Vengeance Is Mine: The Scandalous Love Triangle That Triggered the Boyce-Sneed Feud

“No Trial for the Dead”: The Vernon Murder Trial of John Beal Sneed

208 “No Trial for the Dead” The Vernon Murder Trial of John Beal Sneed The Scene: The district courtroom in Vernon, Texas, February 11, 1913. The Billing: The State of Texas v. John Beal Sneed, a murder trial.1 That billing, however, was somewhat misleading. What the packed courtroom witnessed when the curtain parted was less of a solemn, dignified, dispassionate judicial pursuit of truth and justice than . . . well, what would you call it? Part tragedy, part comedy, part farce, part melodrama, part pathos, part bare-knuckle brawl? Whatever you called it, it was well larded with generous helpings of hyperbole, nonsense, and old-fashioned tent-revival-style hallelujahs and hellfire damnations. The judicial cast for both sides was the same as it had been during the Beech Epting trial except the prosecution added Vernon lawyer Cecil Story to its roster while the defense added Vernon lawyer Harry Mason. Judge James Nabers again presided. Jury selection proved both entertaining and revealing. Each prospect was tested on his views on the unwritten law. Several candidly admitted that they believed the unwritten law was higher than 11 C H A P T E R “No Trial for the Dead” 209 any written law. Another voiced the opinion that “in some cases a man ought to take the law into his own hands.” Surprisingly, Judge Nabers excused these candid souls. H. Eggenberg was also a forthright fellow. He was a native of Missouri and said he had never heard of the unwritten law until he had recently moved to Texas. Plus, he denied having heard anything about the Sneed case, explaining that he had been too busy repairing a broken corn shucker to bother listening to gossip. Eggenberg was definitely not Bill McLean’s kind of guy, and McLean promptly got rid of him with a peremptory challenge . When S. C. Hawley was asked if he had already formed an opinion as to Sneed’s guilt or innocence, he replied, “He ought to be acquitted.” He was excused by the court. The court also excused N. R. Heath, a Vernon jeweler, but for the exact opposite reason. Heath said, “Sneed should not go free.” As Heath was leaving the courtroom, Bill McLean said, “Wait a minute. Where were you born?” Heath: “Pennsylvania.” McLean: “I thought so.”2 When the panel was selected, ten of the twelve were farmers, all but one was married, and all but two were fathers. No Yankee imports made the cut. It was apparent that most of the panel had pro-Sneed predispositions. Much of the trial was a replay of the Epting trial. The Methodist minister, Rev. Ernest Robinson, gave his eyewitness account of the killing of Al Boyce. Then the state called a number of witnesses to underscore Beal Sneed’s murderous premeditation, including the painstaking plotting and the precise execution of his plan to kill Boyce. W. M. Burwell, the Potter County sheriff, testified that about thirty minutes after the shooting he saw Sneed when he turned himself in. He said Sneed had the appearance of a tramp, wearing dirty overalls, a black derby, and a beard that was stubby. Burwell had known Sneed for several years but testified that he didn’t think he would have recognized him if he had met him on the street. After the shooting, the owner of the death cottage, Mrs. T. B. McKibbon, entered the house and found that the only furniture there was one 210 V E N G E A N C E I S M I N E cheap iron bed, a few pieces of clothing marked “J. B. S.,” and a breastplate that was designed to cover the body from shoulders to waist, looking “much like a bullet proof vest.”3 The defense opened its case with a surprise: McLean called Lynn Boyce to the stand as an adverse witness. Lynn admitted that immediately after he heard that his brother had been killed, he grabbed a Winchester rifle and roamed the streets of Amarillo searching for Beal Sneed. By that time, however, Beal had prudently retreated to the safe haven of the Potter County jail. Lynn Boyce further testified that neither he, nor his brothers, nor his parents could dissuade Al from continuing his torrid affair with Lena, and that finally, before the elopement, he had bought Al’s business interests for the sum of $60,000. Defense witnesses were called who told...