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Slayer of Van Wert County Deputy Sheriff Electrocuted at Ohio State Penitentiary Agreeable to Order of Court— Murderer Displays No Sign of Emotion. Roy Smith, of Harrison township, slayer of Forrest L. Good, Deputy Sheriff of Van Wert County, paid the penalty for the crime, having been electrocuted last night, in the Ohio Penitentiary, at Columbus, under mandate pronounced in the Van Wert Court of Common Pleas, the proceed ings afterward being affirmed by the Court of Appeals. The final chapter of the tragedy was carried out under due process of law, in keeping with the exactions of the Ohio statutes, enacted years ago, holding persons guilty of taking the life of another, in premeditation and with malice, guilty of murder in the first degree, the penalty being death. Smith plead ed guilty to causing the death of Deputy Sheriff Good, and, according to a report from Columbus, while re ceiving spiritual comfort from a min ister of the gospel declared sorrow over the shooting and expressed him self “ready to pay the penalty for my sin.” The electrocution of Smith was witnessed by a number of Van Wert, Delphos, Paulding and Celina resi dents, the spectators including Sher iff R. B. Stevens, of Van Wert, and Sheriff Arthur Betts, of Paulding, who were present in their official capacity, in keeping with the custom for officers of the law to attend all chapters of murder cases, following arrest and conviction of the accused. Two reports of the execution of Smith, sent out from Columbus, are appended: NEWS AGENCY REPORT. The appended account of the execu tion was written by a special rep resentative of the International News Service, present at the final chapter of the case, at the Ohio Penitentiary, in Columbus. The body of Roy D. Smith, aged 34, reposed in the Shaw- Davis funeral home here today, pend ing arrangements for return to Van Wert county where, on April 18, he killed Deputy Sheriff Forrest L. Good. Diminutive, grim-faced, Smith, with out exhibiting a trace of emotion died in the electric chair at the Ohio peni tentiary last night for the slaying of the Van Wert county officer. Round shouldered and carrying appoximate ly 116 pounds on his five foot, seven inch frame, he entered the death chamber at 8:31 p. m. Six minutes later he was pronounced dead by Prison Physician George W. Keil. Without emulating his predecessor, Russell Swiger, aged 21, of Zanes ville, who turned evangelist in “death row” two weeks ago, Smith lost little time after entering the tiny death chamber, in walking to his fate. Attired in a white shirt, dark blue trousers, blue socks and black ox fords, the sheriff-slayer sauntered into the chamber, flanked by prison guards on both sides, and seated him self in the chair. The only sign of nervousness he exhibited came when the head electrode slipped from its place and had to be fastened again. He bit his lips as guards adjusted it. Not once from the time he slumped in the ugly lethal chair until he was pronounced dead did Smith part his lips. His last meal, a steak dinner, was eaten in the company of a broth er, Harry, aged 38, convicted on a burglary and larceny charge from Paulding county. The brothers re mained together until 7:00 p. m., when guards separated them. Smith, at his trial before a three-judge court, pleaded guilty to killing Good who sought to question him in con nection with thefts. Originally Smith served a term in Mansfield reforma tory for driving an auto without the owner's consent. He was paroled twice, breaking conditions of his first parole. Attaches at the funeral home said the body would be held for two days pending its disposal upon orders from the dead man’s relatives or Warden James Woodard, of Ohio penitentiary. The warden said no ef forts were made by relatives on the “outside” to see the doomed man be fore the electrocution. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. A dispatch from Columbus says: Roy Smith, aged 34, diminutive slay er, sat in the electric chair at Ohio penitentiary last night, his feet scarcely touching the floor, and died for the murder of a Van Wert County sheriff's deputy. Blanched lips, which said nothing, and blinking eyes belied the apparent calm in difference with which he had await ed execution after eating his last meal with his convict-brother — in death row. Accompanied by Rev. K. K. Wall, Protestant chaplain, with whom he had spent the last hour reading the Bible, Smith stepped briskly into the death chamber at 8:30 p. m. At 8:37, he was pro nounced dead by Prison Physician George W. Keil. A moment before, a witness faifted at the door. The, doomed mainé* brother, Harry, aged 38, serving a term in the peniten tiary for burglary in Paulding county, was the only relative who visited him. His parents, said to be living near Van Wert, were unable to come, Harry said. Roy, a Van Wert County farmer, who was sentenced to the chair for the slaying of Forest Good last April 18. He made no last-minute appeal to Governor Davey for clem ency. The meeting between the broth ers was without emotion. In quiet, calm voices, they talked until they were separated.
Newspaper Details
Van Wert Daily Bulletin
Van Wert, Ohio, US
Sat, Aug 10, 1935
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Theresa M.
USA 23 Jun 2026
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