Townsell v. State

STAKELY, Justice.

The appellant John J. Townsell was indicted for murder in the first degree. He was tried on his pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury returned a verdict of murder in the first degree and fixed the punishment at death. This appeal comes here under the automatic appeal statute.

The killing took place in the Townsell home which was on the Headland Road in Houston County. Shirley Mae Allday, the fourteen year old daughter of Dovie Lee Townsell, the deceased, testified in substance that she was awakened between 4:00 to 4:30 or 5:00 o’clock in the…