BOSS WEATHERFORD
BOSS WEATHERFORD TO HANG

   Boss Weatherford, who was convicted of the murder of John Dearman last December, and who was
tried at the January term of circuit court in Lamar County and was convicted of murder, but took an
appeal to the Supreme Court, was denied a new trial in the case.  The decision was made public Monday
and he is to be hing the 1st Monday of December next.

    Weatherford's case was reviewed by Judge Etherage, who in commenting on th case referred to it as
one of the most atrocious crimes in the history of the state and that he did not see fit to set aside the
verdict of the 12 men who tried him in the lower court.

   This will be the first hanging in Lamar County and it will be necessary to build a scaffold for the
occasion as the county has never had one built.  Weatherford is not the first man to be sentenced.  Some
20 or 25 years ago, John Brock was convicted of the murder of a Mr. Cale, of Baxterville, but because of
his age, the sentence was later set aside and he was given a life time in the penitentiary.  He served
several years of his sentence when he, with several other life-termers, accepted a proposition by the
state medical authorities to undergo an experiment to determine the cause and cure of pellagra.  They
were fed a certain diet which consisted of corn meal bred made from musty meal.  It was claimed that
most of them developed the disease and, after undergoing treatment, was cured and pardoned.  Brock
had been free only about a year when he was killed in a fight at or near Picayune, MS.

   Attorneys Broadus and Williamson were appointed by the court to defend Weatherford at his trial in
circuit court and have not stated whether further attempts will be made to save Weatherford from the
gallows.  Mrs. Nellie Dearman, wife of John Dearman, the murdered man, was also tried for the same
crime but the jury returned a verdict of "not guilty."

CONDEMNED MAN GOES TO GALLOWS WITH A SMILE, MAKES NO LAST STATEMENT

   At 1 P. M., Wilie Ross (Boss) Weatherford paid with his life the debt he owed to society for the murder
of John Dearman on December 26, 1933, when the trap was sprung by Sheriff George M. Cain that sent
the condemned man to his death; 18 minutes afterwards, Weatherford was pronounced dead by three
physicians, Dr. L. L. Polk, Dr. W. E. Reece and Dr. J. Mason.

   Weatherford was brought to Purvis early Thursday morning by Sheriff Cain and Deputy Joe Cole and
the Town Marshall, George Thomas from the county jail at Poplarville, MS.They were accompanied by
Pearl River County Officers.  Upon arrival here, the prisoner was taken to the county jail, but before
being taken to the cell he requested that he be shown the gallows.  This request was granted and
Weatherford seemed very little disturbed when he looked at it.  In fact, ever since the crime was
committed, he has assumed a cool and jovial attitude, which never left him in his last few seconds, after
he was placed on the trap door of the gallows.

   Hundreds of people crowded the court and jail yards from early morning until after the execution took
place.  Only about 25 people actually witnessed the hanging; these had previously been given
permission by Judge J. Q. Langston, upon their names being submitted to him by the sheriff.

   Weatherford was taken to Poplarville, MS when the State Supreme Court refused to interfere with the
death sentence pronounced by Judge Langston at the January term of court.  He had been in Jackson,
MS for safekeeping, it was said.  Until then, his attorneys, A. Q. Broadus and T. L. Williamson and J. D.
Hatten had taken every legal advantage, but to no avail.  Attorney Broadus, the leading attorney for the
defense, refused to give up hope of saving his client's life until the very last, when he appealed to
Governor Conner to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.

   Just before Weatherford was taken to the death trap, the sheriff read the death warrant to him; his
comment after the reading was, "They gave me plenty, didn't they?"  He was accompanied from the cell to
the gallows by the sheriff, Rev. D. A. Hogan, a number of officers from other counties and three lady
reporters.  His first words at the gallows were, "A fellow might fall through there (meaning the trap door)
and hurt himself."  He then looked up where the rope was tied and remarked, "That looks like a skidder
bolt."  He then asked if he would be allowed to talk to the Governor (evidently he thought the Governor
was present) and when Sheriff Cain told him that it would useless for him to do so, that everything had
been done for him that was possible to save his life, he made no further comment about the Governor.  
Deputy Joe Cole asked him if he wanted to talk to anyone present and he asked that he be allowed to talk
with Miss Joe Williams of Poplarville, who came forward.  After a few low spoken wordsw were exchanged
between them, and Weatherford then, without assistance removed his shoes for the rope to be tied
around his ankles, Deputy Cole and W. R. Owens of Columbia, tied his arms to his body and then
handcuffed his hands behind him.

   Rev. D. A. Hogan, pastor of the Baptist Church here, read from the 13th and 14th Chapters of John, and
after a few remarks, offered a prayer for the prisoner.  Just before the cap was put over his head, Miss
Williams, seeing perhaps neither brother nor sweetheart present to bid him goodbye, stepped up and
kissed him, saying "Goodbye, Boss, God bless you."  Miss williams had also placed her hand on
Weatherford's while Rev. Hogan was praying for him.

   The cap was then put on by Deputy Cole and Owens, after which Mr. Owens put the rope around his
neck and adjusted it.  After the cap was put on his head, Weatherford never spoke again, and the very
last words spoken before the trap was sprung were said by the sheriff as he reached with his left hand
for the lever and said, "Goodbye, Boss, may God bless you."  The prisoner was then shot through the
trap, the rope tightening just before his feet reached the floor below.  The fall broke his neck, and it was
said that not even a quivering of the body was observed after the drop of eight feet.  The calculations by
those who prepared the rope were perfect, as there was only an inch or two of space between the feet
and the floor.

   Henry Dearman, brother of John Dearman, the murdered an was a witness an stood a few inches of the
prisoner while he was being prepared for hanging.  All Friday morning, Weatherford was in a joking
humor and laughed and ate a hearty dinner, which had been especially prepared for him, and never at
any time showed the least trace of nervousness.  Just before his execution, he took from his pocket a
telegram that was said to have been from his sweetheart and as he held it, reading it over for the last
time, his hands were just as strong as if they had been made of steel.

   In a conversation with Boss Thursday morning, the writer asked him if he had been treated good since
he had been a prisoner, his reply being that he couldn't have been treated better.  He, also, asked the
writer to thank all of the officers and all the people in general with whom he had come in contact since
his confinement.  He asked that Sheriff Sam Russ of Pearl River County and Judge J. Q. Langston be
especially thanked for their many acts of kindness.  He commented at length on the kindness of Sheriff
Cain and his deputies, saying that he had nothing against them or anyone else.  O. W. Ladner remained in
the cell with Weatherford from the time he was brought to Purvis, until the hanging.    Weatherford's
former pastor, Rev. M. W. Matthews, visited him in jail Thursday morning and told him he had been
praying for his soul, for which the prisoner thanked him and asked him to come back to see him again.

   Weatherford was born in Neshoba County, 35 years ago, the 31st day of August.  He moved to Lamar
County when he was a small boy.  His mother died in 1917.  He was the eldest of four children, all boys,
and all now living.  His aged father also survives.  Several years ago, Weatherford joined the Tabernacle
Baptist Church here in Purvis but was dropped from the roll when the crime was committed, according to
a statement made by him yesterday.  He followed public work and farming after school.

   Being financially unable to employ counsel, the court appointed Attorneys Broadus and Williamson to
defen him.  They associated with him in this case Attorney J. D. Hatten of Sumrall, MS.  To try this case a
special venue was summoned and, from this, the jury was impaneled.  The jury who tried Weatherford
were:  N. D. Rankin, Shed Davis, Smith, Clint Yawn, Guy Howell, Albert Anderson, H. L. Hendrick, J. W.
Hemba, G. W. Slade, W. E. Brock, P. M. Davis and M. Bryant.  Judge Langston presided as judge and Toxey
Hall, District Attorney and L. C. Bridges, County Attorney, prosecuted Weatherford.  The case aroused
unusual interest and a plea of guilty was not allowed by the court.  The defendant admitted, when put on
the stand, that he committed the crime.  The jury did not ask the mercy of the court, therefore, under the
Mississippi law, no other sentence but death could be pronounced by the judge.  Judge Langston
pronounced the death sentence and set the date for March of this year (1933).

   The very closet friends of Sheriff Cain knew that, although he regretted that it had befallen his lot to
carry out the sentence of death and spring the trap that would send the accused man to his doom, that
due to his respect for law and his high regard for the sacred path he had taken, he would not hesitate.  
Thus, when the hour struck, with a prayer for Weatherford on his lips, he did his duty.
                                                      
-- The Booster, May 26, 1933
    This document has been used with permission of Pamela Gibbs of the Lamar County, MSALHN site.