said to have been in no way mixed up in the…

chunk 165 · paragraph 713

mixed up in the final trouble, further than being a witness to a petty assault case in which Redding and Jo Criser were placed under arrest by Manley and which brought all parties from Lone Mountain to Central on the morning of the killing to have a hearing of the case. Manley is said by the friends of Redding, on several occasions lately had threatened the life of Redding, and on the other hand Redding is reported to have made the remark in this city that Manley was liable to get badly hurt if he did not let up on his persecutions of him. Thus matters have been going on for several months since the trouble began and until it culminated fatally for Man- ley at Central. On the morning of the killing Redding and Joe Criser went to Central City to have a hearing. A number of witnesses also accompanied the parties. It seems Redding and his friends arrived first, and both parties were armed. Manley just previous to the shooting had left his revolver in Wm. Hutchinson’s store and he was coming out when Redding started toward him and is reported to have said, “Manley, I understand you are going to kill me.” Then Redding claims that Manley placed his hand on his hip pocket and answered, “Yes.” Redding on this commenced shooting, firing four shots, three of which took effect and any one of them would have resulted in almost instant death.