Thursday, June 19, 1924
SENTENCED TO HANG
Tiny McCoy, aged 23 years, will be hung on Friday, September 12, 1924, for killing his wife, Mrs. Hallis Virginia McCoy, near Cass, on April 6, 1924. At the same time, he shot and killed his mother-in-law, Mrs. William Totten, and his brother-in-law, Hobert Totten.
McCoy and his wife did not get along well together, and she went back to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Totten, whose home was at Deer Creek, just below the Town of Cass. On Sunday, April 6, McCoy, armed himself with an automatic revolver and appeared at the Totten home. When his wife refused to go back with him, he shot her, and then shot Mrs. Totten and his young brother-in-law Hobert Totten. McCoy then turned the gun on himself and inflicted a scalp wound. He was arrested and brought to jail at Marlinton.
A grand jury was summoned for the June Court and McCoy was indicted three times for murder. On last Wednesday, he was tried on the indictment, charging him with the murder of his wife. The trial was completed last Thursday night. After being out a short time, the jury brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree without recommendation for life imprisonment. Judge Sharp then pronounced the death sentence, setting September 12 as the date of execution.
McCoy was taken to the penitentiary Monday morning. Before leaving the jail he made the following confession, which he sent to this paper for publication:
Marlinton, W. Va. – I, Tiny McCoy, do hereby acknowledge that I murdered my wife, brother-in-law and mother-in-law, but I am sorry of my crime and ask all who are affected thereby for forgiveness as I believe that God has forgiven me. As I go to pay the just penalty of my deed, I want people to know that I go trusting absolutely, solely and only in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, to justify me before God. Having accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and received Christian Baptism, I have no hatred nor ill will in my heart toward any. I ask Christian people everywhere to pray that I may meet my end with Christian fortitude and my God and Savior with Joy.
Sincerely,
Tiny McCoy
BIG MILL BURNED
The big sawmill of Williams & Pifer Lumber company on Knapps Creek, near Minnehaha Springs, was burned up Wednesday morning, June 18. The fire was kept from most of the lumber. It is not known how the fire started. As this paper is printed, an estimate of the loss had not been made.
FORD CARS
With Ford Car No. 10,000,000 now in service and making a trans-continental trip from New York to Chicago over the Lincoln highway, the man who enjoys figures can have a world of practice. The other day, one gifted gentleman worked out the tire problem. He figured that the 40 million tires used on the 10 million Fords, if stacked up, would make a rubber column 2,000 miles high. Then, looking for road trouble, he punctured each of the tires and then figured that one man working eight hours a day except Sundays and holidays and repairing a tire every five minutes would finally finish the job in 400 years.