Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-12-24
ARREST IS MADE
IN THE CASE Of
DEATH Of z At
A MOB s HANDS
r. J, Burnett, Former Depu-
ty Sheriff. Placed in the
MorehouSe, Lap Jail on a
Charge of Murder
MACHINE GUNS ARE
MOUNTED AT PRISON
White -Robed and Masked
Band Is Believed to Have
Been Responsible for TAX
Ing the Men S Lives

Bastrop, La, Dec. 2S.-With
tenseness unequaled so far in the
Morehouse development, citizens
Of this community learned of the
arrest this afternoon on murder
charge in connection with the
death of two men presumably at
the hands of a white-robed and
masked mob.
IT. ]. Burnett of Syker. La, on
the Morehouse- -Ouachita boundary,
was taken into custody by Sheriff
xFred Carpenter and placed in the
Morehouse jail on q charge OF
murder,
Tha arrest here is believed
forerunner OF many more. Bur
nett is former deputy sheriff.
The sheriff said Burnett was ar
rested on the order of Attorney
General Coco.
Machine Guns Mounted
Machine guns were mounted on
the iail this afternoon. Those ar
rested will face the open hearings
ordered today by the attorney
general to begin in the parish
court here on January b, under
guard of state troops.
The Monroe national guard on
duty at Mer Rouge in connection
with the efforts to locate the
bodies Of Watt Daniels and
Thomas Richards, alleged victims
of the mob, folded their tents
this afternoon and are en- route
here to Join in the New Orleans
machine gun company and the
Alexandria infantry company,
An inquest was conducted be-
hind closed doors at Mer Rouge
this afternoon over the bodies
cast up by Lake La Fourche yes
.terday after unidentified dynamit-
ers had made an effort to remove
them from their watery grave OF
; four months.
The finding at the inquest was
not announced.
Oflicais declared they were
satisfied with the Identification Of
the bodies as that of Daniels and
Richards,
Dozens View Bodies
The bodies were viewed by
relatives and friends during the
day.
New orleans physicians con-
Quoted an autopsy to determine
how the men came to their
deaths. They declared the exami-
nation revealed that the men had
been flosged and some bones
were broken before they died.
They refused to reply to the ques-
ton whether the men were killed
before being bound with wire,
weighted down, and thrown into
the lake, or whether they We're
thrown into the lake alive and
died Of strangulation.
The bodies were turned over to
a committee composed Of rela-
tiyes and friends late today. The
funerals were scheduled for to-
morrow. The dead men were
members of families who were
i pioneers in this parish and their
sacquaintanceship numbered by the
hundreds.
May Kindle Outbreak
Many believe the surrender of
the bodies to the kin and the de-
parture of the troops may kindle
the outbreak between the hostile
camps created at Mer Rouge since
the August kidnapping.
Department of justice agents
and state officials have for the
past four months been under the
personal direction OF Governor
Parker, preparing a chain of cir
cumstantial evidence outlining
events preceding the kidnapping as
we'll as the movements of the
mob on the fatal night, which will
DO the basis Of the prosecution,
it has been reported.
Trouble started in Morehouse
last summer when an alleged at
tempt was made to assassinate DR..
ID. b. McKoin, former mayor of
Mer Rouge.