Evening star., 1923-08-01
PASTOR MURDERED,
WITNESSES TESTIFY
AT GARRETT TRIAL
Declare Brothers Showed No
Mercy and RiddIed Body
With Bullets.
WIFE COLLAPSED OVER
BODY OF TRAGEDY VICTIM
Ran Frantically About Yard With
Babe-Sensational Features at
Cumberland Court House.
By the Associated Press.

ID! thf Associated Press
CUMBERLAND COURT HOUSE. Va.
August 1.-Shad r. Wilson. an eve
witness testified at the trial OF l. c.
Jarrett this morning that when he
was attracted to the Pierce home by
the screaming OF women on the day
Rev Z. S. Pierce was shot TO death.
he found Larkin Garrett sitting on
the minister and beating him in the
race. while Robert Garrett stood by
with pistol in his hand.
The witness also testified he saw
Robert O. Garrett fre several shots
into the minister's body, both before
and after he fell TO the ground. He
saw no other shots fired. The witness
Is carpenter and was working on
building near the Pierce home when
the trouble started.
Did Not See Pastor Fire.
The witness said he would not
| answer that Pierce did not fire, but
he did not see him fire and SO far
as he knew r. o. Garrett fired first
In reply TO a question from the bench
he made the fiat statement that r. O.
Garrett fired the first shot There
were many objections by state at
| torneys to the line OF questioning
by the defense, and in most OF these
they were sustained
In telling his story the witness was
positive he did not see Rev. Mr..
Pierce shoot r. o. Garrett in the
| back.
The first shot I heard I saw the
| preacher begin to fall. ! did not
! see Mr. Pierce shoot at ALL" he said
a1fn -
| had pistols in their hands as they
| passed out of the Pierce gate after
| the shooting.
Saw Only Garrett Fire.
| J. T. Godsey. another eyewitness
testlfied the only shots he saw fired
were by r. o. Garrett.
He testified that after the minister
had been beaten by Larkin Garrett
he entered his home and returned
ert Garrett, who % co9ered e him an, as soS Ss
| emerged, wrung the shotgun from
him with his left hand and fired
pistol shots into the preachers body
WIN. WIN ms right hand. both before and
The defense sought to show that
MI Godsey and his employer. Ollie
| OF the CARROTS. but were overruled
on many of their questions. The wit
ness denied he had contributed any
said he did not know ihat bis f,n1 ano
ployer had
| Woman's Startling story.
The most startling story Of the
tragedy was given by Mrs. b. F. Hem
bricks. the first woman witness to
uninterrupted story OF the fight and
shooting and made the unqualified
statement that r. o. Garrett fired the
even raise his hands after he OBJ
| talned the shotgun.
Miss Louise Hendricks. twenty-five.
daughter of the previous witness, told
Pierce home on the evcntful day.
She witnessed the fight and subse-
quent shooting from the secondstory
window of her home next door. She
saw r. o. Garrett three times throw
Mrs. Pierce aside as she tried to aid
her husband and heard f Q. Garrett
thing you've got in your arms" re-
ferring to Mrs. Pierce's. baby. Her
story of the actual shooting OF the
mother. She did not see Pierce fire
shot.
Tells of Shooting.
Wilson testified he was working
on the home of J. r. Sheppard on the
morning of the tragedy, when he
he saw the fight between the minister
and Larkin Garrett and that the lat
! ter was astride the minister. beat
: lns MIN III the ldCS "llhc H. W. odi
| rett stood on one side with a pistol
in his hand. He said he saw Commop-
| wealth's Attorney Smith come Qp and
heard Mr.. Smith tell r. >. CAREER
pistol: You will have to shoot for
I'm coming.
| About that time. he said. Larkin
! Garrett let the minister UP and
| ert Garrett and Larkin Garrett had
started to the gate. When the min
i lister came out again., the witness,
r. o. Garrett went toward him. Will
the minister by Robert Garrett and
| that he saw the latter fire at Mr..
| Pierce and then saw the preacher
| sink to the ground.
/ II then saw Robert Garrett shoot
| down toward the preacher.
The court would not allow his at
! torneys to. Question the witness moro
specifically on this point. saying that
the question had already been an
| swered. %s
Falls Across Husbands Body.
! Mrs. Pierce was there screaming
and shouting for help with the body in
her arms" Wilson added. When Mr..
Pierce came out of the house with the
shotgun, Mrs Pierce was out in the
screaming. Immediately after the
! shooting Mrs. Pierce fell across the
| body of her husband"
| Wilson said he was about thirty
FIVE feet from the Pierce gate when
he saw all this. Replying to prose-
cution questions. the witness said he
was a colored man. l.. o. Wenden-
! burg of defense counsel, brought
| from the witness that after the fist
| fight both L. c. and r. o. Garrett
had gotten near the gate, and were
leaving when the Rev. Mr.. Pierce
came out of the house with the shot
! gun. Mr.. Wendenberg failed to have
| witness say that Mr. Pierce Jumped
off" the porch. The witEsss main
{ tanned that Mr.. Pierce stepped" of.
| The defense brought out that Mr..
Pierce had come down the steps he
! would have had to pass Judge Smith,
the defense claiming that Judge
Smith was at the steps.
Did Not See Minister Shoot.
| Mr.. Wendenberg also tried to have
| the witness say that r. o. Garrett
| turned toward the gate after taking
| the shotgun from the minister.
Didn't you see the preacher shoot
Mr. Garrett In the back?" He asked
No" said the witness. "R. o. Gar
U