McElroy v. State
McElroy v. State
Opinion of the Court
Felix McElroy was indicted in Union County for the murder of his wife, Mrs. Esto McElroy. He was convicted of that offense without any recommendation for mercy and was sentenced to be electrocuted. He timely moved for a new trial, basing his motion therefor on the usual general grounds only. His motion was overruled and he excepted to that judgment. Held:
Since the verdict is amply supported by evidence and has the approval of the trial judge, there is no merit in the contention that the judgment refusing him a new trial is erroneous as here contended.
Judgment affirmed.
Tommy Wilson, a witness for the State, testified: He was a brother of the deceased, Esto McElroy. When he and his sister walked out in the yard, the accused shot her in the face and killed her. The accused then shot himself. He smelled whisky on the breath of the accused. The deceased had returned to her father’s home where he also resided about a week before she was killed by the accused. At the time she seemed to be weak and undernourished and had some marks on her body and blue spots on her legs.
Loyd McElroy, a witness for the State, testified: The accused is his father and the deceased was his mother. He, his mother and brother went to his grandfather’s home about a week before his mother’s death because his father was beating and whipping her with a wood chair and a wood-handled brush. He had seen his father whip his mother several times before. “It was pretty bad about two weeks before she left.” Part of the time for the past two or three years his father had been as
Wayne Collins, a witness for the State, testified: He is the Sheriff of Union County and had known the accused for about 25 years. The accused knows the difference between right and wrong. He identified a bottle of whisky which he got from a table at Lincoln Wilson’s home. He got another bottle of whisky which was on the front seat of the defendant’s locked car at a church near the Wilson home where Mrs. McElroy was killed. The accused told him that he had left his car by the side of the church. He got the accused’s shotgun at Lincoln Wilson’s home where Mrs. McElroy was killed.
Mrs. Jamie Lee Mullins, a witness for the defendant, testified: She is the sister of the accused. She had noticed at times that he would just go into a rage which showed mental illness. She had discussed his condition with his son and with his wife. She did not believe the accused had a sound mind. He had always had a violent temper and it had gotten much worse. She did not believe he knew the difference between right and wrong at times.
Mrs. Opal McElroy, a witness for the defendant, testified: She is a sister-in-law of the accused and had known him for 20 years. His mind had not been right for the last 2 or 3 years in her opinion.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- McELROY v. State
- Status
- Published