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IFeeling Tense at Jay as SchoolboyCharged With Murder Goes on TrialFor Fatal Stabbing at Pie SupperJAY, April 10 — In an atmosphere surcharged with local feeling, Ralph Craig, 17, went on trial today in Delaware county district court, charged with the murder of James David Van Hooser, his 16-year-old schoolmate.that the slain boy ran with Craig in pursuit.She swore she heard Craig call out:“Run, you dirty coward! Get going:Van Hooser died in the arms of his schoolteacher after gasping out that he was stabbed by Craig in a fight following a rural pie supper at Peters Prairie school-house the night of Dec. 9, 1938. Craig was arrested at his horge by Sal ax Muskrat, then sheriff, who said the boy readily admitted the knifing of Van Hooser, but was unaware the brawl had terminatedfatally.There was a possibility that other arrests would be made in connection with the case, officers admitted. The death of Van Hooser has aroused much feeling in thePeters Prairie section, with indications that the affair might split the community into two factions.A jury composed of 11 men and one woman heard three witnesses testify. Dr. C. F. Walker ascribed Van Hooser’s death to a stab wound in the left side of the neck which severed a blood vessel. In addition, he listed slashes in the back of the victim and cuts on both hands.Mrs. Mary Drake, present at the tragedy-capped rural gathering, testified she saw' Willard Robertson, an acquaintance of Craig, give the accused boy something; that she observed Van Hooser start home with Craig following, andA short time after his arrest, Craig told county officers he stabbed Van Hooser “because he was tired of the threats of him and his brother.” Sheriff Muskrat laid the affair to a schoolboy fued, the outgrowth of Craig’s reporting the two boys for a minor infraction of the school bus rules.Charles Drake, husband of Mrs. Mary Drake, testified he heart Van Hooser tell Craig he “would go out doors and fight you anywhere.” According to Drake, the jury heard, Craig boasted to Robertson that Van Hooser “couldn’twhip him.”Drake testified Robertson urgedVan Hooser:“Why in the hell don’t you get on him?”“I don’t have anything to fight him with,” was the reply of Craig, according to Drake.Drake told the jury when he next saw the tw’o boys, Craig was striking Van Hooser, who ran with his opponent in pursuit, yelling taunts.The jurors are:R. Barnswell, Gentry route A; E. R. Brewer, Kansas; H. F. White-mire, Flint; John F. Reed, Grove; V. E. Crabtree, Jay; Lee Williams, Afton route 1; J. C. Thomas, Fair-land route 1; Frank Shoemaker, Southw-est City route 2; Andrew Davis, Jay; Alma Boyd, Grove; E. J. Westfall, Afton route 1; T. M. Linton, Siloam Springs route 1.TORRIO ENTPLEA OF GFormer Chicago UnLeader Admits JTax Evasion ClNEW YORK, AprilJohn Torio, former Chic world leader, pleaded gueral court today to char spiracy to evade payiv come taxes. His brot William Slockbower, oi co-defendants, also plea All w'ent on trial Ma fore Judge John W. Cl: jury of seven men and f The government cha during the years 1933, 1935 Torrio omitted to ]taxes in the amount of $ that Slockbower, James of Valley Stream, N. Y. Cava of Westchester c John D’Agostino of E{ N. J., covered up Torrii thereby conspiring with fraud the government.Torrio, in 1933, pai more than $1,000 taxes he “fictitiously” set fori he said, “I’m Torrio. I pay a tax. I don’t wa chasing me.” This tax i made out by a former c lector of internal revenu been dismissed from tl ment service for aeceptir ties.”The discharged goveri ploye later entered the Torrio and allegedly fall rio’s return so that no i was due. It was then t said he must pay a tax.
Newspaper Details
Miami Daily News Record
Miami, Oklahoma, US
Mon, Apr 10, 1939
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Pikes P.
CO, USA 13 Jan 2022
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