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Three-Year Term Given In SlayingJurors in a 72nd District Court!Adams had been trying to see carlv todav returned a verdict (her.of murder without malice in the trial of Cecil Carl Allford, 39, a Shallowater area farmer, and assessed a penalty of three years in the state prison.The jurors started deliberations about 8:50 p.m. Tuesday and returned their verdict at 12:40 a.m. today.Allford was charged with murder with malice in the shooting of a Lubbock carpenter, Cecil Lerov Adams, 40, at a duplex in the 2100-block 14th St. Jan. 14 Testimony in the trial began Tuesday morning and ended shortly before 6 p.m Jurors were Coy Biggs, Charles B. Meeks, W. C. Jack son, Mrs. F. L. Luck, Mrs. W H. Gordon, Bill H. Knight, Burl Jones, Mrs. Coleman Hasie, W T. Leon, I. R. Wilmot, Fred A. Nixon and Frank Hodges Testimony in the trial began Tuesday morning, ending about 6 p.m. Tuesday.Defense Witnesses Defense witnesses included Allford, the wife of a neighbor, Mrs. Anna Lou Ream, Allford's brother, W. L. Allford, a Hurl-; wood area farmer, and W. L. Allford's wife, Nellie.The brother and sistcr-in-law of the defendant told of a trip they made to San Angelo with Allford last September to search for Mrs. Allford.The defendant said he had found out she was with this man, Adams. The witnesses said the defendant’s wife returned to Lubbock County about a week later when Allford went back to San Angelo a second time for her.Mrs. Ream said she was at the defendant’s home about a year ago and Adams came to the residence, walking into the house without knocking.Boy, what are you doing here? Mrs. Ream quoted All-ford's wife as asking Adams.He said he came home the afternoon of the shooting and found his wife missing. He gathered the three children of his wife, 11 to 15 years old, into his pickup, got a .22 caliber rifle and drove to the 14th St. address, because he had heard they had been there before.Allford said he stopped his truck near the house and spotted Adams’ daughter. Mrs. Paul Hughes, (at the time an unmarried teenager!, in a car. He took the girl into the house with him and as they got inside the door, she stepped aside, he said.Allford testified that his wife and Adams were hugged up on the couch, and his wife jumped up and screamed, “There’s Dick and he’s got a gun.”He said Adams threw something at him, striking his chin, and Adams then grabbed for his left side.“I shot him,” he said. “I thought he had a gun and was going to shoot me.” He said he fired twice.Mrs. Hughes said Allford forced her from the auto at gunpoint, threatening to kill her if she didn't tell where her father was. She said she heard two shots.Walter Walls, who said h e was in the kitchen at the time of the shooting, said he heard shots and ran from the residence. He said he ran to 19th Street, called a taxi and went home.A prosecution witness, Detective Sgt. Jerry Stevens of the police department, said he found six bullet wounds in the body of Adams.Other witnesses called by Asst. Dist. Atty. Bill LauBach included flack Reeves, investigator for the district attorney’s office, detective Cecil Brown, police patrolmen Bill Bailey and Tommv Roberts and Justice ofState TourWhen Adams told her her he,tfip p^ace p, r, Land, w’anted to see her, Mrs. All- J Allford was not calledford said “You're going to getias a witness. me killed . . . my mother-in-law j Judge victor H. Lindsey prelives down the street, M r s.! sjcjcd Ream quoted the defendant’s; ___She said Adams then made; ntpcthe statement that killing could! MJ U31I go both ways and patted h i s felt. She said she could see a gun butt sticking from the belt.She said later Allford asked her about the encounter and said, I've been told that my life has been threatened.”The brother and sister-in-law and Mrs. Ream told of seeing a vehicle like one Adams drove in the vicinity of the Allford residence on numerous occasions.Saw Adams’ CarOnce, Mrs. Ream said, she was visiting at the home and when Mrs. Allford walked over to the kitchen sink she squealed out when she looked out the window and then explained to her visitor that she had seen Adam’s car.The defendant testified that his wife had told him that
Newspaper Details
Lubbock Avalanche Journal
Lubbock, Texas, US
Wed, Sep 02, 1964
Page 32
Full Page
Clipped by
April C.
USA 09 Apr 2025
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