The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-08-30

the children"
The other letter was to Mrs.
Eta Payne, Pecos, Tex, his
own mother. 1t read;
4 am writing a few words
to say gOod-by. / will await
you over yonder. 1t was His
will that l go this way. 1t is
best that l close the last chap
ter of this horrible thing in
this way"
Ben Payne of Roswell, N. M. and
Sid Payne of Tulsa, brothers Of the
attorney, arrived at the Jail soon
after the explosion. Neither dis
played much emotion when told Of
their brothers death.
He has been dead as far as we
are concerned ever since he took
his wife'S life," Sid Payne said.
I'VE have mourned him since, and
the fact that he has taken his life
adds little to our quota of grief"
Waits On Insurance Policy
The final page in Payne's diary
told of the spiritual visits of his wife
which prompted him to commit
suicide.
Until Friday night my wife OBJ
jected to my taking my own life"
the diary said. But she appeared
10 me again and has assured me she
believes suicide the best way.
II waited uni fter midnight.
Aug. 90, to take my ufe because my
insurance policy would be a year old
then and my children will be able
to collect.
"A few days ago my wife appeared
TO me in spirit and told me the
Lord would take matters into his
own hands. Soon after. I had 4.
heart attack and believed it would
be fatal.
"She now tells me that it is all
right to take this means to hasten
my joining her."
Wanted to Be Alone
Three other prisoners had been in
the cell a few minutes before the
explosion, but two left when Payne
said he wanted to be alone. The
attorneys chest was crushed by the
blast and his body was torn.
Payne's cell-mates were r. L. Con-
dor, Commodore Pulliam and Vernon
Churchill. Condor said Payne had
shown him a tiny bottle which the
attorney said contained nitro
glycerine and which he carried for
several weeks.
Pulliam and Condor were in an
adjoining cell when the explosion
occurred, but Churchill was sleeping
in a cot near Payne's. Churchill
was uninjured. The Jail cell was
partly wrecked.
Since he confessed to killing his
wife, Payne had said he hoped for
the death penalty. He insisted that
no defense be prepared for him.
Thankful of Indictment
Shortly after he was indicted
Friday on a charge of numbering his
wife, the attorney called the jail
officials and said:
Please put me in solitary con-
fnement. I want to be alone with
the spirit of my wife. Even now I
can hear her calling to me-"
The attorney had insisted for
several days that he was in constant
spiritual communication with his
wife, whom he said he killed to OBJ
tain $4,000 insurance money. He
appeared to find solace in the
thought that he soon would join her
in death if he received such a SEN
tence.
I'm thankful" he said when in
formed that the county grand jury
had returned an indictment against
him. "All I want now is a quick
tTial and the electric chair"
Wife Killed June 27
He had promised authorities,
however, that he would not attempt
suicide, even when he was threat
ened by a mob from which he was
saved by deputies who took him to
Stinnett, a nearby town. He was
brought back to AMARILLO only a
few days ago.
Mrs. Payne died in much the
same way that her husband lost
his life. She was driving the fam
lily motor car last June 81 when
three sticks Of dynamite, attached
to the motor, exploded. A 14-year-
old son was seriously injured and
another child escaped because the
mother decided at the last moment
to leave him at home.
Apparently grief stricken by the
tragedy, which he said "undoubted
ly was caused by enemies" Payne
asked Gene Howe, militant editor
Of an Amarillo newspaper, to con-
duct an investigation.
In Love With steno
Howe, nationally known for his
criticism Of Charles A. Lindbergh
and Mary Garden, opera prirna
donna, enlisted the aid Of a Kansas
City newspaper man.
They learned that Payne had
made advances to his stenographer,
Verona Thompson, a pretty divorces.
Miss Thompson testified her en-
ployer had said he would get his
wife out Of the way so We can
eIope." She declared she did not
make the statement sooner, because
she was afraid of losing her position.
Hourly Temperatures
6 a. m..... SO 9 a. No.. 10