A true bill, charging Joe Singleton, 45-year-old white man of near Pikeville, with the murder of Atlas Durham, also white, a garage owner of Pikeville, was returned yesterday by the grand jury, sitting in the first day of a two-weeks’ term of Wayne County Superior Court, with Judge N.A. Sinclair of Fayetteville presiding, and Clason N. Williams of Sanford as Solicitor.
Singleton Arraigned
Singleton was arraigned late in the afternoon, just before the adjournment of court. Through his attorney, J. Faison Thomson, who will be assisted in the defense by Madrid B. Loftin, the defendant pled not guilty. The judge ordered that a special venire of 76 men be summoned, a jury to be selected from this number. It is understood that there will be no private prosecution, Solicitor Williams alone conducting the case for the state.
Courtroom Crowded
A crowded courtroom witnessed the arraignment of the defendant, and the drawing of names for the special venire, which was done by a little girl. Singleton, who has been confined in the Wayne County jail since the death of Durham last Christmas eve, was brought into the courtroom by two deputies. He took his seat between his attorneys, occasionally conferring with them in low tones. He stood with bowed head, asked as to his guilt or innocence, but made no reply, Mr. Thomson entering his plea of guilty.
History of Case
It is expected that all of today will be taken up with the selection of the jury to try Singleton, and that the hearing of evidence will begin Wednesday. It is alleged that Singleton shot Durham on the main street of Pikeville about 11 o’clock Christmas Eve day, Durham dying in a local hospital at 3 o’clock the same afternoon from the effects of a wound in the stomach made by a large-calibre revolver. Singleton was arrested at his home, where he had gone after the tragedy, offering no resistance to the officers who came for him. He has had very little to say since the slaying, and did not appear before the coroner’s jury which rendered a verdict holding him responsible for Durham’s death.
The Grand Jury
Judge Sinclair, noted throughout the state for his love of justice, tempered with mercy, delivered an eloquent charge to the grand jury, admonishing them as to their duties, and the manner in which it was incumbent upon them to accept and discharge the their responsibilities. The personnel of the grand jury is as follows: J. Ellie Howell, foreman; Walter Anderson, Silas W. Mitchell, W.E. Daniels, T.C. Hare, H.M. Savage, J. Spicer Holmes, Roscoe Bell, W.H. Boyette, Albert Gray, C.B. Sutton, R.E. Davis, Lovett Mitchell, G.W. Yelverton, Oscar Aycock, M.H. Warren, L.W. Cogdell and E.H. Graham.
Cases Disposed
A number of minor cases were tried and disposed of yesterday, as follows:
--Mark Barnes was sentenced to 12 months on the roads for an assault upon a female; --Bruce Barnes, convicted of housebreaking,12 months on the roads;
--Jimmie Whitfield and Leonard Braswell, taxed with the costs for an affray in which deadly weapons were brought into play; and
--James Peoples, manufacturing whiskey, 12 months on the roads.
From the front page of The Goldsboro News, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn93064755/1926-01-19/ed-1/seq-1/
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