Fayetteville, June 30—Walter Jackson and Tom Skipper were placed on trial in Superior court here this afternoon charged with the flogging of Rudolph Willard in the western part of Cumberland county on the night of May 26.
When court adjourned this evening, Willard had completed his story of the beating, and his brother, Jake Willard, had corroborated him in his identification of Jackson and Skipper as two of the eight men in the band.
Rudolph Willard testified that he and his brother had met Skipper and Jackson on the road earlier in the night; that two hours later, after they had gone to bed at Jake’s house, there was a knock at the door and a strange man who entered the house with a pistol in his hand told them that he was “the sheriff from Fayetteville” and had a warrant for Rudolph’s arrest.
While dressing, the witness said, he recognized Jackson and Skipper, whom he had known for some time. He was placed in a large car driven by another stranger and joined by two small cars, drove two miles north of the Raeford road, where a sack was placed over his head, he was tied to a tree and beaten until he was almost unconscious. He was left in this condition, said the witness. On the way to the spot, Rudolph said, his kidnappers told him that they were going to beat him because he had made complaint of Tom Skipper’s misconduct.
Willard said that he had complained to officers of Skipper keeping a disorderly house and selling whiskey. He also testified that when he told members of the band that he was going to report them, they replied that they would kill him if he did.
From page 2 of the Concord Daily Tribune, July 1, 1925
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073201/1925-07-01/ed-1/seq-2/
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