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VOLUME NO. 51 LEXINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1921. NUMBER 47.
K1RBY, GAPPI
TO BE EI
S. J. lvirby. Jesse Gappins and C. '
O. Fox were Tuesday declared guilty
of the murder of William Brazell,
Columbia transfer driver, and were
sentenced by Judge Thomas S. .Seuse '
to death by electrocution between
the hours of 10 a. m. and 2 p. m., on 1
!
Friday, October 21. As the solemn
< ti'ords which tore from the breasts of
. the . condemned men the last ray ot '
hope, if any had lingered with them, I '
were pronounced by Judge Sease not'
. one of the trio moved a muscle to all
appearances. Throughout the trial
Oappins and Kirby had manifested a
little nervousness but each of them
\ ... 1
when the verdict was read in open
court and when sentence was pronounced
received the news with the
stoicism of Indians. Fox never evidenced
the slightest emotion throughout
the whole trial. With a calmness
born of courage or induced by an
almost inhuman calousness to the
. finer feelings of humanity he related
ac length the horrible details of the
crime, denying at no time his own
part and attempting no paliation for
himself. He It was who struck the
boy over the head with a blackjack.
He it was who stabbed him with the
, knife which produced death?not
once but several times, once while lie
was standing and once while he was
down, pinioned by the arms of Kirby
.anu viappins. ma'aicss ul uie tai*
I
nest pleas oL' the defenseless lad for
\
his life, he\ jabbed the knife into his
quivering: flesh and inflicted the inortal
wound. In reply to a question by
Solicitor C'allison he said that he j
never realized that lie had killed the
boy and did not now realize it. To .
hint it seemed that perhaps Kirby, '
who choked him and who', when the
i
fatal wounds had been dealt, rode
with the dying boy in the back of
the car alone, might have done the
"fectttftl kitHrig. As Kox told his story
a wave of revulsion and horror swept
over tiie court room. Even the faint
hum of noise which usually pervades
a court room was hushed and listeners
stood aghast at the gruesome recital
of one of the most brutal crimes
that has ever darkened the annals
of the state. Many who heard the
testimony throughout the trial of the
three men felt convinced that Box
was the only one of the trio who told ;
"the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth." Both Kirby and
Gappins had attemped to show their 1
own part in the crime in the most '
favorable light, Gappins trybig to '
make the jury believe that he not '
only did not know when they left 1
Columbia that they intended to steal
the car which Brazed was driving '
but that he thrice refused to strike 1
the 'boy sit Kirby's dentsind stud even
pleaded with the other murderers to 1
spare the boy's life. Fox confirmed '
his statement that lie had refused to '
use the blackjack but otherwise he 1
implicated Gappins in the plot to!'
steal the car and said that Gappins! 1
held one hand of the boy while Fox '
did the cutting. Kirby never admit- Is
ted choking the boy but said lie only.*
laid one hand lightly upon his arm. 1
Statfc" Constable Burly also testified J
that Gappins had confessed to him 1
that he had held Brazell's arm. s
The case against Kirby was tried 1
first, the jury returning a verdict in '
just 3*> minutes, while the jury which 1
tried Fox and Gappins remained out 5
10 minutes. When asked if they had 1
anything to say why the sentence of i
death should not be asked upon 1
them Fox and Kirby were silent but!
Gappins said lie did not think he had i i
received Justice. * i i
ltelatii< > l'rocnt. ' t
Throughout the trial of the three: 1
men the court room was crowded. J I
Among the spectators present werr'<
relatives of both the murdered boy! i
* and of his three murderers. During ;
a short recess Tuesday Gappins' <
mother and sister came up to him 1
and caressed him but they were led) *
away by State Constable Berley.
When the verdict against Kirby was ;
read bis wife, wlio with her little .*
daughter were in the court room, i
broke clown unci sobbed. She also <
had another breakdown when th<
sentence of death was passed.
Fox's* father, J. S. Fox, a retired <
merchant of Stanley Creek, X. C., 1
was also an interested spectator. <
though he absented himself during t
his son's testimony. Mr. Fox h: s :
mm fox '
.EClKofeTED
been in Lexington since Saturday und
bns made a splendid impression on
ill with whom he came in contact.
Realizing the enormity of his son's
crime, he made no attempt to save
bis life, but came, as he said, only
to console his son and help to prepare
him to meet his God. Mr. For. looked
up Mr. Brazell, father of the murdered
boy and expressed his deep
sympathy.
Within u short while after sentence
had been passed upon the three men
they were taken from the court room
under a strong guard, armed with
riot guns and whisked to the state
penitentiary in Columbia,, where they
will remain until the day 011 which
they will pay the supreme penalty for
their crime. As the procession passed
through the lower corridor of the
court room Fox's father said to his
son, "I will see you tomorrow." Just
as the last procession of guards was
filing down the rear stairs of the
courthouse, a bystander, of whom
there were about four standing In the
corridor, evidently believing they had
all passed, and seemingly intending to
get to the door to catch a glimpse of
the men, attempted to close in on
the party. He was immediately
brushed aside by one of the party of
guards, who evidently feared that
trouble was about to start. Other
than this incident there was no untoward
incident or any evidence
of any intention at mob violence,
though rumors were rife that
in event the death sentence were not
passed upon all three men an attempt
would lie made to lynch them. The
prisoners, however, were adequately
guarded and it "would have been serious
and bloody work to have attempted
anything of the kind.
At the conclusion of the trial Mrs.
I'ox approached Mr. Martin, who had
represented iter husband by appointment.
and tried to have him commence
proceedings looking to commuting
his sentence to life imprisonment
on the ground that he was mentally
irresponsible. She claimed that
ho wore a silver plate in his skull.
Mr. Martin referred her to the governor.
Trial IJcgins.
In a court room crowded almost to j
lUl'focation and with a temperature
way above the average for September
the trial of S. J. Kirby, Jesse Cappitis
mid C .O. Fox was begun Monday afternon.
At the morning session ol
the court the men had been arraigned,
counsel appointed for them severally,
the grand jury early, in the proceedings
bringing in a true hill. At 3 o'clock
Monday morning the three prisoners.
against whom threats of lynching
had been made at the time of
the commission of the crime August Si,
Acre taken from the state penitentiary
it Columbia and brought to Lexington.
where they were placed in the
;-ourt house. Four automobiles, con
tabling besides tne prisoners State
Constables Berly, Smyrl. Eichelbergcr
ind Poppenheitn, J. D. Dunnntvay,
md Detectives Shorter, Carter, Broom
ind Allen of the Columbia force and
Policemen Knox of the "Columbia
mill village, rolled into Lexington
ibout 3f. minutes after the party left
the state penitentiary and the prisoners
were placed in the court house
tt once At the close of the day's
session Monday, under the same
guard, heavily armed with repeating
rifles, the men were returned to the
penitentiary.
One of the largest crowds ever seen
in Lexington began to gather early
in the morning of Monday and by the
:ime the court was opened the crowd
had become so large that half of
them could not get entrance to the
a urt room, though within a few minutes
after the dors were opened every
tvnilable seat had been taken and
the surging crowd of spectators had
overrun the aisle and taken every
*eat within the bar of the court
I
.Judge Sease ordered that beginning
ifler the d hitler recess no more persons
wonU1 be allowed in the court
room than could he comfortably seatmi
and that the aisle l>e kept clear.
I'll is order was strictly enforced.
Judge Sense took occasion during his
barge to the grand jury to say that
ie had been connected with the courts
>f this state for 2."i years and in that
inn no disorder had ever occurred
mil that :r.:\ \ ould take place in
GUILTY. !
OCTOBER 21!
j
this trial. In a moat emphatic manner
he said that no disorder would be,
tolerated. There was no disorder.
Among tho interested persons pros
cut in nie t'uul l l uuiil were cue raouier,
father, alster and other relatives of
Wm. Brazell, the young Columbia
taxi driver, who was, done to death ;
with a blackjack and a knife on the
Augusta road by the three men.
Kirby's wife and daughter. Gappins'
mother and sister and Fox's
father and step-mother were also
present. Gappins' wife was present
part of the time but was not seen
towards the last.
Ilawyers Appointed.
Each of the three defendants upon
arraignment announced his inability
to secure counsel and Judge Sease
thereupon appointed A. D. Martin to
represent Kirby, McKendree Barr to
represent Fox and T. C. Sturkie to
represent Gappins. Immediately after
arraignment the three prisoners
retired with their attorneys for a conference.
Under the law they were entitled
to three days in which to prepare
their case, but after consultation
it was announced soon after dinner
recess that they were ready, and
the trial was immediately entered
i
into. Solicitor Callison requested that
the men be tried separately and Kirby
was fust placed on trial.
Kirby Jury Selected.
Just IT minutes .were consumed in
the selection of the jury, not a single
man being stood aside by either the
prosecution or defense. The jurymen
were placed on their voir' dire, all
hut three of them saying that they
had either formed or- expressed an
opinion in the ease. They were
unanimous in saying that the opinion
they had formed would not prevent
them from giving both the State and
the defense a fair and impartial trial.
Tlu follownig TicTecl aVtlic jury:
John S. Addy, foreman.
Homer Woods,
Moses K. Kneeee,
Jesse Ji. Sox.
\Vinstead Harmon,
Alt' Wingard,
Simpson Spires,
Archie I,. Sox.
.) . M . Oswald,
Killian Oxner.
<1. J. ilouknight.
Jacob H. Buudriek.
i
Witnesses Testify.
When court adjourned about (> o'-1
clock Monday afternoon six witnesses j
had been examined and Kirby him-1
self was on the stand.
Clyde Hester of Columbia, owner of I
the Cadillac car which young Brazell |
was driving at the time of his death,
testitied that he had last seen Brassell
ulive on the afternoon of the Sunday
on which the tragedy occurred. He
,1 i??. |/| Viivilt n I1V. II U1U UUU V UL llll" I
boy was found near Leesville. The!
ear which liad been abandoned by
the three murderers was returned to
him by Sheriff Plunkett of Richmond
county. CSeorgia, and was bloodstained.
Dr. D. M. ITosson testified as to the j
nature of the wounds, saying there!
were several bruises on the front of
tile boy's head, apparently made by t
some blunt instrument, which might |
have produced concussion of the'
brain. There were several cuts on j
bis hand rt nthree stab wounds, the
one which produced death being that j
which penetrated the boy's lung, pro- I
ducing a copious hemorrage from,
which death must have resulted in a
few minutes. This wound had the
appearance of having not onlv been a i
i
stah wound but indicated that the!
knife must have been worked in it!
r
after the blade had penetrated.
\V. 15. Roberts, chief mechanic on1
the Richmond county, <Sa.. roads, wasj
me iMM witness. l ie also acts at times I
as a^Riiard on the clutingunR. On I
Monday, August s, lie encountered
Kirbv, Fox and Cappins, who tohl |
, i
iiini they had tire ^rouble and wished
to know wliefc they could obtain a
tire of a certain size. He told tliem
that it was improbable they could Inutile
to tind a tire of that size at
Waynesboro, toward which they were]
headed, but thought Augusta was tlie
nearest town at which they would
find it. One of them had mentioned
that he wanted to telegraph for
money. The men went on. About
(Continued on I'nge Five.)
CRIMINAL COURT
GRINDING AWAY
Court of general sessions opened
promptly Monday morning with <
Judge Thomas S. Sease of Spartan- (
burg presiding. O. B. Anderson' of i
Edgefield, the efficient and abliging i
stenographer of the circuit, was on <
hand, and Solicitor Cnllison was at t
his post of duty.
Ill his charge to the grand jury j
Judge Sease scored the petit juries .
for failure to do their duty and was
particularly strong in his condemnation
of the lynching of Will Allen at
Chnpin recently. "There may be men
in <his court room who took part in (
t*he lynching of Will Allen recently
at 'Chupin. If so I want to say to
them that they are guilty of murder
?ipurder just as foul, just as heinous
as ,was the crime of Will Allen in ,
kilting Mr. Frick. If there is any dif-/
ference. the latter was a more cow- .
urdly act." said Judge Sease with
emphasis. Emphasizing the duty of
the juryman, he said that the constitution
and laws under which we
live are made by the people. If the
people are not satisfied with t^cm (
they should change them; thy had
no right to take the law into their
own own hands. If the juries who
cahie from the people, would be
ni6re steadfast in their duty and hold
more sacred their oath of ofliee
then? would be a lessening of crime.
When court adjourned for the day
Wednesday considerable progress had
been made towards clearing the docket.
Monday and Tuesday were consumed
largely in the trial- of the cases
against Fox, Gappins, and Kirby and
the swearing of witnesses to appear
before the grand jury. Several pleas
of guilty had been entered and seni........
?..uu..n
-- I ? ?.?-* v?. I
Cast's Disposed Of.
At the time of adjournment Wed- ;
nesday afternoon the following cases
disposed of ill addition to
that* against Fox, Oappins and Kirby:
Huyler Harris, housebreaking in
the night with intent to steal, pleaded
guilty: six years in reformatory.
Norman W. Tucker, a resident of
California and a former soldier at
Camp Jackson, entered a plea of
guilty of assault and battery of a
high and aggravated nature and was
sentenced to serve three months or
pay a fine of $ 1 F?0.
Jack Jenkins, negro, pleaded guilty
of car breaking and larceny, and was
sentenced to six months
'Aunis Hurgess pleaded guilty of
housebreaking and larceny and wsis
sentenced to nine months.
.las. Jackson, Chas. Evans and Oliver
Wisingor pleaded guilty of trans- <
porting whiskey and were sentenced
to four months or $400.
Henry "Miller and Charlie "Williams
were tried on the same charge, found
guilty and sentenced to a fine of $000
or six months. All of the parties arc
negroes.
Coo. Harris, negro. was found
guilty of violation of the dispensary
law. Sentence had not been passed
when court adjourned. '
Davis Kelly, negro, pleaed guiltv
" 1
io carbreaking and larceny and was
sentenced to 5 months.
Xo Bill in Huriuon-Ashlll Case.
The grand jury brought in no bill
in tlu- cases against Rural Policeman
Asbitl and Dr. Rice B. Harmon,
which grew out of the incident which
happened on the Augusta road on
the afternoon of the Fourth of July.
sf.\ti:nci:d to six yi.akn
FOR IIOtSFBRRAKIXO IN XKillT
Huyler Harris. 1J-year-old negro
boy, pleaded guilty in court Monday
to a charge of housebreaking in the
night time with intent to steal. A
jury was drawn and the judge directed
a verdict of. guilty with a recommendation
to mvrcy. He was sentenced
to six years in the reformatory for
negro boys. Harris was found under
a bed in the house of <1. \V. Ashill of
l.eesvilte.
It.WVlj CASK l'KOIJ\m,V :
C(VMK TO THIAI. I ItlDAY
The- ca5f auainst Killian Itnwl, '
t'hai'Kcd with assault with intent to
ravish and assault and battery of n 1
high and attKravated nature. will
prohahl.x toipe to trial Friday. A true
i hill has Item found attains) the do- i
fondant l>y I he itrainl jury. !
rOWN TO HAVE
POTATO HOUSE
A .meeting of the Sweet Potato
Growers' Association was held in the
. ourt house last Friday afternoon, at
vhich time it was decided to proceed
mmediately with the building of a I
luring house, to be completed in time j
:o receive this year's crop.
The committee appointed at a pre- (
t'ious meeting to select a site for the I
louse reported that a suitable lot had
been secured near the depot of sufficient
size to meet the present needs,
tnd it was understood that additional
?round could be had if it was found
lecessary to enlarge the building at
some future time.
A building committee was appointed
to let the contract for the erection
if the curing house and to secure the j
services of an authority on potato I
souses from Clemson College to supervise
the work. The house will be
built according to specifications furlished
by Clemson" college.
It is proposed to erect a building
arge enough to accommodate some:hing
over 5,000 bushels of potatoes,
.vhich it is thought will be sufficient
Tor the present, and the house will
be constructed in a way that additions
can be made nt any time if larger
quarters are needed.
A committee of three, cousistlng
Messrs. J. A. Barre, John T. Sox,
ind Ira M. Sligh, was appointed to
collect money for the stock pledges
ugncd sometime ago. and to secure
idditional pledges for stock. The
issoeiation instructed this committee
to collect this money by September
JO. so that the building committee
kvill have funds available when t'.e
contract is lot for the house. All those
subscribing for stock in the associalion
will please take note of this and
L?e ready for the committee when it
:alls. "
MISS SUSAN RQOl'
GOES TO BOSTON TO ENTER
- MX'SJIC CONSERVATORY
Miss Mary Susan Roof, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. K. B. Hoof, left yesterday
for Boston, where she goes to
inter the New England Conservatory
3f Music. Miss Roof is a graduate of
Colter College. Hartsville, jyid after
completing the regular course at that
institution, she did post-graduate and
instruction work there. Miss Roof is
i pianist of marked ability, and has
thus far made unusual progress in
he world of music. Her many friends
trill watch her future course with
groat interest, and all of them wish
for her a successful year at the great
Conservatory in Boston.
_ i
COMMUNITY FAIR AND
BARBECUE AT STAR SCHOOL
The ladies School Improvement
League of Star school district No. 10,
ivill give a Community Fair and a
Barbecue at the school ,hou)ge on
Thursday, September 112, 1021. Sev
^rnl prominent speakers have con<ented
to be present and make
speeches; among these speakers
being Hon. Cole L. Blease. There
will also be several games of good
baseball played on the grounds during
he day. The public is cordially incited
to be present. 2t-c
I'LEASANT HILL DOTS
It seems as Dan Supid has made a
,-isit in this community. Mr. Crawford
raylor and Miss Eva Anderson were
married Sunday evening at 3 o'clock
by the Rev. J. E. Steel of Lexington.
Mrs. .1. D. Taylor is on a 2 weeks
cisit with Iter daughter, Mrs. Dr. Ertest
Mailman. They are all smiles; it's
i girl.
Mr. Claude Taylor and faivdly and
mother, Carl and his family, visited
heir sister, Mrs. Dr. Ernest Hallman.
Ha! Ha! Mr. .Tames Million, better
mown as I'ncle Jim, and Mrs. Mary
l lrillv SJnn/lfiv w.. ^
^ "X,V . 'VX? ^ . ?t V XX't, |
rratulate this couple.
Mr. and Mrs. Z. Taylor spent
Saturday night with their daughter,
Mr. and Mrs. .Imlson Cook.
Mr. On pus Burnett is all smiles; it's
i hoy.
Mr. and Mrs. Hat ley Taylor visited
their father and brother. Mr. and Mrs.
W. I '. Taylor Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Marion Derrick and
son. .1. (\. visite.l their father, Mr.
Simpson Tiyior S' -:! .; viTht.
A
GRAND JURY
URGES TRIAL.
CONTINUED CASES
GRAND JURY MAKES SPECIAL
PRESENTMENT URGING THAT
CONTINUED CASES BE
TRIED AT THIS TERM.
There was a slight ripple in court
Monday morning when the grand
jury brought in a special presentment
urging the presiding Judge to-exnedlte
all cases and especially such cases <ta
had been continued from former
courts. The presentment was as follows:
' t
"Lexington. S. C.t Sept. 12, 1921.
"To the Court of General Sessions of
Lexington County, now in session:
"We, thq Grand Jury of Lexington
County, respectfully submit the following
recommendation to the Court:
"That it use every effort available
to expedite all cases up for consideration
at this term of court. This
seems to us necessary to better protect
society and to decrease lawfessness
in the county.
"We respectively wish this to apply
...
in cases heretofore continued. In our
opinion this will go far in maintaining
due respect for our courts anh in
preventing mob violence.
"Respectively submitted.
"J. H. ROBERTS.
41 T?nrnni o n * '
In commenting upon the' presentment,
Judge Sease. with some feeling,
said that courts over which he
presided had always been noted for
the dispatch with which business had
been handled and this would be the
case at this term of court and no
presentment from the grand jury was
necessary to insure this. As to continuances,
if there was merit in such
questions he would grant continuances,
the grand jury to the contrary
notwithstanding.
, Immediately after the dinner recess
Judge Sease again addressed the
grand jury, stating that upon deliberation
he felt sure the, grand itrry ?intended
no reflection upon him
and had he read carefully the special
presentment he would not hav spoken
as he did. J. H. Roberts, foreman,
grand jury, responded that he was
glad his honor had correctly interpreted
the sentiment of the grand
jury. With these statements the incident
was closed.
EFFORT MADE TO CONTINUE
CASE AGAINST KELLY AND GOFF
Cole I,. Blease, counsel for "Newt"
Kelly and Frank Goflf. charged with
the murder of David Shull in New
Brook land last December. Mondav
morning moved for a continuance of
the cuae against the defendants. The
ground on which the continuance was
asked was that .Col. J. B. Wingard,
whom Gov. Blease said was the leading
counsel in the case, was ill and
would not he able to appear at this
term of court. He also stated that
by reason of crime conditions prevailing
at this time it would be prejudicial
to try the defendants who.
he believed to have a really meritorious
defense. Judge Sense said he
would take the matter under advisement
and assured counsel that the
case would not l>e tried before Tuesday
of next week, at which time further
argument may be had on the motion
for continuance.
MAY CONTINUE SWYGERT
CASE ACCOUNT ILLNESS OF
DEFENDANT'S BROTHER
George Bell Timmerman, of counsel
for the defense, Wednesday afternoon
made a motion for a continuance,of
the case against Job Swygert, indicted
for murder, on the ground that
Mr. Swygert's brother was very ill,
his recovery being doubtful. Judge
Sease took the matter under consiilration
to await the result of the sick
man's illness. Should he be sufflcidtiily
recovered before court adjourns
the ease will be brought to trial.
COOK CASK LIKELY COME
TO TRIAL THURSDAY
>
The case against Julia Cook, Snra'i
Minnie Cook. Henry Wheeler a*nd
James Barfleld. neeusecl of the murder
of Marcellus Cook, will in all
probability begin tomorrow. Upon arraignment
the defendants stated that
they had secured no attorneys and
Col. O. T. Graham, Cyrus L. Sheriy,
E.I,. Asbill and J. b. Car."!! v e
appointed to conduct their care.