The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1922-06-08
BICHAM CASE
ARGUED TOMORROW
NEW TRIAL WILL BE ASKED ON
GROUND OF NEWLY DIS
COVERED EVIDENCE.
(From The Florence Times.)


court, will hear a motion of A. L.
King, attorney fer the defense, to
give Edmund D. Bigham a new tual
on the charge cf having killed MS
brother, L. Smiley Bigham. The mo-
ton will be on the ground of after
discovered evidence, which would tend
to show that L. S. Bigham killed him
self, instead of being killed by Ed
mund, and further that L. S. Bigham
killed their mother, their sister, and
her two adopted children, for whose
murder Edmund is also indicted.
Formal notice was given by the de-
Tense Monday morning to L. M. Gas
que, solicitor of the court, of the ap-
preaching contest. At the same time,
the defense filed with him copy of
the letters, affidavits, anG other data,
which will be offered TO the court as
after discovered evidence. Mendel L.
Smith, of Camden, is expected to as
sist the defense in arguing the mo-
tion for a new trial.
Chief among the letters, all of which
are contended by the deterse to have
been written by Smiley, at Pamplico,
to Edmund in South Georgia, is the
following:
"siother and Margie and the two
signed deeds that had disappeared in
Their possession. Causing trouble
seems to be their pleasure. They took
the money that the P. D. Department
had me charged with and were the
cause of Cleveland running off. And
1 h I'd to pay the bond. For years
have had to leave home and pay board
to be in peace to make my calculations
and plans.
They poisoned father and tried to
poison Leatha's child, after her death
when I found them with the deeds l
decided to kill the last one of them
and leave no one to tell the tale.
/ am writing this to explain why
/ did this. act. You will never see
me again alive.
L. S. Bigham."
This letter is one of series which
were written during the summer and
the early fall of 1920, leading up to
the return of Edmund to Pamplico in
the fall of that year. This particular
letter does not bear any date though
all the others bear dates through
June, July and August, possibly some
of them being in September also. All
of them are typewriter and signed
in ink, as L. S. Bigham.
At the same time, the defense is
offering number of affidavits, which
would tend to substantiate the let
ters and the statements contained in
them. AS to the genuineness of the
signature of L. S. Bigham, compared
to signatures of L. S. Bigham on his
pad checks, the defense has the sworn
opinion of G. w. Wilkinson, agent at
Pamplico for the Seaboard Air Line
railroad, who says also that Smiley
frequently used his typewriter at the
office; E. NJ. Singletary, clerk of coun-
ty court, who says he believes that
the person who wrote the signature
on the checks also wrote signatures
of the letters; local bank official,
who passes the signatures as genuine;
]. B. Connatser, principal of the COM
mercial course in Draughan's business
collese in Columbia, who says un-
qualifedly that the signatures of the
letters appear genuine to him; Will
liarn NJ. Gibbs, cashier of the Palmet-
to National Bank in Columbia, who
says he would give great weight to
the opinion of Mr.. Connatser; H. NJ.
Peasants, cashier of the Farmers and
Merchants Bank of Pamplico, who
says the signatures on the cancelled
checks are genuine.
In support Of the sentiment express
ed in the letter, which is published
herewith, Mr.. King has an affidavit
from J. G. Miller, formerly of the
Pamplico section but now of this
vicinity, to the effect that in the fall
of 1920 Smiley cursed all his family
and threatened to kill everyone of
them. He recites that he had bar
gained with Smiley to buy sawmill
and met him in Florence few days
later. On meeting Smiley, Mr.. Miller
says that Smiley appeared greatly
agitated and angered and without
waiting for any preliminaries, said,
81 can't sell you that mill, Mr.. Mil
ler. My people are trying to steal
everything I have and am going
to kill every one of them"
n Nf:1la, Ton{;onod him apd adpnon-