The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-12-12
RIDDLE DEATH
STIRS STRIFE IN
OZARK HAMLET
Man Back From Dead viii
Be Central Figure in
Dramatic Trial.
By DUKE MERRITT
United Press Special Correspondent

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ark, Dec. II.
--Melodrama vivid as an "Our Nell"
play welled up today in the mael-
strom Of mystery and hatred swirl
ing in this hamlet Of 500, nestled in
an arm Of the purling White river,
where the blue mountains look
down in patience at the goings on
the hill folk in the Connie Franklin
case.
Two startling statements, one by
Sheriff Sam Johnson, the other by
attorneys defending five men who
will go TO trial Monday on charges
Of numbering Connie Franklin, gave
the unfolding plot of mountain
romance, feud vengeance, and pos
siLle murder a surprising twist.
Connie Franklin was not doing
right by Tiller RUNNER, his IT.
year-old sweetheart, because he
already had a wife and Two chill
dren. They could tell whether
Mountain Views man Of mystery
speaks the truth when he says he
is not a 'hant,' but Connie Franklin
himself, come back from his
wandering to save his friends from
conviction"
Defense Claims AIibi
That was the sherif's plot thick
ener. He revealed a search for the
wife and children had been unavan-
ing, although records Of the asylum
where Franklin once was an inmate
attested to their existence.
The defense countered with the
claim of a perfect alibi. Connie
Franklin, tipsy from too many swigs
at jug Of Ozark moonshine, fell off
his mule and cut his head the night
Tiller RUNNER claims he was taken
from her side and burned to death.
At the hour of the asserted muir
der he was at S. H. Greenway'S
cabin, having his head bandaged,
attorneys for the five defendants de-
clared.
The bloody overseas cap that
Franklin left in the road after top
ping from his mule is all the grand
jury had to go on, other than TIL
ler's wild tale, in bringing indict-
ments, the defense contends.
Excitement in Mountain View rose
to fever pitch. Men fought with
their fists in the streets; women
pulled each others hair; sheriff's
deputies, heavily armed, broke up
brawls and took pistols and squirrel
guns from irate townsfolk and tall
whiskered men from the hills.
Drama Near Climax
Perhaps never before in Ameri-
can history had such a situation ex-
listed. Perhaps it could not exist
anywhere except in the feud-torn
hills of the Arkansas Ozarks, where
men and women live in an almost
unbelievable world apart, with night
riders ruling by whip and gun, and
moonShiners plying their traffic,
qnmindful of the outside world.
Monday, in the Mountain View
courthouse, the last act of the
drama is scheduled to begin. While
twenty extra deputy sheriffs keep
guns trained on the courtroom to
prevent the outburst Of feud hatred
feared, a man who claims he is
Connie Franklin will appear in flesh
and blood to declare he is feeling
fine, not hair of my head harmed"
Against that claim the state will
present the story of Tiller Ruminer,
the fact that neither she nor her
father recognized the man as Con-
ME Franklin, and the stories OF
mountaineers who claim to have
seen the crime committed
Brother will confront brother as
Hugh Williamson directs the prose
cution and Benny Williamson leads
the staff of defense lawyers.