The Dickenson County herald. [volume] (Clintwood, Va.) 1927-1930, 1929-12-26
RAnchMhN TO HANG
FOR BRUTAL MURDER
Shot Husband and Then At
tackled Widow.

DeaQWOO0, ). D.--sieOTSe frOWu-
field who in moment of mad pas
sion, is accused Of shooting and killing
Theodore Thomas, ey-service man, so
he could possess Thomas wife. has
been sentenced to be hanged at the
Wyoming penitentiary at Rawlins on
February 10 next His crime was com
mitted in the region near where South
Dakota and Wyoming join, and it was
South Dakota officer, Sheriff Long,
of Belle Fourche. and other Dakotans
who were first on the scene Of the
murder and assisted in the capture Of
the slayer.
The murder was committed early
in the morning of July 80 Thomas
was q sheep herder and lived In
large sheep wagon with his young
wife, the sheep range being at a
place remote from the nearest town.
The testimony offered at the trial at
Brownfield showed the crime to be one
of the most brutal and uncalled for
In the history Of the frontier.
Invited to Spend Night.
Brownfield arrived at the sheep
wagon home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
in the evening of July 20, and as it
was getting late the couple, with the
customary Western hospitality, invited
him to remain all night, so he could
return to his own ranch. many miles
away. the following day. During the
early hours of the morning of July
80 he lured Thomas from the sheep
wagon on the pretext that he had
heard coyotes among Thomas sheep.
When at point some distance from
the sheep wagon, Brownfeld is alleged
to have shot and killed Thomas. and
then returned to the sheep wagon and
attacked the dead mans widow. She
finally succeeded in making her es-
cape from him and took refuge among
the sheep flock until he had left the
place.
Then she emerged from her hiding
place and sought her husband whose
body she found at the spot where he
had fallen. Mrs. Thomas knew Brown
field who was well known throughout
the district, and she told the officers
who had committed the crime. They
were speedily on his trail. and within
a few hours had arrived at his ranch,
finding him calmly doing some chores
about the place. He dsclaimed all
knowledge of the crime and stated
he had not been away from his ranch
for several days.
Defendant Is Calm.
But a wet saddle blanket assisted
in the officers fastening the crime
upon him. Notwithstanding his pro-
testations of innocence The keen
eyed officers, In looking about the
Brownfield ranch, noticed his saddle
pony and examining 1t. found 1t gave
evidence of having been ridden hard
not many hours before the arrival of
the officers They discovered that the
saddle blanket was still wet Much
was made of this evidence during
Brownfelds trial. and It had mpOr-
tant bearing on the Jury returning a
verdict of guilty of murder in the first
degree, which made it mandatory for
the court to sentence BrOwnfield to be
hanged.
When confronted with Mrs. Thomas,
Brownfeld continued to remain calm
and cool!y stated he did not know her
and had never seen her before He
maintained this same attitude when he
testified In his own behalf during his
trial. He stoutly insisted he knew
nothing whatever about the crime and
had nothing to do with II.
When sentenced to be hanged,
Brownfield took the sentence In the
same unruffled manner he has MAIN
tanned since being arrested for the
crime.