Morganton, Ky., Aug. 3 (AP)—An evangelist and a choir singer are dead, slain as they sang the opening hymn at revival services by an unidentified assassin who fired through the window of a country schoolhouse where the meeting was in progress.
The Rev. W. A. Moss, 32, toppled from his pulpit, dead, and Mrs. Jerome Robinson, 30, died two hours after the shooting last night at the Eary School, 12 miles from here.
J. D. Young, 70, suffered a slight scalp wound, and others in the meeting narrowly escaped. Mrs. Robinson’s four children saw their mother fall.
One man was under arrest early tonight and Sheriff Luther Turk of Butler County was at the head of a posse searching for another.
Clifford Wilson, 30, a fugitive since his escape from jail here a year ago, was arrested at his home on the statement of a 14-year-old girl that he had fired the shots. The girl fainted when the firing began and was unable to give additional details. Wilson, who was wanted on a bootlegging charge, denied the shooting.
The slaying created such excitement among the audience that none was able to say how many shots were fired.
County officials said the trouble to moonshiners whose ire the evangelist had aroused by his campaign against illicit whiskey and his activity in aiding enforcement officers.
It was learned today that the meeting was disturbed Sunday night by rowdyism on the outside. Two men disbursed the trouble makers, some of whom were said to have threatened to “come back and clean out the whole crowd.”
Mr. Moss came to this section about a week ago. Leitchfield, Kentucky, said that Mr. Moss came there from Pennsylvania in the spring of 1924 and preached for several months. His whereabouts since then are not known at this point.
From the front page of the Goldsboro News, Wednesday morning, Aug. 4, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn93064755/1926-08-04/ed-1/seq-1/
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