Schley County Georgia Newspaper Murder of John Alton Hill File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by "Harris Hill" and Keith Hill Table of Contents page: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/schley.htm Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm Unfortunately this was abstracted from a digital photgraph that cut off the date of the newspaper publication, but it was the Ellaville paper and would have been published about June 1, 1951. RITES HELD MONDAY FOR ALTON HILL, VICTIM OF SLAYER A man serving a 30-day jail sentenace at Elba, Ala. on a drunk driving charge Saturday afternoon led officers to the decomposed body of a Roberta, Ga. man he said he killed on April 7. The body of John Alton Hill was found in a wooded area 15 miles north of Andulusia, Ala. He had been missing since the day Desmond Miles, 34, said he killed him, according to officers. Sheriff M.C. Meredith, of Covington County, Ala., said Miles broke down under questioning Saturday morning and told how he shot Hill in an argument. Miles then led officers to Hill's body. A former resident of Covington county, Miles had been working at Roberta. He told officers that he and Hill had driven into Alabama only a short time before the slaying. Hill was first reported missing when his car was found wrecked near Elba. Miles was arrested in Covington County on April 28 as the driver of the car and returned to Elba where he pleaded guilty to driving while drunk. He would have completed his sentence Monday. At the time of the arrest Miles told officers he had left Hill after an argument. Funeral services for John Alton Hill, 45, were held Monday afternoon at 3 o'clock at Concord Methodist Church in Schley County. Officiating were the Rev. T.M. Lee and the Rev. John Hunsucker of Roberta and the Rev. Ernest Sweatman of Thomaston. Burial was in the church cemetery. Mr. Hill had been farming at Roberta. Born near Charing, Mr. Hill was the son of the late Mr. L.N. Hill and the late Mrs. Lilly Woodall Hill. Survivors include four sisters: Mrs. J.E. Harden (Sallie Bell Hill) and Mrs. George Standridge (Ozie Jewel Hill) of Ellaville; Mrs. L. G. McClellan (Laila Hill), of Columbus; and Mrs. Wallace Parker (Lillie Odessa Hill), Buena Vista; four brothers, Charles O(tis) and Theron Hill, Thomaston; Lynwood Hill, Forsyth and Chasso Hill, Charing. (Note: John Alton Hill was the son of Lewis Napolean "Pole" Hill and Lillie Mae Woodall Hill. He was born April 9, 1907 and was murdered April 6, 1951. Alton Hill had allegedly gone with Desmond Miles on a fishing trip in AL.)