William Reily Murder
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, Wednesday, 4 April 1860, page 2
ALEXANDRIA
On Monday evening, William Reily, a young man only nineteen years
old, was shot dead by the proprietor of a tavern in Alexandria, named Charles
Merton, who merely suspected him of throwing stones into his window.
Reily was standing in a yard to Merton's house, when the latter rushed out with a shot gun and discharge its contents into Reily's abdomen, killing him instantly. Much indignation was felt by the residents of the place at the perpetrator, but his prompt arrest allayed their excitement and they became content to await the course of the law, instead of taking it into their own hands.
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Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, Saturday, 2 June 1860, page 3
NEWPORT
Charles Merton was placed on trial on Thursday before the Circuit court at Alexandria, for killing William Riley, some time since, by shooting him in the abdomen with a shot gun. The trial occupied nearly two days, but the jury, after a few moments deliberation, returned a verdict of acquittal.