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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.
In which he handled a person attack*
ing him.
Plunged Knife Into Breast.
Throwing up one arm, knocking the
other boy's hand up, he plunged a
knife Into his breast, killing him al
most Instantly. Evidence In the case
showed that after stabbing his play
mate, young Barton drew the knife
from h> s body, and after wiping the
blade on his trousers, shut the knife
and placed it in his pocket, then cau
tioned another boy not to tell who
stabbed Edgar.
A pathetic figure was the mother
of the indicted boy, who waited In
the Solicitor's office, while the Grand
Jury was passing upon the case. Court
deputies found themselves shrinking
from the task of breaking the sad
news of her boy's indictment to her.
Young Woman Breaks Nows.
At their solicitation, an attractive
young woman connected with the
courts informed Mrs. Barton of the
Grand Jury’s action. The news al-
most completely prostrated her, while
LEADING WITNESSES,
• JURY IN GODBEE CASE
Solicitor Moore will be the first
speaker after dinner, and Judge Saf-
fold will conclude for the defense.
The court then will charge the Jury.
The Jurors should retire to deliberate
by 6 p. m.
There will be six apeeches during
the day, and the defense, by not put
ting up eny witnesses, will have the
concluding argument. Judge Saffold
will make the concluding argument
for the defense.
Two spectacular features marked
the hearing Thursday. One was the
impassioned statement of Mrs. God-
bee In her own defense and the other
the testimony brought forward by the
State.
Mrs. Oodbee, he.r voice trembling
with emotion, told the jurors that, she
had slain Judge Godbee In the Mlllen
postofflce solely In self-defense, and
that she had feared he was about to
carry out his threats to shoot her.
She said that she did not Are until he
stepped toward her, reaching toward
his hip pocket and calling her an ob
scene name.
Woman Tells of Alleged Plot.
Strongly discrediting this statement
of the accused woman was the testi
mony of Mrs. Arthur Spader, a tele
phone operator, who swore to having
overhead Mrs. Godbee confess to the
hiring of a thug to assassinate Judge
Godbee and his wife three months be
fore she did the killing herself.
Mrs. Godbee took the stand again
to deny the sensational story of the
telephone operator^ She said that
Mrs. Spader's testimony evidently was
Inspired by a spirit of revenge. The
defendant declared that Mrs. Spader
John Mitchell Is Indicted Two
Weeks After Attacking Girl.
Boy Stabber Held.
.Indications Are Against Charter
Reform Victory and Mayor's
Control of Council.
Continued from Page i.
dition to the statement of the defend
ant, who said that Judge Godbee
threatened her, railed her a vile
name, and she shot him first.”
“Gentlemen of the Jury,” he said,
none of you can doubt the truth of
Mrs. Spader’s testimony, and the de
fendant told this little woman she had
hired a negro to kill Judge Godbee
and bis wife and that if he (the ne-
gro( djd not do it, she would. She
also told Mrs. Spader that she did
not want her grandchild to ride
with Judge and Mrs. Godbee, as it,
too, must suffer when the Judge and
his wife were killed.
“The defendant expressed no regret
after the shooting for killing Mrs.
Godbee. If she shot Judge Godbee in
self-defense and had no intention of
harming his wife, why didn't she say
so? She never until yesterday ex
pressed any regret for the deed.”
Anderson concluded for the State
with a strong plea for conviction.
Dixon was the first speaker for the
defense. He recited the sufferings
which Mrs. Godbee hay endured,
poke of the threat against her life
made by Judge Godbee and told the
jury that the defendant had told a
plain, straightforward story to the
jury and deserved an acquittal.
Defense Ridicules Plot Story.
Dixon ridiculed the idea of Mrs.
Godbee. the defendant, telling Mrs.
Spader that she bad hired a negro to
kill Judge find bee and his wife; that
she would have to have been a fool
or a crazy woman to have done such
a thing.
He said that the defendant had no
intention of killing cither Judge God-
bee or his wife when she went to the
postoffice that morning; that Judge
Godbee called her a vile name there
and had sent her word beforehand
I hat he would kill her unless she left
Millen.
The attorney wal(l that Judge God-
oee was anxious to alienate his chil
dren from their mother, but they
stuck loyally to her. The defendant
,vas warned by her daughter “to
watch out for papa as ho may kill
you,” and that was the reason why
die was always prepared to protect
herself. On the morning of the shoot
ing, Judge Godbee, addicted to the
lse of morphine, had a desperate
ook, Dixon said, ami made a motion
vtth his hand us if to draw a pistol
after he had insulted the slayer. The
diooting of Mrs. Florence Godbee
wag purely • accidental, contended
Record time in a criminal case was
made Friday, when an indictment for
assault was returned against John
T. Mitchell as the man who attacked
a 15-year-old girl on the ^Cascade
road, near the old Utoy prison camp,
last week. His arrest and indictment
presents one of the quickest handled
cases on record in Fulton County.
Two indictments for murder were
returned, one against a 14-year-old
boy, Frank W. Barton. He is charged
with killing another youth, John Ed
gar, on Kennedy street the Fourth of
July. The boy is now in the cus
tody of the Juvenile Court. The kill
ing occurred while he was demon
strating to another boy the manner
Continued from Page 1.
Ing to gain for him the support of
Councilman A. R. Colcord. The nib
came when it was found that Mr. Col
cord was pledged to Fred Lester. A
further complication set in with the
intimation from Alderman Spratlins
that he was seeking the place.
Woodward Out for Lester.
Mayor Woodward was bitterly op
posed to Mr. Anderson being Aider-
man without opposition. He tippet
off Mr. Armlstead and Mr. Armistead
paid his fee and announced he was in
the race to stay. In addition, Mayor
Woodward let it be known that he
was supporting Fred Lester for Po
lice Commission. The natural assump
tion is that Mr. Armlstead also js
back of him, which gives Mr. Lester
two of his three ward representatives.
According to Councilmanic prece-
ient this should insure his election.
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he was proud
woman (referring
The speaker said
halfway grounds,
.•onviet Mis. God-
C«lls Killing Justifiable.
Mr. Dekle said the killing was Jus
tifiable, in view ol the threats made
by Judge Godbee. He said there was
no evidence to refute the defendant’s
statements regarding Judge Godbee’s
actions at the postoflice on the morn
ing of August 18. The speaker de
clared that she had a right to kill
Godbee to protect her good name If
for nothing else.
“If it is true that she was suffering
from emotional insanity at the* time
of the shooting, she is still justified
under the law," he said.
The speaker said Godbee harassed
the defendant for many years, and
his treatment of his wife was enough
to drive anyone to desperation. He
said the defendant did not say that
she did not love Judge Godbee. but
that she did love him and his bad
treatment of her caused her love to
grow cold and finally to cease. Dekle
said the defendant was being perse
cuted and that she was driven to
commit the deed.
The speaker declared that Godbee
showed his heartlessness when he
told the defendant she must give up
her property or Sarah Godbee.
Dekle concluded his address with
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had been one of her roomers, and |
that because of unsavory' stories cir
culating in regard to her she had been !
compelled to evict her from the i
house. This angered Mrs. Spader, she
said, and probably was the animus for '
her incriminating tale related to the
Jury.
The story of Mrs. Spader came near
the close of the night session. Judge
Hammond deciding on holding court
late in order to get the trial through
by Friday night. The witness was
nervous and trembling when sihe took
the stand. She had been asked only
a few questions before she was weep
ing unrestrainedly. When it came to
the cross-examination, the attorneys
for the defense found it a difficult
task to get a word from her between
her hysterical oobs. She collapsed
entirely as she was led from the wit
ness stand and out of the courtroom.
Says Thug Was Hired.
| She managed to say during the time
she was on the stand that she had
boarded at the Godbee home for aome
time and that she was the chief oper
ator at the Millen telephone exchange
j She testified that Mrs. Godbee. goad
ed into a desperation by the taunts of
her former husband^ had confided in
her that she had hired a negro thug
to kill both him and his new wife.
“She told ine that she had endured
his persecutions to the point of mad-
nesK\” said the witness, “and that she
was desperate. I did not give much
thought to the story at the time, as 1
did not think it peculiar that she
should talk in this wild way under the
j circumstances ”
Mrs. Godbee was on the witness !
etand two hours. Her statement was :
earnestly delivered and created an ;
impression on the crowds attending
the trial. Many of the marital difti- j
i ulties of Mrs. Godbee and her former
husband were well known here, but j
she pitilessly bared the intimate de- !
tails ot her life, telling of her unhap- j
piness as her trump card in her battle \
But the Mason supporters are sure
to develop strong opposition to him
later.
The significance of the whole epi
sode is that there is more interest In
the fight for places on the Police
Commission than for seats in Council.
charter is adopted the
j whole Commission is abolished and a
new-’ one elected.
new
That would assure
a merry scramble for all places.
Mason Sure of Place.
But, as stated in the beginning, the
close of the primary entrance list
insures a continued sway of the old
crowd. If Carlos H Mason and his
supporters want to be re-elected to
the Police Commission they will be,
without a doubt.
The livest race of all is in the
Eighth Ward between John S. Owens
and W. A. Hancock. This is a cam
paign of the personal strength of
both men. They are wary of plat
forms. Mavor Woodward is support
ing Mr. Hancock, but Mr. Hancock
declines to make the campaign on the
issue of Woodward.
Zest Is added to the race by a hot
fight for Police Commissioner from
that ward. Alderman A. H. VanDyke.
for whose place they are running, is
out after the place of Police Com
missioner Robert Clark. Both are
for Mr. Hancock for Alderman.
If Mr. Owens is elected neither one
of them w’ould be likely to get the
place.
Less Interest in Ccuncilmen.
As the Councilmanic races are con
fined to individual wards, the Interest
In them is much less. In the First
Ward, J. X. Renfroe. with the sup
port of Mayor Woodward, is running
against C. D. Alverson. In the Sec
ond Ward, C. D. Knight has no op
position. In the Third Ward, R. R.
Jackson, with the indorsement of
Mayor Woodward, came out at the
last minute against Councilman Or
ville H. Hall.
In the Fourth Ward. R. E. George
and A. W. Farlinger have entered
what promises to be a very* conser
vative campaign. Neither of them is
a favorite with all the boys for school wear. They stand
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The two women are .Miss Maud Barnwell and Mrs. Warren
del, eyewitnesses of the shooting, and in the center is shown
jury which will decide the slayer’s fate.
They’re here in great abundance
looking through them to-morrow, and
early for that Fall Suit order. Suits a
threatened her with a revolver; that
she had discovered him In thefts of
letters from the povtoffice at Perkins.
Ga., where he was postmaster fur a
time, and finally, she said, he brought
to Atlanta and installed her in a
house that had ohee been an immoral
resort. Later, she claims, he circu
lated reports that she was an immoral
woman and keeper of a resort.
Tells of Marriage.
“When my father died In 1886,”
Mrs. Godbee said, “he left as execu
tors of his Mtate my uncle and cousin.
Mr. Godbee came to look over my la
ther's mercantile business and bought
it. He met me and called on me con
stantly. In July of 3S87 we were
married.
“A few months Iat-'r he began try
ing to get hold of my father’s estate,
and succeeded in gaining control r.f
the plantations. My younger brother.
Jake, had trouble with Judge Godbee
over the property, and there was con
stant friction between the two.
"My mother died in 1889. Follow
ing her death our married life grew
more unhappy. He insisted upon be
ing made the administrator of my
mother's property, and finally gained
control o? it. My brother Jake was
ordered not to put his foot on the
place. Judge Godbee’s treatment V'-
came almost unbearable. He threat
ened the life of Jake. One day Jake,
who was coming to the postoffice, was
shot and killed by Judge Godbee. In
telling of the killing. Judge Godbee
said he had done it for my sake. He
would not let me go to the funeral or
see the body. I managed to obtain
$1,500 and gave It to him for his de
fense in his trial for Jake's murder.”
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