Murder Investigation Update

The sheriff has set at liberty the two negroes who were arrested in Hampton about a month ago, charged with killing the two Italians near Salters, as no proof could be obtained as to their guilt.

The County Record, June 3, 1897

Are These the Men?

Nothing new has developed in the case of the two negro men who were arrested in Hampton County and brought over here last week, charged with the murder of the two unknown Italians near Salters a month ago.

The negroes are still confined in the jail here, though nothing definite has yet been proved which would connect them in any way with the crime–the only evidence against them being a Winchester rifle, two pistols and a razor having been found in their possession at the time of their arrest. Just why they should have brought these weapons along with them on a visit to their "girls" is not altogether clear to the authorities. Then, too, their tale concerning the yellow fellow who was with them and who escaped arrest is almost improbable.

Nothing more has been heard of the negro who got away. He pretty well filled the description of the third man of the party supposed to have done the killing. 

A rumor was afloat in Kingstree a day or two ago that three men who filled the description of the Davis boys and their "pal" had been arrested in Savannah, but when the sheriff was interviewed he said that he knew nothing of the arrest. Before the governor a reward for the murderers, eleven men were arrested for the crime, but not one has been arrested since. Will not someone earn the reward?

The County Record, May 13, 1897

Other Suspects Arrested

Sheriff Daniel received a telegram from Estill, Hampton county, last Saturday, stating that two negroes had just been arrested there who were supposed to belong to the party which murdered the two Italians near Salters on the night of April 17th. There were three men in the party at Estill, but one of them got away from the officers and avoided arrest. The man who escaped is described as being a yellow fellow, about 5 feet, 8 inches high, weighing about 150 pounds. The men who were arrested claim that they had known the other negro about a month but did not know his name, simply calling him "Sam."
The men were carried to Hampton and lodged in jail. Mr. G.W. Arms went over to Hampton Sunday and returned with the prisoners Tuesday morning. When arrested, the men each had a .38-caliber revolver, and one of them had a razor, a 32-caliber Winchester rifle and a long-blade pocket knife.
Mr. I. Cannon, of Strawberry, into whose store the supposed murderers did so much firing, came up Tuesday afternoon at the request of Sheriff Daniel for the purpose of identifying the prisoners. He says that they are not the men who were in his store some weeks ago. 
The negroes were interviewed by a reporter for The County Record Wednesday morning and gave their names as Louis Gardner and Jim Williams. Gardner is a very dark brown fellow, about 5 feet 8 inches in height and weighs about 145 or 150 pounds. He says he was born and raised in Charleston; that he left there about three years ago and has worked at various places in Georgia since that time, the last being with Mr. Padden Porter at Clyo, Ga.; that he and Williams left Clyo Friday morning to visit some friends at Estill and were arrested there Saturday. He worked on a chain gang in Effingham county, Ga., from January 1896 till February 1897. Gardner said he was then known as John Edwards.
Williams said he was an Alabamian; had been in Georgia for several years; he and Gardner had worked at Mr. Porter's together, etc., his tale corroborating Gardner's. Williams is a black man about six feet in height, weighs about 145 pounds and is about 30 years of age. He has a scar about 2x1-1/2 inches in size, caused from a burn, on the right arm just below the elbow.
The rifle taken from the negroes is in good condition but shows signs of having been used quite a good deal. Williams' pistol is one of the Iver Johnson Arms Co.'s make with a six-inch barrel, in excellent condition. The cylinder will take five .38-caliber cartridges. Gardner's "shooting iron" is a Harper & Allen short-barrel .38-caliber, five-shot revolver and is in a very battered condition. The razor was an old one but had a keen edge. The knife was only an ordinary, long-bladed one and was in pretty fair condition. 
The negroes will be kept in jail until they can prove where they were on the night of the murder.
Governor Ellerbe on Monday offered a reward of one hundred dollars for the arrest and conviction of the murderers. The governor would have offered a reward sooner, it is said, but for the fact that up to last Friday no less than nine men had been arrested for the crime, and until then, he had received no official request for the reward. 
The two men who are now in jail were arrested before the sheriff made the request for a reward, so we suppose that should these negroes be the right ones, no reward would be paid at all. Up to this time, eleven men have been arrested for killing the two Italians, and it is hoped that the right men will yet be caught.

The County Record, May 6, 1897

Murderers Still at Liberty

Nothing definite has yet developed in the case of the strange Italians who were so cruelly butchered near Salters last week. As to who the murderers are, and their present whereabouts, is now just as much a mystery as it was when the crime was first discovered. Suspicion still points to the Davis negroes, but nothing has yet been seen or heard of them. Even if they were caught, it would be a hard matter to fasten the murder upon them as no one knows anything about the men who were murdered, and, therefore could not identify any article that may be found in the possession of the supposed murderers as belonging the the Italians.
The three negroes who were arrested at Lake City last week were given a hearing before magistrate J.G. Lifrage last Thursday and set free. Jailer Britton, in the absence of the sheriff, telegraphed the Charleston authorities that if the negroes were wanted there to wire him, and they would be held; not having heard from there, the deputy let the boys go Thursday evening.
Three negroes were arrested Thursday at Fayetteville, N.C. on suspicion of being the murderers. They were on their way from Timmonsville, this State, to Selma, N.C., and were "nabbed" en route. Sheriff Daniel and Mr. Cannon of Strawberry, in whose store the Davis negroes did so much firing about about two weeks ago, went up to Fayetteville Saturday, but Mr. Cannon failed to identify the prisoners as the Davises. In fact, the negroes proved where they were on the night of the tenth, when the shooting at Strawberry occurred, and on the seventeenth, the night of the murder.
Three other negroes were arrested at Lanes and locked up all night in the box car but were set at liberty.
While looking over the field of the murder last Sunday, some Salters gentlemen discovered some clothing hanging on a tree and some on the ground only a short distance from where the murdered men's bodies were found. There was also a kind of a camp, at least, the ashes from a fire and chicken bones near the clothing, indicating that a camp had been made there. This discovery only adds mystery to the whereabouts of the real murderers, as this woodland was every bit searched last week, and these things were no seen. Among the articles found on the ground was a white shirt, bosom upwards which was not soiled in the least. This indicates that the articles were placed there Sunday morning, for had the shirt been exposed to the night air, the dew would have left marks on the stiff bosom. Then, too, there are numbers of hogs in the woods, and it stands to reason that, had this shirt been on the ground for any great while, the hogs would have soiled it. 
A careful survey of the immediate vicinity of the murder was made, and two empty shells from a Winchester rifle were found. One of these was mashed as if someone has stepped upon it or a hog had bit it. These shells are now in the possession of a Kingstree gentleman, but nothing is proved by them as they will fit any Winchester of a .32 calibre.

The County Record, April 29, 1897

Bloodhounds Wanted

The News and Courier, in an editorial under the caption, "Bloodhounds Wanted," had the following to say:
There is a familiar lesson in the story of the double murder at Salters on Saturday night, and of the two outrages which preceded it, and we venture to urge it on the attention of the county authorities generally, as we have done before on several like occasions. It relates to the wisdom of the plan of keeping bloodhounds or other tracking hounds at every county seat for the purpose of hunting criminals who cannot be traced by any other means. In the present case, the murderers of the two unfortunate peddlers had no difficulty in escaping from the scene of their crime because of the character of the locality. A swamp was near and afforded ready cover for their flight. "Very little effort" accordingly was made for their capture. Men armed themselves and took their stations to watch the swamps, but it is possible that the murderers were miles away before their crime was discovered. The sheriff was summoned from a distance and was expected to "organize a posse and chase the men down," but with their start of twenty-four or thirty-six hours, the chances of the chase were altogether in favor of the fugitives. It would have been different had it been practicable for the authorities at Salters to get bloodhounds from the county seat as soon as the murder was discovered. Well-trained dogs could doubtless have led the chase directly on the trail even as late as an advanced hour on Sunday, the day after the killing.
The men who killed the Italians are suspected with good reason to be the same ones who committed two other serious crimes during the preceding week, and who have since been wandering around the county at their pleasure. With track dogs available for the search, they could have been run down before they committed their last and worst crimes.
The lesson has been repeated over and over in nearly every county. It appears to have been repeated often enough to compel its general application. The dogs cost little and are serviceable not only to trace criminals who cannot be traced by other means but to deter men from crime. It is wholly reasonable to believe that evil-disposed men will hesitate long about committing murder or robbery when they know that an armed posse and a pack of hounds would be on their track in a few hours after its commission. The dogs are a protection, therefore, to every home and every person in the county in which they are known to be kept for service. There is not a county in the state that is exempt from the need for the services and the protection they afford. It is really surprising that the authorities of any county should require to have the duty of providing such detectives urged on them more than once.

Reprinted in The County Record, April 22, 1897

Rumors

All sorts of rumors are afloat as to the present whereabouts of the right men. It is said they were seen in Forreston Monday. Some people discredit Nelson's statement about having seen Phelps at Lanes Friday.
The remains of the murdered men were buried at the expense of the county very near where they were killed Monday morning.

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Popular Opinion Divided

The negroes claim they were in Charleston Friday. Sam Nelson, a colored man living near Salters, was here on Tuesday and had in his possession a hat which was found near the scene of the murders, which he swears he saw on Phelps' head at Lanes last Friday. Nelson says he can have his statement corroborated by citizens of Lanes, and this will contradict the prisoner's statement as to his whereabouts on Friday.
Opinions as to the guilt of the boys are divided. If these are not the right parties, the real murderers have a five-days journey between themselves and the crime.
(To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Charleston's Involvement

Sheriff Daniel received a telegram from Mr. J. Elmore Martin, chief of Charleston's police force, telling him that the negroes were wanted in Charleston. Mr. McManus was sent up Tuesday afternoon and interviewed the three boys When seen by The County Record man, Mr. McManus said that Simmons was wanted for robbing a house on Savage Street in Charleston two months ago. Richardson and Simmons have not long been released from prison in Richmond, Va. All three boys are well-known to the Charleston police. When questioned as to what Phelps and Richardson did in Charleston that he should want them, the detective smiled and replied dryly that the did not want them; they were only "needed" there at times. While the detective talked freely on some points, he was non-committal on others. On evidence discovered yesterday, the authorities have decided to hod the prisoners, and the Charleston detective returned alone. (To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Mistaken Identity?

Our reporter interviewed several prominent men in Lake City and was told by all of them that the prisoners were not the three men seen there Sunday. Upon being interrogated, the negroes gave their names, ages and addresses as follows: Oscar Simmons, age 17, 10 Short Street; Nat Phelps, age 17, 26 Burns Lane; and Joseph Richardson, age 19, 16 Market Street, all of Charleston. They all told pretty much the same tale, which was prepared for publication but was left out after an interview with Mr. M.J. McManus of the Charleston detective force. (To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Suspects

About two o'clock Monday afternoon operator Grimsley of Lake City wired H.A. Graham that three negroes had just been arrested there on suspicion. As soon as the fact was made known to Sheriff Daniel, he wired Mayor Severence to hold the prisoners until he could send for them. Mr. Daniel, accompanied by Mr. H.G. Askins, a special deputy, and a reporter for The County Record went to Lake City Monday evening, and the negroes were brought to Kingstree Monday night. A large crowd met the sheriff at the depot upon his return with the prisoners. Threats of lynching if the negroes proved to be the right parties were heard here Monday, but the crowd at the depot was very orderly and quiet. (To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Spectators and Suspicion

As soon as the news of this horrible murder reached Kingstree, scores of our citizens went to the scene and viewed the bodies. Almost every man in the enormous crowd around the murdered men was heavily armed. Suspicion was attached to three strange negroes who had committed other criminal acts around Salters, and a description of them was telegraphed in every direction. Armed men watched the streets of Salters, Kingstree and Lake City all of Sunday, but the murderers then had had a 24-hour start on their flight. Three negroes fitting the description of the supposed murderers passed through Lake City early Sunday morning, but no one there knew anything at that time of the murders.
(To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Inquest

About four o'clock Sunday afternoon, Magistrate J.G. Lifrage summoned a jury and held an inquest. The autopsy was made by Mr. L.N. Boyd. His testimony was all that was brought out before the coroner's jury. The examination showed that the young man's throat was cut in three places; his skull was fractured, and a rifle ball had passed through his body, piercing his heart. The old man's throat had been cut from ear to ear, the head being almost severed from the body. The jury returned the following verdict:
We, the jury, find that two unknown men came to their death, one from a gunshot wound, and the other from having his throat cut by parties unknown to the jury."
In the meantime, possés had been organized and sent in every direction to search for the murderers. The sheriff was notified, and he wired to Florence for bloodhounds, but, for some reason, did not get them. (To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Belongings Found

By this time all was excitement. No one seemed to know just what to do. The murdered men were total strangers, seemed to be tramps, and no motive could be found for the murder. It was afterwards learned that the men were peddlers and had been seen with a peddler's pack.
In the search for more bodies a valise was found. This was described to us by Magistrate Lifrage, who held the inquest, as a canvas-covered telescope about fifteen by twenty-four inches in size. This was near a rail fence in a thick portion of the woods. The valise had been opened and nearly everything taken away. A coat, a pair of gloves and one or two other little articles were found nearby. A certified copy of naturalization papers was found in the valise, bearing the name Terge Veregence which probably was one of the murdered men, but there is nothing whatsoever to show which of the men the papers belonged to.
(To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Murder Most Foul

Perhaps the most dastardly deed ever committed on Williamsburg county soil was the double murder, causing the death of two apparently harmless Italians, which occurred about four miles below Kingstree near Salters last Saturday night. Both the murdered men and the murderers are unknown.
The murder was discovered by Mr. Ed. McClary, a young farmer who lives near Salters, about seven o'clock Sunday morning. Mr. McClary was passing the scene totally unaware of any terrible crime having been committed when his dog began a loud barking and howling near a ditch. Mr. McClary went over to the ditch to see what was attracting the dog's attention and was horrified to see lying in the ditch the body of a white man, cold and stiff in death. Mr. McClary hurried to Salters and reported his discovery. At once a large crowd went to the scene and viewed the remains of the unfortunate foreigner. The crowd rapidly increased in numbers, almost everyone being armed. One of the party strolled into the edge of the woods nearby and there found another dead body, that of an old man with gray beard. Immediately a search for more bodies was initiated, but, of course, none were found.   (To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897