The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-03-21
ESCAPED CONVICT SHOT TO DEATH
BY TOWN MARSHAL AT TRENTON

alleged safecracker and escaped con.
vict from the Georgia penitentiary
where he was serving sentence of
20 years, was shot and killed early
this morning by Ernest Crouch while
the former was in the act Of opening
a safe in the store of Mathis & Whit
lock here, and L. K. Rawls of Colum-
bia, alleged to have been an accom-
plice in the robbery was later appre-
hended on the highway to Aiken and
has been lodged in the Edgefield jail.
Mr.. Crouch has rooms above the
store and was awakened by a nois.
in the store underneath. Taking his
gun, he went out and Moore emerged
from the store with a pistol and a
f1ashlight. Mr.. Crouch fired twice,
the first load of buckshot taking eff
feet in the left leg. The second shot
proved fatal, Moore falling dead with
the flashlight gripped in one hand and
pistol in the other.
The safe in the store was ready for
blowing, the dial having been pried
the fuse attached.
Prior to entrance into the Mathis
& Whitlock store, the store of G.. W..
Wise had been entered and the safe
blown open. A knife and $50 were
taken from the Wise store. The knife
was found on Rawls.
Residents, awakened by the shots,
gathered hurriedly and G. w. Wise,
E. G. Edison, Lewis Harrison, Hilton
Duncan and j. D. Mathis, Jr, follow
ed the track of the automobile in
which second man disappeared when
Moore was shot. A heavy rain had
fallen about midnight and the track
was easily followed. Near Aiken and
about daylight the posse came upon
Rawls, his car having stuck and ne
groes were assisting him in his eff
forts to eXtricate the car. When ar
rested Rawls was armed with large
pis. and had on his person knife
later identified as having been taken
from the Wise store, 500 and a let
ter from woman asking that he de-
sist from doing certain things. Rawls
claimed that he was from Augusta
and denied any knowledge of the rob-
berry at Trenton. A condu ctor -on one
of the Southern tarins through here
says he say Rawls and Moore in Co
lumbia Sunday afternoon and in
Batesburg Sunday night.
Whtla IN W;co,, ,to,o &:~x.o -..z.
taken to eat some apples.
Moore had in his pockets a Jar OF
fuses and also a map of the surround
ing country.
Mrs. Moore came to Trenton from
Columbia and identified Moore She
said Moore and Rawls left Columbia
together She did not ask for the
body, which will be buried by the
county authorities.
Until few months ago Rawls is
said to have operated store in
Batesburg, and since that time to
have been making his home in Co.
lumbia.
Edgefield, March 2O.-About 8
O'Clock this morning the stores of
C. w. Wise and Mathis & Whitlock
at Trenton were broken into. The
town marshal, E. M. Crouch, occu-
pied room over the store of Whit
lock & Mathis and, hearing the noise
below, went out upon the veranda
with shotgun in his hand. He OBJ
served man emerge from the front
of the store and called to him to halt.
Instead of needing the call, the man,
with a pistol in one hand and flash
light in the other endeavored to To-
cate him. Mr.. Crouch hailed the in
truder second time and, receiving
no response, fired upon him, follow
ing closely with a second shot. The
man fell and expired in a short time.
A considerable quantity of nitro
glycerine, fuse and caps were found
on his person. This man was today
identified by his wife as j. C. Moore,
said to be an escaped convict from
Georgia who was serving term foI'
rObbing postoffice.
The other man who entered the
store ran Immediately after the shots
were fired to an automobile which
stood nearby and fled toward Aiken.
A man was overtaken near the Pal
metto farm in Aiken county, where
his car had mired down in the pub
lie road. He proved to be l.. X.
Rawls, formerly Of Batesburg but
lately of Columbia. He was brought
back to Trenton and later to Edge
field by Sheriff Swearingen and
placed in Jail. Tomorrow he will be
carried to Columbia and placed in
the penitentiary, as the Jail here is
regarded as insecure.
These two men were said to have
been seen in Columbia together yes
terday near the union station and
last night a few hours before the
robbery, observed passing along the
public road near Trenton. In the
pocket of Rawls were found new