Page "Paris, Texas" Paragraph 11

Smith was accused of the brutal murder of three-year-old Myrtle Vance, the daughter of a policeman known for mistreating prisoners.

Smith was among those who had previously been beaten by Myrtle's father, after he had been arrested for drunkenness.

He was a neighborhood handyman and known alcoholic.

According to a New York Times article from Feb. 1, 1893, Smith allegedly: " picked up little Myrtle Vance ... near her father's residence, and ... carried her through the central portion of the city ... En route through the city he was asked by several persons what he was doing with the child.

" When the police found no clues to the child's deathneeded, people in the area decided Smith must have committed the crime.

After Myrtle's body was found, Smith continued life as usualneeded, but upon hearing a mob was after him, he fled to Hope, Arkansas.