On May the eighth of 1932 the first of the great tragedies struck the Spray department. Just a few days after the killing of local storeowner, J. W. Carter, in which he was shot seven times with a .32 and .38 caliber pistols, Chief Robertson was killed with the same caliber weapon. On Sunday night a call came into the police department that the lights were on in the Spray Graded schoolhouse. There had recently been several entries of this school by what had appeared to be kids or young hoodlums. In anticipation of catching them in the act, Chief Robertson and officer Charlie Hunter jumped into the formers car and headed for the school. Parking nearby they approached the school on foot. Robertson, giving directions for Hunter to go around the front of the building, approached the schoolyard from the south. Robertson was approaching through a vacant space near the back yard of Reeves Cooper. As Robertson was passing Coopers yard he spied two young men in the shadows. On approaching them, the men opened fire with their pistols, shooting Robertson eight times, killing him before he could return their fire. Robertson was not aware that there would be dangerous characters at the school, but rather expected to find hoodlums that had found a place to play poker. The Sheriffs investigation of the murder scene revealed that a car was parked in the Reeves Cooper garage that contained a shotgun, some ammunition, and burglary tools. The Desoto car was jet black in color with a so recent coat of paint that it was still soft to the touch. The car appeared to have been painted with a brush, and when a small amount was removed, it revealed a Nile green color under the new paint. This car was then considered to be the one that Mrs. Carter had mistakenly called blue in the murder case of her husband. Upon questioning Reeves Cooper, he stated that the car belonged to Olin Clay Fogleman and Jimmie Napier. Cooper testified that he was a relative of Fogleman and had refused the former and Napier shelter and the use of his garage. When they were leaving the Cooper residence Fogleman and Napier were approached by officer Robertson and probably thought that Cooper had turned them in. Fogleman and Napier had been serving time in the Federal prison in Fayetteville for prohibition violations and vehicle theft. They had escaped the previous November. Hunter stated that Robertson was not aware of their presence in the community or involvement in the Carter murder and could not have identified them in the darkness of the night. Oldeman Fogleman, Olin Fogleman, Clay Fogleman or Clay York, names and aliases that he used, along with his unnamed partner were declared outlaws by the State of North Carolina. Nine hundred dollars in reward money was posted. On July 13, 1932 Sheriff Sheffield was notified that Olin Fogleman was in custody in Englewood, Ohio. Thus began the legal process that ended in Fogleman’s execution. He was held, along with a Gilbert Hamilton (suspected of being Jimmy Napier), for seriously wounding a Cincinnati detective. Ohio authorities were reluctant to give up the prisoner until such time as it was determined whether the detective would live or die. After being persuaded by Sheffield that North Carolina had precedent with the two murders that Fogleman was suspected of here, Ohio gave up their prisoner to officers of this State. In August word came that Napier had been killer in Jackson, Kentucky in a gun battle with officers, who had attempted to arrest him. It was said that Napier had bragged Theyll never take me alive and had made good on his boast. Fogleman was tried and found guilty by a jury from Stokes County. Judge A.M. Stack sentenced him to die on October 26,1932. Fogleman declared his innocence and appealed to the State Supreme court, stating that he had not had a fair trial and that the public had been inflamed against him, influencing the jury. In March 1933 the State Supreme court upheld the conviction. Fogleman proclaimed his innocence all the way to his execution. The sentence was carried out on August 4,1933. Controversy continues even today as to Foglemans involvement and his tombstone bears the inscription Murdered by the State of North Carolina.---Ron Hooker
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 13:19:11 +0000
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