Particulars of the Murder

Particulars of the Murder. A notice of the killing of Mr. J M. Awtrey by Jim Seams appeared in these columns yesterday, but none of the particulars could be had. Some of the parties who went in search of the murderer bring in the following account. Deputy Sheriff Awtrey and Mr. Carpenter went up to the house to arrest Seams. He was in his yard and had just gathered an armfull of wood and was in the act of stepping up into his door when Mr. Awtrey put his hand on Jim’s arm and told him to consider himself under arrest. The negro asked him what for and Mr. Awtrey told him. Jim stood for a second as if in a brown study when he suddenly threw the armfull of wood into Mr. Awtrey’s face, jerked loose from him and jumped into the house and slammed the door after him. Mr. Awtrey reached to Carpenter and got the gun from him, and had not more than done so when Seams jerked the door open and bounded into the yard with both barrels of his gun cocked. He discharged the contents of one barrel into Mr. Awtrey’s body. the load entering just below his left nipple, making a round hole about the size of a silver dollar. The shock brought him to his knees, but he immediately recovered and attempted to shoot Seams. In the mean time Seams had snapped the other barrel in Carpenter’s face, but the gun failed to go off. Carpenter was snapping his pistol at the negro all the time, but it also failed to fire. The negro then clubbed his gun and knocked Carpenter down with it, and was in the act of braining him with the barrels of his gun, (the stock being broken off by the first lick) when Mr. Awtrey stuck his gun in between them and caught the blow intended for Carpenter’s head. This lick knocked one of the hammers off of Awtrey’s gun, and being too weak from loss of blood he was unable to shoot. The negro thought he was going to shoot, however, and broke and ran, Awtrey following him eight or ten paces, when he fell. Carpenter had recovered from his knock down by this time and started on a run after the negro, who was making for the woods. The only words uttered by Mr. Awtrey were, “shoot him, Carpenter,” when he grabbed up the gun and fired one barrel at the now fast retreating negro, but he was out of reach of the shot or else Carpenter missed him.