The Adair County News, Wednesday, December 6, 1933

Brutal Murder Near Liberty

The bodies of John White, 83, and his son, Clay White, 55, were found in Green River, near Liberty, on Monday. The men had been beaten with a hammer and their heads crushed. The bodies were wrapped in a sheet, fastened together with wire and weighted with a piece of iron. Two men whose names were not made known by the Casey County officials are being sought for questioning in connection with the crime.

The White's lived alone near Kitt's [sic; should be Kidd's] store, seven miles from Liberty on the Hustonville Road. The house was wrecked by the slayers in an attempt to find a large sum of money the father and son are supposed to have kept on hand. After the killing the murderers are thought to have taken the bodies to the river in Clay White's new automobile and then escaped in the same machine as it is missing.

Clay White is an ex-soldier, having served in the United States Army for thirty years.

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The Adair County News, Wednesday, December 13, 1933

Casey Youths Confess to Murder After Capture

Three Casey County youths wanted in connection with the beating and killing of John White, 83, and his son, Clay, 54, in robbing their home near Liberty on Sunday, December 3, were captured near Cincinnati on Wednesday of last week. They confessed to the crime stating that they killed the men by hitting them on the head with a hammer. They got between $12 and $14 and escaped in Clay White's car.

The three gave their names as Carl Hardin, 17, R.R. 2, Hustonville, Ky.; Huston Jeffries, 19, Kidd's Store, Ky., and Vester Warren, 24, also of Kidd's Store.

All three youths claimed that they were drunk when the crime was committed. They were taken to the Fayette County jail, in Lexington. Casey County officers feared to take the trio back to Liberty because of the feeling against the slayers.

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Death certificate abstract of Mr. John White

Certificate #21714 deathvol 1934

John White, male, white, widowed

Name of spouse: Manda Wooldridge White

Date & place of birth: December 24, 1851, Ky.

Residence: Liberty, Ky.

Date & place of death: December 5, 1933, N. Liberty voting precinct, Casey Co.

Age: 81 years, 11 months, 11 days

Occupation: [left blank]

Father's name & birth place: William White, Ky.

Mother's maiden name & birth place: Sallie Miller, Ky.

Informant: H.C. Bartell, Liberty, Ky.

Cause of death: "Homicide. Beaten to death with clubs in own house."

Attending physician: [none]

Date & place of burial: December 6, 1933, "Glenwood"

Undertaker: C.H. Bartell, Liberty, Ky.

Other: (1) The death certificate wasn't filed until October 13, 1934; (2) the certificate was signed "E.L. Cundiff, C. Judge," Liberty, Ky. under the handwritten comment "Inquest held by a judge."

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Death certificate abstract of Mr. Clay White

Certificate #21713 deathvol 1934

Clay White, male, white, single

Date & place of birth: December 1, 1882, Ky.

Date & place of death: December 5, 1933, N. Liberty voting precinct, Casey Co.

Age: 51 years, zero months, four days

Occupation: "Ex soldier"

Father's name & birth place: John White, Ky.

Mother's maiden name & birth place: Manda Wooldridge, Ky.

Informant: C. White, Liberty, Ky.

Cause of death: "Homicide. Beaten to death with clubs in own house."

Attending physician: [none]

Date & place of burial: December 6, 1933, Glenwood Cem.

Undertaker: C.H. Bartell, Liberty, Ky.

Other: (1) The death certificate wasn't filed until October 13, 1934; (2) the certificate was signed "E.L. Cundiff, C. Judge," Liberty, Ky. under the handwritten comment "Inquest held by a judge."

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The Russell County News, February 16, 1939

Sylvester Warner's Body Laid To Rest In Union Cemetery;

Emmett Childress Drops Dead At Funeral

Sylvester Warner, who was electrocuted early Friday morning February 10th at Eddyville, for the slaying of John and Clay White, of Casey County, was buried in the Union Cemetery at 1:00 P.M. February 11th after funeral services were held by the Rev. Lawhorn, of Liberty, Ky., at the church, The funeral being held at an unexpected hour caused many to miss attending, however the church was well filled while many arrived too late and scores were turned back before reaching the church. It was an extraordinary funeral. The Rev. Lawhorn in his sermon read a lengthy statement from the prison Chaplain, L.I. Chandler, of Eddyville prison. Chandler in his statement said in part, "Sylvester prayed from two to four times a day; the most remarkable representative of faith he had ever witnessed; If any one ever knew the Lord, Sylvester did--bravest, cheerfulest Christian he had ever met and he had no doubts of Sylvester going to heaven. When the time came for him to die, he walked bravely to the electric chair, showing no fear. Chandler ended his statement by saying, it took faith to do so, and his last words were, "I'm going to be with my Lord, all is fixed." The  Rev. Lawhorn told of several visits he had made to see Sylvester since he had been put in the death row at Eddyville, and stated that he had great faith in him being saved; stating on one of his visits that Sylvester had said; "When I woke up, how was it possible I could have done what I did do."

Textron Jeffries, father of Huston Jeffries, accomplice in the White slaying, attended the funeral. Hon. Howard Moore [see note following], of Liberty, had charge of the body. After the burying, and people were leaving the cemetery, Emmett Childress, of Turner Ridge, Casey County, dropped dead. Mr. Childress was a son-in-law of J.M. Roy of this place, and had lived in this community for several years where he had made many friends. Mr. Childress was truly a Christian, age about 45 years, leaves a wife and four children. His body was conveyed to the Luttrell graveyard near his home, Sunday afternoon, where funeral services were held by Rev. Lattimer Wade. Our sympathy goes out to the wife and children and his many relatives and friends. [submitted by] G.C. Gosser. [An announcement in the same edition of the paper stated Howard Moore was a candidate for Representative of the 39th Kentucky Legislative District, composed of Russell & Casey counties. Moore was defeated in the primary election by Otis C. Thomas, editor of the Casey County News.]

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The Russell County News, February 23, 1939

An Apology Was Due

We the people of Irvins Store, and the entire State of Kentucky, electrocuted Sylvester Warner, but before we did, we shouldn't have let him go without an apology.

We forgot to kill him and left him waiting for his fate in the death house for four and one-half years. To Irvins Store it appears that Warner already had been punished far more cruel that the law intends. Our law contemplated sudden death in the electric chair for Sylvester, but we made him to suffer the torture of being dragged out anytime for four and one-half years in the shadow of the chair.

Certainly we of Kentucky owed him an humble apology as we led him to the electric chair; we should have said, "Mr. Warner, we're very sorry to have made you suffer so long, we know how painful it must have been, but we all got tied up in politics and forgot all about you, but at last we've gotten around to it and are putting an end to the whole thing."

Irvins Store believes that if we would have made this apology, Sylvester would have said, thank you, people of Kentucky, as he composed himself in the electric chair. "It is a great relief to sit at last in the electric chair." [submitted by] G.C. Gosser.

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James Huston Jeffries, another of the parties named in the December 13, 1933 Adair County News article, was born May 14, 1914 in Casey County and died Saturday, October 4th, 1997, in Boyle Co., Ky., at the age of 83. His remains were buried in the Hustonville (Lincoln Co.) Cemetery, as were those of his parents, C.T. (Cal Textron) & Wavie True Jeffries. A transcription of his obituary appears at http://www.rootsweb.com/~kycasey/Obits/obit1997.htm.(The obituaries are in chronological order; his is the second entry under October 6, 1997.)

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The fate of Carl Hardin, the third person named in the December 13, 1933 Adair County News article, is unknown to this researcher.