Taking the witness stand in his own defense today (Oct. 2, in Richmond county court, at Rockingham, write the Associated Press) William B. Cole, wealthy cotton manufacturer, declared he shot W.W. Ormond “to keep him from killing me and having my family at his mercy.” The A.P. dispatch continues:
Mr. Cole is on trial for murder in connection with the death of Ormond, former sweetheart of Miss Elizabeth Cole, the defendant’s daughter. Four eye witnesses have testified they saw Mr. Cole slay Ormond on the streets of Rockingham last August 15.
The trial, which has been in progress three days, was marked yesterday by the testimony of Miss Cole, who declared she had discarded Ormond as a suitor. Miss Cole denied allegations by Ormond that there had been improper relations between them. These allegations were continued in letters from Ormond to the young woman’s father. It was shortly after receipt of one of these letters that the shooting took place.
Counsel for Mr. Cole have based their case upon self-defense.
The defendant took the stand after 10 witnesses had testified that the general character of his 24-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was “without blemish,” and after Fred Bynum, his personal attorney and confidant, had described their relations during the period the dead man is said have slandered Elizabeth Cole and threatened her father.
The defendant said he had known young Ormond about two years and had known that his daughter and Ormond were friends. Asked if he understood that they were engaged, he said he had not. The subject of their marriage, he said, was never broached.
“Did you have anything against Ormond?’
“I did not.”
“Did you ever try to get a job or help him in any way?”
Cole testified he had talked to friends about a job for Ormond and on one occasion had signed a note for him that he might keep his automobile.
In the summer of 1924, the witness said, his daughter and Ormond appeared at times to have had “spats,” and that on one occasion she had remarked to him that they had “broken up.”
Letters from Ormond
He later received a letter from Ormond mentioning “stubbornness” and saying that Ormond also would get stubborn. He did not answer it. Another came, this time more sullen, and Cole said he took it to Elizabeth and remarked that he wished Ormond would leave him alone. He testified that the woman obtained his permission to answer it herself, and he said he supposed that she did.
The next letter from Ormond was delivered to him at his office in Rockingham. It was the letter, read to the jury that Ormond and Miss Cole had lived together as man and wife for “more than a year.”
“I must have fainted when I read—the—the slander part. I lost consciousness and when I came to I was in a clammy sweat. I took a walk and tried to decide what to do then decided to call her.
Voice Breaks; Eyes Fill
“When she drove up in the car, dressed in riding clothes, she looked to pure—so sweet, I lost control and cried.”
The man’s voice broke, tears filled his eyes, and he had difficulty in regaining composure “She was surprised, too, and my action caused her to begin cryin. I produced the letter and asked her to read it through before she answered. She read about half of it and then said: ‘It’s a lie, every word of it.’ She then finished the letter.
“I told her if what he said was true, that the only fair thing to do, the only thing, was to marry him; that I would take care of her—that no one but herself, Ormond and I would know it. I told her she could go to Raleigh and marry him and that it would be all right.
“She said it was untrue, that she would submit to a physical examination and let it speak for itself. I said no, that I would take her word for it.”
The witness broke down several times during the testimony. Throughout he declared that thought of Ormond from that time on caused him to become nervous.
Talk of Bribery
Attempted bribery of witnesses for the defense was charged by Clyde Douglas in his cross examination of Bynum.
He asked Bynum if he, a witness, had not made an effort to obtain witnesses for the defense and had not made a trip to interview George Beverly, student at Duke University. The witness said he had but that he had not seen Beverly himself.
“Was not the proposition made him that if he should produce certain evidence his expenses would be paid through Duke University?” Douglass asked.
“I heard of no such proposition,” the witness replied.
Wrote as “Bluff”
The day after he received the “slander” letter, Cole said he had written to Ormond, a short note with no salutations.
“You damnable, contemptible, cur” the letter said, and threatened that if he heard from Ormond or through him any other slanderous remark about his daughter he would shoot Ormond “full of lead.” Cole testified that he wrote the letter as a bluff and an attempt to scare Ormond and keep him out of town.
In answer he received a letter saying:
“You are going to chew and swallow all that stuff”—“To call you a cur is too great a compliment.” ---"You are yellow”---“Will show when it becomes necessary”---. “Your bluffing has come to an end.”
Mental State
Cole said he knew, then, his bluff had not worked.
From that point on his testimony until he described the killing, the defendant, encouraged by the defense attorneys, repeatedly mentioned his mental reactions, differences in his physical condition and his inability to concentrate on his business.
Cole then testified that on three occasions he saw Ormond and each time dodged him fearing violence.
“Did you pray over the matter?” James A. Lockhart directed the question.
“I did.”
“Then you believe in a personal God?’
“I do.”
“And in the efficacy of prayer?”
“I do.”
“Amen,” the remark seemingly spontaneously from the Rev. A.L. Ormond, whose son the witness shot and killed.
Not Up to Him
The witness later testified that he had a consciousness several weeks before the homicide that it was not up to him to go on longer.
The witnesses’ description of the shooting differed from that of three eye witnesses who testified for the state. Cole said Ormond was making for his car; they said Ormond sat within the car, in a semi-reclining position. Cole said Ormond grasped the gun after the first shot.
Testimony for the state is that the gun was held near the car by Cole.
From the front page of The Robesonian, Lumberton, N.C., Monday, Oct. 5, 1925
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn84026483/1925-10-05/ed-1/seq-1/
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