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Montgomery, Alabama, March 18th, 1909.

Walter R. Venable, 43 years old, a North Court Street grocer, was murdered in cold blood with a pistol yesterday evening at 5 o'clock in the rear room of his store.

The murderer, whose identity has not been fully established, fled from the scene and ran away through North Montgomery,

being seen in his flight by several persons. Officials of the police and sheriff's force

were at the scene 20 minutes after the killing and took up the hunt for the assassin.

There were no eyewitnesses to the killing, but persons standing in the front of the store heard all that happened.

Sam Lawrence, a fireman employed by the Western of Alabama Railroad, was talking to Mr. Vinnable a moment before the storekeeper was shot.

Turner Jordan, a porter of the same road, was with Lawrence.

Lawrence says he went to the store to pay a bill of $18 he owed, but only had $10 to put on the

account. While he and Mr. Venable were talking about the bill, they heard steps on the floor

overhead, which Lawrence says

Mr. Vinnable first thought was made by the cook moving about. But a moment later, Mr. Vinnable

stopped in the conversation saying that the footfall was strange to him, and he went to investigate.

The staircase of the house is in the rear room, a sort of vestibule,

shut off from the main storeroom by a partition. Lawrence says Mr. Vinnable went through the door

and said, speaking to someone who was coming down the stairs, what are you doing up there? The witness

says he heard mr.

Vinnable call the man by name but he does not remember what the name was

because he was not paying close attention the reply to mr. Vinnable's

question as heard by the people in the store was get back mr.

venable or I'll shoot the witnesses say mr Mr. Venable's reply to this was,

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