Baxter v. State

Carleton Harris, Chief Justice.

Appellant, Walter Baxter, was convicted of murder in the first degree, and the jury fixed his punishment at life imprisonment.1 Evidence showed that appellant had trouble with his landlady, Sallie Bitner, and that she left the house and requested neighbors to call the officers. The call was answered by Bert O. Burbanks, town marshal and police chief of DeWitt. Burbanks was shot and killed in front of the door of the Bitner home (where appellant roomed) from a shotgun blast fired (admittedly by appellant) from inside the house and through the screen. The evidence…