Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-07-03
Woodstock, Virginia, Friday July 8, 1925
GETS LIFE SENTENCE
FOR Staying TWO
Greene County Murderer Saved From
Chair-KilIed Wife and Hired
Man-Jury Divided at First

s Found guilty of first degree muir
e ment by the jury in Greene County
t Circuit Court in Stanardsville Tues
e day morning, Lloyd Gruver Meadows
: he will remain until taken to Rich
mond to spend the rest of his days
in the State Penitentiary, unless the
e Court of Appeals decides that the
: case should be reheard.
After the verdict, Judge Fish
$ burne directed that Sheriff Malone
: remove. Meadows to the Albemarle
County Jail at Charlottesville, and
this order was promptly carried out.
: This move was made both for the
safety and comfort of the prisoner
it was said The Greene County Jail
is a hot, stuffy,. little structure and
none too well fixed to ward off any
, attack from the outside.
: 800 Hear Verdict
While more than 500 persons
jammed every nook and corner in
} the little court room and hundreds
more were eagerly waiting outside,
there was no demonstration when the
jury returned with the verdict about
IL O'Clock to bring to close a case
that attracted more attention perhaps
than any other in Greene Countys
stormy court history.
The jury began its deliberations
when court reconvened at o'clock
Tuesday morning and returned twice
from the jury room and reported
I that the members were divided. 1t
was understood that nine of the
Jurors were for the death penalty,
two for life Imprisonment and one
for manslaughter. Finally, however,
the II men agreed on the verdict.
They had listened to seven days of
evidence and arguments and had
much to weigh in their minds.
Meadows Stoical
Meadows displayed no emotion
when the verdict was read. He had
the same stoieal attitude as if the
life Imprisonment facing him were
intended for someone else The only
time during the long proceedings that
the accused showed any signs of
emotion was during the final argu-
ments when word pictures were
painted of the scene at the Meadows
home after the tragedy. 1t was then
that Meadows broke down and wept
After the verdict was read and
sentence pronounced, defense coun-
sci moved that the verdict be set
aside. Judge Fishburne indicated
that he will hear arguments on this
motion about the middle of July.
Was Well-to-Do
Meadows, lumber dealer, stave and
saw mill operator, owner of a 1900
acre tract atop Dean Mountain on
either side of the Rockingham
Greene line. and regarded as one of
the most well-to-do residents of the
Dean Mountain-Fern Hill section,
was convicted for the shooting to
death of his wife, and mother of six
children, Mrs. Serena Meadows, aged
"a, and of his first cousin and hired
hand, Stanton Dean, aged %, on the
night of May IL, last, in the Mead
ows home four miles east of Fern
Hill, on the Spottswood trail Dean
was shot while sleeping on the first
floor and Mrs. Meadows fell dead at
the top of the steps.
Meadows locked his five younger
children in the house and came to
Harrisonburg after the shooting. ar
irving there around a. m. He went
to the home of his attorney there.
George S. Harnsberger, who advised
him to give himself up Meadows
was then lodged in the Rockingham
County Jail and several hours later
confessed the shooting to Common
wealth's Attorney D. Wampler Ear
man and Sheriff C. w. Dove.
Defense Pleads Abnormal Mentality
During the trial the defense con-
tended that Meadows was mentally
abnormal and that he committed the
shooting during fit of jealous rage
melted, he said, by his wifes admis-
sion that she had been untrue to him.
Numerous witnesses were placed on
! the stand to show certain marked
peculiarities in Meadows general be-
havior. Meadows himself blamed the
, shooting on family troubles.
Meadows. aged "a, is a SON of Mrs.
Elijah Meadows, who resides with an
, other son. Lester Meadows, at Swift
Run. Mrs. Meadows was a daugh-
q ter of Mr.. and Mrs. Leonard Mead
ows, of Thoroughfare Mountain
Stanton Dean is a son of Robert
. Dean of Dean Mountain. He leaves
bride of two months.
= Probably the next step in the court
. action following the shooting will be
the hearing of the suit of Mrs. Stan
ton Dean for $4,000 damages fol-
the death of her husband, which has
q been brought against Meadows. Il
o is understood that Meadows is wortf
between $4,000 and $4,000.