After I had decided to leave Dallas to arrest Perry, I wired a code
message to one of my operatives, D. F. Harbaugh, to come to Dallas on
the first train and call for a letter of instructions that I left for
him at my hotel. This letter was to the effect that he should carefully
shadow the white man, John Perry, as soon as he arrived at Dallas, and
keep him under continuous surveillance until further orders.
Harbaugh arrived at Dallas on Saturday and began shadowing Perry
according to instructions. As soon as Cabel received my first message he
called up the newspapers and they got out an extra at once. The white
John Perry got one of the first extras. He read the account of the
colored man having killed himself, and at once left his office and
started for his lodgings, about a mile away. On his way he stopped at
every saloon en route (they numbered thirteen in all) and took a large
drink at each place. By the time he reached home he had taken at least
thirteen drinks.
Two hours after sending the first message, I sent Sheriff Cabel a second
one, which read as follows:
"Negro doing well; will recover. Leave here on morning train for
Dallas. Treat this confidentially and meet me at Temple tomorrow
morning. Arrest John Perry on charge of complicity in Temple murder.
Have full confession of negro which justifies this action."
Sheriff Cabel did as directed, and met me at Temple the following
morning, where we had to change cars for Dallas. We arrived in Dallas
about 8:00 P. M. Tuesday, and during the long journey from Lampasas to
Dallas the jolting of the cars, etc., caused the negro's wound to become
inflamed, and he was suffering greatly when we reached Dallas. The
sheriff had telegraphed ahead for a physician to await us at the jail.
The negro was placed on a cot in the corridor where the doctor could
redress his wound. While the doctor was so engaged the master, John
Perry, who was a prisoner in one of the cells on the upper floor of the
jail, could plainly see all that was going on below. He recognized the
negro and immediately attempted to kill himself by butting his head
against the steel bars of his cell. The sheriff and his assistants and
myself were attracted by the actions of the white man, and at once
rushed to the cell. Here we found that the white prisoner had almost
beaten out his brains against the bars of his cell. Medical aid was
called and a guard placed inside the cell with him to prevent any
further personal violence.
The following day the papers were full of what had occurred, and owing
to the high standing of Perry, the jail was flooded with sympathizers,
among whom were many leading citizens. Telegrams from all parts of the
state, from influential people, poured in, tendering the prisoner all
sorts of aid, financially and otherwise. An able counsel volunteered to
defend him, and society ladies began to send him luncheons and
delicacies of all kinds.
The prisoner had offered as an excuse for trying to commit suicide that
he felt so humiliated by being charged with murdering his partner. He
declared that he was innocent and that he would be exonerated in court;
which I have no doubt he would, as the main proof against him was the
testimony of a negro, which does not usually go very far in court in the
south when it cannot be strongly corroborated.
The colored prisoner continued to improve, and the white man seemed to
get along nicely for about five days, when a young society woman sent
him a luncheon, in which was a cut glass plate containing delicacies.
While he was eating this lunch, and the guard was at the far end of the
cell Perry suddenly struck the plate on the steel floor of the cell,
breaking it into pieces. He picked up a large, triangular-shaped piece
of glass, with edges as sharp as a razor, and plunged it into his
throat, at the same time giving the piece of glass a twist, which
severed the jugular vein, causing his death in a few minutes. Thus ended
the existence of the white John Perry.
The colored man pleaded guilty at his trial, and was sentenced to the
state prison for life, where, I presume, he is at the present time.
I omitted to state that after I had searched the colored John Perry at
Lampasas, and had instructed the sheriff and jailor not to allow him to
have a knife or anything of the kind with his meal, Perry had called the
jailor and told him that he had gotten a sliver in his finger, and asked
the jailor to lend him his knife to remove the sliver. The old jailor,
having evidently forgotten my instructions, gave the prisoner his pocket
knife, through the bars. As he stepped back from the bars Perry opened
the knife and cut his throat before the jailor could get into the cell
to prevent it. The skin on that darky's neck was as thick as ordinary
sole leather and very tough. I held him while the doctor sewed up the
wound, which was a hard job, but performed very nicely.
I arrived in Dallas on Wednesday night, made the foregoing
investigation, located and arrested Perry, caused the arrest of the
white John Perry, left Dallas and returned to St. Louis, arriving there
on Friday evening of the following week, after having traveled nearly
four thousand miles, which I believe to be the quickest time ever made
in working up a case and capturing the guilty parties in a crime of this
magnitude.
I can say that I have never doubted but that it was a case of remorse
that caused the white John Perry to commit suicide, and not humiliation.