Wm. Bennett Jr., Serving Life Sentence, Taken From Jail and Lynched, July 25, 1920

From the Dunn Dispatch, July 27, 1920

Lynch Man for Murder of His Wife and Child

Fayetteville, W.Va., July 25--Wm. Bennett Jr. of Fayetteville, serving a life sentence here for the murder of his wife and unborn child, was taken from the jail early today by a mob and lynched.

The jailer had previously been summoned to the sheriff's office by telephone and when he arrived he was confronted by the mob, who demanded his keys. He was then kept under close watch while the jail was stormed and Bennett taken out. Bennett's captors occupying 20 automobiles, rode to the old county poor farm, where they hanged him from a beam stretched between the forks of three white oak trees.

Bennett pleaded guilty to the murder of his wife July 22 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.