HARRY STAPLETON |
| "Life sentence given to armed robber". |
| From the Paintsville Herald |
| January 27, 1954 |
| Walter Cantrell tried by jury here Tuesday. |
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Walter Cantrell, 31, Flat Gap, was given a life sentence in the penitentiary by a jury in Johnson Circuit Court Tuesday on charges of armed robery. |
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Cantrell entered a plea of guilty to charges of robbing Harry Stapleton of Volga and beating him about the head with a whiskey bottle last July. |
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Stapleton, about 69, who is said to be blind was walking on the Flat Gap-Volga Road with his wife when Cantrell is said to have accosted him, beating him and robbing him of $1.60. Stapleton was brought to a local hospital where a number of stitches were required to close the wounds. |
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Cantrell was arrested in Ashland July 13 by Constables Hoppy Kimbler and Arthur Gullett and returned to Paintsville where he was lodged in the Johnson County Jail. |
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The jury in the case deliberated about 20 minutes before returning the verdict. |
| © Paintsville Herald 1954 |