Page:Redd v. State (1897).pdf/8

 464 Witness said about 8 or 9 o'clock a. m. the same morning Johnson and another man passed by his house in a cart going towards Baxter from the mill when Johnson asked him if he wanted to talk to Redd; and that he saw no more of him during the day until at supper time (Johnson explains his stay in Baxter until the afternoon), when Johnson told witness not to say anything to any body concerning him about the logs.

We think the testimony of McKay is not corroborated so as to show the connection of Johnson with the killing, as required by the statute, and that, therefore, the verdict of guilty thereon was not authorized.

Affirmed as to Redd, and reversed as to Johnson.

RIDDICK, J. The conviction of appellant Redd for the murder of Skipper was based upon circumstantial evidence, and upon confessions said to have been made by him. The body of Skipper was found lying on the bank of the bayou in Drew county, of this state. There was a wound in the left side of the throat. The body lay face downward. The forehead rested on the crossed hands, and in the right hand was a knife held loosely, with blood upon the open blade. On the ground, under the arms, was a pool of blood which had flowed from the wound in the throat. The medical expert who described this wound said that it was about an inch and a half long, made downward and forward with a sharp knife, which seemed to have jumped and cut the skin about the thirty-second part of an inch, and then went in, and severed the external jugular vein and partially severed the carotid artery. A short distance from the body of the deceased, his vest was found hanging in a tree with his watch in the pocket. His hat was gone,