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Friday, January 6, 2023

'I Hope They Put My Father to Death,' Jan. 6, 1923

“I Hope They’ll Put My Father to Death,” Girl Accuser Says

Wendell, Jan. 6—“I hope they put my father to death. He ought to die. My love for him is dead.”

These were the words of the 15-year-old daughter of D.C. Winston, prominent farmer, near here, against whom the girl has preferred charges of rape. At the preliminary hearing she discussed the matter freely.

“I was criminally assaulted by my father several days before I was to be married,” she declared. She says she was assaulted Friday a week ago. She reported the alleged assault Sunday. Since then she has married her fiancé.

Her father, after the hearing here, was bound over to superior court without bail and was sent back to Raleigh to be held for trial at the beginning of court January 8. With the exception of drinking, Winston has a good record, it was brought out at the hearing.

A mob was formed Monday night and Winston was taken from his home by the mob, carried to some woods nearby and given a severe whipping. He was found the following morning stripped of all clothing, and in a severely bruised condition. He was arrested and taken to Jail at Raleigh, where he has remained since.

As no bruises or other signs of an assault were found upon the girl, much doubt has been expressed by people in Winston’s neighborhood as to the absolute sincerity of the girl in accusing her father of the crime. An interview with several people closely connected with the Winston family revealed the fact that they were of the opinion that the farmer’s daughter, in retaliation for a whipping her father had given her, and as an excuse so she could leave home and marry, brought about the serious charge.

From the front page of the Salisbury Evening Post, Saturday, Jan. 6, 1923

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