Postpone James Gray Sentence
“Kink” in New Kansas Statute Makes Delay Advisable
NEWTON, KS – Decision to postpone sentencing of James Gray, colored, and confessed slayer of his son-in-law, Chester Banks, until the February term of district court was announced today by J. Rodney Stone, county attorney.
Disposal of the case, he explained, probably will come under the murder punishment bill enacted in 1935 which provides that the penalty be fixed by a jury hearing the case. Punishment may be life imprisonment or capital punishment by hanging.
Banks was mortally wounded early yesterday morning when struck by a rifle shot fired by Gray after a quarrel at their home, 227 West First street. The defendant signed a confession and entered a plea of guilty in justice court a few hours later. He is being held in the county jail.
The Evening Kansan-Republican, Friday 17 January 1936. Page 1.
