FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 3): Huntington, W. Va. Feb. 25. –
Ellsworth Payne, 15-year-old Cabell county youth, was arrested by Deputies Bill
Thompson and Luther Foulks of Lincoln county in a remote section of Cabell
county today on a warrant charging conspiracy with Gladys Dillon to poison her
parents and six of her brothers and sisters.
The arrest occurred on Smith creek early this afternoon
after the deputies from the neighboring county had waded six miles in almost
knee-deep mud to reach the home of a relative of Payne. They reported upon
reaching Huntington with their young prisoner late this afternoon. They
proceeded on to Hamlin this evening.
Hamlin, W. Va., Feb. 25 (IP) — A girl accused of poisoning her
parents and six of her brothers and sisters today blamed as the instigator of
the plot a young man she was forbidden, to see.
Prosecutor W. F. Damron quoted, 14-year-old buxom Gladys
Dillion [sic] that Ellsworth Payne, of St. Albans, had devised the scheme “to
get even.”
The girl said she put poison in flour at her home but that
Ellsworth did not carry out hie part of the agreement to prison the livestock
and burn the Dillon barn.
Damron issued a warrant for Payne’s arrest on a charge of
conspiring with Gladys.
The prosecutor said: “This boy Payne is a first cousin of
Gladys.
His sweatheart, in Logan county, is the sister of Gladys’
sweetheart. Gladys’ parents tried to keep her from going with boys and young
Payne helped her to run away to Logan county with him where they saw their
sweethearts.”
The Dillion’s [sic] found out about the trip, and, the
prosecutor said, Mrs. Dillon reprimanded Gladys and forbade Ellsworth from
coming to the house.
The girl told Payne of her parents action.
Damron quoted her that he replied, “All right, we’ll get
even with them. You get some poison and poison your family. I’ll give some to
the livestock and also burn the barn.”
All the Dillon family are recovering from the effects of the
poison taken Thursday morning in biscuits and gravy which Mrs. Dillon made for
breakfast.
Damron said he will present tho girl’s confession to a grand
jury convening March 12. He opposed granting her bail, saying he feared she
would run away.
[“Gladys Dillon Accuses Young Man She Was Forbidden To See
As Instigator Of Scheme To Poison Family,” Bluefield Daily Government (W.
Va.), Feb. 26, 1936, p. 1]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 3): Hamlin, W. Va., Feb. 22 –
Lincoln county Prosecutor W. S. Damron announced Friday night 14-year-old
Gladys Dillon had confessed poisoning her parents and six brothers and sisters,
all of whom are critically ill.
Damron said the girl told him she intended to kill her
mother for chastising her, but was sorry the others were affected.
~ Found Ill at Table ~
Edgar Dillon, 40; his wife, 36, and six children ranging in
age from 3 to 12 years were found ill at their breakfast table by a gas company
employe, who summoned the Prosecutor.
Damron said the girl told him she took poison from the
attack put it in a sack of flour with which she knew her mother intended to
bake bread.
~ Meant to Hurt Only “Mamma” ~
“Gladys broke down and cried when I told her how sick her
father was,” he continued.
“She said: ‘I didn’t mean to hurt him, just Mamma’.”
The girl was locked up in the county jail on a charge of
administering poison with intent to kill.
The prosecutor said Dillon, a PWA worker, is the most
seriously ill of those who ate the poison and may die. The sick children are
Junior, Egbert, Minnie, Mona, Regnor and Robert. The eighth child, a baby, ate
none of the bread.
~ Says Girl Seems Intelligent ~
“We suspected Gladys because she was the only one at the
breakfast table who did not eat the poisoned bread, and took her into custody
this afternoon,” Damron said.
“It seems the girl had left home without permission, and her
mother punished her by confining her to the same home. Gladys is a rather large
girl for her age and seems intelligent.
“She said in her confession that she was angry with her
mother and fully intended to kill her. She denied it when I first questioned
her, and seemed perfectly calm, but when I mentioned her father, she broke
down.”
Damron said the case will be presented to the March grand
jury.
[“Girl Admits She Poisoned 8 In Family – 14-Year-Old
Youngster Declares She Wanted to Poison Her Murder.” The Gettysberg Times
(Pa.), Feb. 22, 1936, p. 2]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 3 of 3): Hamlen, W. Va., March 24. – A
14-Year-Old girl pleaded guilty to charges of poisoning her family and received
a seven year reform school sentence today.
Buxom Gladys Dillon stood before Circuit Judge Thomas R.
Shepherd, admitted her guilt, heard him sentence her to the girl’s industrial
school at Salem until she is 21, then said:
“Well, that’s a long time.”
Then, she was led back to her cell.
[“Girl In Poison Plot To Serve Seven Years,” The Scranton
Republican (Pa.), Mar. 17, 1936, p. 1]
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