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E-book
Author Neal, Bill, 1936-

Title Vengeance is mine : the scandalous love triangle that triggered the Boyce-Sneed feud / Bill Neal
Edition 1st ed
Published Denton, Tex. : University of North Texas Press, ©2011

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Description 1 online resource (xviii, 306 pages) : illustrations, maps
Series A.C. Greene series ; no. 11
A.C. Greene series ; 11.
Contents The three families: Settling in antebellum Texas -- Migrating to a new frontier: the Texas Panhandle -- Amarillo, 1910: John Beal, Lena -- and Al -- A secret too big to keep -- "Let the old men settle it" -- A man with a plan -- Escape, flight, and pursuit -- The gathering storm -- Then the killings begin -- To the courts -- From guns to gavels -- Lena's sanity hearing -- "The greatest legal battle ever" -- The 1912 Fort Worth murder trial of John Beal Sneed -- Protecting a home, or protecting a killer? -- The conclusion of the 1912 John Beal Sneed murder trial -- The waiting game -- Ambush at the death cottage -- "Because this is Texas" -- The second Fort Worth murder trial of John Beal Sneed -- The murder trial begins -- The verdict -- "Making'em believe in ghosts" -- The Beech Epting murder trial -- "No trial for the dead" -- The Vernon murder trial of John Beal Sneed -- The John Beal Sneed wars continue -- Combat in the courts, firefights in the streets -- Epilogue: A. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat -- Spin-doctoring, dirty tricks, and whatever else it takes -- B. Reflections, speculations, unsolved mysteries -- And what happened to Lena's baby? -- Appendix one: The rest of the tragic story of Hugh D. Spencer -- Miss Lillie was a rover -- Appendix two: Timeline
Summary The 1912 Boyce-Sneed feud in West Texas began with a torrid sex scandal at the core of a love triangle, featuring Lena Snyder Sneed, the high-spirited, headstrong wife; Al Boyce, Jr., Lena's reckless, romantic lover; and John Beal Sneed, Lena's arrogant, grim, and vindictive husband, who responded to Lena's plea for a divorce by having her locked up in an insane asylum on grounds of "moral insanity." The chase was on after Al rescued Lena from the asylum and the lovers fled to Canada. That's when the killings began. No one who knew the vengeful John Beal Sneed doubted for a moment that he would go after his wife's lover with lethal intent. Frustrated by Al's escape to Canada, Sneed assassinated Al's aged and unarmed father, Colonel Albert Boyce, a wealthy Amarillo banker and former manager of the huge XIT Ranch in the Panhandle during the late nineteenth century, who had been defending his son against Sneed's legal machinations. Newspaper headlines predicted the upcoming murder trial would be the "greatest legal battle ever fought in Texas Courts." Sneed's well-paid legal team first earned him a mistrial. While awaiting his second trial, Sneed ambushed and killed Al Boyce, Jr., who had foolishly returned to Amarillo and was shot in the back, with witnesses present, while walking the main street. Sneed was acquitted in his second trial for killing the father, and later acquitted for the killing of son Al Boyce, Jr., as well-his legal team skillfully invoking the self-help justice of the unwritten law defending one's marital home. Bill Neal, attorney and writer, tells the full story of this sordid affair with special analysis of the trial tactics that were so carefully crafted to resonate with the jurors of this era and ensure Sneed's acquittal
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Boyce family.
Snead family.
Sneed, John Beal -- Trials, litigation, etc
SUBJECT Sneed, John Beal fast
Boyce family fast
Snead family fast
Subject Boyce-Sneed Feud.
Vendetta -- Texas -- Texas Panhandle -- History -- 20th century
Triangles (Interpersonal relations) -- Texas -- Texas Panhandle
Violence -- Texas -- Panhandle -- History -- 20th century
HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- General.
Boyce-Sneed Feud
Triangles (Interpersonal relations)
Vendetta
Violence
SUBJECT Texas Panhandle (Tex.) -- History -- 20th century
Texas Panhandle (Tex.) -- Biography
Texas -- History -- 1846-1950. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85134269
Subject Texas
Texas -- Panhandle
Texas -- Texas Panhandle
Genre/Form History
Trials, litigation, etc.
Biographies
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2011018204
ISBN 9781574414400
1574414402
1283395010
9781283395014
1574413171
9781574413175
9786613395016
6613395013