Jereboam O. Beauchamp - Trial For Murder

Trial For Murder

Beauchamp arrived in Frankfort on November 15, 1825. New Court partisans talked of Sharp's murder as the work of the Old Court party, just as Beauchamp had hoped. One suspect was Waring, who had printed the handbills critical of Sharp. Known as a violent man, he had both political and personal motivation for the crime. He was cleared of suspicion when investigators learned that, at the time of the murder, Waring was in Fayette County recovering from unrelated injuries.

Suspicion moved to Beauchamp, as he was loyal to the Old Court Party, and was known to hate Sharp for his political principles. People knew of Sharp's earlier alleged involvement with Anna Cooke before her marriage to Beauchamp. In addition, Beauchamp was placed in Frankfort the night of the killing, and his host, Joel Scott, said that he had heard Beauchamp leave in the night. After presenting preliminary testimony, Commonwealth's Attorney Charles Bibb asked for additional time to assemble more witnesses. Beauchamp assented to the request. A second delay pushed the hearings back to mid-December.

The dagger taken from Beauchamp at his arrest did not match the wound on Sharp's body. (In his Confession, Beauchamp claimed to have buried the murder weapon by the bank of the river near where the murder took place. That knife was never found.) Beauchamp's shoe did not match a track found outside Sharp's house the morning of the murder. The posse lost a handkerchief found at the scene of the crime and believed to belong to the murderer. (Beauchamp later claimed to have stolen and burned it after the posse had gone to sleep one night.)

Several witnesses testified against him. Eliza Sharp testified that the voice of the killer was distinct. A test was devised allowing Mrs. Sharp to hear Beauchamp's voice; she immediately identified it as that of the killer. (Beauchamp claimed he had disguised his voice on the night of the murder and thought Mrs. Sharp would not recognize it.) Patrick H. Darby, an Old Court partisan, claimed that in 1824, he had a chance encounter with the man he now knew as Beauchamp. Darby said the man – a stranger to him at the time – had asked for Darby's help in prosecuting an unspecified claim against Sharp. The man then identified himself as the husband of Anna Cooke and said he intended to kill Sharp. Based on the circumstantial evidence, Beauchamp was held for trial at the next term of the circuit court in March 1826.

Beauchamp's uncle Jereboam assembled a legal team for his nephew that included former U.S. Senator John Pope. The grand jury convened in March and returned an indictment against Beauchamp for Sharp's murder. Giving Beauchamp the time he requested to gather witnesses, the court scheduled a special session in May specifically for Beauchamp's trial.

Beauchamp's trial began May 8, 1826. After a change of venue was denied, Beauchamp pleaded innocent to the charge against him. A jury was empaneled, and testimony began May 10. Eliza Sharp detailed the events of the night of the murder and reiterated that Beauchamp's voice was that of the murderer. John Lowe, a magistrate of Simpson County, testified that he had heard Beauchamp threaten to kill Sharp, and said that on Beauchamp's return from Frankfort, he saw him waving a red flag and heard him tell his wife that he had "gained the victory." Patrick Darby repeated his testimony of the 1824 meeting between him and Beauchamp. Darby said that Beauchamp had told him that Sharp offered him one thousand dollars, a slave girl, and 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land if he and his wife Anna would leave him (Sharp) alone. As Sharp had apparently reneged on the promise, Beauchamp told Darby he was going to kill the man. Other witnesses testified that Beauchamp habitually referred to Sharp's friend, John W. Covington, as "John A. Covington", the name used by the murderer to gain entry to Sharp's house.

Testimony in the trial concluded on May 15, 1826; summations concluded four days later. Despite the lack of physical evidence, the jury deliberated only an hour before convicting Beauchamp of Sharp's murder. He was sentenced to death by hanging on June 26 of that year. Beauchamp requested a stay of execution to write a justification for his actions. The stay was granted, and the execution was rescheduled for July 7, 1826. Though Anna Beauchamp was questioned, a charge against her for being an accessory to the crime was dismissed.