Lyle Levi
Lyle Levi, a man, was one of five men held in the Versailles jail in Ripley County, Indiana, when a masked mob forced the jailer to hand over the keys in the early hours of September 15, 1897. The mob shot him inside the jail and then hanged him and the other four from an elm tree on the public square, according to an Associated Press report. The reports say the jailer first refused and the keys were then taken by force, and that the sheriff was threatened. Relatives and friends of the victims said the mob acted hastily, since the only testimony against him was a single informant's statement. The Governor ordered the sheriff to pursue those involved in the killings.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A masked mob took Levi from the Versailles jail, and news reports and the coroner say he was shot there, then hanged; relatives and friends said the mob acted hastily against him.
Reported by: county coroner; Osgood correspondent news report (reporters); Associated Press report (reporters); The Hartford Herald (reporters); Goldsboro Weekly Argus editorial (reporters); Governor Mount's telegram; relatives and friends.
News reports (11)
- El Paso Daily Herald, September 15, 1897, page 1
- The Paducah Daily Sun, September 15, 1897, page 1
- The Houston Daily Post, September 16, 1897, page 1
- The Evening Bulletin, September 16, 1897, page 1
- The Herald, September 16, 1897, page 3
- Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, September 17, 1897, page 2
- Hopkinsville Kentuckian, September 17, 1897, page 1
- The Breckenridge News, September 22, 1897, page 1
- The Hartford Herald, September 22, 1897, page 1
- The Marietta Journal, September 23, 1897, page 4
- Goldsboro Weekly Argus, September 23, 1897, page 4