A reporter for The Register saw Carter upon arrival in Danville before 8 o’clock. He was found in a state of nervous excitement. He was asked if he had any statement which he would make and at first refused. Then as the reporter turned to leave, he burst into tears and a flood of words flowed from his lips in an effort to offer an explanation of the shooting. It was an incoherent story. As he endeavored to tell it he fumbled in his pocket and brought out a packet of papers and letters which he declared were affidavits bearing on the alleged misconduct of his wife. One of them was a letter which he said had been sent him by J.H. Price a year ago. It bore the signature of a man by that name and was a rude letter, insolent in tone and couched in unpleasant language.
Carter said he was 52 years of age and said he had never been in trouble before. Sunday, he stated, his son from the navy came to Stokesland to see him and expressed a desire to see his baby sister. The accused man said his wife left him three weeks ago and had carried away the four children he loved. Taking his son with him he drove to Reidsville and went to his wife’s house in order that his son might see the little girl. There was a scene in the yard and Carter says he was set upon by members of the household. Policemen, he said, hurried up and found an empty revolver in his car and they placed him under bond to appear in Reidsville today. Carter said he drove to his home and later decided to go back to try and reason things out with his wife so that she would not appear in court against him and thus drag their domestic affairs into public. He said he went armed, because his life had been threatened. As he entered the room of Levin Moore’s house, he found a number of people there. Price, he said, was among them, and seeing him enter he drew a chair and attempted to strike him with it. It was then, he stated, that he drew his revolver and fired. “I never meant to hit my wife,” he said, with tears streaming down his cheeks. “I did not mean to hurt her. I did mean to shoot Price. Do you blame me? He kept jumping around the room and I kept firing at him. I did not know how many other people I hit.”
Carter said after the shooting he got into his car and drove back to Stokesland. The engine stopped near Stokesland, he said, because of lack of gasoline and he stated he entered the rear seat and went to sleep. He woke up before day and made his way to his home in Stokesland, arriving there before daybreak. He had been there but a short time when a posse of armed men surrounded the house and took charge of him, bringing him to Danville.
Carter said that he dearly loved his children and that domestic difficulties had been preying on his mind for a long time. He said that his wife had treated him badly and he referred several times to her alleged misconduct with Price. He stated he had been raised in Danville and cited the names of several prominent men who, he said, were members of the same fraternal organizations of which he is a member.
Carter is well-known in Danville. He resigned his position as insurance agent with he Life Insurance Company of Virginia about a week ago, telling one of the policy-holders int hat company that his health was bad. Yesterday he said that his domestic affairs had so preyed on his mind that he could not do effective work.
At one time Carter was employed at the Park Place Mercantile Company, at Schoolfield, and several years ago is said to have negotiated for the purchase of real estate for the textile corporation. He said yesterday that he had been twice married and that his second marriage had been unhappy of recent years. Some time ago he left Danville and went to Roanoke where he had lived and where, he stated, his home affairs had not improved.
A Reidsville officer yesterday quoted Mrs. Carter as having said during the earlier episode of Sunday afternoon that Carter had three wives living.
In the course of his statement yesterday morning, Carter reiterated several times his affection for his children and the void in his heart caused when they left his home at Stokesland and went with their mother to live with her father. Mrs. Carter is said to have left her husband on two other occasions.
From the Danville register, as reprinted on the front page of the Reidsville Review, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 1923
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