
 the men at the time of the attack.
 The court ordered them discharged. Grant Bell, Bill Johnson and George Jacobs, accused of having participated Tn the attack on Shorter and charged
 with assault with intent to kill, were next arraigned. Jacobs was not ar rested at the time of the others. but was on trial jointly with them. Bell and Johnson have been in the county jail since Thursday morning. When the three were arraigned in court all waived examination and at the sug-