Headline: Richie Burial At Oak Grove Church
Phillip Ritchie Murder: Post #2
The second article I've found is from December 29, 1906, originally published in The Harrisonburg Daily News.
The funeral of Phillip Ritchie, who was stabbed to death in Brock's Gap Christmas night, was held yesterday afternoon at 1 o'clock from Oak Grove Church near Fulk's Run. The services were attended by a large concourse of people. Internment was in the graveyard near the church.
Charles Roadcap the self-confessed slayer of Ritchie, who was held for the grand jury Thursday afternoon by Magistrate Cooper, and brought here that night by Deputy Sheriff Fawley, passed the day quietly in his cell in the county jail. Roadcap appeared morose and had little to do with the other prisoners on the same tier of cells. These included Tom Lam, under sentence of sixteen years in the penitentiary for the murder of Frank P. Hensely, and Israel Mongold, who was sent up for fives years for killing his own son last summer. Although a slim, wiry young fellow, Roadcap's face shows the effects of dissipation.
No effort has been made on the part of his relatives to secure the services of an attorney to look after the young man's interests. His father is in poor circumstances and the son himself has very little worldly goods beyond the clothes he wears. It is probable that a special grand jury will be called during the January term of the Circuit County to indict Roadcap.
According to the reports from Brock's Gap, the sentiment of the best people residing near the scene of the crime is against Roadcap, although Ritchie's conduct is not upheld. Roadcap had not been drinking to any great extent Christmas evening, while Ritchie was very much under the influence of liquor.
Another feature of the case that excited comment, was the attitude of the dead's man daughter, Mrs. Caldwell, at whose home the killing occurred. Before the coroner's jury Thursday she displayed no emotion whatever while she told of the circumstances leading up to her father's tragic death. It is even said that she went out of her way in an effort to shield the slayer. It is known that Ritchie did not approve of his daughter having men come to her house while her husband was away from home, and there had been trouble between them frequently over this circumstance.
The officers are not satisfied that the knife with which Roadcap says he stabbed Ritchie is the one with which the killing was really done. The stab was nearly an inch deeper than the length of the blade and there is considerable doubt that the knife now in the possession of the authorities could have inflicted the wound.
Deputy Sheriff Fawley, who is working on the case, will make every effort to clear up the uncertainty.
I found this article by using NewspaperArchive.com
