Extracted from The Shreveport Times (Shreveport, LA)
Friday, October 11, 1940

JURORS FIND RIVER FRONT MAN GUILTY

Hardy L. Dunn, 41, Faces Sentence for Death of Father-in-Law

Hardy L. Dunn, 41, who allegedly beat and kicked his aged father-in-law to death in a river front brawl, was found guilty of manslaughter by a district court jury yesterday morning.

The jury deliberated an hour before bringing in the verdict at 10:30 a.m. Dunn will be sentenced Tuesday morning by District Judge John R. Pleasant. The sentence for manslaughter is imprisonment with hard labor up to 20 years.

The principal witness against Dunn was his wife, Mrs. Minnie Dunn, who testified Wednesday that her husband struck her father, William N. Bascus, 70, three times and kicked him on May 1. Testimony of witnesses and arguments of attorney and prosecutor were concluded late Wednesday.

Judge Pleasant charged the jury at 9 a.m. yesterday and they immediately retired to deliberate the case.

Dr. Charles Boone, deputy Caddo parish coroner, testified during the trial that Bascus had died from a skull fracture. Mrs. Dunn said the night before her father's death, Dunn forced his way in their shack on the river front and that he had been drinking heavily for several days.

Mrs. Dunn, who testified that she was standing on the railroad tracks 150 yards from the house, said her husband struck the old man twice in the face and once in the chest. She said that her father toppled backward under the last blow and his head struck a beer can on the ground.

Several other river front neighbors of the Dunns were witnesses. L. Y. Burnette was defense counsel, appointed by the court, and Ewdin [sic Edwin] Blewer, assisant districk attorney, prosecuted the case.