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“ A man may be a murderer and a hero in the minds of many. But nothing but deep-seated and virulent hostility was manifested by ninety-nine out of every hundred of those who gathered about the Courthouse in Newport and reviewed the famous crime in infinite detail. "He'll hang, and he ought to, —— him," said one big fellow in the center of a listening group.
"Yes, and Walling out to follow him in five minutes," said a bare-headed working woman, as she shifted a baby from arm to arm. The same sullen antipathy was apparent as Jackson passed through the crowd. ”

“ She who had refused to listen to the wooing whispers of men in high rank and station in life by the scores, fell at once a victim to the darts from cupid's shafts sent from Jackson's lips, for after occurrences proved conclusively that the honeyed words and winsome smiles, which won their way so easily into the heart of Pearl Bryan, came only from the lips and never from the heart of him who lent his every effort to win the heart of the belle of Putnam County, as Pearl Bryan was known, but with no manly or honorable purpose. ”

“ Walling's head is that of a commonplace criminal, he is just the opposite of Scott Jackson, at the same time Walling is utterly void of any ability or cunning to plot and plan and to conceal. Jackson knew fully and realized what lay before him in the murder of Pearl Bryan. Walling had not realized the enormity of the crime, and is supremely indifferent to the consequences and to the crime committed. No appeal, not even the fear of punishment, will have any impression on Walling. ”

“ To those not knowing his habits, a handsome, affable, pleasing man of fine form and features; to those who knew him truly, a villain of the deepest dye, a very demon in human shape.
Notwithstanding Will Wood knew him as he did, and that Pearl Bryan was Wood's second cousin the same blood coursing through their veins, Wood introduced Jackson into the Bryan family in the spring of 1895. It was a case of love at first sight. From the first meeting between Scott Jackson and Pearl Bryan, at the colonial mansion of the Bryans on the hill, Pearl showed that she was most favorably impressed with him. ”

“ Three long years had passed since Pearl had bade "good bye" to her studies in the Greencastle High School, and although a leader in society, a guest of honor where-ever she visited, none of her ardent admirers had made a deeper impression upon her, and her heart was still her own. Men of high moral character, well supplied with this world's goods and standing well in business and social circles, would have eagerly jumped at the opportunity to claim her as their wife. Their protestations of love however seemed to have no affect upon the mind or heart of Miss Pearl Bryan. ”

“ The subject of lynching the fiends,—Walling and Jackson—was freely discussed. That ominious appearance of suppressed excitement, which shows the keen determination of a mob and which they seek to hide as much as possible, was seen everywhere in the crowds gathered in knots all over the two cities. All that was needed in Cincinnati was a few good, trusty, fearless leaders. In Newport it was different. Determination and decision were seen on the blanched faces of men everywhere. ”

“ Walling and Jackson were at once informed of the decision of the Court. The effect of the information on the two prisoners was of marked difference. Walling smiled sarcastically, and said:
"I had hoped we would not be taken over the river, and we have fought desperately to prevent going there. We have made the best fight possible," and winking his eye, added: "We have received no orders to go there yet."
Jackson grew as pale as death and was visibly agitated and trembling, when told that the Court had decided against him. Said he: "Of course I do not want to go to Kentucky." ”

“ When the higher Court convened an immense throng crowded the rooms, the most noteable among the spectators being the aged father of the murdered girl, Alex. S. Bryan, his three sons, Fred, Frank and James, and ten other gentlemen, who had come from Greencastle, Ind., to Cincinnati, to lend their aid to the prosecution of the prisoners. S. A. Hayes, one of the brightest legal lights of Indiana, was one of the party and he will doubtless aid the State of Kentucky in the prosecution of both Walling and Jackson when they are put on trial for their lives. ”

“ Jackson turned to Walling and said: 'Wally, why do you talk that way; you know you are not telling the truth; you know that you killed Pearl Bryan.' Whereupon Walling says, 'No, you know that you killed her; and why don't you tell where her head is?' Then, when Jackson was talking of where Pearl Bryan's head was, he said, 'I don't know; Wally says he threw it overboard.' Then he said he took the clothes and made one or two trips to the river and threw part in the river and some in the sewer, but he could not tell where. ”

“ Aged and battle-scarred veterans who had gone through the great civil war, only a generation before, when brother stood in battle array against brother, father against son, neighbor against neighbor, flocked to the spot where the headless body lay, and stood with blanched faces, struck dumb with amazement, at the boldness of the deed and horrible manner in which it had been committed. ”

“ The demanding of a seperate trial by Walling's attorney gave rise to the rumor, which gained considerable credence that Walling could be induced to turn state's evidence against Jackson and tell all he knows at the trial of Jackson. The authorities have accumulated much important evidence in the matter and the attorneys for the prosecution claimed with perfect confidence that they would be able to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that both Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling are guilty of the murder, and decapitation of Pearl Bryan. ”

“ Robert W. Nelson, one of the brightest and leading legal lights of Kentucky, an able prosecutor, fearless and aggressive and universally feared by criminals, volunteered his services to aid in the prosecution of, as he termed it, "villains of the deepest dye, who are without doubt guilty of the most heinous crime and greatest outrage ever put upon the fair name and fame of Kentucky." ”

“ Sheriff Plummer appeared at the Hamilton County, O., Jail in Cincinnati, and the prisoners were given in his charge. Walling was at once handcuffed to Detective Crim and Jackson to Detective McDermott. The crowds about the Jail and the reporters had no idea what was going on until patrol wagon No. 3, backed up to the door and Sheriff Plummer, followed by his prisoners and the detectives went to get in. Immediately the crowd went wild and a mighty yell went up. "They're going to Kentucky," was yelled by a thousand voices. ”

“ The Newport Jail is by no means a desireable place of confinement from a sanitary point of view and is poorly ventilated. Both prisoners keenly realized the great change in their accommodations. Regarding this Jackson said:
"This is quite different from the Hamilton County Jail, where everything was at least nice and clean. If I could only exercise a little it would not be so bad. I am really losing the use of my legs, and I cannot see what harm there would be in allowing me to walk in the corridor with one of the guards. I am glad that we are to be taken into court on Monday. ”

“ We discovered that Scott Jackson had been intimate with the girl. He left Greencastle October 14., and pregnancy having become apparent she, at the solicitation of a cousin, named Will Wood, went to Cincinnati to submit to a criminal operation. Jackson was to have the operation performed and Walling was to assist in the performance. The last we know of Pearl Bryan in life was in the company of Jackson and Walling Friday night preceding the finding of her corpse between 6 and 7 o'clock, when the three were seen to enter a hack at Wallingford's saloon, at George and Plum Streets. ”

“ People, knowing that they could not get in to see the trial, did not—beyond a few of the more curious—care to merely get a look at the prisoner.
The twelve jurymen's chairs were placed directly in front of the Judge's desk, and the witness box so placed that the witnesses in giving their testimony would be facing the Judge and jury. The witness stand stood almost in the middle of the court-room. On the right side was the prosecution's and on the left side the defense's tables, while between it and the jury was placed the stenographer's table. ”

“ The scenes enacted at police headquarters early in the day, following the arrest of Jackson and Walling, were never paralleled in Cincinnati.
Hundreds of persons thronged the corridors in the immediate vicinity of the offices of the department, while a vast crowd was assembled on the outside of the building.
Upon the arrival of Supt. Deitsch he at once repaired to Mayor Caldwell's office, where a star chamber session of some length was held. In the meantime the crowd continued to increase, and it became necessary to call for a detail of policemen to drive back the curious people. ”

“ The accused, Scott Jackson, became acquainted with Pearl Bryan, shortly after he arrived in Greencastle. By reason of his elegant dress, polished manners and fluent conversation, shortly after his acquaintance with her he became a frequent caller upon her and they were often seen together. Succeeding this the Commonwealth will show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that this innocent young lady became infatuated and yielded her chastity to this man, and later on she advised him of the fact of her condition. ”

“ The requisition papers issued by Governor Bradley of Kentucky on Governor Bushnell, of Ohio, had been honored by the last named official for weeks previous to the arraignment of Walling and Jackson, before Judge M. L. Buchwalter, of the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. Interest in the case did not abate in the least. The Jail where the prisoners were confined, was daily literally besieged with visitors, and loud murmurings were heard on all sides. Mob violence was feared, and this fact more than any other caused the delay in the hearing of the arguments on the requisition papers. ”

“ The scene at Undertaker White's establishment, on Fourth Street, in Newport, where the body was taken to, was one of activity. All day long and up to a late hour at night the place was besieged with people anxious to get a look at the remains of the unfortunate woman. The crowd was composed mostly of men, but there was quite a number of women to be seen among them. Several persons came in and gave descriptions of missing friends, and, if they tallied in any way with the corpse, they were permitted to view it. ”

“ He then walked rapidly north on Plum Street toward Court. When he had traversed part of the square Detective Bulmer stepped up to him, saying: "Your name is Jackson, isn't it?"
The man turned perfectly livid and trembled like an aspen, and as the detective continued to say, "I want you," he exclaimed, "My God! what is this for?"
At the same time the start was made for the Mayor's Office.
At Ninth Street Colonel Deitsch met the prisoner and said: "Well, 'Dusty' (Jackson's nickname) , we have got you." ”

“ Early's story was that he came to Greencastle Oct. 4., 1895. "Soon after my arrival at Greencastle I made the acquaintance of Will Wood, a student at Depauw University. This acquaintance soon ripened into a friendship which brought us together a great deal and made us confide to each other much more than is ordinary among young men.
"So fast did the friendship between Will Wood and myself become that he would show me his letters. Among those he showed, I remember one from Scott Jackson, a young man from Greencastle, who is in Cincinnati attending a dental college. ”

“ Money and position did not have any effect upon her favors, the young man, struggling hard to make his way in [Pg 23] life, was as graciously received and as well treated by her as the young swell, rolling in luxury and wealth.
Will Wood, a second cousin of Pearl Bryan, was one of her ardent admirers, but was treated as one of the family and in no sense as a lover. ”