1896Apr18

SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN

APRIL 18, 1896

MURDER AT AVA

WM. B. MATTHEWS KILLED R. H. MORGAN IN A ROAD QUARREL

FILLED FULL OF SHOT

Contents of a Double-Barreled Gun in the Heart

HIS FAMILY SAW THE DEED

The Land in Dispute Was Not Worth Ten Dollars

SHERIFF PURSUING MATHEWS

Special to The Republican

Ava, Mo. April 17

Yesterday evening, seven miles south of Ava, William B. Mathews shot and instantly killed R. H. Morgan.

The killing was the result of an old grudge between the parties growing out of the location of a road, and the land in dispute was not worth even $10.

Morgan was moving the rocks from a wall built by Mathews when Mathews told him if he did not desist, he would kill him. Morgan started to move a stone and Mathews emptied the contents of a double barreled shotgun into his left side, killing him instantly. Nineteen shot struck him and part of the charge went through his heart.

The affair was witnessed by several parties, among them was Morgan's mother, wife and children.

After the shooting Mathews went home, left the shotgun and at once fled the country. The sheriff and posse have been out searching for the murderer but so far have been unsuccessful.

The parties have been lawing over the road for eighteen months and Mathews was fined at the last term of court for changing the road.

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