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Charged with Murder,
Randolph Superior Court
May Adj. Term, 1944
Lena Baker
APPEARANCES:
J. F. Terry, Solicitor pro tem, and Joe M. Ray, for the State, W. L. Ferguson, counsel for the defendant
T. E Shaffer, being duly sworn for the State, testified as follows:
Q On or about the 30th day of April of this year, 1944, did you see Mr. E. B. Knight?
A I did.
Q Was Mr. Knight at the time you saw him living or dead?
A He was dead.
Q Where did you see him?
A In the back of his little mill or feed house, whichever you call it, down right back of your office.
Q In Randolph County?
A Yes sir.
Q What condition was he in when you saw him?
A He had been wounded, he had been shot.
Q Tell the jury where he was shot.
A I will show you. The bullet entered just about here and came out about here.
Q The bullet entered behind the ear and came out on top of the head.
A A little beyond the top of the other ear.
Q About how far beyond the top of the ear?
A About one and a half inches from the ear.
Q Tell the jury about how long Mr. Knight had been dead when you saw him.
A I could not say.
Q What is your business?
A Funeral director and mortician.
Q You took charge of the body of Mr. Knight?
A Yes sir.
Q What was the cause of Mr. Knight's death, would you say
A That pistol wound.
Q Wound from a bullet with a pistol.
A Yes sir.
Q Will you please tell the jury which side the bullet entered and came out of, if you know?
A My experience has been that a bullet hole where it enters, makes a smooth hole the size of the bullet, and when it comes out, it shatters the skull. The skull on this side was shattered, which indicates that the bullet entered about the left ear.
Cross Examination
Q What day of the week was it that you first saw Mr. Knight?
A I don't remember.
Q Was it Sunday, Monday or what day?
A I could not tell you without referring to my books, but it was the thirtieth of April.
Q Do you recall what hour of the day it was?
A It was after nightfall when I was called in.
Q Do you remember about what time of the night?
A No sir, it was the early part of the night.
Q I believe you said that the wound went in on the left side of the ear, the left ear.
A Went in right here on the left side.
Q In other words, it entered just about the left ear.
A Yes sir, that is true.
Q And came out on the opposite.
A Yes sir. It entered right here.
Q Is that above or below the left ear?
A Just about opposite the left ear.
Q It came out on the other side, on the right side of the head?
A Yes sir.
Q Above the right ear?
A Yes sir, just a little to the back of it.
Q I believe you say this was a pistol wound.
A Yes sir.
Q Could you tell me that was a pistol wound from a rifle or any kind of gunshot wound? Anything to differentiate it?
A You could not tell it probably from the same size rifle bullet, but I am sure it was a pistol.
Q I was wanting to know what lead you to conclude that it was a pistol rather than a rifle wound?
A It was a pistol wound.
Q And not a rifle wound?
A I should not think so.
Redirect Examination
Q All you have testified to happened in this county?
A Yes sir. Blind
W. E. Taylor, being duly sworn for the State, testified as follows
Q You the Sheriff of Randolph County?
A Yes, I am.
Q Did you see Mr. E. B. Knight on or about the thirtieth of April this year?
A Yes sir.
Q Was he living or dead?
A He was dead when I saw him.
Q Where did you see him?
A In the back end of his mill house here in Cuthbert.
Q Did you afterwards make an arrest of anybody on account of the death of Mr. Knight?
A I made an arrest before I saw the body.
Q Will you tell the jury in your own words, just what happened from the time you had the information that Mr. Knight was dead?
A I had been out of the County, and had got back about ten o'clock. It was reported to me that Lena had told
Q You talking about the defendant?
A Yes.
Q This defendant, Lena Baker?
A Yes. Lena had reported to the coroner and bailiff, that she had shot Mr. Knight in the mill house. I told him to take the fellows with him and go down and see about it, see if Mr. Knight was in the house, shot, and if he was living to get him to the hospital, and if not, to lets get hold of Lena. They went on. I got in my car, and went to Lena's house. She was there at home in the bed. I got her and brought her and put her in jail, and then I went to where the body was in the mill house.
Q Then you saw Mr. Knight's body?
A Yes.
Q Tell where his body was, the position you found it in, and what you found there.
A It was right at the back of the mill house. The mill house sat north and south. He was in the north end and laying on his right side, nearer on his face, his face laid on the floor, he was right against this back door, his face laying on the floor right near the west side of this door and his back was right up sort of on one side against that back door.
Q Did you observe that mill house when you went there and found Mr. Knight?
A Yes, the best I could.
Q Did you observe any signs of any struggle or fight in the mill house?
A No.
Q Did you find any objects close to Mr. Knight's body?
A No. the place was crowded with different stuff, had a bed stead and other furniture in there. He had part of his household furniture stored in the mill house, a big engine that ran the mill, pulleys, belts, etc., which left a narrow walkway between the engine and the belts and the furniture stored over here, and go around to the north end of it there is just a narrow passageway between that end of the engine that pulled this mill and the end of the building. There was a box sitting over there next to the wall of the building near where Mr. Knight's feet were, with a pan of water sitting on it.
Q How far was this box with the pan of water on it, to where Mr. Knight's body lay.
A Within a few inches of it
Q Had Mr. Knight been shot
A Yes sir
Q Did you find a bullet hole in his head
A Yes sir
Q Did you see any blood there
A Yes
Q Where was the blood you saw
A Under his head
Q Did you see anywhere else in the building
A No
Q Did you look for any
A The best I could
Q I believe you and that at that time you had Lena Baker under arrest
A Yes
Q What was her condition at the time you arrested her
A She was drunk
Q Did you afterwards have any conversation, after you arrested Lean Baker, with her
A I did
Q Where did you have this conversation with her
A In the jail here in Cuthbert
Q Was that on Sunday night
A No
Q You arrested her on April 30th
A On or about that time, I could not swear positively
Q How long had she been in jail when you had the conversation with her
A A couple of days
Q Was she sober at the time you had the conversation with her
A Yes she was sober then
Q Did she tell you anything about whether or not she shot Mr. Knight
A Yes, said she did
Q Tell the jury what the conversation was you had. Was that conversation anything she said freely and voluntarily made
A Yes
Q You made no threats to her
A No
Q Offer her any hope of reward
A No
Q Tell the jury the conversation between you and Lena in reference to whether or not she shot Mr. Knight
A I went on the jail and talked to Lena. I asked her to tell me what took place. She said she went off to the country with some other friends on Saturday night, and she got back later in the night there and came in contact with Mr. Knight and they were fussing, both drinking and fussing around there. I had had information already that they were at the mill house. But they were in the street fussing that night. She said, she later went on home and went to bed. That she waked up, she had been drinking the night before and felt bad and wanted a drink. Said he went to a number of places to find something to drink and didn't, and finally come up by the mill, but didn't find Mr. Knight at that time, but went down in Griffin alley and got some whiskey there, and went below the convict camp and drank that and lay down and went to sleep. Later in the morning she waked up and didn't know what time it was, but she came back to the mill house. That she went in the mill house and found Mr. Knight there, and that she strayed in the mill house from the time she got there until the killing took place before night. She said She said MR. Knight's son, Mr. Albert Knight came up to see him on that occasion and they went to church or a singing. Mr. Knight came back after the singing and went up town and got something for her to eat, she stated about what it was, and brought back down there, and she asked Mr. Knight if he wanted some of the food and said he didn't that he had eaten, and she sat down and eat. They started fussing again right after that and Mr. Knight pulls out a pistol and threatened her, what he was going to do , and she took the pistol away from him. And he turned to this back door - there is a bar run behind it a bar slide, as if he was going to open it. Said he didn't have his back to her, but side of the back, the way she expressed it. Seems he was standing further over, because the bullet hit him side his left ear and came out over here. He fell, his feet over here, his back or side right here and his shoe right on the floor, and he was right against this door
Q He was against the back door she had reference to
A Yes, the north end of the building
Q You stated that you saw a pan of water sitting on a box there at Mr. Knight's feet. Did you see any other object in the room, movable objects
A There was a Lard can with some dirty water in it sitting under the pulleys and belt there in the walkway, his bedstead and bed and this belt and engine, and a cake of soap on the belt there, is the way I remember it. I found Lena's glasses in the lard can of water that was sitting under the belt. I shook it and heard something and found Lena's glasses in the water
Q That back door had a slide, you had to slide the door
A Yes
Q You say Mr. Knight's body was found by you by the door where Lena said she shot him
A Yes, when he turned to open the door or had the appearance of going to open the door. Then she said she left and went home, that was before might gook, the way I understood it. Said she went home and got to thinking about it, whether he was dead or not, and she came back to the mill house and went in there and found that his body was still there, that he was dead. Then she went back home and got her little boy and took him with her and went to Mr. Cox's and reported to Mr. Cox at that time what she had done, and she then went home, and that is where she was when I found her.
Q Do you have the pistol
A No, Mr. Irwin has had the pistol
Q Have you seen the pistol
A Yes
Q Could you identify it
A No, But that looks like it, that is apparently the same pistol
Q Mr. Irwin has had the pistol
A Yes
Q How far does Mr. Cox live from where the place that Mr. Knight was killed. Approximately.
A A little better than half mile
Q To Mr. Cox's house
A Yes sir
Q How far does Lean Baker live from where Mr. Knight was killed
A She lives right down near the city limits, not quite a half mile
Q The city limits a half mile in that direction
A Yes, on the east side of the square
Q From what she said, she went to her home, came back, and then went back to her home and then went to Mr. Cox's
A Yes
Q That would make a considerable distance from where Lena lived to where Mr. Cox lived
A Yes
Q Right smart further from where Mr. Knight's body was
A Yes
Cross examination
Q How long have you been knowing Lena
A I expect 20 years, 15 or 20
Q You been knowing Mr. Knight that long too
A Since I was a child. Practically all my life
Q Has Lena been living within approximately half mile of Mr. Knight's mill. All that time/
A No, I would say a year or better
Q Previous to this occasion, have you ever had any occasion to go to the mill or Lena's house and make any investigation of Lena and Mr. Knight
A Yes sir
Q On how many occasions
A Two
Q When was the first one
A I could not tell you just when it was, sometime during the year last year I think
Q Where did you go on that investigation
A I went down there to her mother's house where Lena lived
Q On the first occasion that you went last year, what was the reason that caused you to go
A Trying to catch Lean and MR. Knight
Q What did you think they were doing
A Living together
Q When you went down there on the first occasion, where did you find Lena and where did you find MR. Knight
A Mr. Knight was in the back yard. Some of the other officers run upon Mr. Knight and Lena in the back yard
Q That was at Lena's house
A Her mother's house
Q Mr. Knight was up there at Lena's house on that occasion
A Yes
Q On that occasion were either one drinking. Lena or Mr. Knight
A Possible they were, but they were not drunk at that time
Q I believe you said, on a later occasion, you went there
A Yes, but I did not find MR. Knight there at the time.
Q Was Lena there
A Yes, Lena was at home
Q On the first occasion that you went there, did MR. Knight or Lena say or do anything that would cause you to determine they were guilty of living together
A No, Mr. Knight said she was doing his washing for him and he was down there to get his washing
Q Those were the only times you had occasion to make investigation about that
A I don't recall ever having gone for that purpose before or since
Q What week day was this the killing took place
A Sunday night, or late Sunday afternoon
Q Of course you don't know what time it happened
A No sir, except the information I got from Lean and others
Q When you first heard about it you went to Lena's house
A Yes, Mr. Cox told me that Lean was drunk and said she may have gotten down, that he told her to come to me. I went around the way she could have come to my house and I didn't find her. She could have gone from Mr. Cox's to my home so I went the other way and didn't fine her, and I went on to her home and Lena was at home.
Q You say she was in bed
A I think she was in the bed. Her mother opened the door and possible she was sitting on the side of the bed
Q Was Lena pretty drunk, or just how drunk
A Pretty drunk
Q She came on with you without any trouble
A Yes
Q She didn't offer to make any trouble at all for you
A No
Q Did you tell her what you were arresting her for
A I told here mother what I had her for, I didn't tell her, she knew
Q But you told her mother
A Yes, I didn't think she knew at the time
Q After you put her in jail of course you went down to Mr. Knight's mill
A That is right
Q Had anybody else been there before you got down to the mill
A Yes, Mr. Cox, Mr. Breedlove and Mr. Overby were together in the car when Mr. Cox reported it to me and I asked them to go on to the mill, while I went after Lena. Mr. Overby and some others was there at the time I got there.
Q Was the mill house locked up
A Mr. Tom Overby and others were there, they broke in the front door. The side door or window was already open, that is the way they had been entering, the was the woman left there and came back afterwards. You had to climb over some lumber to get to it, but they didn't know that. That is the way they had been going and coming. The back door was unfastened.
Q Did you find any liquor or home brew in there
A No sir
Q Did you find any evidence of where there had been liquor in it
A Yes, one or two little bottles there. One bottle had had liquor in it
Q Did you find any evidence of home brew or other intoxicating liquors there
A I don't think so
Q But you did find these bottles that had had whiskey in them.
A I don't think but one had whiskey in it
Q The conversation hat you had with Lena, when was it
A I would say two days after I arrested her. A day or two, may e three days. After she had plenty of time to sober up. I went in there and told her to tell me what took place.
Q On the Sunday night you arrested her, did you make any attempt to have a conversation with her
A On, I didn't care to talk to her
Q Did she try to tell you anything that night.
A No, she was in a drunken condition
Q Did she tell you she had shot Mr. Knight at that time
A She said she shot him
Q I believe you said that you found the body there near the back door and that there was blood under his feet or his legs.
A You misunderstood me, I didn't say there was blood under his feet
Q Where was the blood that you saw
A Under his shoe.
Q Do you know whether or not any of the other men moved the body before you got there
A I am sure they had not from the position of the body. It lay there until Mr. Shaffer came there and got it
Q Did you have a Coroner's inquest
A Yes, Mr. Cox is the Coroner
Q And also the bailiff
A Yes
Q He is the same person you referred to when you said she notified the Coroner and bailiff
A That is right
Q Who is the Coroner and bailiff
A Mr. J. A Cox
Q On the occasion that you had to go down to investigate Lena and Mr. Knight, did you see whether or not either one was drinking on those occasions.
A I think there was some beer about a pear tree in the back yard, and they were drinking some, In fact both of them were drinking all the time
Q You would classify them as heavy drinkers
A Yes
Re-direct examination
Q AT the time you had the conversation with Lena and she told you that she shot Mr. Knight with a pistol, did she make any statement to you as to where the pistol was, where she left the pistol
A I don't recall
Q What became of the pistol
A She finally told about where the pistol was and Mr. Ivwin found the pistol. I went back that night and looked for the pistol and filed to fine it
Q She told you she used Mr. Knight's pistol
A Yes
Re-cross examination
Q Do you know whose pistol that is
A No, Mr. Knight's from the information I have
Q Where was the pistol found afterwards
A I cannot tell you except from here say. She told where it was and he found it where she told them
J. A. Cox being duly sworn for the State, testified as follows:
Q Your name Mr. J. A. Cox
A Yes
Q You Coroner of Randolph County
A I am
Q On or about the night of April 30th of this year, did you see Mr. E. B. Knight
A I did
Q Was he living or dead
A Dead
Q Where was he when you saw him
A In the mill house
Q Previous to the time that you saw Mr. Knight's body in the mill House, had you had a conversation with anybody in reference to whether or not Mr. Knight had been shot or not?
A I did
Q Who was that conversation with?
A Lena Baker
Q Tell the jury where you saw her and what statement she made to you.
A This particular Sunday night that Mr. Knight was killed, I had been at the convict camp, I have been there every Sunday for three years, I had gotten home eaten supper and was sitting out on the front porch. About nine o'clock, I was sick and asked the company to excuse me, that I was going to bed. About that time Mr. Bradlove and Mr. Overby came in and said Lena Baker is out here and wants to see you. I went out. She was out in the road, she didn't come to the house, but sent her little boy to tell me to come out there. I got out there and I said "Lena, what the devil do you want this time of night". She said, "Mr. Cox, I am in trouble, bad trouble, I have killed Mr. Knight". I said "You don't say so". She was intoxicated and highly nervous of course. She said, "Come here Mr. Cox, I got something to tell you. I didn't know no one else to go to but you." We walked off a little piece after she told me, and I waited a little bit for her to get composed. I said "Lena, really have you killed Mr. Knight. Tell me about it, where it happened and how." After a little bit she proceeded to tell me. I says, "Lena, were you in a row", and she said, "Yes sir." She says, "We were tussling over the pistol". I said, "Tell me about it." Well, she just kept saying, "I have killed Mr. Knight". She says, "We were tussling over the pistol". I says, "Did he have it, or you have it," and she says, "I don't know which one had the pistol". I says, "Who pulled the trigger", and she said, "I don't know".
Q How far was it from Mr. Knight's where you found his body at the mill house, how far from there to your house?
A Just one mile, right at it.
Q Do you know where Lena Baker lived?
A I do.
Q How far is it from where you found Mr. Knight's body to where Lena Baker lived?
A Just a little better than a mile, nearly a mile and a quarter.
Q I am talking about from the mill house to her house.
A I think it is a half or nearly three-quarters of a mile, something like that.
Cross Examination
Q You are both the coroner and Bailiff, is that right?
A Yes sir.
Q How long have you known Lena?
A I have been knowing the family here for 35 years.
Q How long have you been knowing Mr. Knight?
A Practically the same time, something like that.
Q As an officer or otherwise, have you had occasion to go down to the mill there and make any investigation as to Mr. Knight and Lena, previous to that night?
A I have been going to Mr. Knight's place, it is on my way home and I go there quite often. Mr. Knight and I have been friends for years.
Q You were familiar with Mr. Knight and his business affairs?
A I traded with him.
Q On the occasions you went by there would you see him drinking whiskey, find him drinking?
A In the time I have seen Mr. Knight drinking.
Q Where was Lena at the time, was she around there?
A No, I don't know that I ever saw her around there.
Q Do you know of your own personal knowledge any previous relations between Mr. Knight and Lena?
A No sir, I don't.
Q This was about nine o'clock on Sunday night that Lena came to your house.
A Yes sir, I had taken my watch out and looked at the time and asked the company to excuse me, and about that time one of them called to me and says, "Lena Baker is out here". She remained in the road. Her little boy come to the house, to the front door.
Q Can you tell the jury just about how drunk Lena was when you got out to the road and found her?
A She was mighty drunk, could hardly walk.
Q Was she able to talk with any intelligent conversation where you could understand her well?
A Yes, I could understand her. She was so full, she would keep saying, "I have killed Mr. Knight and I want you to tell me what to do, you have been a friend of my family a long time and we have lived in your house, and the old folks worked for you a whole lot, and tell me what to do." I says, "Lena, go to the Sheriff, Mr. Taylor, now and tell him exactly what you have told me and what you have done, no use in you trying to get away."
Q You didn't arrest her?
A No sir. I didn't know then whether Mr. Knight was killed or not. I didn't know whether I had a right to take her up. That is why I didn't. In a few minutes I says, "You boys carry me up town, I am going to see if Mr. Knight is dead." I went to the Sheriff and told him exactly what she told me, then we went to the mill house and the boys helped me to break the lock on the door. I thought maybe he wasn't dead and maybe we should get the doctor and do something. I then went to her home but the Sheriff had gotten there before I did and brought her in.
Q When she was there at your house, you say you didn't arrest her, isn't it true that you had come to doubt as to whether or not she was telling the truth about what had happened because she was so drunk?
A That is true.
Q You was doubtful whether she could walk home or not?
A Yes, I was afraid she might get in the ditch somewhere.
Q She told you that they had been fighting?
A No, she said they were fussing.
Q She didn't say they had a fight?
A Said they were tussling over the pistol. I said, "Lena tell me exactly what happened. Were you all fussing", and she said, "we was fussing".
Q Did she tell you what they were fussing about?
A No, I don't remember that she did.
Q But she did finally tell you they were fussing over the pistol.
A Yes. I said, "How about the shooting", and she said they were tussling over the pistol. I said, "did you pull the trigger or he pull it", and she said, "I don't know." She was not able to tell me any details as to what happened.
Q You asked her who pulled the trigger and she said she didn't know?
A Yes.
Q You told her to report to Sheriff Taylor.
A Yes. She said, " What must I do", and I said, "Lena, go to the Sheriff and tell him what you have told me," and she said, "I will go, I will do what you say do."
Q Then you sent someone to tell Sheriff Taylor about it?
A No, I went to Mr. Taylor and called him out of the house and told him about what Lena had told me. Then I left Sheriff Taylor and went to the mill.
Q Who was with you?
A Mr. Breedlove and Mr. Overby went with me. They were at my house when Lena came up there, and they carried me down there.
Q You went in Mr. Overby's car?
A I don't know whether it was his car or not.
Q Anyway, you went to the mill and opened the house?
A Yes, I wanted to be sure that he was dead or wounded.
Q You went in and examined Mr. Knight?
A Yes, enough to see that he was dead.
Q Did you do anything else until Sheriff Taylor got there?
A I left to go to this woman's house to get her, but Sheriff Taylor had been gone about five minutes with her. I told her mother what had happened.
Q Then you went back to the mill
A Yes, I went back and empanelled a jury and held an inquest
Q Who did you leave at the mill house while you went to Lena's home?
A I left Mr. Overby at the mill and Mr. Breedlove drove me around to her mother's.
Q When you got to the mill was anybody else there?
A Quite a crowd was there when I got back.
Re-direct examination
Q Do you know how long Mr. Knight had been dead when you talked to Lena Baker?
A No I do not.
Q Do you know where Lena Baker got the liquor she had drunk when you saw her?
A No, I do not.
Q Do you know how long she had been drunk?
A No, I had not seen Lena in a week, before that.
Q You don't know whether she was drunk before or after the shooting?
A No. I had not seen Lena from the time she left my house that night, until she came in here this
Morning.
Re-cross examination
Q That night, did you find any liquor or anything in bottles around the mill?
A No, all we found was a little paper sack with some food in it.
Q Did you search the mill?
A We looked around a little bit. As soon as I found Mr. Knight dead, I thought about getting Lena. Of course, I knew she could not get away very far, or I didn't think she could.
J. E. Irwin, being duly sworn for the State, testified as follows:
Q I hand you this pistol. Have you seen this pistol before?
A Yes
Q Has it been in your possession previous to this morning, all the time?
A Yes
Q Where did you get that pistol?
A Under a bed in the springs at Lena's home.
Q Did you have any conversation with her about the pistol as to where it was?
A Yes
Q Tell the jury what that conversation was.
A I talked with Lena about the case and asked her what she did with the pistol. She told me she put
it between the mattresses of her bed. I went and looked for it and didn't find it. I came back and talked
with her again. She says, "I am sure I put it there". I went back and looked again. I turned all the
mattresses up. Mr. Knight went with me. I turned all the mattresses up and found the pistol sticking down
in the coil of the springs of the bed in the room where her and her mother lived.
Q Did she make any statement to you what she had done with the pistol previous to the time she hid
It?
A She said she killed Mr. Knight with it. Said she took it away from Mr. Knight and killed him.
Q Did you find any empty shells in the pistol?
A One empty shell in one chamber of it. Loaded bullets in all the other chambers, except one.
Mr. Terry, We introduce this pistol in evidence.
Cross examination
Q Do you know of your own knowledge whose pistol it is?
A No
Q You say Lena stated to you it was Mr. Knight's pistol.
A Yes
Q I believe Lena was arrested by Sheriff Taylor on Sunday night.
A Yes
Q When did this conversation you had with her about the pistol take place?
A Monday morning. The way I recall it it was sometime Monday.
Q Did you see Lena that Sunday night?
A I did not.
Q It was Monday when you did see her?
A Yes
Q Had she gotten sober then when you saw her?
A Yes, she was sober.
Q You are Deputy Sheriff of Randolph County?
A Yes
Q How long have you known Lena?
A I could not say exactly, some year or so.
Q How long had you known Mr. Knight?
A I had known Mr. Knight a good long while, several years.
Q Previous to this affair had you had occasion as an officer, to go to the mill house where Mr.
Knight was, or Lena's house to make any investigation of Lena and Mr. Knight's affairs or not?
A Yes, I did.
Q What was your purpose in going?
A To see if Mr. Knight and Lena were together.
Q What was the reason of this investigation?
A It had been reported that they were being intimate.
Q Living together?
A Not living together, but something to that extent.
Q How many times did you go for that purpose?
A I believe twice, I think that time and one more time.
Q What did you find the first time?
A Mr. Knight was there back of the house.
Q At Lena's house.
A Yes.
Q Was he drinking on that occasion?
A I could not say, I didn't talking with Mr. Knight very much or get close to him. I was in front of
the house at the time, I think, and when I got back out there, he was talking to Mr. Knight.
Q Mr. Knight was a heavy drinker, wasn't he?
A I understood he drank some, but he was never around me when drinking.
Q Have you seen him when he was drinking?
A Yes
Q On that occasion did you find anything out of order there, any bottles of liquor, or anything between Lena and Mr. Knight?
A No, none that I saw. Mr. Knight was down there. I believe he told the Sheriff he was down there
to get his washing.
Q You made another investigation later, is that right?
A I think I recall going down there one other time, but didn't find anything.
Q You went to Lena's house that time.
A Yes, that is the way I remember it, but am not sure.
Q Did you Mr. Knight down there that time also?
A No sir.
Q That is the only time that you have seen Mr. Knight at Lena's house
A Yes
Q On those times that you and Sheriff Taylor went down to make investigation, had any one
Individual caused you to go there, or you do that as an officer of the law?
A I cannot answer that, I think we went on information the Sheriff had received.
Q You had no individual call yourself.
A No. As I recall it, the information was through the other officers and not myself, at the time.
Q But there had been complaints, was that right?
A Yes
Q Do you happen to know who made those complaints?
A I don't think anybody had especially complained to me. As to who furnished the Sheriff the information, I cannot say.
Mr. E. C. Knight being duly sworn for the State, testified as follows:
Q Your name is E, C. Knight?
A Yes
Q Mr. E. B. Knight your father?
A Yes
Q Where was Mr. Knight killed?
A In his mill house
Q How old a man was Mr. E. B. Knight?
A 67 years old
Q What was his physical condition?
A He was crippled, walked with a stick. He broke his leg about two years ago and never had healed.
He had to walk with a stick.
Q Did you go to the mill house that night?
A I did.
Q Had his body been moved when you were there?
A No sir.
Q Tell what you saw there and found. The circumstances of the mill house, whether any evidence of
a fight or not. Explain where Mr. Knight's body was and its location in reference to other things in the mill
house. How close Mr. Knight's body was to any other object.
A That building down there is almost a square building, and in that building was a mill sitting out near the front of it and about middle way of the building a line shaft that went nearly across the building. Then at the back of the building was a power unit. John Deere power unit sitting about two feet from the wall on the back. On the right hand side of the building on the right facing the front, there was boxes of corn and acme furniture, clear back to the wall, which gave a space in between them, a walkway about as far as from hereto here.
Q About how many feet is that
A About 3 feet. The power unit was sitting about like this from the wall, and a door like this. The door opened inside, back this way, and was fastened with a latch. In this end the only space and opening was from where the line shaft came around the building then narrowed to this wide and wound around the motor to another door on the south side of the building.
Q Where was Mr. Knight's body when you saw it.
A Right at this door, his face about the middle of this door. He lay about like this from the door.
Q His feet were east of the door?
A Yes his feet were behind the motor.
Q The power unit?
A Yes, between the power unit and the north wall.
Q How big a space is there between the power unit and the north wall?
A About this wide.
Q Tell it in number of feet
A I would say about 30 inches.
Q Was anything else between the power unit and the wall besides Mr. Knight's feet?
A A wooden box sitting right off the east corner of the unit, a box about that wide and about that high.
Q What else did you find in the room there?
A Over on the side, was a narrow path, and a can of water or tub of water was right down by this belt with a bar of soap and a wash rag lying on the belt.
Q Did you find any other object in the room, any bottles?
A Found one bottle, half pint bottle.
Q What was in it, do you know?
A It was empty
Q You didn't find a half pint bottle of whiskey?
A That was the only bottle I saw there. Might have been some jugs back in the corner there, I don't remember.
Q Did you see any signs of a struggle in the building?
A None at all.
W. E. Taylor recalled for the State, testified as follows:
Q In this mill house were there any articles of furniture there?
A Yes
Q What were they?
A There was a bedstand, mattress on the bed, dresser and some stuff just stored in there, then back towards the front was corn and boxes stored in there.
Q The only articles of furniture you saw was a bed and dresser?
A Yes, possibly a wash stand.
Q Any sheets or anything on the bed?
A A quilt was lying on the floor where this lard can of water was a quilt between this bed and belt and pulleys. It was a narrow walk way between it.
Q Did the bed have anything besides a mattress on it?
A I think some papers and a quilt or two throwed across it, it was not made up, just stored in there.
Q The bed was not made up?
A No, it was not supposed to have been used, just put in there to store it
Q Where you were on the stand a few minutes ago you testified you had occasion to make at least two investigations about whether or not Lena and Mr. Knight were violating any laws down there. I want to ask you as to whether or not your investigations were prompted by your own information and knowledge, or whether or not someone made complaints and asked you to investigate.
A Different people had made complaints to me.
Q There were numerous complaints, is that right?
A Yes
State rests
Defendant's statement
Gentlemen, this difficulty started on Saturday night before this trouble happened on Sunday night. I was at home. I had not gone to bed but I was at home. Of Course Mr. Knight came to my home. Somebody knocked on the door. I says, " Mama, somebody knocking", and she says, "Yes". I got up and went to the door. It was him. I says, "What do you want, Mr. Knight". He says, "I come here to ask if you are going to the mill tonight." I told I wasn't going that I was afraid to go to the mill. I said, "I do not want to go to the mill." I asked him, " Have you got anything to drink", and he says, " I got some home brew". I said, " I had rather drink of whiskey", and he said he didn't have anything but some home brew. He had one quart of home brew, I didn't take but one good drink. I said, " now, you give me some money and I will go and see if I can find a drink of whiskey." I was doing that to get away from him because he was pretty full when he come to my home and I knowed how it would be for I have seen him that way more than one time.
He gave me 50 cents and I went to a café on Capitol Dawson Street. I went to the café for colored people on the right hand side of the door. I didn't see no light in the house, and I said to myself, they are not at home. I sat down on the porch with my foot swinging down. I sat there a while and nobody didn't come, so I got up to go back. It was late. It was late when he came to my house. I thought maybe he had gone on, but when I got back he was standing somewhere around the house watching me, cause when I got in the house he came and knocked on the door again. Mama had put the light out, my children were in the room where I stayed. He came and knocked and I said, "Mr. Knight it is late, go home and go to bed." And he said, " I be damed if I am going home until you go where I want you to." I said, " I don't want to go to the mill, I have told you I don't want to", and he said, " you are going. I am not going to let you rest tonight".
I had pulled my shoes off. I slipped my shoes back on and went with him. When we got about the cemetery over here by the water bank, I dodged him. I struck a little trot through the cemetery and he went on towards his mill. I stayed there, calmed myself watching him until he got out of sight, and I come back up on Dawson Street, towards his mill. His mill was over here, not on the street where his mill was at that time. I turned the corner at Mrs. Gilmore's where he boarded. The door was cracked about that much at Mrs. Gilmore's where he boarded, the door opened like that and the lamp was lit. I walked up there in the back yards to the back steps. There was a boy, a white boy sitting on the bed. I said, " son is Mr. Knight here", and he says, " no, he has been here", he says, " he is drunk wherever he is at". I turned, I didn't get no further than the steps, and I turned and started to walking out towards his mill. He was sitting on the bench in front of the mill. As I walked under the light he knowed me. He says, " that you Lena" " where in the hell have you been. I been trying all night to get you to do as I asked you to and you have not it". I said, " no sir, I have promised not to go to your mill anymore." I went to Griffin Alley, I went down there to get me a drink. I got down by the convict camp, because I didn't want to go back towards his place, and I went to Mr. Irwin's pasture. In all of this I was by myself, nobody but me. I dropped off to sleep and when I discovered myself, where I was I says, " hell, I have laid out all night". I said that to myself. I got up and come by Mr. Knight's mill, thinking he was gone, but he was still sitting out in front there. He says, " Lena god dam it, you are going in my mill", and when he said that he throwed his pistol on me and made me go in there. That was about four o'clock in the morning at near I can guess at it, near the break of day. Well, I got in there and sat down and we talked. I said, " I told you I didn't want to come in here, I been away from home all night, away from my children, and you have made me come in this mill". He says, " yes, but you are safe and everything in here." I said, " no, I am in the wrong place." Then I says, " I am going to lay down on this bed and go to sleep, but don't let me sleep too long." When I waked up it was good day, and I said, " I thought you were going to wake me", and he said "dam you I mean to make you what I tell you to do or kill you." He says, " you stay here, I am looking for my son from Cairo, Georgia, but you stay in the mill until I go to the country with him to the singing, just lock the door and nobody will know you are in here. I says, " I had rather be at home." Then he said he was going to leave me in the mill, locked up in the mill. I was drinking not drunk, and I knew he had attempted to keep me and was afraid, so I stayed in there. After he come back that evening, after his son left, he brought something to eat. He brought me some fish and stew meat R.C. drink and half pint of whiskey, and he says, " get up and eat you something", I says, " what time is it" and said he didn't know. I get up and he lay across the bed. I says, " don't you want something to eat," and he says, " I don't want a thing I done eat". I remember eating the stew beef and drinking the drink. I kept telling him I wanted to get out, and he said he would kill me before I got out of there, and I says, " you will have to do it." We got into a fight - we fought - and he throwed that pistol on me and I said, " whenever you let me out I am going to leave and never see anymore." He says, " I done tole you whenever you quit me or attempted to leave me what I will do". He run his hand in his bosom and throwed his pistol on me and we got to tusseling and I got the pistol away from him. And there was a piece of iron at the door, and he reached to get that iron and I didn't know but what he meant to hit me with it. I have been threatened more one time by Mr. Knight it was nothing I had against Mr. Knight that was not the first time he had throwed that pistol in my face and on me, but I took it and went on. That was one time I thought I had to do something, I believe he would have killed me if I had not done what I did. I was hired to wait on Mr. Knight when he broke his leg, I cooked for Mr. Knight, and nursed him like I would a baby. His son Mr. A. C. Knight, hired to do it. He would make me stay in his house where he was at and I was afraid not to do it, yes sir. There was times I wanted to be at home where my mother and children was, but she could not rest and I could not rest at my house if I had not been threatened that if I didn't go to where he wanted me and do what he wanted me to do, what he was going to me, and I was afraid not to do it.
Defendants rests
W. T. Overby, being duly sworn for the State, testifies as follows:
Q Your W.T. Overby
A Yes
Q Tom Overby
A Yes
Q Do you remember about the 30th day of April this year, when Mr. Knight was killed
A Yes
Q Did you go in his mill house that night
A Yes
Q Where you the first one in his mill house
A Yes
Q Did you find Mr. Knight's body there
A Yes
Q Did you see or find any piece of iron there about Mr. Knight's body or close by
A No
Q Was there any such piece of iron there
A I didn't see any
Q Was Mr. Knight's moved or anything disturbed in there until Mr. Taylor, Sheriff, got there
A No
Cross examination
Q Were you down at Mr. Cox's house that night when Lena came up there after him
A Yes
Q Did you go out to the road and have any conversation with her that time
A No
Q Did you have any conversation with her that night at all
A No
W. E. Taylor, recalled for the State, testified as follows:
Q The night that Mr. Knight was killed, did you examine Mr. Knight's body and the place where his body was located there that night
A Yes, the best of my ability
Q Did you find any piece of iron in the place located close to his body
A No, no loose iron there that I saw, at all
Q Did you look for all the things you could find
A I tried to look for anything that would be connected with it, at that time
Q And you didn't see any piece of iron
A No.
Cross examination
Q That door where the body was found, did he have an iron bar or piece of lumber that barred the door
A It was a wooded slide, when you opened the door you slided it out and opened the door
Q Had the door been opened before you got there, was it opened
A No, it was barred
Q Was there any evidence that the bar had attempted to be removed or not
A No, none that I saw
Q Did Lena make any statements as to how her glasses happened to be in the bucket of water under the belt
A She never has to me. It wasn't a bucket but a lard can, some six or eight or ten inches deep with dirty water in the lard can and her glasses in that
Q How far was that lard can from the body from Mr. Knight.
A Probably three or four, sitting under the belt under the pulleys by this walkway, back in front of where Mr. Knight laid on the floor.
E. C. Knight recalled for the State, testified as follows:
Q You heard the testimony of the defendant here, that your father, Mr. Knight, had forced her to associate with him and be in his presents, did you not.
A Yes
Q State whether or not that fact was true or not
A I would not think so
Q Tell the jury what you know about the circumstances at the time
A My father's leg was broke. This Negro, my brother hired her to wait on him. During that time he lived on Webater street. She was going in and out there and drinking and going on down there, and some of the neighbors complained about it. I went to Lena and said," Lena this has got to stop. The way things are going on at this time has got to stop, I don't want to hurt you, don't want to have any trouble with you and you stay away from my daddy. Don't come back to the house never no more, because I don't want to hurt or have trouble with you, and you listen to what I tell you." Two days later I drove by there and she was there. I took her and beat her until I just did leave life in her. I told her to stay away from my daddy and not go around him any more.
Q Did she go around your father after that time.
A I never saw her around him again, but I had been told that she was. If I had seen her with him or around him again I would have gotten hold of her again.
Cross examination
Q Did you ever talk to your father about letting Lena stay down there
A Yes
Q What did he say
A Told me that it was his business
Q I believe you said there were complaints about her being down there
A Yes about her drinking liquor and carrying on. She was going in and out there drinking.
Q Staying there all the time
A I don't know
Q Was your father furnishing the liquor.
A I don't know
Q They were both drinking
A I imagine Papa was drinking some
A.C. Knight being duly sworn for the State, testified as follows:
Q Your name A. C. Knight
A Yes
Q Where do you live
A Cairo, Georgia
Q Have you ever lived in Tallahasssee
A Yes
Q How long has it been since you lived in Tallahassee
A July last year
Q At the time you lived in Tallahassee did your father ever stay down there with you any
A He did
Q Why did he come down there
A I came up here. May I make this speech so to speak, about the time that my brother told about the trouble they were having. It was true that I hired her to look after him. I didn't know of any trouble they were having until my brother called my attention to it. I persuaded my father to break up housekeeping and come to Tallahassee to live with me and I succeeded in doing that and got him to come down there, and she came down there, followed him down there for about five or six months.
Q How long had your father been there when she came down there.
A That I could not say. I owned a rooming house at the time and my father was looking after it for me, I was busy and didn't pay much attention to it. She could have been there some good while.
Q When you found out she was there, what did you do about it.
A I went to see her, I found out where she lived, and I went to see her and gave her twelve hours for me not to see her in Tallahassee or Leon County again.
Q That was down in Florida and your father was down there before she came.
A Yes
Cross examination
Q Did your father come back to Cuthbert to live after he left Florida.
A Yes
Q Did he come back of his own volition to live, or why did he come back.
A I gave up the rooming house that I had and really didn't have anything for him to do, and he came back up here.
Both sides closed
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