PROMPT ARREST AND CONVICTION OF THE MURDERER AND SUICIDE OF THE
INSTIGATOR OF THE CRIME WHILE AWAITING TRIAL.
Early in the '90s, I received a telegram from James Arnold, Chief of
Police of Dallas, Texas, and Ben Cabel, County Sheriff of Dallas,
requesting me to come to Dallas immediately for consultation in a murder
case. Knowing both gentlemen well, having done business with them
before, I answered that I would start for Dallas the following day,
which I did.
I arrived in Dallas late on Wednesday evening. I found Chief Arnold and
Sheriff Cabel waiting for me at the depot. We went to my hotel
immediately where we could have a quiet conference. For obvious reasons
I will not give the true names of the principals connected with this
dastardly crime, but will state the actual facts which led to the arrest
and conviction of the murderer, and to the suicide of the real
principal.
The Chief and Sheriff told me the nature of the case for which I had
been summoned. They said that on Sunday night, preceding, a prominent
citizen of Dallas (whom I will call Temple) had boarded a heavily loaded
electric car, downtown, in front of one of the principal churches, for
his home. The car had at least forty or fifty passengers, most of whom
were returning home from the evening services, which Temple had
attended. Temple lived on the outer edge of the city in the better
residence portion. When the car reached his home he got off and started
towards his front gate. There were a number of shade trees in front of
his home; the street at this point was well lighted by arc lights, one
of which was suspended above the point where he had left the car. As he
stepped from the street to the edge of the side-walk, a colored man, who
had been concealed behind a shade tree, sprang out and was seen by a
number of passengers who were on the rear end of the car to strike
Temple a powerful blow on the head with something like a baseball bat.
After striking the blow, the negro dropped his weapon and his hat, and
fled into an alley, disappearing in the darkness. The people who had
witnessed the assault, hastened to Temple, who lay unconscious on the
sidewalk, picked him up and carried him into his house. Doctors were
summoned, and found that Temple's head had been split from the crown to
the level of the eyes. He was still breathing, but only lived a few
moments, never regaining consciousness. The Chief and Sheriff were sent
for and found that the weapon was a piece of 1½-inch gas pipe, near four
feet long. The blow was so powerful that it bent the pipe, midway, to
almost an L-shape. They also found the hat, which the murderer dropped,
to be a new, cheap, broad-brimmed, black hat and was of unusually large
size. It was too large for any ordinary sized head and indicated to me
that it was probably too large for the man who had worn it, and for that
reason had fallen off with the first violent move the wearer had made.
The witnesses to the crime had all had a plain view of the slayer, and
described him as a young negro, very black, about five feet eight inches
tall, well built, and apparently well dressed. They all agreed that he
had the features of a white man, thin lips, straight nose and regular
features. In fact, a number believed him to be a white man who had
blackened his face.
During our conference I learned that Temple had a brother, who was a
prominent physician, and who lived in Springfield, Illinois. He had been
sent for by his sister-in-law, arriving in Dallas on Tuesday. The doctor
was anxious to have his brother's assassin brought to justice, if
possible, and had asked them to recommend a detective to him for that
purpose, so they had wired me to come on to Dallas. It was midnight by
this time, and I was tired. After making an appointment with Sheriff
Cabel to accompany him to the scene of the murder the next morning, I
retired.
Next morning Chief Arnold, Sheriff Cabel and I went over the ground. I
examined the hat and the piece of pipe, which the murderer had used, and
I noticed that this pipe was new and had been cut from the end of a long
joint. It was evident to me that it had been cut to the proper length
so that he (the assassin) could conceal it in carrying it to the place
of the murder. I then began my investigations.
There was a large colony of negroes in Dallas, as in other Texas towns,
but no one seemed to know a colored man who had a white man's features.
All the witnesses agreed that they had never seen any one who looked
like the murderer before. It was, of course, necessary for me to
discover the motive for the murder, since in all crimes of this
character there is a motive.
I found that Mr. Temple had been superintendent of a Sunday School. He
was also in the wholesale lumber business, and was associated with two
parties in the business. One of them I will call Smith and the other
Perry. When the partnership had been formed they agreed to take out a
ten thousand dollar life insurance policy on each other's life, and to
carry these policies on the company funds. I learned that Temple had
incurred the enmity of a number of citizens; among them was a
brother-in-law, who at one time had been heard to threaten his life.
Temple had had some litigation with a saw-mill proprietor who lived in
east Texas. This litigation involved about fifty thousand dollars, and
had been in court for several years. Finally a decision had been
rendered in favor of Temple, a short time prior to his murder. The
saw-mill proprietor of east Texas had the reputation of being a good
citizen, honorable and reliable in business, but had killed two or more
people, for which he had been exonerated by the courts. From the above
the reader can understand that I had already discovered what might prove
to be several "motives" for the crime.
At noon on the second day after my arrival at Dallas, I had eaten my
dinner and walked out of the Grand Windsor Hotel, where I was stopping,
to the corner in front of the hotel, where I stopped for a moment, as I
was undecided whether to go up or down the street first, there being
people in both directions whom I wished to see. It was raining. There
was a fine-looking young woman coming across the street towards me. As
she approached I noticed that she was a colored girl, but about as white
as myself. Her hair was kinky and of a deep reddish color. Her eyes were
large and blue. She was tall, well dressed, but had large brown freckles
about the size of a little finger nail. Her carriage was graceful, and
were it not for the freckles and kinky hair she would have been called a
beauty. Her graceful movements attracted my attention, and as I looked
at her a hand was laid on my shoulder. On looking around I beheld Doctor
Temple. He said in an undertone, "What do you think of her?"