Merrick, Waterbury (CT) Democrat, June 1, 1932

Merrick, Waterbury (CT) Democrat, June 1, 1932

Merrick, Walter

Charge, dynamiting a general store

Mob, hanging

Lynchers Took Dynamiter Out and Hanged Him

Was Prisoner in Kentucky Jail- He Had Blown Up Store and Injured the Proprietor

Princeton, KY, June 1--(UP)--Masked men in autos rode up to the jail here to-day and removed Walter Merrick, 40, a prisoner, carried him down a country road and hanged him to a tree. Merrick was held here on a charge of dynamiting a general store owned by J. M. Pool at Hopson, nine miles from here. The dynamiting occurred February 8. Curtis Jones, jailer, was bound. The masked band, working swiftly, took Jones keys, unlocked Merrick’s cell and dragged him into their cars. The commotion in the jail corridors was brief and the sleeping town was not aroused. Merrick was found hanging to a tree in Cadiz road, two miles away, at daybreak. The store dynamiting resulted in bitter feeling in the Hopson community. Merrick was arrested February 9, the following day, and taken to Louisville because of the strained situation. He later was brought here. Trial was set for June 13. Pool suffered a fractured skull in the explosion which wrecked his store, causing damage of $10.00. Harold Nabb, a 13-year-old boy, was injured.

The Waterbury (CT) Democrat

1932-06-01

Grace Yi

Image

Caldwell County