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The Rutherford Sun, May 23, 1929

George Connor, aged 52, was sentenced to not less than 3 years nor more than 4 years at hard labor in the penitentiary, by Judge James L. Webb, after he had entered a plea of manslaughter through his counsel, Quinn, Hamrick and Harris, on Tuesday morning. The prisoner admitted killing Clyde R. Beason, of near Cliffside, in a cafe on the afternoon of Easter Day, March 31, by stabbing him in the heart with a clasp knife. He claimed that he had been struck on the head with a coca cola bottle before the killing and consequently did not remember anything about the ensuing fight which resulted in the death of Beason. The State was assisted by C. D. Ridings, of Forest City.

Trial Begins Monday

The trial began Monday morning and a remarkable feature was the empanelling of a jury without a single juror being rejected by either the State or defendant. Practically all of Monday was consumed in the taking of testimony, and when Connor took the witness stand he made some damaging admissions. Fred D. Hamrick made a stirring plea for mercy and rose to great heights during the speech. On both days of the trial the courtroom was packed and even standing room was at a premium.

First Witness Testifies

Dr. G. O. Morse (sic), a witness for the State, testified that he was called to attend Clyde Beason but that he had been dead for possibly five minutes before he arrived. He had a laceration between the fifth and sixth ribs, beginning just at the left border of the breast bone and extending about three inches, approximately. He had quite a lot of hemorrhage from the flow, possibly a half gallon of blood. He later probed the cut and it seemed to be a stab inward right at the breast bone and then pulled outward because the laceration was shallower at the exterior of it. “Later, at the undertaker's, I saw what I could through the opening. The space between the ribs of course was very narrow, about the width of a finger. I could see the heart and there was quite a bit of hemorrhage in the fat around the heart. I probed into the muscle but did not go completely into the chamber of the heart. From the cut, I think the blade would have had to be around three inches unless part of the handle went in.”