Letters from Miss Cole Probably Will Remain Unread by Public, Oct. 10, 1925

Public Probably Will Never Get Chance to Read Letters

E.B. Hunter in Greensboro News

Rockingham, Oct. 8—The letters written by Miss Elizabeth Cole to William W. Ormond, now dead, her former sweetheart, will in all probability never be broadcasted to the public.

“Bill Ormond loved Elizabeth Cole,” said J.R. Jones, attorney assisting in prosecuting the girl’s father for the murder of her one-time suitor. He then in substance quoted Rev. A.L. Ormond, father of the dead man, as saying:

“I am satisfied my boy lying in the sandy loam of Richmond county would rather have his name be slandered than to have the world read those letters.”

Solicitor Don Phillips said he opposed publishing the letters and if it were necessary would advise the bereaved father not to make the contents public.

Mr. Jones’ statement came after a member of the Durham bar here looking in on the trial said that the people of North Carolina would never be satisfied with the case no matter what may be the verdict until the packet of letters is published.

Rev. Mr. Ormond’s conduct of this trial has evoked the deep sympathy of those who have gazed into his kindly face from day to day. He has heard his son’s character bandied around the court room with abandon, and yet he has shown no malice to anyone. He has sat silently throughout the long proceedings, much of the time with his head bowed as though in prayer. Larry Moore, representing Mr. Ormond, said today during his powerful argument before the Union County jury that when Mr. Ormond employed him, he informed him that “I don’t want to do one thing against that girl that isn’t absolutely necessary in defense of my dead son.”

In the event of a mistrial of the present proceedings, the letters might play an important part in the second trial. Of course, no one expects a mistrial, but it is safe to predict that the State would make another powerful effort to get the letters introduced if forced to prosecute again.

The prosecution has intimated throughout the trial that the contents of the letters would go a long way in convincing the jury that Ormond played the role of a man in writing Cole the “slander: letter. The defense attorneys on the other hand, have privately said that the introduction of the letters wouldn’t have damaged their case, so certain are they that there’s noting of an explosive nature in them. Miss Cole, they say, has assured them that she is certain no letter in the packet contained anything that would besmirch her.

From the front page of The Concord Daily Tribune, Saturday, Oct. 10, 1925

newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073201/1925-10-10/ed-1/seq-1/