Gastonia, March 12 (AP)—Jesse Van Dyke, 25, butcher of Cherryville, was sentenced to a term of from 15 to 20 years in state prison by Judge C.C. Lyon following his conviction last night of second degree murder.
Van Dyke was tried for the slaying of Chief of Police A.L. Painter of Cherryville last January.
The defendant was not very much disturbed when sentence was pronounced, but his pretty 19-year-old wife could not keep the tears back.
“This was one of the most pitiful cases I have ever tried,” asserted Judge Lyon, who has graced the Superior Court bench for 19 years. “The deceased was a good man, serving the people in the discharge of his duty. The defendant was a boy of good character all through his life with the exception of drunkenness. Crimes of this character are occurring all over the state of North Carolina. They will continue so long as people tolerate and are indifferent to the sale of liquor. The people are to blame. If they would support the officers and the court as good people would and should, crime would stop.”
Van Dyke killed Painter when the officer attempted to halt his march down the street, firing a pistol into the air. He shot at three of his close friends before the fatal shot hit the chief.
From the front page of The Concord Daily Tribune, Friday, March 12, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073201/1926-03-12/ed-1/seq-1/
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