McDowell Was Hanged For Brutal Crime

- EXECUTED FRIDAY MORN-ING FOR THE MURDER OF MR..C. A. PITTMAN. SAID HE HAD TOLD THE TRUTH

Evans McDowell, 23-year-old Jasper county negro, was hanged in the Butts county jail yard Friday morning for the murder of Mr. Charles A. Pittman, well known Butts county farmer, on July 20.

- The trap was sprung about 10:30 o'clock and in twelve minutes McDowell was pronounced dead. His neck was broken from the fall, it was stated.

- The execution was orderly and passed off without special incident. A considerable crowd was attracted to town on account of the hanging which was private. A canvass was constructed around the jail yard to cut off the view of the public.

- In his last statement Mc-Dowell declared that he had told the truth. He said he was guilty of Mr. Pittman's murder and that Flem Lynch, his brother-in-law, was equally guilty and that he hoped Lynch would meet the same fate. He admonished everybody to let liquor alone, declaring that he would not have been in the trouble but for liquor. The doomed man prayed earnestly and fervently for several minutes, and his final prayer made a deep impression on all who heard it.

- None of the members of McDowell's family were pre-sent at the execution, it was said. They visited him the day before.

McDowell's body was turned over to Henderson and Woodward, local colored undertakers, and was taken to Jasper county for burial.

- The recovery and murder of Mr. Pittman on July 20 was one of the most brutal and shocking in the criminal annals of the state. Called from his house to the store, Mr. Pittman was robbed and his body thrown in the Ocmulgee River. The clue pointed to McDowell. He was arrested and taken to Atlanta for safekeeping. He confessed the robbery and murder. He was given a speedy trial and was sentenced to hang on August 20.

- In the meantime McDowell made a confession that implicated Flem Lynch. A stay of execution was granted pending the trial of Lynch, who was convicted and given a life sentence on September 14. A motion for a new trial was made and the execution of McDowell stayed until September 20. A new trial was granted Lynch and McDowell was again respited until October 20, and pending Lynch-s second trial a respite was granted until Friday November 2.

- The last hanging in Butts county was on September 24, 1915, when Joe Persons, a Negro boy, was executed for assault.

- Bill Turner was hanged December 14, 1911, for the murder of Jesse Singley.

- At a special term of Butts superior court on October 29, Flem Lynch was convicted of the murder of Mr. Pittman and was sentenced to be hanged on November 23.

- (Jackson Progress Argus - November 9, 1923)

Submitted by Don Bankston