Dennis "Dennie" Saylor: The Bloody Trail Continues

 In my last blog, I told you to remember the name Dennie Saylor because you would see that name again.  Well now his bloody trail continues.

After we posted our last blog, “The Murder of Mack Bailey In Magoffin County, Kentucky”, I was able to find a single newspaper clipping stating that Dennie’s brothers Dock and Bob, along with Archie Johnson, were charged with the murder of Mack Bailey’s younger brother Taylor Bailey, Jr. in 1932. 

Then Dennie’s trail again goes cold in my sources. Well, until 1929 anyway.

Dennie Saylor
courtesy of the
Courier-Journal & 
Anna Saylor Case

On April 30, 1929, Dennie’s name returns to the headlines for yet another murder.  The Louisville Courier-Journal reports the events in this manner, which I’ve summarized:  The Johnson County Sheriff made his way into the hills to investigate reports of a shooting.  As he was going in, he met a horse-drawn sled carrying four bodies, two men, a woman, and a boy as well as a wounded man.  All apparently were victims of a drunken argument.

The deceased were Wallace Hannah, age 34; Lee Gibson, age 45, his wife Cassie Gibson, age 35, and their son, Bernie Gibson, age 14.  The wounded man was Wayne Hannah, brother of Wallace Hannah.

Dennie Saylor was later arrested in connection with the shooting, even though he had been shot through the arm.

Officers began trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together to hopefully determine the cause of the tragedy.  According to statements from both Wayne Hannah, and Dennie Saylor, Lee Gibson, his son Bernie, Wallace & Wayne Hannah had been working in the field and were waiting for Dennie to bring a plow from Riceville.  While they were waiting they drank some moonshine.  When Saylor arrived with the plow, they offered him some of the moonshine, which he accepted.

 According to their statements, Lee Gibson and Wallace Hannah both were running for school trustee of their district, and some angry words were exchanged.  Both men suggested that the other should withdraw from the race.  Wayne stated that he thought the argument had been settled and turned to leave. As he turned to leave, he said someone started shooting.

Both Saylor and Wayne claimed that neither of them had a gun.  A pistol holster was found on Gibson but there was no gun in it. 

Saylor was questioned by the Grand Jury.

Cassie Gibson’s part in the tragedy was never revealed but she had been shot in the head.  Bernie Gibson, their son, was shot in the back as he ran.  Lee Gibson had been shot in the chest.  Wallace Hannah was shot in the right side.   And Wayne Hannah was shot in the right lung.
Neighbors were so frightened by the shooting that they did not go to the scene until the next day. And that is when the bodies were discovered.

Saylor was arrested on four counts of murder and one count of shooting and wounding, and was taken to the Paintsville jail.  On May 2, 1929, he was indicted by the grand jury on all accounts. It was during the grand jury’s three day investigation that Saylor’s son, Columbus Saylor, testified that his dad had returned home and said that he had “killed the whole damned bunch.”

 Dennie was later removed to the jail in Winchester, KY for safe keeping according to May 3, 1929 edition of the Sun Democrat in Paducah, Kentucky.

The June 11, 1929 edition of the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reported that the death penalty would be sought for Saylor.  The article also stated that in addition to the argument over the school election, an argument over a moonshine still was also a part of the cause of the tragedy.   That same article stated that the defense said they would prove that Saylor’s gun was at his home at the time of the shooting and that he was not armed.

The June 12, 1929 edition of the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reported that jury selections were underway for the trial.  And it stated that it had been recalled during that day that Saylor had been tried in Magoffin County in 1919 for the murder of McClelland Bailey and was sentenced to the penitentiary but was later freed by the Court of Appeals which held that the evidence did not show that he had any part in the killing.  Interestingly I found no records of that murder in my searching other than this one article.

Interestingly, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported on June 12, 1929 that the jury that was chosen for the trial was discharged as soon as it was completed.  A.J. Kirk, counsel for the defendant moved for the dismissal on grounds that the jury had been summoned for jury service in February and were used for a special term of the court in April.  Judge J.F. Bailey granted the motion.

On June 13, 1929, as reported by the June 14, 1929 edition of the News-Democrat in Paducah, KY, Dennie Saylor, who had plead not guilty, was released from the Johnson County Jail on $30,000 bail and the case was continued until the October 1929 term of the court.

Although the trial was scheduled for October 1929, it actually did not start until November 15, 1929 according to a report from the Paducah Sun Democrat, dated November 16, 1929.  This trial was for the murder of 14 year old Bernie Gibson. As previously stated Saylor pleaded not guilty. And the Commonwealth Attorney was seeking the death penalty. 

Wayne Hannah, who was shot in the fray, testified that the slaying occurred as a result of an argument over a moonshine still and an election dispute.  In fact, both Hannah and Saylor agreed that an election dispute started as they were drinking in the field. According to Wayne Hannah's story, Saylor seized Lee Gibson's gun and killed all four.

Saylor on the other hand testified that Gibson, having a 38-caliber pistol, was the only one he saw armed, although he noticed Wayne Hannah make a hip-pocket motion. Gibson and Wayne Hannah engaged in a fist fight, Saylor explained, and he grabbed Gibson and pulled him away. He said Mrs. Gibson came and tried to take her husband home, but he refused to go, and Wallace Hannah urged him to remain.

Then Mrs. Gibson, the defendant testified, took a pistol from her husband's holster and fired al Wallace Hannah. Saylor said that he “tried to grab the gun and my hand was powder burned.  I then ran down the hill and don't know who did the other shooting. I went home and took my wife and children to my father's home for the night. I did not stop to tell the families of the people shot because l did not want to get mixed up in it. I did tell my father, brother and uncle."

Hallie Blanton was called to the stand by the Commonwealth and testified concerning powder burns on the body of Mrs. Gibson, who she said, was shot in the face and back.

Mrs Wallace Hannah was recalled to the stand and questioned briefly concerning previous testimony.  Mrs. Wallace Hannah detailed to the jury that her brother-in-law, Wayne Hannah, was the last person to go up on the hilltop of Saylor’s farm.  She stated that he rode a mule and carried a quart jar, which she believed contained moonshine.  Her husband, Wallace, later brought the mule down the hill and went back, saying that he was afraid Lee Gibson would kill his brother, Wayne.

According to Mrs. Hannah, sixteen shots were fired.  Bernie Gibson called her to come, as they were “all being killed,” but she was afraid to go.

Dr. Morris Price described the wounds of the slain and exhibited bullets that he had taken from the bodies.  All were shot in the back with .38-calibur bullets.  According to the prosecution, Salyor was the only one who did any shooting, his pistol being a .38-calibur.  The prosecution also stated that all the victims had been shot in the back as they were running. Some newspaper accounts stated that Hannah testified that his wound was from Cassie Gibson, that she shot him before dying from wounds of her own.

 It was also revealed in the trial that Sheriff H.E. Adams found two stills on Saylor’s farm.
It was also stated that the bodies lay out in the field overnight because neighbors were afraid to venture to the location that day of the slaying.  Officers called to the scene the following day met the neighbors carrying the bodies on the farm sled.

On November 18, 1929, the jury convicted Dennie Saylor for the murder of Bernie Gibson. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
 
Just days after being convicted for the murder of Bernie Gibson, Saylor went on trial for the murder of Lee Gibson.  Not much information from that trial could be found other than Mitchell Blair and his wife testified that they saw Dennie Saylor with Lee Gibson’s pistol after the shooting.  In my research I was not able to find the outcome of this trial, or that of the trials for the murders of the other two victims, if there was in fact a trial for them.

This concludes the bloody trail of Dennie Saylor, at least for now.   I was told that he was linked to another murder after these, but I was unable to find proof of that.