1908 Dock Bishop Newspaper Articles

New Orleans Daily Picayune
July 4, 1886, P. 2
 
 
PITTSBORO
 
Execution of Dock Bishop for the Murder of a Detective – He pleads Innocence to the Last
 
COFFEEVILLE, Miss., July 3 –(SPECIAL)-
 
Dock Bishop (white) was hung at Pittsboro today in the presence of about 2000 people. The drop was sprung at 1:44. Bishop up to the last said he was not guilty.
 
The crime was an unusual one and the history of the case quite interesting. The murder for which he was hung had its origin in a previous crime. Dock Bishop, his cousin Jim Bishop, and Bob Lamar, all of Calhoun County Miss., were charged with the killing of the Harmon brothers at Dallas Tex., during the year 1884 and were indicted for that homicide. Jim Bishop was immediately arrested and admitted to bail, but Dock Bishop and Bob Lamar kept out of the way of the officers.
 
W.W. Wise, a Texas Detective, came over quietly and spent some time about Sarepta, Miss., with the intention of arresting the two men at large. Jim Bishop and John A. Matthews discovered the purpose of the detective, and formed a plan, entering into an agreement with him to entrap the two men wanted. On the night of the killing Jim Bishop and Detective Wise left Matthews and went off together. Soon after the firing of several guns and the scream of a man was heard and then all was quiet again. When Jim Bishop appeared, he reported that Wise was missing. Matthews sent a telegram to the family of the detective, the next morning, informing them that he had been killed.
 
The Settlement became aroused and a searching party was organized. One day the body of the detective was dug up a short distance from the place where Jim Bishop claimed to have left him. The body was riddled with bullets and horribly mutilated. A further result of the search was the arrest of the Bishop’s and Lamar on suspicion.
 
At the September term of the Circuit Court of Calhoun County, Jim Bishop was tried, but by some means a verdict of acquittal was returned. The verdict was generally condemned, as Jim Bishop was charged with being a traitor as well as an assassin. After that he was tried at Oxford for the Dallas Killing and also acquitted.
 
Dock Bishop did not fare as well. On the 12th of last March he was placed on trial before Judge A.T. Roane for the murder of Detective Wise. District Attorney J.D. Oglesby and S.M. Roane, Esq., conducted the prosecution, and Messers. H.M. Sullivan and W.A. Roane appeared for the defense. The trial lasted four days, and during this time the courtroom was filled by the curious and interested of both sexes.
 
Bishop tried to prove an alibi, introducing several witnesses who testified that he was at home and under the bed during the killing. Circumstances pointed out his guilt, and the jury, being out a few hours, returned an unqualified verdict of guilty. Dock was sentenced to be hung on April 16. He appealed to the Supreme Court, and that body affirmed the judgment of the lower court, which fixed his execution for yesterday.
 
Dock Bishop was acquitted of the Dallas affair. Bob Lamar was convicted, but was granted a new trial by the Supreme Court. He stands a good show to follow Dock by the gallows route for one of the murders in which he is charged to have engaged.