By BARBARA
BARBIERI
Author Stephen Terrell retold the tale of the murder of Melvin Wolfe by John Terrell in the same courtroom where the original 1903 trial was held — Wells County’s Circuit Court — on Thursday evening.
The event was reported by newspapers all over the world as one of “revenge and insanity on trial in the heartland” as John Terrell was accused of murdering his son-in-law Melvin Wolfe over the mistreatment of his daughter Lucy Terrell Wolfe.
The original trial took place in Bluffton in 1903 over a period of three weeks with a sequestered jury of 12 men, all farmers, housed over night on cots in the courtroom. Members of the jury were selected from over 97 men called with many excused it they could not support giving the death penalty. Closing arguments took over 16 hours with each side giving eight hours. It took one ballot to vote life imprisonment.
Also reported was that during time served in the Wells County jail, Terrell conducted business from a desk in the cell and even was able attend the ground breaking for the Bluffton Grand Opera House, his project, being built across from the jail.
Those who helped explained the differences in what a trial might look like now included Wells County Sheriff Scott Holliday, attorneys Tim Sipes and Larry Mock (his relative Levi Mock was one of the original lawyers for Terrell) and Judge Kenton Kiracofe.
Among the differences pointed out by the fou — some would have included having women on the jury, not allowing Terrell to have a desk in his jail cell and being let out for the ground-breaking, not calling more than 30 or so person to a jury selection, and not spending so much time on closing arguments (usually 30 or 40 minutes).
Program presenter Stephen Terrell explained that the history of the trial gave a small look into what life was like at the time of the murder and being able to tell about it in the original courtroom was very special for him.
barb@news-banner.com
