Beckham County, OK - Deaths: James Samuel Clem, 1925
Thursday, 06 Dec 2007
Submitted by: delma25@pldi.net (Delma Tindell)

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CLEM, JAMES SAMUEL
(17 Dec 1925, Beckham County  Democrat, Erick, Beckham Co, OK):
Admits Firing Fatal Shot For Husband.
Mrs. J. S. Clem, 40 years-old Shamrock woman, mother of four children,
charged with shooting and killing her husband while he was asleep at their
home fourteen miles west of Shamrock, was placed in jail in Shamrock
Friday afternoon, after waiving preliminary hearing.  She refused to see
husband's body in a Shamrock morgue and refused to attend his funeral
services Friday afternoon.
The couple had lived together twenty years at the time of the shooting. 
Mrs. Clem in her written statement to the County Attorney, E. T. Scott, of
Wheeler County declared she killed her husband because of his mistreatment
of her and out of fear of further abuse.  She shot him while he was
asleep, after alleged mistreatment.  She used a shotgun.  A daughter
notified officers. --- Dallas News.
Mr. Clem was well known here in Erick, having a host of friends here who
were shocked to hear of the tragedy.
Lake Loraine which Mr. Clem owned, was the swimming resort, patronized by
most of Erick people during the season.
(23 Sep 1926, Beckham County Democrat, Erick, Beckham Co, OK):
Found guilty of murder in connection with the slaying of her husband last
December, a sentence of twenty years was passed on Mrs. J. S. Clem in
District Court at Wheeler Wednesday afternoon.  The case was given to the
jury at 12:20 and the verdict rendered at 3:45 p.m.  The sentence is the
longest ever given a woman in Wheeler County.
The trial was opened at noon Monday and the jury selected from a venire of
135 men.  Testimony in the case was heard Tuesday.  Argument of the
lawyers on both sides lasted 3 hours Wednesday morning.  M. Reynolds and
H. B. Hill of this city and G. C. Engledow of Pittsburg were attorneys for
the defense.  The case was prosecuted by L. A. Holmes, district attorney,
and E. T. Scott, county attorney.
Mrs. Clem maintained the utmost calm throughout the trial and received the
verdict with the same demeanor.  No notice of appeal has yet been given by
her attorneys.
J. S. Clem was slain about midnight December 8 while sleeping at his home
near Ramsdell.  The weapon used was a .410 gauge shotgun, which was fired
at close range, the shot entering the throat and penetrating the brain. 
The gun was found outside the bedroom in which the crime was committed.  A
few days after the murder Mrs. Clem is said to have confessed her guilt to
the County Attorney Scott and Deputy Sheriff C. T. Calvert. -- Wheeler
County Texan.
(Research: Texas Death Index: 1903-2000: Wheeler County:
James Samuel Clem, died 9 Dec 1925; Death Certificate # 45224)

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