| Show AN UNPARALELED CRIME 1 EightYearOld Clyde Robinson Shot Dead WHO KILLED TH LAD Strong Evidence That He Was Mur lns dered by Harry Hammond The tatter Is but 12 Tears OldA Girl Saw Him Aim His Shotgun and FIreFour Boys in Jail One of the most shocking tragedies that has occurred here in a long time and what at this time appears to be a crime without a parallel in the history of the territory took place near the corner of Main and Eleventh South streets yesterday yester-day afternoon when Clyde Robinson the 8yearold son of I S Robinson was shot and instantly killed The affair is shrouded in considerable mystery but the facts already brought out strongly indicate that the child was deliberately murdered by a boy not much older than himself It seems that at 1 oclock yesterday morning Harry Hammond the 12year old son of Constable Hammond of Farmers Farm-ers ward and George Gaylor aged 17 left the formers home to go shooting taking with them the constables breech balling shotgun and fifteen cartridges loaded with No 7 shot When near Robinsons residence they had a quarrel with some other boys the cause of which is not clearly established although young Hammond says it was because a boy named Ed McLelland tried to take a cartridge cart-ridge away from him Gayler and Hammond Ham-mond finally proceeded on their way but some girl is credited with having heard the latter threaten to kill somebody when he came back THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT Some time later Mr and Mrs Robinson Robin-son came up town leaving their boy Clyde and his 12 year old sister at home The children were playing in the yard back of their home and in the afternoon two girls the daughters of a neighbor joined them Along about 4 oclock the attention of the children was attracted by some dogs barking in the adjoining lot and Cl > de climbed on top of the six footboard foot-board fence to see what was going on He had been in that position but a moment mo-ment when the report of a gun was dead heard and the boy fell to the ground SAW HAY HAMMOND FIRE One of the little girls who was looking through a crack in the fence says she saw Heber Gayler George Gayler Carl Hammond Ham-mond and Harry Hammond standing on the other side After Clyde had climbed on top of the fence she saw Harry Hammond Ham-mond aim his gun at Clyde and fire and the four boys then ran off The report of the gun naturally attracted at-tracted the attention of the neighbors and Henry Whipple a contractor and builder who chanced to be but a few feet away rushed into Robinsons yard He found Clydes sister trying to lilt the boy up and relieving her he carried the body to a grass plot a few feet away and then rushed out of the yard to ascertain who had fired the shot He saw the four boys named running away and Hammond was still carrying his gun YOUNG HAMMOKD COMES BACK Neighbors gathered at the scene by this time and while they were discussing the tragedy Harry Hammond and George Gaylor nonchalantly walked up and asked what had happened Their conduct threw suspicion from them and in a few minutes min-utes they went to their homes THE POLICE ARRIVE POHCE ARV The shooting occurred at just 415 oclock and the police authorities were at once notified of the affair Chief Paul and Detective Sheets hurried to the scene and at once commenced an investigation One of the girls who was playing in the yard told them that she saw Hammond fire the shot and several other parties stated that they Saw the two Hammond boys and the two Gayler boys run after the shooting IG GAYLER TELLS TWO STORIES George Gayler the oldest one of the quartette was soon found by Detective Sheets and when placed under arrest he stated to the detective and Chief Paul that Harry Hammond fired the shot and insisted that he had nothing to do with it The officers thought they were about to get the details of the terrible affair but a few minuted later Gayler changed his mind repudiated his former statement state-ment and with brazen impudence asserted as-serted thet neither he or Hammond were within a block of the place when the shooting took place The officers felt satisfied however that the first statement was the correct one and went over to Hammonds house to find him HAMMONDS BRAZEN INDIFFERENCE The boy had gone up town however and after waiting for three hours they started un State street and had not proceeded pro-ceeded far when they met the boy coming down in a cart aud placed him under arrest ar-rest He displayed an indifference and nerve that would have done credit to a hardened criminal refusing to answer any questions and being unmoved by anything that was said to him The authorities took the four boys to the city hall and afterwards turned them over to Sheriff McQueen who locked them up in the county jail for the night A HERALD reporter saw them there last evening and it was evident evi-dent that imprisonment was having its effect the boys appearing considerably wilted and showing less of the air of audacity and indifference than when they were when first arrested GEORGE GAYLERS STORY George Gayler was the first one seen He is 17 years old looks like a farmers boy possesses average intelligence and has a fairly good face What do you know about this shooting shoot-ing asked the reporter Not much replied the boy Will you tell all you know Yes S Lets hear it then C Well I went out shooting with Harry Hammond this morning and left his house at 1 oclock We went over the river and fired fifteen cartridges all we had We came back in the afternoon and when near Dunfords fence about a block from Robinsons heard a shot We hurried onto on-to Robinsons and when we got in front of the place saw a man dressed in a black suit jump over Robinsons fence into our lot when we lost sight of him We went I on into the yard and met Mrs Barratt I who told us that Clyde had been shot I saw no other boys about and do aot I know who did the shooting Do yon know that several parties law you and Hammond run from the yard after the shooting No replied Gayler somewhat startled 1o you know that Clyde was killed with No7 shot the same size that your cartridges were loaded with and that a girl says she saw you In the yard when Hammond fired the shot GAYLER BREAKS DOW Gayler broke down completely here and bursting into tears said Well anyway any-way I didnt fire the shot No one says you did but if yon are innocent in-nocent or the shooting was an accident dont you think you had better tell the truth truthYes replied the boy between his 1 sobs I would be better to tell the truth and then realizing that this was a confession that he had not told the truth he backed into the corner of the cell and refused to say anything more Jtieber Gayler aged about 10 was also moved to tears when his brother broke down and wouldnt talk at all further than to say that he thought they had better tell the truth and not be sent to the reform school HARRY HAMMOND TALKS Harry Hammond who is believed by the police to have fired the fatal shot was next seen and his younger brother occupied a cell on the upper floor Harvey is only 12 years oid but he possesses much more determination determina-tion than Gayler When asked i he would tell what he knew about the shooting shoot-ing he said I went out hunting with George Gayler this morning taking my fathers gun and fifteen cartridges We fired all tho carridgos before we came back shooting the last two just the other side of the river When about a block I from Robinson we heard a shot and ran towards the place What made you run there Oh we thought somebody might be killed I thought my little brother might have been killed Well when we got there they told us Clyde was shot PLEADED NOT GUILTY What did you do then II went home and told my mother I didnt kill him What made you tell her that S Well she had heard about it him Did your mother think you had killed himI I guess she thought so but she felt of the gun barrels and found they were cold and that showed my gun hadnt been fired lately But that was at least half an hour after tho shooting Maybe it was but anyhow mother felt of the gun andldont know anything about this shooting at all You know that 1 girl who was looking look-ing through the fence says she saw you fire the shot The boy at once lost his nonchalent air and replied in the negative You know Mr Whipple dont you Yes 1 I he says ho saw you running out of the lot after the shot was fired what do you say Hammond wavered a moment and then followed Taylors example by breaking i down and beginning to sob A YENYEAROLD PRISONER I The reporter next turned his attention to Carl Hammond aged 7 who said that he stopped at a place where they herd cows while his brother and Gayler went shooting but met them when they came back and was walking toward Robinsons with them The boy was going on to relate re-late what occurred after that when his brother interfered and promptly put an end to the conversation MURDERED BY HAMMOND The fact that these boys had a quarrel in the morning with some other boys Clyde Robinson probably being one of them that one person says she saw Hammond Ham-mond fire the shot that others saw the four boys running away immediate y after the shooting that their cartridges were loaded with very small shot of the same size as those with which the boy was killed that Gayler stated to Detective Detec-tive Sheets that he saw Hammond throw his gun on Clyde and shoot make it exceedingly difficult to reach any other conclusion than that Harry Hammond Ham-mond did the shooting and did it intentionally inten-tionally And appalling as this conclusion conclu-sion is the officers who investigated the case are completely satisfied that it is the correct one I THE CORONERS INVESTIGATION I Coroner Taylor reached the scene of the tragedy about the same time as the police and took charge of the body which is now at the morgue The victim of the tragedy was a beautiful child He received re-ceived the full charge of shot in his breast the lungs and heart being penetrated pene-trated causing instant death The coroner cor-oner has the shotgun and about a peck of cartridges found at Hammonds house in his possession and was busily engaged last evening in arranging for the inquest t which will be held tomorrow morning WAS HIS MOTHERS IDOL As stated before both Mr and Mrs Robinson were away from home when the shooting occurred and Mr Gaylor a neighbor whose son is implicated in the affair at once came up town to notify them He succeeded in finding them and informed them that Clyde had met with an accident When the mother reached home and learned the truth her grief was something terrible to witness Clyd was her only boy and she fairly idolized him The poor woman seemed to think she had been to blame for not taking him up town with her saying she had a premonition that something would happen to him Mr Robinson is well known in the community com-munity as a contracting mason and for some time he has been engaged more or less in the real estate business with A J i White and during conference he acted asa as-a special police officer |
