Press: Mathis Trial

New Orleans Picayune, January 3, 1902

THE MATHIS TRIAL
A Jury Secured and Examination of Witnesses Begun. The Prisoner Denied All Previous Statements Made, and Gives a New Version.

[Special to the Picayune]

Oxford, Miss., Jan. 2. — The trial of Will Mathis, charged with the murder of the two Montgomerys, began at 8 o’clock this morning. By 11 o’clock a jury had been impaneled and the examination of the witnesses begun. Mr. D. M. Kimbrough, assisted by J.H. Mize, of Forest, and C. H. Braugh, of Clinton, two law students of the State University, were appointed by the court to represent the defendant. The first witness placed on the stand was Deputy United States Marshal Frank Matthews, who testified as to the two Montgomerys being sent to arrest Mathis.

Mrs. Welsh, a neighbor of Mathis, testified to having heard the gun shots and seeing the burning house.

Orlando Lester was next called, and gave the same version of the killing that he had given in his own trial, with the exception of his statements in regard to Whit Owens. He now denies that Owens gave them the shells loaded with buckshot. He also denied that Owens sent any message in regard to the killing to Mathis.

George Jackson, a brother of Bill Jackson, who is under indictment for the same offense as Mathis and Lester, who was with Mathis from the time he left the burning house until the evening of his capture, was next called. He gave Mathis’ first statement in regard to the murder. He said that Mathis told him that he did the shooting himself: that it was planned that the negro should do the shooting, but his nerve failed him, and he (Mathis) had to do it himself. He stated that Mathis shot Hugh Montgomery first, shooting him in the mouth; that he was obliged to shoot John A. Montgomery twice, once in the body and once in the head.

Dr. H. Rowland, a practicing physician of Oxford, was next placed on the stand. He testified that the legs and arms, of the two Montgomerys seemed to have been cut off.

Will Mathis next took the stand. He denied all previous statements made by himself, claiming that they were made under promises of aid or threats of bodily harm. He said he had nothing to do with the killing, and did all he could to keep Lester from killing the officers. He stated that John A. Montgomery was one of his best friends, and nothing hurt him worse than the killing of the officer in his house. He stated that he had nothing to do with burning the bodies; that his father —in-law, Whit Owens, and the negro did the burning; that all he did was take his own pistol and leave the house. In regard to the letters written by himself to his wife while in jail, telling her how to assist him in escaping and what she and the other parties must testify at the trial, he disclaimed all knowledge. He became violently angry when the letters were shown him and read by the district attorney. He said it was all a plot of Bill Jackson, and he knew nothing of the letters. He at first refused to give a sample of his writing, but at length consented to write his name.

Mrs. Will Mathis was next called to testify in behalf of her husband. She failed to identify the writing of her husband. She repeated in substance what she had stated in Lester’s trial. She denied the testimony given at the coroner’s inquest. Court adjourned at 6 o’clock and Mrs. Mathis’ examination will be resumed to-morrow morning.

Never in the history of Lafayette county has such intense interest been felt in any case tried in the courts here as has been manifested in the trial of Will Mathis and his accomplices for the murder of the two Montgomerys, one month ago. Crowds of men from this and adjoining counties fill the courtroom and streets, and business is almost suspended.

Since his capture and confinement in the county jail, Will Mathis has used his tongue freely, and has given the names of seven or eight of his former friends who were operating illicit stills. These stills have been captured and placed in the federal building at this place to await the action of the grand jury.

Several ministers of the gospel and the Christian people of the town have visited the prisoners in the jail and sought to direct their thoughts to preparation for their fate. Will Mathis has repeatedly asked for prayers, and says he has read his Bible and tried to make ready to meet his Maker, but when visited by his relatives and friends has cursed them and himself, and every one else, freely and viciously.

A prisoner who was released from the jail last week gave a letter to one of the city officials, written by Will Mathis to his wife. The letter was a miserable scrawl, but in it Mathis requested that his wife send him a bottle of whisky and some cartridges that would fit Mr. Ragland’s (the jailer’s) pistol. He stated that if he could get full of whisky he could easily overpower the jailer, take his pistol and escape. No communication whatever has been permitted between Mathis and his wife and child.

The best legal talent in the state has been employed in this case, and a fair and impartial trial will be given the criminals. The best citizens believe that any attempt to continue the case, or to commute the death sentence, should it be passed, will cause the immense crowd assembled in the town to attempt lynching the men indicted for the murder.

One of Will Mathis’ brothers from Oklahoma is here attending the trial. He is a quiet, respectable-looking man, and seems very much troubled about his unfortunate brother. He has stated that Will Mathis is the only member of his father’s family to disgrace the name.

A peculiarity of the trial is the vastly different statements made by the parties arraigned during the two examinations. Mrs. Mathis, Lester and Will Mathis have told three or four entirely different versions of the killing.

The father and brothers of Hugh Montgomery are in the city, and although quiet and unobtrusive, are determined that the criminals shall be meted out the justice they deserve.

Much surprise has been expressed by many of the best citizens of our town at the implication of Bill Jackson in the murder. Business men state that until two years ago Jackson was considered one of the most reliable, honorable farmers in the country. He became intimate with Whit Owens and Will Mathis, and aided them in making moonshine whisky, and for more than a year has been leading a lawless life.