Floyd Allen Defense

The Bluefield Telegraph, Bluefield,
W. Va.
Thursday Morning, May 9, 1912

FLOYD ALLEN DEFENSE GETS WELL INTO CASE.

Swears Witnesses to Support Theory That Court Officials Opened Fire.

JUROR SWEARS THAT SHERIFF SHOT FIRST

Admits on Cross-Examination, How- ever, That He Did Not Hear Well and Could Not Locate the Sounds Definitely.

TO PROVE ALIBI FOR BYRD MARION AND VICTOR ALLEN.

Wytheville, Va., May 8. -The defense of Floyd Allen, the first of the Hillsville court house assassins to fact the bar, got well into its case before court adjourned today, and began the swearing of witnesses to support its theory that the shooting came first from the court officials.

Two witnesses, jurors who sat in Allen’s Carroll court trial, testified. One swore he believed the first shots came from the court officers and the other that he had seen Sheriff Webb fire at Allens. On cross-examination, however, one admitted that the Allens began firing before Sheriff Webb, while the other admitted that he did not hear well and could not locate the sounds definitely.

One of the witnesses put on to impeach testimony offered by the prosecution admitted he owed Sidna Allen $80.

When court adjourned several witnesses had been examined by the defense. Probably forty will be sworn. One testified Byrd Marion, an indicted member of the gang awaiting trial for murder, was not in the courthouse when the shooting took place and that Victor Allen left the court house before it began.

The state concluded its testimony in chief at 10:45 this morning, after which the taking of testimony for the defense was begun. Interest in the trial by the outside public is unabated, although the attendance at the court house was not so large as yesterday.

The first witness put on the stand this morning was J. T. Cochran. There was a squabble over the admission of his testimony and finally the witness was ordered to stand aside.

County Treasurer J. B. Marshall was in the court house and when he saw the actions of Floyd Allen and the shooting started he turned to get out. After getting down the steps he leaned against the window of his office when two girls passed him, one of whom was Miss Elizabeth Ayers, who was killed. She bent over and whispered something to him, and when asked to state what she said, the defense objected and the court sustained the objection. He said to her that maybe she was more scared than hurt when she remarked. “No I am killed.” About this time some of the Allens came out of the court house, when one of the girls said there comes the scoundrels now. Sidna Allen went toward Mr. Marshall and pointed his pistol toward him and fired. The bullet went wild and buried itself in the window about six inches above his head. Before leaving the court room the witness was standing near Sheriff Webb and he did not see any pistol in his hand.

S. E. Gardner, an undertaker, of Hillsville who prepared the body of Sheriff Webb for burial, testified as to the nature of the wounds inflicted on the dead officer by the outlaws bullets. One entered the back and ranged upward, lodging directly under the collarbone. A second shot entered the back about four inches lower, while a third shot cut him across the chin. Another entered the body at the cap of the left hip and passed through the abdomen. The last and fifth shot went into the calf of the leg and when his trousers were removed, the bullet, a 32-calibre, of lead dropped out on the floor.

Commonwealth’s Attorney S. Floyd Landreth told of how he came into the case and of the efforts made b him to find the pistols of Webb and Foster, but that they had been handed about the waist line and the ball rang-? various hands until it was impossible for him to be certain of either.

The last witness for the prosecution was Solomon Ayers, a cousin of Miss Elizabeth Ayers who was killed. He testified as to the character of her wound. She was shot through the back above the waistline and the ball ranged upward and came out of the right breast. She died twenty-four hours later.

The defense then requested the court to put on two of the Floyd Allen jurors as court witnesses. They had been summoned for the prosecution and had not been used. Upon the refusal of the court to accede to the request the defense announced that they would use them as witnesses.

They were J. W. Farris and W. F. Harris. After the resting of the case by the prosecution a short conference was held between the attorneys for the accused and the taking of evidence for the defense was commenced.

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph,
Bluefield, W. Va.
Friday Morning, May 10, 1912

SIDNA ALLEN DID IT, JUDGE MASSIE SAID

Dying Words of Hillsville Jurist Repeated by Witness at Floyd's Trial.

DETAILS SCENES OF THE COURT HOUSE TRAGEDY

Friend of Outlaw Gang Who Expressed Hope That Wytheville Court Would Be Shot Up Warned to Keep Mouth Shut or Go to Jail.

DEFENSE CONTINUES EFFORTS TO DISPROVE CONSPIRACY.

Wytheville, Va., May 9. --"I'm dying, I'm dying. Sid Allen did it!"

Judge Massie's first words as he fell mortally wounded during the pistol battle that killed four others in the Hillsville court house on March 14, were repeated today at the trial of Floyd Allen, one of the gang charged with the five murders. Daniel Thomas, a sturdy countryman, who was first to reach the dying judge, detailed the scene and the fighting.

Another incident touched the day's proceedings with the dramatic. Campbell Crowder, a friend of Allen’s was talking with witnesses on the courthouse green when he exclaimed:

"I hope the Allen's will shoot this court room worse than the one at Hillsville!"

Crowder was immediately taken before Judge Staples, who told him any more talk would mean a term in jail.

The defense continued its plan of building evidence to disprove the prosecution's charge that the Allens hatched a conspiracy to shoot up the Hillsville court and went to Hillsville prepared to do the work. Other testimony intended to favor the Allens seemed to be shaken on cross-examination. Witnesses were sworn to testify that the first shot came from court officers. One of these admitted that the first two shots came from where he had seen Sidna and Claude Allen standing.

Judge W. D. Bolen was recalled and testified as to the character of Victor Allen. He said that his neighbors all spoke well of him. He knew but little of Friel and Claude Allen. The witness had known Floyd Allen from his boyhood and always considered him clannish.

Attorney S. W. Tompkins, of Hillsville, was also put on the stand as a character witness. He thought the Allens clannish in their tendencies. This was brought out on cross-examination. As to the general character of the men accused he knew but little.

Harry Wilkinson, a waiter at the restaurant where Friel and Wesley Edwards ate, told of Friel leaving the restaurant and saying to Wesley Edwards that he should pay the bill as he was in a hurry to go. He then left the place.

Emmett Bolen was in the court room when the trouble occurred. After the verdict had been rendered he went over to a drug store and saw Friel Allen and Wesley Edwards in the store. After the shooting occurred he saw Victor Allen come out with the crow. He didn't see him with any pistol.

Thomas Hall, the proprietor of the hotel, told of bringing Floyd Allen to the hotel between 11 and 12 o'clock. He fixed a room for him and saw Dr. Nuchols and Dr. Tipton cut the pants' leg off where Floyd was shot. He did not notice what was done with the sweater. The witness did not know the repucation? of Claud Allen. On cross-examination he stated that he did not know who had brought Floyd Allen to the hotel, and the doctors did not come for two or three hours afterwards. In the afternoon Jack and Garland Allen and one other man came to see Floyd and remained with him about an hour. He did not know whether Jack Allen had saddle pockets with him or not. Cabell Strickland visited Floyd Allen during the afternoon, but he did not know whether anyone else was there or not.

R. G. Wilkinson, cashier of the bank at Hillsville, testified that Sidna Allen had deposited in checks on the 8th of March $291.71, and $360 in currency on the morning of the 14th. All of this money is still in the bank. Four small checks aggregating $25 have come from Sidna Allen since the tragedy. None of them were made payable to himself.

Walter Howlett was put on as a character witness but he knew very little concerning the men charged with the crime.

Ellis Stanley, a farmer, and sawmill man testified that he was in the courthouse at the time of the shooting. He saw Victor Allen standing near the door, but he had no gun. The next time he saw him was at the stable where his father Floyd Allen lay wounded. This was some time afterwards. He also saw Mrs. Mundy, the mother of the Edwards boys in the courthouse.

Robert McLaughlin saw Sidna Edwards come from behind a plank fence on the morning of the tragedy and they walked up the street together.

Green Robinson, a farmer, gave in some contradictory evidence as to the shooting. He says he was on the south side of the courtroom when the verdict against Floyd Allen was rendered and the shooting started near him. There were two shots fired close together and after a short interval, ten or eleven more shots were fired right together, when the shooting sounded like laurel leaves in a hot fire. The witness said he was not excited a bit, and did not want to leave the courtroom, but was pushed out by the crowd. After the shooting he went back and saw Judge Massie lying on the floor with a pistol under his right arm.

On cross-examination Robinson admitted that he had been indicted for a felony in the Hillsville court a few days before. He became badly mixed under the withering cross fire of the prosecution, but stuck to his story that he saw none of the Allens fire a shot, although he was perfectly cool and collected.

Noah Rigney was sitting in the jury room when Prosecutor Foster came in and fell dead on the floor. He stayed in the room and helped lay him out. He saw a pistol under Foster's arm. He saw two men take the pistol and examine it and he afterward examined it himself. He didn't see any cartridges in the pistol.

Church Alderman testified that he loaned Sheriff Webb a pistol on March 11. It was a 32-calibre automatic. It was returned to him as he supposed on the sixteenth. There were eight loads and one empty cartridge in the gun when he loaned it to the sheriff. When it was returned there were only five loads in it. This proved afterward not to be his pistol. His was not returned to him until several weeks later, and was empty.

H. C. Quesenberry was in the courtroom at the time of the shooting. He said he saw Floyd Allen start to touch his sweater when he started out. He saw a small man standing on a bench shooting at Foster. He did not know Friel Allen.

Walter Petty was also in the courthouse and saw Floyd Allen. He said the first shots were fired from the northeast corner of the courtroom. He went out and saw the duel between Sidna Allen and Dexter Goad. He saw Claud Allen the northeast corner of the courtroom.

Jack Allen, a brother of Floyd Allen was on the stand for quite a while this morning. He stated his relationship to the prisoner, and corroborated the evidence offered by Cashier Wilkinson of the Hillsville Bank, concerning the deposits made by Sidna Allen. He also told the movements of his son Friel Allen. He admitted that he was not home on either Monday or Wednesday and started to tell where he had heard of the courthouse tragedy when he was when the court stopped him through an objection made by the prosecution. He first heard of the tragedy over the telephone, and had been informed that his brother Floyd Allen had been killed. He rode into town between 3 and 4 o'clock and spent an hour with Floyd in the room at the hotel. Victor Allen and Byrd Marion were in the room with them. Asked if he carried a steel breastplate away from the hotel he said that he did not, and smiling he replied that he had often heard of such things but had never seen one. He denied that he owned or had in possession any saddle pockets. Jack Allen also stated that he had come to town to furnish bond for his son Barnett Allen, who was mixed up in the former trouble with the Edwards boys and over which Floyd Allen was being tried.

Pro. E. J. Cooley, of Pulaski, who has taught school in the Allen neighborhood, testified as to the character of Victor Allen. He thought it good, but he did not know so much about the other members of the family.

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph,
Bluefield, W. Va.
Saturday Morning, May 11, 1912

ALLEN BOYS TELL STORY OF SHOOTING

Two Sons of Accused Man Take Stand in Father's Defense.

SAW SIDNA SHOOT AT THE TIME GOAD FIRED

Lawyer Tipton, Brother-in-Law of Murdered Commonwealths Attorney, Makes an Effective Witness For The Defense.

SEVERAL OTHER WITNESSES TO DISPROVE A CONSPIRACY.

Wytheville, Va., May 10. --Two sons of Floyd Allen today took the stand in defense of their "pap" as they call the man, who is on trial for shooting up the Carroll county court. Victor and Claud Allen, both jointly indicted with their father for the attack on Judge Massie's tribunal, were sworn by the defense. Claud admitted having shot while in the court room. He believed, Claud declared that he saw Sidna Allen firing just about the time he saw Goad fire. Wesley Edwards, who escaped with Sidna Allen, was firing from the bench through a window of court room, just after the shooting began, according to Victor Allen's testimony. Victor was anxious to prove he had no revolver when he was in the court room, and asserted that the shooting done with his gun had been done by Claud Allen, who had taken the weapon as the two were leaving their hotel in Hillsville on the morning of the tragedy. Claud verified the story.

The first witness called this morning was Mrs. Dora Ayers, sister-in-law to Elizabeth Ayers, the young woman who was killed. She was brought to Wytheville by an officer with an attachment. She was on the south side of the court room on the morning of the tragedy and was with her sister-in-law. They tried to get out of the court room when the trouble started, but were prevented by the crowd. Miss Ayers was shot near the door and by her side. She heard the shot and saw the smoke from the gun but she could not tell who fired it. She said the shot which killed her sister-in-law came from the direction where Clerk Goad was standing.

David Ayers, husband of the first witness and brother of the murdered girl testified next. He stated that he was in the court room a half-hour before the trouble started. He said he saw three or four men whom he took to be deputies in the court room, and one of them had three pistols. He had one in a scabbard under his coat and one in each pocket. He thought he was a deputy for the reason that he saw him talking to the sheriff. He described the man as being a small man and says he wore white duck pants. His description tallies with that of Friel Allen, but the witness declared that it was not Friel. He said that he actually saw the three guns on the person implicated in his testimony.

County Treasurer Marshall, who was on the stand yesterday for the prosecution was put on the stand by the defense.

He stated that he had picked up a pistol where Sheriff Webb had lain in the court room. It had four bullets in it, one of which he shot himself in trying the weapon. The witness saw empty shells in the court room.

W. C. Strictland, a farmer and school teacher who was arrested at the time Floyd and Victor Allen were taken into custody, said that he was on his way to town on the morning of the shooting and was shown a pistol by the brother of the murdered sheriff which the brother claimed was the sheriff's weapon. He saw Floyd Allen at the hotel and was with him most of the afternoon and spent the night with him after the shooting. He did not see any steel breastplate, and that Floyd Allen wore a dark sweater.

Jack Allen was recalled and testified as to what took place between him and Judge Massie, when he was reprimanded with Floyd Allen on the charge of intimidating witnesses. He said he told Judge Massie that he was doing his duty, and he was not responsible for rumors which were not true. Judge Massie then said that he was glad to know that they had denied the charges.

Perhaps the most important witness today was Walter S. Tipton, an attorney at law at Hillsville, and a brother-in-law of the murdered commonwealth's attorney, for whose murder Floyd Allen is on trial. He was first questioned as to the character of Victor Allen, which he pronounced to be good. He had known him for a number of years. He knew but little about Claud and Friel.

He told of being retained by Floyd Allen when the trouble first occurred between Allen and Deputy Sheriff Samuels when the Edwards boys were rescued by Allen. Floyd had been under a $500 bond for his appearance and had been ready for his trial for many months when at every term of the court the case would be postponed at the instigation of the commonwealth.

As to the cause of ill feeling between the Allens and Judge Massie, it developed by the testimony of this witness that Jack Allen was a constable and had warrants to serve on Deputy Sheriff Samuels, and on a man named Easter, both of whom were in some way mixed up with the charges against Floyd Allen. Judge Massie had said to Jack Allen that, as he was interested that he ought not to serve the warrants on Samuels and Easter. Certain rums to the effect that the Allens were intimidating witnesses were called to the attention of the court and one morning he called Constable Jack Allen and Floyd Allen to the bar and proceeded to lecture them. Jack Allen said that he was not responsible for reports which were not true and both he and Floyd said that they were not guilty of any wrongdoing. Judge Massie told them that if the law could not be enforced in Carroll county by the county officers that he would get rid of the officers and bring state troops there if necessary to maintain order.

On cross-examination the witness admitted that Floyd Allen had remarked that he would not let any man talk to him that way.

He explained Victor Allen’s presence in the court room on the morning of the tragedy as being due to the fact that he had been phoned for. Attorney Tipton stated that he had held several conferences with Flod Allen and other members of the Allen family, and that he had never heard the least thing to indicate a conspiracy. In regard to the sweater worn by Floyd Allen, the witness said that he did not remember whether it was black or white, or what kind of a garment it was.

He was put through a searching cross-examination by the prosecution and admitted that he heard Floyd Allen curse one of the witnesses who testified against him at Hillsville. He also testified that Judge Massie had reprimanded both Floyd and Jack Allen for intimidating witnesses.