Richmond County Court House, Rockingham, N.C., Oct. 3 (AP)—Facing cross examination in the State, W.B. Cole took the witness stand today to answer the charge of the state that he deliberately killed W.W. Ormond, formerly his daughter’s sweetheart.
Clyde Hoey of Shelby conducted the cross examination of Cole, who testified yesterday that he killed Ormond “to keep him from killing me and having my family at his mercy.”
Cole’s testimony followed introductions of letters that passed between the men, in which Ormond had declared relations of “man and wife” had existed between him and Cole’s daughter.
Cole’s one reply had threatened to shoot Ormond “full of lead” if ever he heard any derogatory remarks abut his daughter from Ormond or through him.
“Were you sane when you killed Bill Ormond, or were you crazy?” was Clyde Hoey’s first question.
“I think that is a question for someone else to answer.”
Hoey attempted to get the witness to say he never intended to plead insanity and Cole said he had nothing to do with his defense.
“Didn’t you go to Ormond’s car from the rear?”
Cole insisted he fired after he got to the car.
The witness testified that so far as he knew Ormond had not seen him or his daughter or communicated with them since the agreement.
The question of Cole’s sanity again was broached, and the witness said he believed he was sane now.
The defense took its exception when the state asked Cole if he had not heard witnesses testify yesterday that he had appeared his usual self during the months preceding the shooting.
Cole said the witnesses were not intimate friends, only acquaintances.
“Did you mean the letter you wrote to Ormond?”
“I meant to bluff him.”
The letter began “You damnable, mean, insulting cur,” and threatened to shoot Ormond “full of lead” if he ever attempted to slander his daughter.
“Did you mean the damnable part?”
“Yes.”
“Did you mean the cur part?”
“Yes.”
“Did you mean the full of lead part?”
“I meant to bluff him.”
“Do you mean you meant two-thirds of it and not the other third?”
“I meant to bluff him.”
“Do you think Bill Ormond could know which part you meant?”
Cole said he supposed he couldn’t.
The witness was becoming nervous under the rapid fire of questions.
“When Mr. Bynum showed you the letter from Rev. Mr. Ormond so far as you knew Ormond had abided by his agreement not to see you or your daughter?”
The witness said “Yes.”
The Rev. Mr. Ormond’s letter to Bynum said he believe Cole owed his son an apology for calling him a cur, that his son felt it was a reflection upon is mother.
The witness again was forced to the subject of his sanity.
“Isn’t it true you never meant to apologize. You are sane now and you wouldn’t apologize now?”
“I would not. I did not think I owed him an apology. I meant no reference about his mother, and I believe it an insult from him to ask me for an apology after slandering my daughter. I might have then, if I had been normal.”
Ormond’s war record came to the fore in Hoey’s question about a letter from Cole to W.N. Everett, Secretary of State, April 26, 1923, asking him to help Ormond.
“Bill is a good fellow,” the letter said. “There is not much force to Bill, and almost everything else but killed.”
“He was everything else but killed in the war, and you killed him?”
“Yes.”
Cole was asked if he hadn’t known Ormond was deaf in the right ear more than in the left. (Cole in shooting Ormond approached him from the right side.)
Mr. Hoey was attacking every detail of Cole’s testimony. The witness was nervous, and objections of the defense counsel were frequent.
Mr. Hoey drew from the witness every answer that might tend to show Cole a man of the most decided opinion, with a long practice of doing anything he wanted to do.
“Didn’t your attorneys forbid you to go to Raleigh with them?”
“They told me not to go.”
“You went, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You took their advice when you wanted to, and when you didn’t, you did different?”
“I went to Raleigh.”
Every question asked the witness during the two hours of examination sought to destroy Cole’s given reason for killing Ormond to protect himself and his family.
The cross examination was ended at 12:05 p.m.
Five witnesses then were sworn by the defense.
Miss Edith McLeod, secretary of the Hannah Pickett Mills for 12 years, testified that she remembered a day when Cole and Jenkins, his superintendent, left the mill office in February.
Cole had testified he took Jenkins into his confidence about the “slander” letter he received from Ormond.
The witness said Cole was standing near the window, with tears in his eyes and a “queer” expression on his face. She mentioned later occasions when she had observed his condition not normal.
On cross examination Miss McLeod said she was anxious to have Cole acquitted as she would her father.
W.C. Douglas tried to get the witnesses to say that all of the orders for directing the mill had emanated from the jail. He charged that Cole and his assistant treasurer had slept together in the jail every night, and that every order had come from their conferences.
The witness said that during Cole’s incarceration they had “got along all right” in their business. She was excused the court adjourned until 2 o’clock.
From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Oct. 3, 1925
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073201/1925-10-03/ed-1/seq-1/
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