CHARLES MCGUFFIN HILL

Funeral services for C.M. Hill who was shot and killed from ambush on Saturday, November 15, 1886 by his brother-in-law, Smith Perdue, who then took his own life, will be conducted this after noon at 3:30 at his home in Mud Fork.
Service for Perdue were conducted yesterday afternoon at the home of O.F. Wagner of Falls Mills and burial was in P.W. Wagner Cemetery on Mud Fork.
Mr. Hill was born in Coopers, W.V. on November 15, 1886, the son of James Frank and Betty Neal Hill. Preceding him in addition to his parents were his children: William Jackson, George Kenneth and Betty Joyce.
He was survived by his wife Rissie Bell Wagner and children: Ethel, Pricy Louise, Nannie Margaret and Hubert.
The Rev. Stanley Humber, assisted by the Rev. W.S. Barberie, will be in charge of services for Hill today and were in charge of those for Perdue. Hill is to be buried in the same cemetery as Perdue, the P.W. Wagner Cemetery.
Pallbearers for the Hill funeral are: W.T. Wagner, F.P. Tabor, Dewey Tabor, Luther Belcher, John Hunell, Dewitt Walker, Glenn Perdue and McKinley Tabor.
Flowerbearers are: Misses Thelma Epperson, Florence Jones, Helen Perdue, Louise, Jane, Fannie and Virginia Baker, Frances Shrader, Lena Bray, Virginia Patton, and Pauline Bailey, Mrs. Marion Nicholas, and Mrs. Joe Shrader.

BLUEFIELD DAILY TELEGRAPH, Bluefield, W.V.
Saturday, February 21, 1943
AMBUSH SHOOTING SUSPECT IS HELD

Smith Perdue, of Falls Mills, Awaits Hearing in Connection
With Wounding of Two Mud Fork Men

Smith Perdue, 50 of Falls Mills, Va., was being held in the Tazewell County jail last night in connection with the ambush shooting Saturday night of C.M. Hill and W. T. Bailey, residents of the Mud Fork section of Tazewell County.
Perdue had not had a preliminary hearing last night but Trial Justice Albert Peery said that his bond probably would be set at $7,500,
In the meantime, the two injured men remained patients at Bluefield Sanitarium, where they were brought immediately after the shooting. Attaches at the hospital last night said their condition was better, although Bailey was the more seriously wounded. Seven bullets from a shotgun caused a like number of perforations of his intestines, physicians reported.
It was understood that Perdue had made no statement regarding the shooting, and his arrest was made on circumstantial evidence. Commonwealth Attorney John W. Gillespie previously said yesterday that bond for Perdue would probably be set at $5,000.
The shooting occurred shortly before midnight Saturday as Bailey and Hill walked along the Mud Fork road near the Falls Mills dam.
Both Bailey and Hill said that two shots were fired. They were unable to see anyone but said the shots had been fired a short distance from the home of Smith Perdue from a small embankment on the road.


Saturday, May 15, 1943

MUD FORK MAN SLAYS KINSMAN FROM AMBUSH
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Smith Perdue Fatally Shoots C. M. Hill; Ends Own Life

The second murder and suicide in this area within the past week was enacted yesterday morning when C. M. Hill, 56 of Mud Fork, was shot and killed from ambush about four miles from Falls Mills dam by his brother-in-law, Granville Smith Perdue, 60, also of that community, who then took his own life behind the chickenhouse of his farm.
The first such tragedy occurred in Giles county Wednesday morning, when Allen Wills shot and killed his wife and then himself.
The tragedy early yesterday morning was obviously the result of a family controversy, which had existed for some time, investigating officers said, following an inquest. Investigating officers were Virginia State Trooper A. E. Andes, Chief of Police J. H. Poole, and Police Judge T. A.Osborne, of Bluefield, Va.

Out On Bond

Perdue was out on bond at the time of the crime, awaiting trial on the charge of the ambush wounding of Hill and W. T. Bailey on February 21 of this year. The case was to have come up in the circuit court at Tazewell, Va., within the next few days.
Hill had been shot four times with a shotgun. Andes said he apparently was fired upon as he drove his car along the road, stopped the machine and tried to flee when further blasts from the gun felled him. In reconstructing the crime, officers said Perdue apparently was hiding at a large oak tree above the road, when Hill came by on his way to work in the Boissevain, Va., mine. Four empty shells from a pump gun were found at the spot. The shooting is estimated to have occurred about 6 o'clock.

Body Found
Hill's body was discovered across the road and just over a fence in a gulley when a search was begun for him after he failed to report for work and it was learned that he had left home for his job. Surprised by his assailant, Hill was believed to have tried to make his escape over the fence into a nearby field. He was shot four times-in the face, right arm and in the right side as he turned to try to get over the fence.
Perdue, his wife told officers, complained Friday night of a
Toothache and had slept in a room by himself, "so as not to disturb her," she related. He got up about 3 o'clock, she continued, and left the house.
Shortly before 6 o'clock yesterday morning he returned to his home and asked his wife if she had breakfast ready. She said that she would have in a few minutes. Perdue then said he was going up the hill for a few minutes and would be back. Immediately after he left the house his wife heard the shot fired. She rushed out but was too weak to reach the chickenhouse and called to neighbors who went to the spot. There they found Perdue with the top of his head blown off.
Perdue had used a newly sawed-off shotgun to kill himself. He is believed to had hid the gun in the chickenhouse Friday night. His wife said he had borrowed a shotgun Friday to kill a crow. The pump gun which was used to kill Hill was found in Perdue's car along with his watch and eye glasses.
After the finding of Perdue and the failure of Hill to put in his appearance at work, it roused the suspicion of the neighborhood because of the recent trouble between the two men, and a search was instituted, terminating when a small boy in the neighborhood found Hill's body just over a fence, some distance from the Perdue home.
The body of Perdue was taken in charge by the Mercer Funeral Home and that of Hill was taken in charge by the Wagner-Hawkins Undertaking Company at Bluefield, Va.
Hill was also an employee of the Pocahontas Fuel Company in the Boissevain mine.
Both men in the tragedy are widely known residents of the Mud Fork section of Tazewell County and have a wide connection. Hill is survived by his wife, the former Miss Rissie Wagner and four children, Miss Louise Hill of Bluefield, Va., Mrs. Harold Jones of Bluefield, Va., Mrs. Ethel Hash of Welch, and Pvt. Hubert E. Hill, who is stationed at Camp Maxie, Tx., with the United States Army.
Perdue is survived by his wife, the former Miss Sallie Jane Wagner and one son, Frazier who is in the armed services in New Guinea.
He is also survived by a sister, Mrs. Florence V. Perdue of Falls Mills and two brothers, W.H. Perdue of Falls Mills, and G.A. Perdue of Chattanooga, Tn. His mother died last month.
Funeral services for Perdue will be conducted Monday afternoon at 3:30 at the home of O.F. Wagner of Falls Mills. The Rev. W.S. Barberie of Bluefield, will be in charge and the Rev Stanley Humble of Bluefield, Va., will assist.
Funeral arrangements for Hill have not been completed, pending the arrival of his son, Pvt. Hubert E. Hill, who is station with the United States Army at Camp Maxie, Tx. Private hill was notified of the tragedy yesterday morning and is expected to arrive as soon as possible.
The Rev. W. S. Barberie will be in charge of the services and will be assisted by the Rev. Stanley Humble. Burial will be in the P.W. Wagner Cemetery on Mud Fork.