March 24th, 1905
Lyons hassled the unfortunate Gurney for years, even
challenging him to a duel, until, in July 1903, he shot the lawyer dead
in his New Orleans office. Lyons then turned the pistol on himself, but
survived a self-inflicted wound in the head.
At his trial he pleaded insanity, but was found
guilty. The Louisiana Appeal Court ordered a retrial on the grounds of
the judge’s misdirection. At the second trial Lyons was again found
guilty and hanged on Friday, March 24th, 1905, in New Orleans Prison.
|