By Associated Press
Asheville, July 17—Major Samuel H. McLeary, missing army officer, was killed by Mortimer H. King of near Canton, and a companion whose identity is still unrevealed by authorities, on the afternoon of July 2, according to a sworn confession made at Canton Wednesday afternoon by King to federal and local authorities. A search is now being conducted for the body of the major, which he said to be hidden in the brush about 10 miles from Cheraw, S.C.
The motive for the killing, according to King’s confession, was robbery. After the major had taken King and his companion into his car and offered to give them a lift up the road, they compelled him to stop, at the point of a pistol, forced him to get out of the car, shot him to death and carried his body into the brush at the roadside.
Stripping the body of valuables, they returned to the car and drove it to Asheville, thence towards Canton, where King lives, according to the confession. After an unsuccessful attempt to cross Crabtree mountain, near Canton, they returned to the thickety section and ditched the car unintentionally. Then, unable to extricate it, they hid McLeary’s belongings, stripped off the license tags from the car, and fled, King going to his home near Canton.
The confession was obtained only after King had been arrested and questioned, and then released. He was again taken into custody and a search was made of his house. At this time a shirt was found resembling those found in the belongings of Major McLeary, and checking up showed that the maker’s label and laundry marks coincided.
Confronted with this evidence, King broke down and said, “Well, men, I’ll tell the truth. That’s his shirt. We did it.”
The confession was made in the presence of four men—Charles H. Powers of the department of justice; chief of police H.A. Summer of Canton; Major S.W. Williams of Asheville, and Hubert Holloway of the Asheville Citizen.
King is a deserter from both the United States army and the Marine Corps, according to is own confession.
From page 2 of the Tri-City Daily Gazette, Leaksville, N.C., Friday, July 18, 1924
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Major McLeary Murdered Near Cheraw, S.C., Mortimer King, Who Lives Near Canton, Confesses; Robbery Was Motive. . . McLeary’s Shirt in King’s House
By Associated Press
Asheville, July 17—Major Samuel H. McLeary, missing army officer, was killed by Mortimer H. King of near Canton, and a companion whose identity is still unrevealed by authorities, on the afternoon of July 2, according to a sworn confession made at Canton Wednesday afternoon by King to federal and local authorities. A search is now being conducted for the body of the major, which he said to be hidden in the brush about 10 miles from Cheraw, S.C.
The motive for the killing, according to King’s confession, was robbery. After the major had taken King and his companion into his car and offered to give them a lift up the road, they compelled him to stop, at the point of a pistol, forced him to get out of the car, shot him to death and carried his body into the brush at the roadside.
Stripping the body of valuables, they returned to the car and drove it to Asheville, thence towards Canton, where King lives, according to the confession. After an unsuccessful attempt to cross Crabtree mountain, near Canton, they returned to the thickety section and ditched the car unintentionally. Then, unable to extricate it, they hid McLeary’s belongings, stripped off the license tags from the car, and fled, King going to his home near Canton.
The confession was obtained only after King had been arrested and questioned, and then released. He was again taken into custody and a search was made of his house. At this time a shirt was found resembling those found in the belongings of Major McLeary, and checking up showed that the maker’s label and laundry marks coincided.
Confronted with this evidence, King broke down and said, “Well, men, I’ll tell the truth. That’s his shirt. We did it.”
The confession was made in the presence of four men—Charles H. Powers of the department of justice; chief of police H.A. Summer of Canton; Major S.W. Williams of Asheville, and Hubert Holloway of the Asheville Citizen.
King is a deserter from both the United States army and the Marine Corps, according to his own confession.
From page 2 of the Tri-City Daily Gazette, Leaksville, N.C., Friday, July 18, 1924
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