Milford chronicle., 1931-10-16

NlclIulS Ol muIutI
The victims of the murder were:
Green Davis, 55 years old.
Iva Davis, his wife, 4S years old.
Elizabeth. a daughter, Is years
old, a junior in the Berlin High
School.
Mary Lee, another daughter, Is
years old. freshman in the high
school.
Nothing had been seen of the Da-
Wis family since Saturday morning
and Monday afternoon at 4 o'clock,
Charles Johnson and Sebie Howell,
chicken farmers and neighbOrs, de-
cided to make an investigation. GO
ing to the house they found the
doors locked but forced the front
door and went to the second floor.
Bodies Found in Beds
In the bed room occupied by Da
Wis and his wife they found the bod
les of the couple with their heads
crushed in and the faces mutilated.
In an adjoining room they found the
bodies of the two girls in bed. Their
heads had also been crushed in and
their faces mashed.
There was no signs of a struggle
but both rooms showed evidence of
having been ransacked after the
murders had been committed. The
men at once notified Police officer
Fred A. Culver, of Berlin, Sheriff
Wilmer S. Purnell and States At /
torney Godfrey Child, of PocOmoke
City. At the same time a report of
the murder was sent to the Mary !
land State Police Station at Pitts
Vile and Corporal Brubacker and
four men went to aid in the inves
tigation.
Bodies Saturated With Gasoline
When the police made a second
examination of the rooms where the
murders were committed they found
that the bodies and beds had been
saturated with gasoline and oil and
beneath the bed of Davis and his
wife were found rags which were
partly burned. They had evidently
been set on fire and placed under
the bed but had gone out before
they set fire to the room. 1t was also
found that the victims had also
been shot.
Word of the discovery of the mur
der spread rapidly and within
short time 1000 people had gathered
about the house where the murder {
occurred. The bodies were taken in /
charge by the authorities and re- {
moved to an undertaking establish
ment in Berlin. The house was lock
ed and a guard placed about to pre-
vent anyone entering the place. ;
After the bodies had been remOv-
ed the crowd dispersed but later {
gathered in Berlin until a crowd of
more than 500 persons thrOnged the t
streets in the vicinity of the place I
where the officials were meeting to
consider the case. I
Suspicion pointed to Orphan /
Jones, negro. Investigation showed
that Jones had been employed by r
Davis and quit work with Davis on b
after a dispute. Robert J. t
Lewis, grocer, near where the b
were committed, told the Fl
that on Saturday, after
he negro had been discharged and n
1uit the Davis farm, he had told @
lim that he intended to get the p
whole Davis family" Lewis paid lit fl
lie attention to the threat but when S
he murders were discoyered has C
.ened to tell the authorities what he Il
Inew v
Jones was not to be found when C
he authorities began the search for S
lin but in a short time they had Il
lis entire history. They learned that h
le was born and lived for a long IL
ime in Lynchburg, Va, but left n
here rs years ago. He worked on e.
he Belair road near Baltimore,
rom 1911 until September of this Il
ear. He drifted to Berlin about Il
hree weeks ago. Previous to going p
here he had been employed by III
armer near Westover but is said to n
ave had quarrel with his employ al
+ and threatened him with knife
lie left before he was arrested. hi
An excellent description of the IL
egro was given and sent out. Early ol
londay night the authorities re-
eived word that a man answering tC
ne description of Jones had been III
rrested in the negro section of 81
'cean City, Md. Sheriff Purnell and o'
tate's Attorney Child went to
cean City and returned with the be
CT
Jones was taken before Magis- 10
ate William H. Bratten of Berlin III
nd held without bail to await the py
ction of the coroner's Jury. ch
In the possession of Jones when III IL
e was arrested was found $40 in &c
oney, including several gold pieces ne
hich are believed to have belonged III
the Davis family, several rings ye
nd pocketbOok, which were iden-
fled by friends of the Davis family. tn
5 positively belonging to the fam pc
y. BE
A negro woman, Martha Harmon. IeI
}, of Ocean City, whose place Jones co
ld been known to frequent, told az
fcers she was awakened early on IN
lnday morning and saw Jones on IlC
Ie front porch cleaning an auto yo
attic shot gun. The gun was recov- yo
ed and identified as the property
Davis. WI
The negro was put through Sc
re cross-examination lasting for co
veral hours, but resolutely declar- IN
his innocence. All that he would all
Init was that he had been employ en-
by the Davis family. na
Investigation by the Offlners liz
ought out that when Jones was