On Sunday, April 18, five miles south of Greensburg, occurred one of the most brutal double murders ever perpetrated in this part of the state. We print below a dispatch from Hutchinson which was printed in the Topeka Capital of Tuesday of this week. White, was arrested near Greensburg last Friday. Relatives of the murdered man and woman went to the Crews home on Wednesday of last week and questioned White, who had moved onto the place a couple of days before, in regard to the whereabouts of Mr. and Mrs. Crews. He claimed that he had bought Crews' stock and household goods and that Mr. and Mrs. Crews had left. White's attempted explanation was not very satisfactory, and steps were at once taken which led to his arrest later. Here is the Capital's account of White's confession:

Hutchinson, April 26. - (Special) - Showing no more emotion than a man would in telling of the butchering of hogs, James H. White, a farmer of Kiowa county, related today at the Reno county jail the details of how he deliberately slew Weyman Crews and wife, at the Crews' farm near Greensburg, and then buried their bodies. The crime was committed Sunday, April 18. Having related the story, White was asked to sign a statement with the confession.

"Sure thing," he replied coldly, "hand her over."

Then, having signed the confession to the brutal murder, he calmly turned to an officer and asked for a match to light a cigar.

The confession was made in the presence of the sheriff and county attorney of Kiowa county. White was brought to the county jail here for safe keeping. No explanation was given by him of the murders other than that he desired possession of the farm on which Crews was living.

He stated that he went to the farm Sunday evening, April 18 intending to kill Mr. and Mrs. Crews, who had just returned from Greensburg, where they took their daughter to the home of an aunt. White talked for a few minutes with Mr. Crews whom he found near the barn - while the farmer went into the barn, White says he obtained a shotgun which he had strapped to the saddle of his horse and when Crews emerged he fired. The shots entered the farmer's side and he died instantly. White says he emptied the used shell, reloaded the gun and when Mrs. Crews came running from the house, attracted by the shot, he fired at close range at her. She, too, died instantly, one side of her breast being blown completely away.

White went on to say that he dug shallow graves in two stalls of the barn and dragged his two victims inside. He covered them with about four or five inches of dirt and after removing bloodstains on the ground and other traces of the killing, rode back to town.

The next day White and his family moved into the Crews' farm home and took possessions of the farm and personal property of the murdered man and woman.

Thursday relatives of the crews became worried and began asking questions of the farm occupants. Unsatisfactory answers were given and officers were notified. A search of the Crews' place Saturday revealed the Sunday clothes of the Crews hanging on their accustomed hooks in the closets of the house. Mrs. Crews' personal jewelry was found on her dresser. A search of the barn revealed the bodies.

White was immediately arrested, charged with the crime, and placed in the Greensburg jail. Popular feeling over the double murder began to reach fever heat and White was rushed to the county jail at Pratt. Word was received that a mob was forming in Greensburg and he was spirited to the county jail at Hutchinson, where officers persistently denied his presence until after the confession was signed today.

On the day of the murder, Mr. and Mrs. Crews had driven into Greensburg with their daughter, who attends the Greensburg high school. They returned to their farm early in the evening. It was the last time they were seen alive.

Mrs. White and her son have been held at Greensburg in connection with the murder, but it is understood they have been liberated. White's confession does not connect them with the crime in any way, it is said.

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The Western Star, May 7, 1920.

James H. White, the confessed murderer of Mr. and Mrs. Weyman Crews, near Greensburg, about two weeks ago, is now in the Kansas penitentiary, having been sentenced by Judge L. M. Day in Greensburg soon after his confession. No time was lost in getting him to the state's prison after the sentence had been legally imposed. He received a life sentence.

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Draft Registration card: Wayman Howard Crews, Haviland, Kiowa County, Kansas.

United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls.

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Thanks to Shirley Brier for finding, transcribing and contributing the above news article to this web site!

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