The Union County journal. [volume] (Marysville, Ohio) 1875-1951, 1946-10-17
APPEAL FOR
is
TURNED DOWN
Redwood Man, II, Tells
Full Story Of Staying
In Court On Tuesday

wood, was sentenced to from one
to 20 years in the Ohio Peniten-
tiary for manslaughter, Tuesday
noon, for the Staying in Redwood
last June q of Dwight Thomas
(Steve) McElroy, 38.
Prior to the sentencing, May
hugh took the witness stand to
describe to the Court the sequence
of events leading up to his shoot
ing of McElroy. His attorneys then
introduced other witnesses who
bore out many of the details of
Mayhugh'S narrative, and testified
as to the mans good character in
his home community
Following this, Mayhughs at
torneyS, Milo L. Myers. Luther
Liggett jr., and Gwynn Sanders,
appealed to the Court to place him
on probation, declaring he was
guilty of no crime other than at
/ tempting to protect his person and
! property. Mr. Myers even told the
Court that many persons in Rich
wood were of the opinion that.
Mayhugh should be given a me-
daW for shooting McElroy, rath-
I er than a prison sentence.
Victim of Robbery
| In brief, Mayhugh's story de-
clared that McElroy and one Joe
Ridgeway also of Redwood, drove
the old man all over northwest
Union county the afternoon of the
| Staying, keeping him in an intoxi-
Gated condition and robbing him of
nearly $50. Upon driving Mayhugh
home later in the afternoon, Nc
| Elroy refused to turn over the
J keys to Mayhugh'S car unless the
latter paid him another $40.
Mayhugh went into his rooming
house. owned by Mr.. and Mrs.
William Fletcher, picked up the
gun which he said he intended to
use in an effort to force McElroy
out of his car, and when the
younger man threatened him, May
hugh shot him through the face.
Details of Mayhugh'S story in
! Court were as follows:
Wanted to Visit Nephew
Mayhugh had intended to visit
q nephew, who was in a hospital.
the afternoon of June p. The tires
on his car were in bad shape, and
, before making the trip to the hos
pital, he had planned to visit a
junk yard to obtain different size
wheels for his car so that it would
be easier to get tires. Upon going
to his car, he found the spare tire
down so drove to Wally Daniels
service station to get it fixed. Mr..
Daniels could not fix it imme-
dately, so Mayhugh left the wheel
there, intending to pick it up later.
That was about II a. m. Sunday,
! June 21.
! From there, he drove to the
home of Joe Ridgeway where he
bought three drinks of liquor, for
which he paid 50 cents each. They
were served to him by Mrs. Ridge
way, who has been bedfaSt for
years as a result of having been
shot by her husband, which left
her partially paralyzed.
Changed $50 Bill
The first two drinks he bought,
Mayhugh had sufficient change to
jpay for. On the next one, however,
he had to use a $50 bill, and when
ne bought the third one for him
self he bought one each for Ridge
way and McElroy, the latter also
being at RidgewayS house when
Mayhugh got there. Mrs. Ridge
lway gave Mayhugh $3.50 change
which he placed in a pocketbook
and billfold.
While there McElroy and Ridge
way asked Mayhugh to drive them
TO Kenton. He refused, however.
because of his planned trip to visit
his nephew and because Il had
my old clothes on" The three men
left Ridgeway's house together,
and McElroy again brought up the
matter of trading automobiles
with Mayhugh, first broached
while in the house. Before making
the trade, however, McElroy said
he would like to drive Mayhugh's
car to try it out.
All Three Enter Car
This was agreeable with May
hugh, so all three got in the car.
McElroy under the wheel and
Ridgeway in the middle. They
drove about half-nile out the
Kinney pike and Mayhugh told
AIcElrcy to 90 bacl; to Redwood
McElroy refused, saying he was
going to Kenton. Mayhugh then
(C02tinued on page 2, col. ~