Last week, I shared the story of Hugh Harless, who was shot and killed by his father-in-law, Thomas Stufflebean, after Hugh threatened to kill the whole family.
While looking for more Stufflebean news articles on Chronicling America, this turned up in the Wichita, Kansas Daily Eagle on 8 September 1898:
It seems that Hugh wasn’t shot dead by Thomas Stufflebean. He was wounded, disappeared from the house and was later found drowned in a well on the property.
On NewspaperArchive, I found an issue of the 21 September 1898 Sedalia Sentinel newspaper with a “special item” only a few sentences long, announcing that Thomas Stufflebean had been acquitted of murder. Justice was certainly swift in those times – 13 days from the killing to acquittal.
That’s a great point. Justice often was swift! I need to relocate an article where one of my ancestors was a juror and they actually went to the scene of the crime, I believe the same day, and looked at the body. Things sure have changed!