The
Edwards Murders
Mulat
June
29, 1951
(Lawrence
Cormack)
Lawrence
Cormack, 22, was awaiting transfer to Raiford for a 10-year sentence for the
burglary of a Milton Grocery store, that he committed with his 16-year-old brother,
Neal. Lawrence escaped from the county jail in Milton on Friday morning, 29 June,
and stole a .32 caliber revolver from the car belonging to Santa Rosa County
Deputy Clyde Murphy.
Julian
Edwards, 75, and his wife Mae, 73 lived just south of the L&N railroad track
in Mulat. Around 11:30 pm, Cormack
entered their house, and using the stolen revolver, shot and killed the elderly
couple in their bed. Mr. Edwards was shot 5 times, and his wife once through
the back with the bullet piercing her heart.
The black leather holster for the stolen revolver was found the next day
about 50 yards away from the house.
Ernest
Edwards, the slain couple’s son, lived about 200 yards away. He said he heard
shots fired around 11:30, and went outside of his house to quiet the dogs down.
He rose early the next morning to do chores, and discovered the bodies of his
parents about 8 am.
A
large posse was formed in Milton, with the intention of finding Cormack. He was
an immediate suspect, especially with the discovery of the holster identified
as belonging with the stolen revolver.
About
7 am the jailer, Steve Stephens found Cormack sleeping in the Circuit Judge’s
office. He alerted Deputy Murphy, and Cormack was taken into custody without a
fight. He claimed that with everyone looking for him, the courthouse seemed a
safe place to hide.
From The Milton Gazette
Approximate location of the Edwards Home.
Cormack
Background
Lawrence
Cormack was only seven years old the first time he was sent to a reform school.
His father was an abusive drunk, and he later stated that his mother was deaf,
and really did not provide a stable home. He did not remember the reason he was
sent away, but that he did run away from home more than once. By the time he
was a teenager, he had been arrested for petty theft, breaking and entering,
car theft, and mail theft.
He
went to Wichita as a teenager and was picked up for vagrancy. He then went to
California and joined the Merchant Marine. He was caught opening packages that
were on their way to servicemen serving in the Philippines. He was
sentenced to 5 years in an Army stockade, and fined $2000. When released he found his way to San Diego
where he was arrested on a burglary charge. He was sent to reformatory in
Lancaster, California for 15 months.
Soon arrested again for auto theft, he was sent to prison in El Reno,
Oklahoma where he was released after 19 months for good behavior. He spent Christmas at home, and then joined
the Army. After six months of training, he was sent to a school for cooks, and
bakers from where he deserted a week later. He went to San Francisco to stay
with an uncle where he stole his car, (possibly a 1950 Nash), and returned home
to Bird City, Kansas. He was joined by
his 16-year-old brother Neal and committed numerous burglaries in Bird City,
and stole license plates in the Kansas City area.
After
making their way to Milton, they broke into the Jitney Jungle and stole $71.
While sleeping in the woods near DeFuniak Springs they were taken into custody
when a farmer reported suspicious characters to the local police department.
Lawrence
took the blame for the burglaries, and his brother Neal was shipped back home.
He was sentenced to 10 years in the state prison at Raiford, and was awaiting transportation
when he escaped.
Cormack escaped the jail by hiding when the prisoners were being returned to their cells after a work detail of scrubbing part of the building. He hid and the jailer did not miss him. He sneaked into the grand jury room of the courthouse and watched from a window until Sheriff Hayes, and Deputy Cobb left for the day. He then tried to steal Murphy's car but couldn't hotwire it, but he did take a .32 caliber pistol and shells from the glove compartment.
Cormack’s
account of the murders.
Cormack
stated that after escaping, he hid out most of the day before looking for food. I think he followed the railroad track from the courthouse until he arrived at the Mulat area and saw the Edwards home. Leaving his shoes and socks
with the leather holster, he entered the house through a window and was rifling
through Mr. Edwards’ pants pockets when Edwards woke up and confronted him. He panicked,
and began shooting. Mrs. Edwards was shot while trying to help her husband
against the intruder.
Cormack
fled the scene, leaving his shoes, socks, and the holster. He stopped at the
wayside park on Pond Creek and highway 90 and threw the gun in the
water. Then he walked to the courthouse
and hid in the second-floor office of the Circuit Judge. He slept there until
discovered by the jailer.
Aftermath
There
were two different trials for the two murders. It was felt that he could not
get a fair trial in Santa Rosa county, so a change of venue was granted and the
trials were held in Escambia County. Cormack was found guilty of first-degree
murder in both trials, and sentenced to two life terms. After only 20 years in
prison, he was paroled, but violated the terms of his parole when he traveled
to New York City. He turned himself in back in Jacksonville two years later, and
was returned to prison.
In
December of 1978, he was nearing another parole date, when he escaped from the minimum-security
camp after stealing $1700 from the prison canteen. He was recaptured about 9
miles away in Stark, Florida while walking along Highway 301.
I
haven’t found when he was released for good from prison, but he died in
Jacksonville, in November 1993.
Milton
Gazette
July
5, 1951
Transcript of Cormack’s confession to
Woodrow Melvin, Santa Rosa County Attorney.
Statement taken at the Santa Rosa County
jail, Milton Florida, July 1, 1951 at 11 pm.
Mr. Cormack, I am Woodrow Melvin. I am the County Attorney
for Santa Rosa County. The lady who is taking down your testimony is Miss Marguerite
Williams. The gentleman sitting next to her is Mr. Clayton Mapoles, the editor
of The Milton Gazette. The gentleman
sitting next to him is Sheriff Marshall Hayes, Sheriff of Santa Rosa
County. The gentleman standing just
behind Mr. Hayes is Mr. Wade Cobb who is a Deputy Sheriff of Santa Rosa County.
The gentleman standing just behind me is Mr. Hilson Crawford.
Q- Your name is Lawrence William Cormack?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Lawrence, I understand that you would like to make
a statement concerning the details in connection with the death of Mr. and Mrs.
Julian C. Edwards, Is that correct?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Have I, or the Sheriff, or the Deputy Sheriffs, or
anyone offered you any reward for making this statement or are you making it
freely and voluntarily?
A- I am making it freely and voluntarily.
Q- You realize that this statement made by you could
be used as evidence should the State of Florida prosecute you?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Lawrence, I would like for you to start at the
beginning and talk slowly so that Miss Williams can write it down and tell us
whatever it is you want to tell us about what happened after you left the Santa
Rosa County jail last Thursday night, June 28th. June 28th
is the night you got out of the Santa Rosa County jail, Is that right?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- After you left the Courthouse what happened, Mr. Cormack?
A- I got in the car down there and there wasn’t any
keys in there nor nothing. I went in the glove compartment looking for keys and
found a box of shells and gun. I tried to wire the car u but couldn’t so I took
the gun and shells with me. I went over to the green Ford and there was a key
in the glove compartment but it wouldn’t work so I beat it. I went up the
street, I don’t know what the name of it was. I went out the highway, walked
three or four miles until daylight Friday morning, then I went back in the
woods and tried to sleep but ants and mosquitoes were too bad and I went back
to the road. I come on to the creek, went swimming in it and I laid down and
went to sleep and it was after dark when I woke up Friday night. I tied my
clothes in a bundle and waded the creek until I come to a place where there was
an empty house and I crossed the road and I come to this house and sit down
there and left the scabbard to the gun.
Q- You left the scabbard where?
A- Where I was sitting.
Q- Now you are speaking of the scabbard and gun you
got from the car. Was the gun a rifle or what kind of gun?
A- A .32 pistol. I left the scabbard outside and in
front of the house. Then I crossed over to the gate, took off my shoes, went up
on the porch.
Q- Did you take your socks off?
A- I took them off.
Q- What happened?
A- I went in the kitchen, got a drink of water then I
went to the bedroom by the bathroom and I was going to get this man’s money and
I seen what looked like his clothes on a stool in the bedroom. Just as I went
through the door the man sit up and said something like, “Get the hell out of
here.” It scared me and I pulled the gun out of my pocket and started shooting.
Q- Did his wife get out of bed?
A- No, sir, she sat up in the line of fire and said, “Who
is that shooting.” I turned around and ran out the way I come in and somebody turned
on the light in the bedroom when I ran out the back door, so I run on down the
road. I walked until I come to the crossroads, turned left there, and went to
the back door of a house and got a drink from a pump and went on down the
highway. From the highway I went down to the park and sit around there.
Q- You went to the park, did you say?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Is that park about a mile west of Milton on the
highway?
A- Yes, sir. I sat around there for awhile, drank some
water and thought about shooting myself in the head with the gun—then backed
out. In the meantime I loaded the gun again and threw it in the water.
Q- You threw it in the water. You threw it from the
bank or the bridge?
A- From the bridge.
Q- From which side?
A-It was on the right side coming toward Milton. I
took the shells out of my pocket and threw them in also. I walked back to
Milton and I was I Milton a little after daylight. I was going to turn myself
in and I got scared and stayed in the County Commissioner’s room most of the
day and slipped to the back of the Courtroom and laid on the back benches, then
I went in the room where I thought there was an X-ray machine.
Q- Lawrence, did you stay in the room where the
machine in until after dark?
A- I stayed in the Courtroom until after dark.
Q- When did you change over to the room where the
jailer found you/
A- About 12:00 o’clock.
Q- That was Saturday night, last night, that you speak
of having spent here in the Courthouse in Milton, particularly from 12:00 o’clock
midnight until you woke up?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Did you leave out of the Courthouse building from
the time you entered a little after daylight Saturday morning?
A- No, sir.
Q- In other words, you didn’t leave the Courthouse
building from the time you entered a little after daylight Saturday morning?
A- That’s right.
Q- Lawrence, let’s go back now a little bit. When you
came up to this house in which you later killed the man and his wife on the
bed, I believe you said, what did you say you had in mind when you went in the
house?
A- I was going in to get some money. I thought about
getting some food and decided I would make too much noise because I couldn’t
see my way around in the kitchen.
Q- You went in the building, rather dwelling house,
for the purpose of committing a robbery?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Now, can you tell us how many times you shot the
man who raised up in bed?
A- No, sir.
Q- Did you keep shooting them until the gun ran out of
bullets?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Did you snap the gun after it was empty?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- You didn’t attempt to reload the pistol after you
fired it out?
A- No, sir.
Q- The light that turned on—was it in the room Mr. and
Mrs. Edwards were in or was it in a different room?
A- In the same room.
Q- Apparently either she or he turned the light on?
A- I was about one-half way out when the screen door
slammed. Sounded like the screen door.
Q- But they turned the light on?
A- They turned the light on.
Q- When you snapped the gun empty were you shooting at
the man or the woman?
A- I don’t remember.
Q- Did you walk around at the foot of the bed and
shoot either of them?
A- No, sir.
Q- You did all of the shooting from the inside leading
from the inside of the bedroom?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Lawrence, you know that you had the gun loaded when
you went in the house?
A- Yes, sir; it had five shells in it when I got it
and I put another one in it on the first night.
Q- You know that you unloaded the gun on Mr. and Mrs.
Edwards in the bedroom?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Now, when you left, you left your shoes inside the
gate—the same place you left them when you went in the house?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- What kind of socks were you wearing?
A- Army tan.
Q- Do you remember if they had size 11 stamped on
them?
A- Yes, sir, they did.
Q- Then, these socks and shoes are yours?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Has the Sheriff carried you back to the house?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Is the house you went in the same house you were in
when you killed those people?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Do you know whether this was in Santa Rosa County?
A- (Unknown)
Q- Did you go in the same room with the Sheriff as you
went in and shot those people?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Did you see the blood stains on the bed?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- You recognized that place as being the place where
you had been?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Since the Jailer found you yesterday morning
sleeping in the Judge’s office, has anyone mistreated you in any way, Lawrence?
A- No, sir.
Q- You have talked to the State Attorney?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Did he mistreat or abuse you in any way?
A- No, sir.
Q- Did Sheriff Hayes mistreat or abuse you in any way?
A- No, sir.
Q- Did Deputy Sheriff Wade Cobb mistreat or abuse you
in any way?
A-No, sir
Q- How about Mr. Harvell Enfinger?
A- No, sir.
Q- Have you been treated just as nice by the Sheriff
and his force since you were taken back Sunday morning as you had been treated
before you got out Thursday night?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- None of them have promised you that they would talk
to the Judge for you or get you any consideration?
A- No, sir.
Q- By “no sir” you mean that none of them have
promised you anything?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Lawrence, is there anything else you would like for
her to write down?
A- That’s about all.
Q- When you took your shoes off at the gate that was
so you could go in quietly and come back and pick them up?
A- Yes, sir, but when I heard that door slam I thought
someone was after me and I run on down the road without them.
Q- You were out in the yard when you took your shoes
off?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Had you already decided to rob who ever lived in
there?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Did you see anyone moving around in the house while
you were sitting outside?
A- No, sir.
Q- Did you know who lived there?
A- No, sir.
Q- At the time you saw cars on the highway would you
jump out in the woods and hide?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Did you see the Sheriff’s car going down there?
A- No, sir.
Q- No, at that time you were back here.
Q- Lawrence, as you walked back from the Edwards’
house barefooted, what did that do to your feet?
A- I got a blister on one foot.
Q- Which foot?
A- Left foot.
Q- On the instep of your left foot?
A- Right on the ball.
Q- Did you notice any blood on your clothes?
A- No, sir.
Q- Mr. and Mrs. Edwards’ son lived just below them,
about 200 yards. Did you notice a light on in this house, or did you know there
was a house down below?
A- No, sir. I didn’t know there was a house there and
didn’t see a light.
Q- You do know that a light was turned on in the
house, which you left, immediately after you left.
A- That was the reason I left my shoes.
Q- The pistol that you used to shoot Mr. and Mrs.
Edwards with—Is that the same pistol that you took from Mr. Clyde Murphy’s car?
A- Yes, sir.
Mr. Melvin—Will all of you please go outside the room
and leave just the three of us.
Q- Now, Lawrence, there is no one in here except you,
and I and Miss Williams. I just want to ask you again if the statement that you
have made has been made by you freely and voluntarily?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- No one has promised you anything to get it?
A- No, sir.
Q- You realize that the statement you have just made
can be used as evidence against you? Realizing this, you do re-affirm and tell
me that all you have told is the truth?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- When you were first questioned today by the Sheriff
or by the State Attorney, when did you tell them that you came back to the
courthouse?
A- About 12:00 o’clock Friday night.
Q- Did you tell them that you had been in the County
Courtroom or building until you were found this Sunday morning/
A- Yes, sir.
Q- When did you finally decide to make the statement
that you made here this evening?
A- About 7:00 o’clock when I was talking to Mr.
Crawford.
Q- You decided to make the statement. Did Mr. Crawford
promise you anything?
A- No, sir.
Q- Was it that you had your mind burdened and wanted
to get it off your mind?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- Did you tell Mr. Crawford that you wanted to make
the statement?
A- Yes, sir.
July 2, 1951, typing at this point started at 10:23
pm. I have read the foregoing six and one-half pages of the statement and I
hereby state the statement was made freely and voluntarily in answer to
questions as listed on these pages in the exact wording as typed except for the
correction I made on page 4. I had previously been advised that I did not have
to make statement and that any statement that I might make could and might be
used against me in Court, and that under the Constitution of the United States
and of the State of Florida that I did not have to make any statement, that I
was entitled to have an attorney and to talk to an attorney, and that any statement
that I made or gave would have to be made freely and voluntarily made and that
I did make the statement and do now sign the same as my statement concerning
this case and the happenings as set forth herein as being a true and correct
statement of what happened and as my free and voluntary statement.
LAWRENCE W. CORMACK
Witnesses:
MARSHALL HAYES, Sheriff
WADE A COBB.
Mae Edwards
Julian Edwards
Thank you to Ellen Nudo for the above pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards.
