State v. Murphy

An indictment was filed in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, by which the defendant is charged with murder in the first degree. The jury found him guilty of murder in the first degree and assessed the death penalty. The trial court sentenced him accordingly, ordering that he be executed on January 4, 1929, and, in due course, he appealed.

The evidence is substantially as follows:

Charles A. Reilly, the victim of the alleged homicide, was operating a drug store at 3400 Chippewa Avenue in the city of St. Louis. Across the rear end of the drug store was the soda fountain. Immediately…