Judy, Judy, Judy...A Fatal Swing

From the Defiance Democrat - August 23, 1894

"THE BLOW FATAL.

Coroner Westrick Files His Verdict in the Jones Case.

JUDY JEFFERS INCRIMINATED

Doctors Babbitt and Lehman Report That Jones' Brain Was Discolored and Injured - The Grand Jury Comes Next.

Coroner Westrick filed his finding in the inquest upon the body of Frank Jones in the county clerk's office Saturday.  It is a voluminous document but leaves no doubt as to the guilt of Judy Jeffers.

Several witnesses were examined by the coroner, and the testimony shows that Jones was an unoffending party in the whole transaction.  The fight occurred on the night of Dec. 25, in front of a saloon in Sherwood.  Frank, or 'Buzzard' Miller came out of the saloon and struck Jones, who was standing quietly on the sidewalk talking to a friend.  Jones was sober and had not spoken to Miller.

Sherwood 1881

 The blow from Buzzard's fist staggered Jones for a minute and then he struck Miller.  They clinched and went down, Jones on top.  Miller was getting the worst of it and had cried enough when Judy Jeffers came up and with an elm club five feet long and an inch and a half by two and a quarter in thickness, struck Jones a left-handed blow just above the right ear, holding the club in both hands.  The blow stunned Jones.  Jones was 32 years old and lived at Sherwood, and was always of a quiet, unoffending disposition.

Dr. P. M. Lehman testifed that he was called to attend to Jones Jan. 1, 1894, and continued to render professional services until Feb. 1st.  There was a cut across the bridge of Jones' nose, and a finger was injured, but there was no wound or contusion, invisible, on the head.  Jones frequently complained of pain in the right side of his head.

Jones was a healthy, strong man and weighted 175 - 180 pounds previous to his injury.  At the sixteenth day after receiving the blow, he was not able to set up, being confined to his bed.  From then until his death, he constantly grew weaker and complained often of the pain in his head.

Dr. P. M. Lehman and Dr. D. S. Babbitt certified that they had performed an autopsy on the body of Jones on the 10th inst., and had found a portion of the right hemisphere of the cerebrum to be of a purple blue and showing after signs of injury.  A quantity of serum had escaped into the cranial cavity.

After hearing the testimony, Coroner Westrick found that Frank Jones came to his death from the effects of a terrible blow from a club in the hands of Judy Jeffers."

Although most of the time, Judy is a feminine name, in this case, it is a male.