The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 8, 1969 Page: 4 of 16
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MAY 8. 1%9
"Mist lie Young Dii, Too?" Book Publication Begins This Week With First Of Seven Articles
•* Not*: Author.Pub-
• Wjrttt Sawyer haa gran -
ted The Cherokeean permls-
■loo to reprint in fall, his
novel ''Must The Young Die
Too?** Tho entire book will
be printed In seven Install-
ments, paid for at regular
church rates by the Rusk
Qmrch of Christ.)
CHAPTER ONE
•ROGER SCOTT-
YOUNG CRIMINAL"
"My name Is Roger Scott.
1 am a murderer! However,
1 don't look like one at alL
I stand 5' 10" tall. I have
brownish-red hair and brown
eyes. I weigh 155 pounds.
They tell me I look like any
other average American
young man. I am twenty-six
years old.'*
"I've been In the courtroom
now nearly an hour waiting
for my trial to begin. I'm
very nervous. I'll be glad to
get this over with because
I've been dreading this ordeal
for about a year. Some have
told me I should be acquitted.
Others are doing everything
In their power to put me in
the electric chair. The Judge
is coming In now."
The Judge Is a very large
judicious-looking man with a
booming voice equal to his
stature. His first words re-
bounded off the back wall and
stopped the low muttering of
the overflow crowd of curious
people, thrill - seekers and
town gossips.
"In this case a young man
must stand trial before a jury
of his peers," began the
Judge. 'T think I need not
remind those present that this
is a most grave occasion.
The outcome of these pro-
ceedings will determine whe-
ther this young man will live
or must die for his crime."
"I gripped my chair hard
when the Judge said those
last words. I still hadn't got-
ten used to the idea that I
might die before I'm thirty.
I was scared--plenty scared.
My quivering lips were only
a slight evidence of my real
inward agony and fear. I had
rehearsed this moment a
thousand times in my cell.
It was easy to be calm and
. sophisticated there. But here
it's different. There are hun-
dreds of people here; some
are for me and some are
: against me. Some of them
j hope I die."
A low murmur rumbled
í through the courtroom as the
' overflow crowd reacted in
I shock to the thought that this
; fine looking young man might
J soon die.
J "I must remind you men of
J the jury that you bear a sol-
I emn obligation to the State,
; You also owe this young man
j a fair and impartial hearing.
• The purpose of this court is
• that justice may be done.
• Therefore, I charge you in-
• dividually to weigh all the
J facts carefully and come to
C an honest verdict."
" "The court is now ready for
• trial," said the Judge as he
r turned his attention from the
jury to the lawyers seated
t before him. "Is the State
Í ready with its case?"
5; "We are ready, your
I Honor," replied the State's
, attorney.
"Is the Defense ready?" the
; Judge continued.
"The Defense is ready for
trial," replied one of Roger's
. court-appointed lawyers.
"Then let us proceed with
. the case. The State will now
í present its evidence."
One of the State's attorneys
y arose and faced the jury.
"The defendant, Roger Scott,
Í is being charged with mur-
I der in the first degree. His
signed confession which I hold
; as exhibit "A" admits that
; he brutally slaughtered three
I men on a lonely State road
early one morning. We have
; no alternative in the face
of the facts but to demand
; the death penalty for this
> man. After all. this wa scold-
; blooded homicide. We would
; like our first witness, a Mr.
Simmons to come to the
1 stand."
¡ Kindly old Mr. Simmons took
the stand and after being given
; the oath to tell the truth
: he sat down in the witness
; chair.
Roger listened to Mr. Sim-
; mon's testimony attentively
wandered back to that fateful
night when he fought with
the three men he later kill-
ed and but his th-
oughts were rudely Interrupt-
ed when the lawyer shook
an old revolver in his face.
"This Is the gun he used
to kill those men last De-
cember a year ago, isn't it
Mr. Simmons?" And forget
ting himself for a moment
In the passion of his charges
the lawyer turned accusingly
to Roger, "Thl.s is the gun
you killed Benjamin Peebles,
Arthur MlWs and Jim Southy
with Isn't it, Mr. Scott, «Ha*
Ron Brown?"
Both of Roger'*- lawyer-
wore ott iheir feet shaking
their fists toward the Judge'-
bench. "We object, vnirHw
or," mM one, ' t 'ur client iw
MM on the «tinoi^ vtaM, Thl*
quOMlonlivg la most irrefu
tori"
"Objection sustained!" re-
plied the Judge as he pound-
ed his gaveL 'The State's
attorney Is asked to confine
his questions to the witness
on the stand."
The lawyer gave a rather
sheepish nod toward the Jud-
ge and resumed his question-
ing of Mr. Simmons.
"All right, sir, Is this the
revolver the defendant gave
you the morning he was cap-
tured?"
"Well now, I don't know.
That sorta looks like the gun."
"My dear sir, this is a
courr of law. We must have
positive facts. Be specific
sir! Is this the gun he gave
you to turn in to the police?"
"Just can't tell you for sure,
young man," said the farmer,
"I ain't got my specks on
me and I can't be specific
about nothing, les^ 1 have
-m II
em,
"And where are your glass-
es, sir?*' asked the impati-
ent attorney.
"Mama's got them In her
purse right over there."
'Then by all means let's
get Mama to part with them
long enough for you to id-
entify this gun."
TTie court proceedings came
to a standstill while Mama
Simmons pillaged through the
contents of her bulky purse.
Presently she located the
glasses and handed them to
the waiting lawyer.
"Now that you can see bet-
ter, will you positively state
that this is the fun which was
given you by the defendant?"
"Yes, sir, that's it I Don't
believe I could mistake it at
all. It had a chip out of the
handle on the right side. Let's
see. There it is. That's the
gun all right."
"I watch the lawyer take the
gun from Mr. Simmons and
put It back on the table across
from me. It brought back bit-
ter memories."
' The whoie incident was still
vivid in my mind. 1 could ne-
ver forget that night. There
were those three drunks and
we had a fight and I shot
them. I can still hear the
echos as they traveled th-
rough the swamp and down
into the bayou. And the men?
I remember them roo. My
.38 was talking to them in
a language they could under-
stand. 1 hadn't expected to
ever use the gun, I had just
had It along in case. Now I
wish I'd left it where it be-
longed."
'Tve asked myself thous-
ands of times why I did such
a thing. But I still don't know.
One thing led to another, then
it was all over before I rea-
lized what happened. It was
too late to think then."
The lawyer continued to
cross-question Mr. Simmons.
He was determined to es-
tablish a case against Roger
which would be beyond a rea-
sonable doubt in the jury's
mind. The State knew it had
a strong case and it press-
ed every advantage.
"I kept telling myself this
didn't make sense. I didn't
mean to get into any trouble.
1 was just walking down that
highway that morning in the
cold rain. I was tired and
sick and hungry. It must have
been about 1;30 because we
left that filling station at one
and we had driven at least
thirty minutes. Those men
were drinking heavily and
they got a real kick out of
trying to get me to drink
with them. I think they -tart-
ed out to make a joke of
it, but they didn't stop there.
There were three of them
and they knew they could make
me do almost anything if they
wanted to, so they tried. I
got really scared when they
pulled over to the side of
the road and pulled me out
of the car. They got awfully
unreasonable after that. I
didn't know what to do. I
tried to run once, but my
legs were so swollen and
sore I didn't get very far
before they caught me. This
made them angry I guess be-
cause they shoved me down
and one of them began to kick
me. They ruffled me up good
after that and I was taking it
pretty good until one of them
kicked me in the head. That
made me see stars and 1
got real mad. That was the
last straw and I was deter-
mined not to take any more.
People had pushed me around
all my life and I decided this
was one time I was going
to push back. I had never
hurt anyone before, but nei-
ther had they every hurt me
this bad either. So as soon
as 1 got iny hand free 1
jerked out my revolver and
started firing. They sound
ed mighty surprised when they
started feeling my lead. But
they left me alone after that.
The t don't remember what
hastened, I gue- I wms too
numb or stunned or some
thing. The police said I took
all their wallet', hut I don't
remember <tn|ng that."
After the shooting Roger did
search the tead me*'' pq*
t t•, étvi take tn ir viki
aMe*, Ther «|th<jui looking
in any direction Ho hogoe
to hobble away from the
bloody scene. He ran Into the
•wamp-lands and kept moving
until he was several mues
away. When he felt that he
was at a safe distance he sat
down on a tree stump to
get his breath.
•••
"Large beads of sweat came
on my forehead as I sat there
thinking about my awful crime
again. One of my lawyers
noticed me and whispered to
me."
"What's the matter son? Are
you living it all over again?"
1 nodded my head and whis-
pered back to him. "I'm not
sure whether its that or my
fever. I surely don't feel very
well."
The State's attorney finish-
ed his questioning of Mr.
Simmons and called for oth-
er witnesses. At this point
the case against Roger was
looking very bad. The way
the State was guiding the evi-
dence, the audience would
think he had never had a
good thought In his life. But
the true facts alone testifi-
ed that he was a thief and
a murder.
'This whole trial seemed
very needless to me. I had
signed a confession stating
my guilt to all these things.
I told everybody I was guilty
so I didn't see any use in
them making me go through
it all again. I told my law-
yer now I felt too."
"You must understand, Ro-
ger, that this is the way
we do things in this country.
Trial by jury is one of our
basic rights and is provided
In the Constitution. Everyman
must go through a trial no
matter how many confessions
he signs. Some men have
signed false confessions un-
der duress you know and the
trial later proved them in-
nocent. Now try to be more
patient. I know this is hard
on you, but It will be the
last time you have to go
through it."
"As the questioning continu-
ed it became apparent that
there was little hope that
Roger might be acquitted. Few
if any, had supposed that there
would be. However, his law-
yers were hoping to get him
off with a life-imprisonment
sentence at the most. Earlier
they had filed a plea of tem-
porary insanity for him, but
he had been judged same at
the lunacy hearing. So more
and more Roger's attorneys
knew they must plead self-
defense and cast their de-
fendant on the mercy of the
jury.
"My lawyer said they had
agreed not to call Mrs. Sim-
mons to the witness stand,
but they must have changed
their minds. It was clear
now that they weren't taking
any chances. One of the
State's men was a new law-
yer who was recently admit-
ted to the bar and he was
determined to get a convic-
tion In his first big case.
The State knew that Mrs.
Simmons' testimony could
hurt Roger's chances of len-
iency so they called her as
a surprise witness."
"Your name is Sarah Sim-
mons?" the lawyer began.
"Yes sir," she replied in
a soft voice.
"And the defendant ate sup-
per with you and your hus-
band about a year ago at
your place?"
'That's right." she re-
plied.
"Now In your own words
tell this jury some of the
details of this young man's
visit in your home. And also
tell them something of his
conduct while there, if you
please."
"Well sir, there Isn't much
to tell. He just came to our
place and asked if we had
any work he could do for
his board and room for a
few days. We have a small
farm you know, so there
wasn't anything we needed
done, but we felt sorry for
him and had him split some
kindling for dad. He was dirty
and his clothes were torn
and we could tell he was sick
and had't eaten much forse-
veral days. We didn't think
he could harm anybody In his
condition. He had such a kind
face and Dad and me think
those killings were just a big
mistake anyway. We liked the
boy."
"Pardon me for butting in
this way Mrs. Simmons, but
we would like you to refrain
from giving any of your op
Inions about the defendant.
Just tell us what happened.
All we want Is the facts."
"1 object your honort" ex
claimed Roger'- lawyer.
"The lady wa- only doing
what ' he was told to to, she
was telling what happen* I and
this jury ha- the rlg'u to
know how they felt abnu' my
client. We therefore reque'
that - he t<e allowed to ron
tlnue freely and without Air
•her interference."
"objection overruledt Ihe
gentleman of the sute a*ked
for the fact*, not personal
opinion, Me«*e, Mr- -dm
meet, confine your r** nart
le tho event* that iMt ply
at your home."
"I'm very sorry, your
Honor, I didn't mean to start
a füss between these nice
gentlemen. I'll try to be more
careful, but we did think a
lot of that boy."
Mama Simmons then told
how she and Mr. Simmons
had taken a liking to Roger
because he resembled their
son who had been killed In
the first World War.
"You say he looked a lot
like your son? But in spite
of that, were you ever a-
fraid of him for any reason?
Did his conduct there ever
frighten you or make you
think he might harm you in
any way?"
"Well then, let's put It this
way. Did you suspect him as
being a killer?"
"Land sakes no! There
wasn't anything to be afraid
of. He was a very sick boy.
Why he was as gentle as my
lap-cat, Catherine. No sir
we weren't afraid of him for
a minute."
"Well then, let's put it this
way. Did you suspect him as
being a killer?"
"No we didn't, did we dad?''
she said appealing to her hus-
band to reinforce her answer.
Mr. Simmons rose from his
seat and answered his wife.
"No we didn't Mama."
The State's attorney turned
to the Judge in haste. "Your
Honor, may we ask that this
lady refrain from violating
the ethics of this court so
grossly? This talking to her
husband while under oath Is
most Irregular!"
Underneath his poker-face
the Judge grinned broadly. He
was aware that Mama Sim-
mons had never been in court
before and was Ignorant of
the technicalities of jurispru-
dence. Nevertheless, he sus-
tained the objection.
"Was Mr. Scott entirely nor-
mal in his conduct while at
your house?" The lawyer con-
tinued. "You see it has been
charged that this man was
temporarily out of his mind
the night before. Did you have
any reason to believe that
he was insane?"
'ts'o sir, he wasn't insane
at our place. He was very
nervous, but his mind was
¿ood."
"Then you would say that
he was rational all the time
he was in your home, would
you?"
"Yes, I guess so. He was
a little strange at first, but
we could tell he was a sick
boy and we didn't pay that
much mind. But he didn't
act crazy or anything like
that. As a matter of fact he
was about the sanest person
I ever knew. He did a won-
derful thing that night."
'That's all, Mrs. Simmons.
Step down please."
"But can't I tell you what
a fine thing he did at our
house?"
"Step down, please." the
lawyer said in a firm tone.
Mama Simmons forgot that
she was a witness for the
State at this lime. Since no
one had said anything good
about Roger until now she
felt obligated to come to his
defense. But the lawyer pre.
vented her doing so.
"How well I remember the
afternoon I stumbled onto the
Simmon's place, 1 had fought
my way through the swamps
until daylight and 1 was hun-
gry and exhausted. I hid out
in the brush and slept until
afternoon. Then I went up to
the house and asked for food.
I didn't know then that I had
been traveling in circles much
of the time and was only a few
miles from the scene of the
killings. I knocked at the Sim
monses' door and offered to
work for a few days of board
and room. The Simmons talk -
ed It over and Invited me in.
Supper was already on the
table, all except the stew
and It was nearly done. So
I went out in the orchard
and chopped some wool and
then washed up for supper.
The water from the well was
cool and refreshing to my
fevered skin so I let the
bucket down again and pour-
ed a second bucket full of
cool water down my arms
and on the back of my neck."
"Inside the house a few min-
ute1 later I ate several large
helpings of Mamma Simmons
delicious Irish tew. At the
table 1 introduced myself as
Ben Brown during our con.
versatlon. I told them I wa
on my way home from a job
In California. They noticed
that my clothe looked rath-
er strange, hut they didn't
ask too many qutsrlon
A car drove up the lane and
Into the Simmon-e ' yarda-.
Roger wa:. finishing a bowl of
home canne ! peaches lie w.r
apprehensive at fir-t and
started to run out the hack
lour, htit Mrs immon
calmed hi' fear-
"I uok dad, th«l'
i he children, Hov
owning, Wh*i'
!<#■ ? ' V' 't he .1
"I was afraid the car was
the police coming after me,
but 1 settled down when I
heard the woman's voice and
the children's. Mrs, Simmons
introduced me to Mrs. Miles
and her three children, Doro-
thy, Marie and Billy. She was
very upset I could tell. Her
eyes were read and she look-
ed as If she had been crying
a long time. When I saw
her great distress 1 excus
ed myself and crawled Into
the attic room where the Sltn-
mons told me I could sleep."
Once comfortable in the fea-
ther mattress Roger began to
think. Hardly realizing It his
Hps moved in silent prayer.
"Oh God! Where is my
Billy? Can't you help me find
hlr.:? I need to see him and
Margie bad. Lord, I got to
get there in time, I just gotta.
My life Isn't worth anything
without them. Let me find
them and take them home with
me once more. Just once
God. Then I wouldn't care
what happened to me. Take
my life, but let me have
my family back for just a
little while. Lord, I.ask you
in Christ's name. Amen.''
Emma Miles was talking to
the Simmons downstairs while
was Roger was praying. After
he finished he leaned off the
side of the bed to hear their
conversation below. Then he
peeped through a crack in
the floor and he could see
her weeping again.
"Arthur was drunk again
last night as usual. He'd got-
ten his pay vesterday morn-
ing and after leaving us some
money for groceries he went
off with those no-good bud
dies of his. I never saw him
alive after that!" Then Mrs.
dies of his. I never saw him
alive after that!" Then Mrs.
Miles broke into uncontrolled
sobbing.
'There, there, honey,"
comforted Mrs. Simmons.
"Why don't you let the rest
wait until some other time,
don't you want to?"
"No, let me finish. I've got
to get It off my mind, /vnd
thanks so much for letting
me burden you with my trou-
bles. You and Pop have been
wonderful. The next time 1
saw Arthur was this morning
in that casket. The undertaker
said he had a bullet in his
heart. He looked so natural
and there was a smile on his
face. Oh I what am I going to
do without him? What are the
kids going to do without their
daddy? Oh, Arthur, Arthur.
He's gone. He's gone away
from me, Oh God help me to
stay sane!"
rtgaln Emma broke down and
wept without restraint. The
Simmons lifted her exhausted
body over to the bed and co-
vered her up for the night.
Then they dried their eyes
and went to bed also.
"Soon everyone was asleep
but me and I was living in
torment. I knew Hell couldn't
be any worse than this. I
was In the same house with
the wife and children of one
of the men I killed. I had to
listen to her heartache and
see her suffer like that. 1
was crushed and I felt mean
er and dirtier than any man
that ever lived. I was plan-
ning to get away during the
night sometime, bur this ch-
anged things. How long could
I run away from that woman's
screaming voice? And how
soon could I forget the look
on those orphans' faces? No
1 couldn't run any more. I
thought to myself, nothing
could have stunned me more.
This was a rotten break."
Roger lay in his bed up-
stairs for several hours
strugging with his conscience
and soul. His body writhed
and squirmed in agony as he
realized more fully how much
suffering he had brought to
others. An overwhelming
sense of guilt surged into his
heart and he bit his lips
and gnawed at his knuckles
until they ran with blood.
"Why did this have to hap
pen anyway? I wa doing a!
right till now. 1 couldn't help
it, I had to kill those fel-
lows. They were hurring me I
They'd have killed rne if I
hadn't got them first. It was
self-defense I tell you - it was
self-defense."
But Roger couldn't talk him
self Into escaping from his
problem now. He had come
face to face with the results
of his crime. Three wives
and eight children were with
out bread winners because of
him. Tills wa too much for
him so he made up his mint!
to take his punishment.
"Finally, I gave up an! a
calm settle! over tne. Hie
confusion and pain In my
heart left me. I gue I re-
laxed for the first line in
week after making mv re o
hitlon. I had be. n acting like
rm at
a cowart
away froti
elded to
couldn't h
what | ha
I <
>w.
aln. I even respected myself
because of the thing I had
decided to do. No more run-
ning now—I was going to give
myself up. It was a hard de-
cision to make, but the way
of the transgressor is hard
anyway. Neither decision was
a pleasant one. So, I boiled
all my problems down to just
two. First, I had to give my-
self up without getting shot In
the process and the second
was to do something for the
families I had harmed. I didn't
know how I could do the lat-
ter, but at least I could try."
"It was after 4:30 a.m. when
I slipped out of bed and dress-
ed. Then I crawled down the
ladder and awoke the Slm-
monses. Mrs. Miles and the
children continued to sleep
soundly as we went into the
kitchen and lit a fire The old
folks didn't act like they were
surprised at my actions so I
felt at ease and told them
everything. They listened at-
tentively and we all got to
crying before I was through.
They found it hard to believe
that I was the one who had
done the killing, but when I
told them all the details they
were convinced."
The SImmonses were pleas-
ed and Impressed by Roger's
new confidence In himself.
They saw the faraway look
was gone from his eyes and
that he moved about with
greater poise and direction.
They hardly recognized the
new Roger as the weakling
who had come to their door
ten hours before.
"But what do you want us
to do Ben, I mean Roger?"
asked the old man. "You'll
have to excuse us for calling
you Ben. But that's what you
told us your name was at sup-
per last night."
"1 want you to call the police
for tne. I want you to tell them
my side of the story. I don't
think they'd listen to me, but
they might believe you."
"Mr. Simmons agreed to do
as I asked. He quickly dress-
ed and we started off down
the road to the all night ser-
vice station where a telephone
was. We didn't say much. I
guess he didn't know what to
say and I didn't fee! like talk-
ing at all."
There was a few minutes
wait after the call was made
to the State Highway Patrol
Office. Then police cars came
from both directions. The St-
ate Highway Patrol, the Co-
unty Sheriff's men, and some
special deputies had been pa-
trolling and searching the
area since the killings. They
responded to the call imme-
diately. The station driveway
was soon crowded with cars
and armed police.
"Mr. Simmons told them I
was harmless and peaceful,
but they didn't take any ch-
ances. Just like the police
and robbers serials in the
movies, they staved behind
their cars with their guns
ready and told me to come
out with my hands up. They
weren't taking any chances.
They thought they were deal-
ing with some desperado but
it was just me. When I went
outside they handcuffed me.
Then they waited a few min-
utes while the newspaper re-
porters took pictures and
asked me a few questions.
Then they put me In a car
and drove me to the city for
medical treatment and lat-
er confinement."
"Shadows had crept into the
courtroom now and I could
see that the spectators were
tired from sitting or stand-
ing so long. The Judge look-
ed tired too. Finally, because
there were so few witnesses
left to be heard, the Judge
ruled that the trial would
go into night session. He ex-
plained to both sides that
the court docket was over-
loaded and that they needed
to begin another big trial
the next day If possible. So
the lawyers speeded up their
final plans,"
Several character witness-
es remained to be heard.
Among them was Roger's high
school principal from Cen-
terville.
"He was an average boy
I would say, or nearly av-
erage. Ifls grades weren't
too high, but he didn't fall
any subjects, I would say he
got along with the other stu-
dents reasonably well. He
should have credit for that,
because It wasn't easy."
"What do you mean. It wasn't
ea-y?" questioned Roger's
attorney.
"Well you see he was a
timid kind of boy. Never ag
gres1 lve. This causad some
of the other student* to pick
on him. You know what I
mean, they leased him a lot
and heckled him when they
could. But he took It well.
He was one of mllde t stu
'lent- w«- hail |n school at
that time, so von ran see
why the ne\ o' his crime
*4' * uch * *tock to dtf
uwti, Wnj, to* wa the lai?
It* flwp *orH wuuVt
Mr, Donohoe and said about
the same things about Roger.
The grocerman, the sheriff
and an elder of the church at
Centerville testified In his
favor. Then the Defense rest-
ed its case.
"In many respects my trial
was a simple one and turned
out not to be as bad as I
had feared. The State's at-
torneys got all the witnesses
they could to testify against
me and my lawyers got ev-
eryone to say nice things
about me. Then the lawyers
finished their part by giving
the jury a summary of the
facts. After that was over
the Judge Instructed the jury
on how to reach a fair ver-
dict and then the case was
closed. The State's summa-
tion contained some passion-
ed pleas in the name of jus-
tice and right. They claim-
ed theyhad proved their first-
degree - murder charge and
that 1 should get the extreme
penalty."
"Then my lawyers finished
their part of the case. They
admitted my guilt but chal-
lenged the first-degree ch-
arge. They said I was only
defending myself and that the
charge should bemanslaughr
er which would carry with
It a lighter sentence. They
said they had presented en-
ough circumstantial evidence
to prove this contention."
"I sure was glad I wasn't
on that jury because they had
a hard Job ahead of them.
I could tell that some of
them were thoroughly confus-
ed and I didn't blame them.
At times the lawyers got rne
confused too. Neither side
stayed on the tnith all the
time. The State tried to make
me appear worse than I was
and my lawyers tried to con
vince them that I was a cou-
sin to an angel from Heaven.
Sometimes I hardly recogniz-
ed myself."
"After all the fuss was over
the Jury was sent to Its quar
ters to deliberate on their
verdict. The Judge went back
to his room behind the court-
room and the spectators left
to get sandwiches and coffee.
This left onlv the guards and
me, aitslde of my closest fri-
ends and relatives."
'The guard took me to a
little room off to the side
of the large auditorium and
locked me in. My loved ones
came to the little barred win-
dow and tried to encorage
me."
God knows best. All of you
believe that and If you do it
will cheer me up more than
anything else. Whatever God
decides to do with me will
be the right thing as far as
I'm concerned. If He rules
that I should only get im-
prisonment then I shall ac-
cept the verdict with deep-
est gratitude. But if He thinks
I've done too much wrong
to be worth anything to the
world any longer, then I shall
go my way smiling."
Roger's family turned away
In tears, but comforted.
"It was black as ebony out-
side my window now so I
couldn't see anything but what
was Illuminated by the street
lights. I stood by rny win
dow and looked out for a long
time. Occasionally I heard
voices coming from the jury
room. I could tell from the
pitch of the voice ;hat their
debate was rising to a fevered
tempo. And the more I lis-
tened the more conscious I
became that those men were
deciding my fate. I didn't
have anything to do with ir
anymore. Whether I lived or
died depended on those twelve
men."
1 stood there awhile longer
and then realized how trying
the day had been for me too. I
was mentally and physically
exhausted. So I lay down on
the wooden bench and started
to pray. My attempts weren't
too fruitful at first, but I fin
ally got easier and my mind
relaxed some. I still couldn't
believe all this. It didn't
seem that It could be happen
lng to me. How I wished it
had been only a horrible night
mare and when I awoke it
would be all gone. Bui such
day-dreaming couldn't change
the hard cold facts. It was
me and I was In prisión. And
now I was awaiting the out
come of my trial. This wa -
life in Its most realistic form
the time of deep distress.
"How many times had I
thought that such things as
this could happen to others,
but never to me' Yet, it had
happened to me, so maybe I
didn't have a charmed life
after all. Mosi of u think
we do. And my lu<-k hadn't
held out either, o I gues- I
was wrong In trusting to luck
In the first place. ,\s a kid I
just alway figured thing
waild work <*it ill right
sooner or later an
spent loo much Mi
(«ring for life, IUr
learned the price lnr
like that, Becau e of
mail* .orne horrible ti
and now | * n j )
Ml "
CHAPTER 1
I ilMUC T( 4 le it Ai
"What Does It Take to make
a home out of a house? I
asked myself. Then I lay
there in my cell and tried to
figure my riddle out. Some-
one had said it takes 'a heap
o' living' and I guess that's
right. But what causes the
reverse? If I'm logical, the
answer is the lack of good
living. That's how our home
changed. It lost the good li-
ving in it.
"I wondered a lot about my
present trouble. How could I
have gotten this far on the
other side of the law? I wasn't
sure what the correct answer
was. Here I was in prison
and this in spite of the fact
that I never intentionally hurt
anyone In my Ufe? Anyway, I
decided to take the blame that
was coming to me. If I had
watched myself more care-
fully this wouldn't have hap-
pened.
"Somewhere down the Une
something happened to my
moral fiber. If I hadn't been
weak In character somewhere
I would never have gotten In-
to the position where I had
to kill those men. But I keep
wondering. What influenced
me in the wrong direction,
without my knowing it?"
It was evldenr to Roger that
he was the victim of circum-
stances to some extent, but
since he had been taught the
difference between right and
wrong he knew he couldn't put
all of the balrne on others. It
was a lot his too.
"I told myself that I was a
different person now to what
I had been 12 months before
when I thought I could nin away
from trouble. I was feeling
rebellion pretty strong then,
but something made me
change. What was it that re-
conciled me to this life of
confinement?
"Then the answer came into
my mind clearly. I had lear-
ned from the Bible not to
resist the police or the laws
of the land. In my readings
I learned not to challenge the
"higher powers' because they
are 'ordained of God'and they
'bear not the sword In
vain' when It comes to law
violators, 1 remember the
reference now, it was In the
13th chapter of Romans.
There I learned that I resis-
ted the power of God when
I resisted the government.
And that time I was plan-
ning to run away, I was trying
to run away from God too,
but I found out I couldn't.
"Rut that trial today! That
sure was a lot of nonsense to
me. They'd have saved them-
selves a lot of time and mon-
ey If they'd done what I thought
ought to be done. I thought
they ought to lock me up for
the rest of my life and be
done with it. That's what my
lawyers told me 1 should ex-
pect at the most.
"I srill don't have my an-
swer yet. I don't know what
happened to me to lead me In-
to a life of crime, if you can
call it that. It all happened in
such a short time, but after It
was over there was nothing I
could do to change it. May-
be if I think back something
will come to me."
"1 remember some things
about rny first home, though I
was quite young when I left
there. I can still see It. A
little white frame farmhouse
about a quarter of a mile from
the highway. I feel good every
time I think about those fir t
months, there, I guess Its
childish of me, but I swallow
klnda hard when I think how
beautiful those green gables
were. I like mother's flowers
and shrubs too and I got into
trouble when I picked them
sometimes. But I loved get-
ting In trouble with mother.
Those were precious mem-
ories and those days turned
out to be the only really happy
home days I had as a young-
ster.
"Our home wasn't elaborate
In the way of furniture and
liances, hut we had enough.
I less you would say it was
•t rage, or typical. Every-
body loved everybody else and
other things didn't count much
with us. 1 can still remem-
ber the gay times my sister
and I used to have there.
'The girls have changed a
lot since then, but to me they'll
always be long-legged and
awkward kids with stringy
hair over their shoulders.
That was the way I remem-
bered them last. Then there
was my father. I remember
mother telling me that our
move to the country was for
his benefit. She said his
health wa: bad and he needed
a change. Of course we kids
were all for the move because
It gave us more yard in which
to play."
Rimer w.i 'oo young, at the
cl
hi
hi
lr
te
fil
«4
tak
.dac
to
Shd
got
hlr
for
htrr
bu
su
he
fro
' nevt
le prr
owlh
think it
ige of
three, to
now the real
mu
reason
the Scott
left 'he big
had been |n.
lad
city.
Mr. Scott
ml
volved
with i ü
otig of gam*
the
Mors
tn ,
an 1 lie was
Ire
io drink
him e|f lo
the
Hi# fi«
<nr or tared
far
tl\f
tha' har*
ce«
enf 4
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The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 8, 1969, newspaper, May 8, 1969; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth150808/m1/4/?q=EARTH: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.