Holder v. State

• Decision Date: 07 September 1907
• Citation: 104 S.W. 225,119 Tenn. 178
• Parties: HOLDER v. STATE.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

104 S.W. 225

119 Tenn. 178

HOLDER v. STATE.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

September 7, 1907

Error to Circuit Court, Obion County; Joseph E. Jones, Judge.

Lee Holder was convicted of murder, and he brings error. Affirmed.

Rice A Pierce and Joseph L. Fry, for plaintiff in error.

Attorney General Cates, for the State.

NEILL J.

The plaintiff in error was indicted in the circuit court of Obion county for the murder of his father, Rev. B. L. Holder, and was convicted and sentenced to be hanged. Against this judgment he has sued out a writ of error in this court, and has prayed that the sentence be reviewed.

The errors assigned are upon certain rulings of the circuit court in the admission of testimony and upon the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict. Passing for the present the first class of questions, we shall proceed at once to the case made by the evidence.

About 10 o'clock on the night of December 27, 1906, Warren Brown, a colored man, returning to his home from the town of Troy, in Obion county, saw, on the public road leading from Troy eastward to Rives in the same county, a horse and buggy down in a depression on the south side of the road at the west end of a bridge, about one mile east of Troy; the buggy overturned and the horse entangled in the harness. He at once proceeded to the homes of two men nearby, Luther Lancaster and A. A. Everton, and reported his discovery. Mr. Everton and Charles Lancaster, the son of Luther Lancaster accompanied Brown back to the bridge, and a more particular investigation was then made; but nothing further was ascertained, except that a laprobe was found under the overturned buggy, and that the horse was probably that of Rev. B. L. Holder. The horse was extricated from the harness and was then ridden by Charles Lancaster to the home of Mr. Holder. His wife and children were aroused, and they at once identified the horse as the property of the husband and father. All of them, as soon as they could put on their clothing, returned with Charles Lancaster to the scene of the disaster, which was only about 1,100 yards from their house, and on the same road on which they lived. On the way they were joined by some of the neighbors, and soon quite a crowd of people gathered in, some from Troy; the news having been quickly disseminated by telephone.

It appeared that on that afternoon, shortly before 6 o'clock, Rev. B. L. Holder had left his home to go to Troy, something more than a mile distant, to attend a Masonic meeting. He did not reach Troy, and did not return home. His horse and buggy were found in the predicament above mentioned at 10 o'clock that night, and the family and the neighbors began their search for him. The night was cloudy, and it was raining a little; but the darkness was somewhat relieved by the moon, which now and then shone through the clouds. The searchers had lanterns, and they explored the sides of the road between the fences, on each side, and to some extent the fields to the north and the south, but not thoroughly, and nothing was discovered. About daylight, however, one of the party saw, about 60 yards away, within the south field, an object which, at that distance and in that light, presented to some the appearance of a low stump; but, as it was known there were no stumps in that field, it was at once conjectured to be the body of Mr. Holder. Mrs. Holder, indeed, said she could discern the overcoat which he wore when he left home the night before. All went over into the field, and it was soon placed beyond doubt that it was indeed the body of the missing man.

On an inspection of the body, made soon after, it was discovered that there was a gunshot wound in the right side of the abdomen, close to the waistband of the trousers, from which the bowels were protruding. There was another gunshot wound just under the heart; in each of these wounds the orifice being about the size of a silver dollar. One of the cheek bones was crushed in. The back half, or portion, of the head was crushed, so that it felt like a soft-shelled egg. There was a gash on the left side of the head through which the brains were visible. There were in all three gashes on the outside of the head. There was a slight imprint or indentation in the ground where it appeared, or seemed, his head had lain, and above the top of his head there was a hole in the ground that presented the appearance of the hole made where a stick has been stuck in the ground; and there were hair and blood all around the place. There was a considerable quantity of clotted blood on the ground, and for four or five feet around the ground was tramped, as if there had been a struggle.

Further examination disclosed that the deceased had on only one overshoe. The other overshoe was found sticking in the mud in the edge of the branch near the overturned buggy. From this point the tracks of the deceased, plainly indicated by the track of an overshoe on one foot and the imprint of the shoe on the other foot without an overshoe, were followed to the fence, thence into the field, and through the field up to the point where his body was found. It was also discovered that there was another line of tracks running parallel with those of deceased, and that they closed in with the tracks of the deceased at the point where the body was found. The person who made this second line of tracks had crossed the fence several feet to the east of the point where deceased crossed it. Both lines of tracks showed that the men who made them were running. Both lines of tracks ran almost due south from the bridge until they neared a thicket in the field. Then the tracks of the deceased turned eastward, and presented the appearance of unsteadiness and uncertainty. At this point the tracks of the other party closed in, and intercepted those of deceased before the latter had covered more than a few feet going eastward; and here the body lay.

At the east end of the bridge there was found lying in the road an empty shell, and at the west end of the bridge another empty shell. Each of these was a No. 12 of the kind known as "New Chief," manufactured by the Western Cartridge Company for shotguns. These shells were of the size to fit a single-barreled shotgun which was owned by the deceased, and when that gun was subsequently found there was a shell in it of the same kind.

The deceased was killed on Thursday night, December 27th. The body was discovered the next morning, Friday, the 28th, and on that day the inquest was held. After the inquest was over, the body was removed to the family home and prepared by the neighbors for interment. One of those assisting in the performance of this funeral rite was the witness W. A. Muse. After the body had been prepared, Mr. Muse suggested that a search be made for the gun. It should be here interposed that Mr. Holder, the deceased, had on the 15th of December purchased a single-barreled, breech-loading shotgun from Mr. Rochelle, a hardware merchant of Troy. He was accustomed to keep this gun in his bedroom, lying between the mattress and the cover of a bed in that room. The whole family knew where he kept it. On the afternoon of the day immediately preceding the night he was killed--that is, in the late afternoon of Thursday, December 27, 1906--Mr. Holder went out upon his farm to look for some calves and took his shotgun with him, to hunt along the way. About supper time he returned, bringing the gun with him. His wife saw him take it into the house. She did not observe where he deposited it. It does not appear that any member of the family ever saw this gun after that time until its discovery by the witness Muse, after Mr. Holder's death, unless it was seen and used by the plaintiff in error, Lee Holder. Mrs. Holder says she never saw it again. Plaintiff in error testifies that he saw his father go off with it in the afternoon when he went to look for the calves, and that he saw him when he returned at supper time, but that it was so dark he does not know whether he brought the gun back or not. The only other member of the family who testified, Earl Holder, a boy 14 or 15 years old, says practically nothing upon the subject. There were only two other members of the family at home--Nona, a girl of 10, and Cecil, a boy of 8. They were not introduced.

Resuming the history of the search for the gun: After Mr. Holder's body had been prepared for burial, Mr. Muse, joined by some other persons, went forth to find the gun. They were searching the barn. When they were within three feet of the place where the gun was subsequently found, the plaintiff in error came near and looked at them with an expression on his face evincing so much anger that Mr. Muse was frightened, and for fear plaintiff in error would do him harm he immediately ceased the search and went to the house. The next day, Saturday, after plaintiff in error had been placed under arrest, the search was renewed, and about 12 o'clock the gun was found. There was a hole in the east end of the barn, right at the ground. The barn was weather-boarded down to the ground; but there was a hole at the end that ran under the building, concealed from the outside in front by the planks. Into this hole the gun had been thrust, and behind it, so placed as to conceal it, there was pushed in a 2X4-inch scantling. So covered up and hidden, the gun could not be seen from the front of the building, or from the end; but by going around on the other side of the barn, and peering under, the discovery was made.

When the gun was drawn from its place of concealment, it was found to be in the following condition: The stock was broken off the barrel was bent in two different directions. It was rusty, and it had mud, or mud and hair, upon it, and there was blood on the...