The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1948-09-23
Powell Goes Free
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Continued From Front Page
call from Boutwell, on the night IN
question. After their testimony the
state produced the telephone COM
pany assistant manager with the
original records of the calls.
Other witnesses which the de-
Tense used to prove" their case
were, Mrs. Marshall M. Powell, wife
of the defendant, Jack Strowd, her
brother. Harvey Boutwell,, Powell
himself. Walter L. Murtagh. ex-
sheriff of Holmes county, Walter E.
Strider, Former FSA Supervisor in
Holmes county, now the Farmers
Home Administration, Mrs. j. G.,
Layne, sister of Powell.
Mrs. Powell
Mrs. Powell said that on the night
Of April %, the night in question,
that she and her husband were a
lone at the Rainbow Garden with
out n help because her brother,
Jack Strowd, left that morning for
Baton Rouge, La, to seek other en-
| ployment. She said they did not
| leave the Rainbow Garden from
| 800 in the afternoon; that they
closed UP about 100 o'clock and
went to bed in their apart
ment which they occupy in the
| Rainbow. She said her husband was
with her all the time in question,
that they slept until about HOO the
following morning april 24).
When asked to name some of the
people who were in the Rainbow
that evening Mrs. Powell named
Walter l.. Murtagh, ex-sheriff OF
Holmes county and his wife. Mrs.
Murtagh, and Mr.. Strider, of Lex
ington.
When asked if her husband was
in Vicksburg that night after closing
up Mrs. Powell said: mo, sir, he
was not"
Sheriff WYNN
Holmes County Sheriff Ellis E.
Wynn, who was elected to office last
August on a Northumberland
platform, testified for the state in
Its case against TOWen'
Sheriff Wynn testified that ne
was in the Rainbow Garden on the
night of April %, from about ll:00
D. m until about 1870 p. M, and
that Marshall Powell wa not there,
! or if he was that he did not see him.
He said that Mrs. Powell was there
! working and that she was being as
sisted by her brother-in-law, Q. M.
| Powell. J. G.. Layne, her brother-in-
law, two negro attendants and a
| negro cook. He said he was ac-
companied by his two deputies
| Mr.. George L. Bailey and Mr.. w. II.
Byrd.
Powell's Testimony
Powell testified that he was 81
year old, born and raised in Grena-
| da county, and had been in Durant
| since 1886. He said besides owning
| and operating the Rainbow Garden,
| he and his brother, o. M. Powell,
were in the used car business to-
gether; that he has farming in
~terests, raising cattle. corn and grain
at his farm north of Durant.
He described the Rainbow Garden
| as a club 10 feet long by e5 feet
wide. When asked if it had a bar
| Powell said it had a counter" across
the front operated by him where he
| sold sandwiches and beer.
Powell said the Rainbow seated
| about 500 people, that he had been
operating it since 1945, and its
patronage includes "the outstanding
people of that section"
In regard to the telephone con-
versation Powell said he did not
talk to Harvey Boutwell, at all that
night; that he had passed by the
Plaza Court in Vicksburg, but had
never stopped there; that he had
bought whiskey from Boutwell,, but
he did not see Woodrow Biggs at
| the Plaza. He said the Avalon club
| at highways 81 and 80 was the only
| club he knew Boutwell, ran.
Admits Once Owning Car
Powell admitted his brother used
to own the car that Biggs was
driving.
When asked if he had heard Biggs
testify that Biggs had recognized
him as the man who hijacked him,
Powell inadvertently through an
apparent slip of the tongue admit
ted guilt of the crime for which he
was accused asking:
"The night I robbed him?
mo. The first time | ever saw
either one of these negroes was at
the preliminary hearing"
The preliminary hearing was held
in Jackson, July %, three months
after the robbery occurred. One
month elapsed between the time the
warrant was made out for Powelps
arrest and the time he surrendered
himself to Kinds county authorities
Did Not Know
When asked where he was hiding
: for the month the authorities were
looking for him Powell replied HI