16. The case of Andrew Hudspeth, also referred to as Charles Hudspeth
George Watkins and his wife Rebecca relocated from Kansas to Arkansas in 1886, settling near Yellville in Marion County. Rebecca soon began an affair with a neighbor, Charles Hudspeth, who was smitten by Mrs. Watkins to the point that they decided to do away with her husband. According to Rebecca’s later testimony, it was Charles who suggested murder, he claimed that the idea had originated with Rebecca. In any case, George and Charles left the farm on which both lived on a journey by wagon to Yellville. That evening only Charles returned. After local authorities grew suspicious over the missing Mr. Watkins, Rebecca and Charles were arrested, and Rebecca helpfully made Charles’ murderous plans known.
There was no physical evidence, but Rebecca’s testimony was sufficient to convict Charles Hudspeth of murder, for which he was sentenced to death. After appeals, he was tried again, convicted again, and sentenced to death again. He was hanged for the murder in December 1892, six years after Mr. Watkins vanished during his journey to Yellville. The following spring, in June of 1893, one of Hudspeth’s lawyers discovered George Watkins, alive and well and living in Kansas, where he had gone after learning of the affair between his wife and Hudspeth. The lawyer, W. F. Pace, cited his discovery as proof that his client had been wrongfully convicted through the testimony of a vengeful woman, but whether Watkins was really still alive remains disputed by students of the case. If he had been murdered his body was never found.