Ottawa County, OK. - History: Bill Martin
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	Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
	Judy Michaels <jmichals2@adelphia.net>
	March 22, 2002      
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                              Miami News-Record
			   Nov. 21, 1939 - Page 1

		 FARMER IS HELD IN SLAYING OF FAIRLAND MAN
         Shotgun Wound Fatal to  45 - Albert Wosson, 68, Jailed

  Albert Wosson, 68 year old Ottawa county farmer, was held in county jail 
today in connection with the shotgun slaying Monday of Bill Martin, 45 Fairland
resident and father of seven children
  Sheriff Dee Watters, who directed the investigation, and County Attorney N.C.
Barry, who withheld comment on the case until he questioned six witnesses to 
the shooting, indicated charges, if any, would not be filed today.
  The sheriff said the shooting followed an altercation at Wosson’s home, one
and one-quarter miles west of Fairland, about 4:30 o’clock Monday evening.
Martin died at 9 p.m. in Miami Baptist hospital, the charge from a .12 gauge 
shotgun, which struck him in the chest and ranged upward to his face, causing 
internal hemorrahages.
  "We prefer not to make any statement until after our investigation progresses
further," Barry and Watters said jointly. "We will discuss circumstances of the
shooting with all witnesses and members of Martin’s family before we arrive at 
any action in this matter."Martin was shot as he stood near Mrs. Susie Foster, 
19-year-old married daughter of Albert Wosson, at the rear of his automobile, 
parked on a county road in front of the Wasson property. Investigators estimated
a shell from the shotgun had been fired at a distance of approximately 45 feet.
  The victim was first examined by a Fairland physician and then rushed to Miami
Baptist hospital in a Campbell Undertaking company ambulance.  At Fairland, the
physician who examined Martin had told the county attorney there was no chance 
for the wounded man to live.
  Mrs. Foster’s appearance at the Wosson home with Martin prior to the shooting,
was believed of major importance as investigators sought to unravel a maze of 
circumstances that may shed light on the farmer’s act.
  Officers said Clyde Foster, 29, husband of Susie, had recently returned to the
Woson farm from California, where he had been working. Mrs. Foster, mother of 
two children, had been residing near Fairland for several months. Her youngest 
child, seven months old, was born in this county.
  Mrs. Minnie Wosson, wife of the aged farmer, Stella, 13, Nina, 10, and Monroe,
6, other children of the Wossons, were all listed as witnesses to the shooting.
Foster also saw the incident.
  "Words were exchanged between Martin and Wasson and the latter returned to his
house to get his shotgun," Sheriff Watters said. "Other than that I don’t want 
to comment on any part of the case."
  Sheriff’s deputies arrested Wosson at his home and said they encountered no 
resistance.
  Meanwhile, funeral arrangements were incomplete for the slain man.  A son, 
Leon Martin, employed on a vast sewage project in New York state, was notified 
of his father’s death last night. He asked that arrangements await his return to
Fairland.
  Five daughters made their home with Martin, while another is employed in Miami.