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LOVERS' ESCAPADE AGAIN STIRS TOWNNorth Carolina Couple Return to LimelightCharlotte, N. C.—Cleveland county’s most sensational love affair, which was thought to have ended three years ago when the Jail doors clicked behind the two erring lovers, has bobbed up in the limelight again.Sloan Philbeck, one of the principals in the escapade, has been arrested at Bessemer City on a technical charge of larceny, the charge being preferred by Ainery Francis, husband of Mrs. Jessie May Francis, with whom Philbeck, a married man, eloped several years ago, setting the countyagog with the most sensational episode in its history.Arrest a Mystery.H • \ ^ ^ . . * * * • • • 1Just what is behind the arrest ofPhilbeck, who something like a year ago completed his sentence, is not known. Whether or not the lovers have been together is not a matter of definite information.It is said at Gastonia, however, that Mrs. Francis, attractive young matron, is missing from her home there. If it should develop that the two have been together or in communication with each other, it is likely that they will be forced to serve suspended sentences of two years each.In Superior court at Shelby in March, 1925, the couple were brought back from the West and tried. At the conclusion of the hearing Philbeck was sentenced to two years’ work on the roads and Mrs. Francis to a jail term. A suspended sentence was also placed over them, which carried the proviso that if they ever spoke to each other again, communicated with each other, or “had anything in the world to do with each other” as long as they lived, the suspended sentence should automatically take effectAfter Philbeck had completed hissentence he worked about at various places. Recently be is said to hav# been in Gaston county. Mrs. Francis and her hsuband were reconciled after she had completed her term, and moved to Gaston, where the details i of her escapade were not so wellknown and the matrimonial reunion was moving along smoothly, so far as the public knew’.It is known that the warrant for Philbeck was sworn out by the hus- j band of Mrs. Francis. It is said that ;the clothing he is accused of stealing j was in the possession of Philbeck at j the time of his arrest. In the mean-' ■ •*'-» ■*' ' '• ■' ’ V *' f: ■' 'time Mrs. Francis liad left her home In Gastonia. Her husband declares ; he does not know where she Is. Fran-4els is authority for the statement that friends of his had reported seeing Philbeck at his home during his absence.Trial a Sensation.The Francis-Philbeck trial in Shelby attracted one of the largest crowds ever to gather in the section. Mrs. Francis was regarded as an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Her smiling, care free demeanor in court when her relations with another man were brought out, along with the fact that she had abandoned her husband and two children for two flights wdth him, added zest to the sensation.She never appeared to be humiliated at the evidence produced. At each hearing she appeared garbed in the latest styles of dress for the bene-» «* * t • 9 , •' : ■* ■ ' ' ■ ' . J*fit ot hundreds of spectators who watched her every move. She admitted her love for Philbeck openly. It was not until after the conclusion of her sentence that she agreed to return to her husband.
Newspaper Details
Grayson East Kentucky Journal
Grayson, Kentucky, US
Thu, Apr 05, 1928
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 18 Apr 2020
Other Publications Near Grayson, Kentucky
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