Appalachian History

When the fire had died, the neighbors and relatives who went through the smoking ruins of the cabin were met with a most gruesome sight: the charred bodies of Betty and Lydia and two of the children. Betty had apparently been decapitated. The investigation, led by detective A.C. Hufford of Bluefield, WV, aided by Robert Bailey, concluded that a local man, Howard Little from Bull Creek, WV-- just a short distance north of Laurel Creek-- had committed the murders and had acted alone.

Howard Little was believed to be the killer based upon the testimony of his wife and some rather strong circumstantial evidence: namely, a lantern which belonged to the victims which was found on Little's property. Little had recently suffered some injuries coincidentally and too near in time to the crime. He had also allegedly borrowed a pistol of the same caliber as that used to kill George Meadows, and had done so only a week or so before the murders. It was also discovered that he had planned on leaving the county shortly before he was captured. Finally, Little was in possession of a large sum of cash at the time of the fire.

Howard Little was taken into custody and transferred to the jailhouse in Lebanon for his own safety by a posse of specially-appointed police constables, as there had been rumors that he might be lynched.

The trial began on November 18, 1909, and concluded three days later. After testimony was heard from his wife and the evidence was presented, the jury came back with a guilty verdict. Howard Little was convicted of the murders on Laurel Creek and sentenced to death. He was electrocuted in Richmond on January 7, 1910.

In two letters purported to be written by Little after the crime, he makes no admission of guilt or protestation of innocence. "After he was arrested for the murder of the Justus family, Grandpa Howard always maintained his innocence," says fuzzypanda68, "and even while he was tortured to get him to admit to the crime, he still claimed to be innocent. In the book that was written, it says they used Chinese torture techniques on him, like depriving him of water, and placing his head between two blocks and hanging a bucket of water over his head, letting it drip one drop at a time between his eyes."

Muriel Oehme of Maryland, another Howard Little descendant, has also gone on record to say that Little's wife was fed up with his womanizing, and that was her motive for testifying against him at the trial. Their estrangement may have been going on for nearly four years when the crime occurred.

Betty's land was passed on to her children in common and they, in turn, sold their interest in it to Betty's oldest son, Daniel, who purchased it for $150.00, just a little over a dollar an acre. Every one of the children of Elizabeth Justus signed this document by mark. The timber rights, however, still belonged to the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company.


Sources:
From the Baker family side:
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/ridge/7616/jstsmrdr.html

and from Little family side:
http://edit.journals.aol.com/pallidalove/FacingtheTide/


Laurel+Creek+murders appalachia appalachian+history appalachian+mountains+history

On the night of September 21st, 1909, Howard Little allegedly came to visit Elizabeth E. Baker Justus and her extended family in Laurel Creek, VA and asked if he could spend the night. The family knew him and quite naturally opened their home to him. By nine o'clock, all six family members were asleep. Then, using a pistol, a knife, and a hatchet (Betty kept the hatchet next to her bed for protection), Little is said to have dispatched the lot of them, set the cabin on fire and made good his escape.

Who was Howard Little and why would he commit such a heinous deed? Robert M. Baker, great-great-great grandson of Betty Baker, in his telling of this story, maintains that in July 1909 Betty Baker had been paid $1,300 ($1,650 according to her) by Little, an agent for the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company in Hurley, VA, for the sale of some timberland (or perhaps it was for the rights to the timber on her 150 acres on Laurel Creek), the implication being that the September visit was a bungled petty theft that ended as non-premeditated murder.

A woman identifying herself only as ‘fuzzypanda68@aol.com of Lahoma’ (Oklahoma?) counters this version: "I was told that Grandpa Howard ran moonshine for a living. He would run it through the mountains from Bull Creek, WV to Laurel Creek and Guesses Fork VA and back, carried by pack mules late at night to avoid the law. Late one night, he was jumped by some Justus boys, who allegedly beat him, stole his moonshine, and took what money he had on him. In retaliation, he went to their home…"

Betty had several hundred dollars in a metal milk pail hidden beneath the hearth in her house. She had a hundred dollars saved for each of her children. This was in addition to the money she had received from Howard Little, and it was not found by the killer or killers. If the sums are correct, Betty had almost $2,500.00 hidden in various places on her property. Detectives determined that some of the money from the sale of her timber rights had been taken during the commission of the crime, but not all of it was missing.

Down the holler about three hundred yards lived Baker relatives Sennit Justus and his wife Lilabelle---Lillie. On that September night Lillie claimed she heard two gunshots and then saw the orange glow of flames from the Baker house. She ran up the holler to the cabin and could see the bodies of Betty, daughter Lydia, and two of the boys lying on the floor in the flames.

Sam Justus, another Baker relative and neighbor, claimed that he was the first to arrive at the cabin as it burned. He saw that the youngest child, Lafayette, was still alive and tried to carry him away from the burning cabin, then ran to get help. The boy managed to fall or climb back down to the burning house where he too was consumed by the fire, the sixth and last victim. George Meadows, Lydia’s husband, was found shortly afterward outside near the fence where he had crawled after being shot twice.

to be continued...

sources:
From the Baker family side:
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/ridge/7616/jstsmrdr.html

and from Little family side:
http://edit.journals.aol.com/pallidalove/FacingtheTide



Laurel+Creek+murders Buchanan+county+VA appalachia appalachian+history appalachian+mountains+history