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Ml) CLEAR UP DEEP MURDER MISTER)Woman Arrested in Connection With Death of James Tinsley.MAN WHO WAS TWICE HUNGThe Woman's Husband Will be Arrested as Soon as Found—He Previously Shot Tinsley for Alleged Intimacy With His Wife,(Special Dispatch to Tho Times.)NEWPORT NEWS, V A..-June 12.—'Thepolice to-day arrested Mary Gilliam, (clored). in connection with the murder of James Tinsley, tho negro who was hanged twice in fne woods near Newport News'. The woman's husband, David Gilliam, will be arrested as soon as found. This man charged Tinsley with being iri^ timato with his wife, and shot him In the leg.The trouble was settled, however, and no more was thought of it until tthe body of Tinsley w’as found. The woman is being held as a witness, rather than as a principal.Had Tinsley been a white man, the sensation caused by finding his body swung to a white oak sapling Tuesday afternoon would have been enormous. So many negroes are killed down this way, however, that one murder more or less doesn't seem to maka a great deal of difference.If James Tinsley was actually murdered, as appears evident, ono of the most remarkable crimes In the history of Virginia has been committeed. When the body was found, it was suspended to the limb of tho sapling by tha leather belt that had formerly been around tha man's waist. This was wrapped once around the limb, and pulled around, thevictim’s throat.At first glance, 1t seemed that the case was one of suicide, but investigation developed the fact that me man s neck was broken. Inasmuch as the strap was only a couple of feet long, and considering the fact that tho man's feet rested upon the ground, doubled up under him, while a plug hat was carelessly resting upon his head, it appears absolutely certain that had ho hanged himself, his neck could not have been broken, and the conclusion Is inevitable that It was the corpse of Tinsley that was hanged to that sapling, his murderers wishing to create tho impression of suicide.What is still more remarkable, however. is tno evident fact that before the dead body was hanged, the livo man was hanged, probably somewhere else and his body carried to the sapling. In hardly any other way could the neck have been broken. Tinsley was a track-walker fof the Chesapeake and Ohio. He was last seen alive Sunday night. Tpon that occasion he was going out to his work. What occurrod thereafter can only bo surmised.Somewhere on the lonely stretch of track above the city, he was probably seized by the murderers—and there must have been several of them—and dragged into tho woods, which skirts the track. Just where and just how he was hanged by his captors Is not known, but the operation must have broken his neck. After the execution, the body was carried to the sapling and again swung up, this time by the belt strap, and the hat was replaced upon the head.The murderers then departed. Themystery will probably never be solved.but the crime will remain one of the most remarkable in the annals of murder.
Newspaper Details
Richmond Times
Richmond, Virginia, US
Fri, Jun 13, 1902
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Library O.
USA 14 Jan 2021
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