King v. State

• Decision Date: 01 December 1909
• Citation: 123 S.W. 135
• Parties: KING v. STATE.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

123 S.W. 135

KING v. STATE.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

December 1, 1909.

Appeal from District Court, Tom Green County; J. W. Timmins, Judge.

John King was convicted of murder, and he appeals. Affirmed.

Taylor & Frink and S. E. Taylor, for appellant. F. J. McCord, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

RAMSEY, J.

The record in this case is a pathetic, but striking, demonstration of that truism of the Holy Writ that "the wages of sin is death." The deceased was a woman of the underworld, a habitué of the river district in San Angelo. Her associates, judged from the record, were of the lowest type. The appellant was a young man about town, who, to judge from the same record, "ne'er in virtue's ways did take delight." The deceased, Katie Ryan, was found in the river near San Angelo on Sunday, January 26th of last year. An autopsy disclosed the fact that she did not come to her death by drowning. The safe and certain test of an examination of the lungs disclosed that they were normal, and rendered it certain that she was dead when thrown into the water. There were a number of wounds on her person; but the only one that would, in the opinion of the physicians, have caused her death, was an injury in the region of the stomach, which was a bruise, as Dr. Batts states the fact, covering about two inches of the stomach and six inches of the small intestine, leading off from the stomach; that this bruise was the whole of the thickness of the stomach wall, and the intestine was bruised to that extent; that altogether about eight inches were bruised. He also gives it as his opinion that the wound was sufficient to produce death. The last seen of the deceased by her associates was about 8 o'clock on Friday night, January 24, 1908, when she was observed by Guadalupe Garcia, who kept a restaurant in San Angelo.

The witness John Huff saw and describes the murder in substantially this language: "The first time I met him was on the corner of the Arc Light saloon gallery, on the street. It was about 9 o'clock; might have been a little after. I don't know exactly how long I was with him; all together about two hours. From the Arc Light saloon, we went down the street west. John King went with me. We had started to the whorehouse. I met him on the gallery. He said: `Let's go to the whorehouse,' and made a cigarette. I told him, `All right,' and we got up there and was talking a little about him having some trouble in the court, first one thing and another, didn't amount to much, and we got up there to some place we seen a man and woman standing on the street, and he said, `Let's go here.' And we went there. He wanted to talk to the woman, and she didn't want to talk to him, and he had trouble with a Mexican. I thought it was a Mexican. At the time he tried to borrow some money from the woman, and she wouldn't let him have it, and he caught hold of her, and cursed her a little bit, and jerked her around, and started on down under the hill with her, and got down there. She was hollowing, `Hoolia.' And after he got about half way, she got down, and got up then, and went on down to the river, and he got the money, and I didn't see him any more then for a little while. I didn't see her any more after they went under the hill. And directly he come back, and we come on up the way we went down the lane. He said, `Let's go,' as soon as he come back to where I was. I didn't go down under the hill, and we come on up the hill, and got to Main street, and turned west, and then north, and went to town. At the time the hollowing occurred down at the river, guess I was two or three steps from them, may be a little more, the first time at the river. I don't think there was any hollowing right at the river. When the hollowing ceased at the river, I was 12 or 15 feet from him. It was very dark. I could see the bulk of them. I couldn't tell exactly what did occur. There was a little rustling around, scrambling, little noise under the bank, I thought was somebody clearing up the throat, and I heard the water make a noise, rattle in the water, and he came back up the hill and said, `Let's go.' I heard the splash in the water, and there wasn't anything more said then till we got on down to the Bank saloon. He said, `Let's cross the street.' We went across, and went by the Parlor saloon, and I stopped there a little bit, and we went on to Eddie Mayer's saloon, and came back there, and he said he would go in and get a bottle of whisky. He came back in a little bit. We taken a drink, and came back to the Parlor saloon. I went in there. I don't know where he went to. I was in there half an hour, or may be an hour. I don't know exactly the time, but was good little bit, and I got my grip, and started up here to the depot to a rooming place."

Further describing the matter, he says: "She tried to get aloose, and couldn't, and tried to hollow, and she couldn't do that. I tried to get him to turn her aloose and let go. I didn't want to get in any trouble, and he wouldn't do it. She throwed up her hands, and I started to help her, and he threw up his hand. I thought it best to not monkey with them. After we got up the street here, when I came out of the Parlor saloon here on the south side, he was waiting there, and went up the street with me. We walked up the street, I guess half way to this rooming place; don't recollect exactly where the place was we stopped. Anyway, there was some fruit trees there. Some fellow had some fruit trees set out there, and he said: `If you ever tell this, I will kill you; will blow the top of your head off.' And I told him I wouldn't. He came on back across the south side, then this way, and I went on to the rooming house and went to bed. That was, I guess, close to 11 o'clock at night. It was some time after 9 o'clock at night when we went to the river; between 9 and 10 o'clock. I heard some money there. I didn't see any. John didn't tell me whether he got any money there. I asked him for some money to pay for my bed. He wouldn't let me have it. As we went down, he said he didn't have any money. He said he owed some fines, and had to pay them. It was about 12 or 15 feet from where I was to where John and the woman were when they were scuffling there on the river; maybe not so far. I don't know how close John and the woman were from the river; right close to the water though. I could see the water from where I was. I guess four or five feet; maybe more. I heard a splash in the water; just sounded like something fell in. I thought it was him that fell in at the time."

Corroboration of his testimony is found in the evidence of the witness Pete Freeze, who testified substantially as follows: "My name is Pete Freeze. On the 24th of January last year I lived at the same place I do now, in San Angelo. I remember the night Katie Ryan was killed. I lived about 60 yards from where Hoolia lived at that time. I heard some hollowing that night. She was calling for Cander Larias. I looked out to see what it was. I just saw the outline of three people. I don't know whether they were men or women. The person hollowing was one of these three persons. It was the dead woman that hollowed. I mean the woman that was afterwards dead. I didn't know Katie Ryan. When I looked out there, she just hollowed twice, and he didn't let her hollow any more. I heard the scream of a woman, and looked out and saw the outline of three people there. I don't know what these three people were doing. She complained, or groaned. I noticed which way they went. They went toward Nannie's house. Nannie is a crippled white woman. They were going in the direction of the road there. I lived about 60 yards east of Hoolia's house. I don't know the direction. They were going on the road in the direction of Hoolia's house."

On cross-examination some of the matters stated by him are rendered somewhat more clear, and this cross-examination is here given: "This was a dark night. I was about 22 yards from these parties I claim to have seen the outline of. I never did measure it. It is right close there. It was nearer from where I was to where these parties were than it was from Hoolia's house to where they were. My house is on top of the hill. I was at my house when I saw these parties. I went outside because the woman hollowed. I went close to the fence. These parties were close to the fence. They were not close to the river. They were close to the fence that is around the China Garden. That China Garden is right in front of Hoolia's house. It is close to the river. I think it is about 300 or 400 yards from where I live to the river. I did not know who those parties were that I saw the bulk of. I knew the woman, because she had gone to Cander Larias' house. She had been there ever since she had been in town. Ever since she had come from Ozona, she had been staying at Cander Larias' house. It was about 10 or 11 o'clock at night; am not sure. This woman didn't go to Cander Larias' house on this particular night. Cander Larias wasn't there. I didn't hear any Mexicans talking down there that night. These three people I saw down there were about as far apart as from here to the door (about 30 feet). They were all three close together. I saw them doing nothing. It was about 60 yards from where they were to the river. I don't know where the body of Katie Ryan was taken out of the river. I remember distinctly these three parties were together that night when I heard that difficulty. Hoolia's house is a little to one side of Mollie's house. I never calculated the distance from Hoolia's house to mine. Hoolia's house is not between my house and where I saw these parties that night. I live up above Refugio's house on the hill. My house is closer to where I saw these people that night than Hoolia's house is."

There is considerable testimony, which, if true, pretty definitely locates the appellant at or near the scene of the homicide on the night in question, which we deem it...