Albemarle, April 1—John Gray, one of the four alleged murderers of “Dad” Watkins on the night of October 30, was placed in trial for his life in Superior court here this morning. It will be remembered that on the night of October 31 the mutilated and charred body of a man was found in a burning barn about a mile north of Albemarle, that later John Gray confessed to the murder, implicating his brother, Theodore Gray, Mack Lawrence and Carl Sweat. Gray’s confession was made before J.A. Little, clerk of the Superior court.
Most of the day was taken up with the selection of a jury, only three or four witnesses having testified this afternoon after the jury had been selected. Clerk of Court Little testified regarding John Gray’s confession, reading two separate statements made by Gray. One of these statements was to the effect that on Friday night, October 30, Carl Sweat called him over to Sweat’s home; that “Dad” Watkins was there; that Carl struck “Dad” with a hatchet and killed him, after which Sweat took a saw and a knife and cut off both arms, legs and the head and that these members were packed in a sack and thrown into a closet in Sweat’s house; Sweat forced John Gray to assist him to carry the body to the old barn, according to the testimony, and the next night, October 31, both he, John Gray and Carl Sweat went to the old barn and that Sweat set fire to the straw.
In that statement nothing was said about what finally became of the legs, arms and head left in the closet at Carl Sweat’s house.
The other statement of John Gray, read by Mr. Little, was somewhat contradictory to the first. In that statement John Gray stated in substance that on Friday night, October 20, he and Mack Lawrence were passing the old barn that was burned the following night, and that as they were passing, they heard someone laughing and talking in the barn; that they stopped their car and went in a found “Dad” Watkins there alone and that “Dad” was drunk; that Mack Lawrence struck “Dad” and he fell over and that he, Gray, said, “You have killed ‘Dad’, “ whereupon Lawrence said “We haven’t half killed him yet.” Gray then struck “Dad” several times with a stick. Then they, according to the statement, cut off Watkins legs, head and arms and buried the members in a rock heap nearby, leaving the body in the barn.
The next night they burned the barn and some time later, he, John, went to the rock heap, got the head and legs and carried them to the basement of the Wiscassett school where his brother, Theodore, was janitor and burned them in the school furnace. He said he threw the members in the furnace and stirred up the coals. He then called his brother, Theodore, who was upstairs in the school building, and he came down and saw what had been done.
County Coroner Finch Morgan, who held an inquest over the body after it had been taken from the ashes of the burned barn, testified as to the condition of the body, as did Policeman Henry Troutman, who saw the body at the undertaker’s funeral parlor. John Gray is represented by Attorney W.L. Mann, Mr. Mann having been appointed by the court under the statute. It is expected that the case will take up most or all of tomorrow’s session of court.
From the front page of The Concord Daily Tribune, April 2, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073201/1926-04-02/ed-1/seq-1/
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