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Saturday, May 13, 2023

William Bethune Acquitted of Manslaughter of William Naylor, Robert Chappell, March 13, 1923

Bethune Acquitted

Raleigh, N.C., May 12—William Bethune, state college student indicted for manslaughter as the result of an automobile collision on Hillsboro street Easter Sunday night, in which two boys and others were injured, today was acquitted by a Wake county jury which required just 40 minutes to reach its verdict.

The trial, which lasted three days, was one of the most spectacular ever held here and a score or more of women who had remained in the gallery all day evoked a stern reprimand from Judge E.H. Cranmer when they applauded the verdict.

The charge upon which young Bethune, son of a prominent banker of Clinton, N.C., was tried, was the outgrowth of an automobile smashup in which William Naylor, an occupant of a large touring car driven by William Bethune, and Robert Chappell, driver of a light car, figuring in the collision, were killed.

From the front page of The Durham Morning Herald, Sunday, March 13, 1923

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