Lee Hefflin
Lee Heflin was being moved by wagon from the Warrenton jail under guard in March 1892, along with Joseph Dye, when about sixty masked men overtook the wagon near Gainesville, Virginia, before dawn on March 18. According to the Richmond Times and the Staunton Spectator, the men took both men from four guards, and one account says the guards offered no resistance. Heflin was hanged and then shot, and an inquest jury later attributed his death to persons unknown. Accounts say he protested his innocence and begged for his life, while a Weekly Courier-Journal report says he and Dye had secured a stay of proceedings.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about sixty masked men overtook the wagon carrying him and Joseph Dye, took them from their guards, hanged him and then shot him, according to the Richmond Times and an inquest jury.
Reported by: Richmond Times special dispatch (reporters); inquest jury.