Albemarle, July 29—Nevin C. Cranford, former gang boss charged with the murder of two negro convicts, was found not guilty here tonight. The jury deliberated 40 minutes.
The verdict was returned at 10:30 o’clock tonight after a trial lasting more than two weeks. The state alleged that James Taylor and Jame Howell, negro convicts, died from the effects of beatings administered by Cranford.
There was no demonstration when the verdict was returned, but both Cranford and his wife wept, shook hands with defense counsel and then with jurors. The court had warned against a demonstration.
That Nevin C. Cranford was framed by six ex-convicts, former members of the Stanly gang, was the charge made today by defense lawyers as they made their pleas to the jury. “The whole thing is nothing but a tissue of lies, hatched up in the distorted imaginations of the state’s star witnesses,” thundered B. M. Covington, first speaker of the day. Other defense attorneys concurred with Mr. Covington.
From the front page of the Roxboro Courier, Aug. 4, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073208/1926-08-04/ed-1/seq-1/
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