The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1921-04-08
LONG SEARCH MADE
FOR MISSING VAUGHN
HISTORY OF CASE RECALLED ON
ARREST OF MAN AT TAMPA
Believed to Be Fugitive Who Twice
Escaped-Death Sentence Held
in Allegiance
The State.

The State.
T. U. Vaughn escaped from the
State hospital, September Is, 1919.
Vaughn was formerly superintendent
of the Odd Fellows home in Green
vile and has been under death SEN
tence since 1912 for criminally as
saulting some of the little girls of the
! orphanage. He was in the State hos
pital several years for observation as
to his sanity.
Twice since the escape in 1919 DR..
C. Fred Williams, superintendent of
the hospital, has had leads on the fug-
tive, but both times the "tips" prov
ed false. Once man from the hos
/ pital was sent to the Virginia noun
tains to identify a suspect, but the
man proved not to be Vaughn. Again
a man was sent to Hayne City, Fla,
but was never able to locate the man
supposed to be Vaughn. Last Sunday
DR.. Williams got his first information
of the missing man. He received a
telegram from former Columbian
| at Tampa in which he said he had
located Vaughn and former nurse
at the State hospital. DIR. Williams
conferred with Governor Cooper and
| Chief Richardson and then wired to
get in touch with the Tampa chief OF
! police and have Vaughn arrested.
Chief Richardson also wired the Tam
pa chief to arrest the man suspected
of being Vaughn. The Tampa officer
last night advised Chief Richardson
that he had arrested Vaughn upon
Identification of the former Columbl-
an.
To Be Resentenced
Saturday before the escape OF
Vaughn from the hospital Judge
Peurifoy had ordered that Vaughn be
brought before him in Greenvllle TOR
resentence to die in the electric char
and it was thought at the time that
in some way the patient heard OF this
and made his escape.
The escape was made some time
Monday night, September 49, l9l9'
and was discovered early Tuesday
morning. It will be recalled that the
natient had a dummy in the bed
and this had deceived attendants un-
I'll the room was entered to awake
Vaughn for breakfast Tuesday morn
ing. The dummy" was made OF
clothes that Vaughn had been making
in his room by stuffing these clothes
in pair of overalls and throwing the
bed covering over the "fgure."
Vaughn was first convicted OF
criminally assaulting the little girls
in the orphanage, Of which ne was
superintendent, October 26, 1912. he
was sentenced to be electrocuted De-
cember 20, 1912, and this same SEN
tence is still hanging over his head:
An appeal was taken to the supreme
court and the lower court was afhrm-
ed. Attorneys then appealed tP the
United States supreme court and
again the lower court was affirmed.
| In the meantime Vaughn, then in the
Greenville county Jail, escaped and
was not caught until more than a
wear later when he was recognized by
South Carolinian in Baltimore and
arrested.
Question as to Sanity
From his arrest in Baltimore
Vaughn was brought to the state pen
itentiary for safe keeping and here
,,e created somewhat of stir by re-
fusing to talk or eat. His condition
was such that question arose as to
his sanity and he was transferred to
the State hospital for observation.
At the hospital he was closely watch
ed, but his case somewhat forgotten
by the public, until May IA, 1917
when the grand lodge of Odd Fellows
at the state meeting in Columbia
adopted resolution calling on Gov
ernor Cooper to investigate thorough
| ly the case and if Vaughn was found
sane to be electrocuted as decided by
the court. This was nearly seven
wears after the original sentence and
| it brought on a noticeable worry IN
the patient at the hospital, it was
said.
It was not long after this action by
the grand lodge that Solicitor Martin
of Greenville asked that the patient
he transferred to Greenville so action
could be taken as it had been seven
wears since the original sentence.