The Jennie Bauters Murder
Story by Harold L. Edwards printed in True West Magazine Feb. 1999

In 1905, Goldroad was a booming mining community in the Black Mountains near the Colorado River in northwestern Arizona Territory. The town was no different from other mining camps; in addi­tion to a large population of hard-working and law-abiding citizens, the camp had its share of tinhorn gamblers, pimps, prostitutes, and the usual panhandlers. Several saloons in the area of the town called “the badlands,” or officially as Acme, served as headquarters for their troublesome activities. Violence was common in Goldroad, but one callous murder in 19O5 shocked and outraged most citizens by its overly brutal and senseless nature. The citizens of Goldroad waited to see if the killer would be brought to justice. Although the judicial process took extended time, in the end the citizens were not disappointed.

Goldroad came into existence almost by accident. Henry Lovin was the prosperous owner of a general store in Kingman, Arizona. He also had a number of other businesses, including a couple of successful cattle ranches. Lovin was community-minded, and in 1899 he was constable of Kingman. Two years later he became the sheriff of Mohave County. However, by 19O5 he was deeply involved in his businesses and territorial politics and no longer served as a law enforcement officer. He also dabbled in mining properties and turned a profit from them. From time to time he grub-staked prospectors but he expected little or no return on these investments. However, one of the best expenditures Lovin ever made was when he grub-staked Jose Gerez.

Jose Gerez was a down and out prospector who hung around Kingman, living on handouts. He became a pest at the Lovin store, and simply to get rid of him Lovin grubstaked Gerez to a prospecting trip in the Black Mountains along the Colorado River’s east side. To Lovin‘s astonishment and surprise, Gerez located three mining claims. Two of the claims were immediately sold but they retained the third one and named it “Goldroad.” The Goldroad mine developed into one of the richest gold strikes in Arizona up to that time. Eventually, both Lovin and Gerez sold their interests in the mine and retired from the venture, financially comfortable.

In the meantime, as word of the strike spread, gold-seekers poured into the area. And, of course, the usual troublesome element was almost the first to arrive to cash in on the easy money from the entertainment starved men in the camp. One of those who arrived about this time was Jennie Bauters, who opened a saloon in the “badlands.” Almost nothing is known about Jennie Bauters other than when she arrived in Goldroad she was no longer young and had run saloons in other camps along the Colorado River and in Jerome, Arizona. She enjoyed a reputation for being concerned about the welfare of others and for her generosity toward impoverished miners who were down on their luck.

Unfortunately for Jennie, around 1900 she accepted Clement C. Leigh as her paramour. Like many others of the saloon gentry, Leigh seemed to be a man with no past. In 1905, he was believed to have been about forty-two years of age and originally from Visalia, California. He was a professional gambler, but as time passed he drank more and played cards less. Finally, his drinking over-whelmed him and he refused to work at all. He became a parasite. He depended on handouts and free drinks from his friends when Jennie refused to give him money. He progressively became more abusive to Jennie until she could no longer tolerate him and terminated the relationship. But Leigh wouldn’t leave, and he openly threatened to kill Jennie. Despite Leigh’s threats, Jennie stood firm. Although Jennie and Leigh no longer shared living quarters, the drunken gambler still hung around Jennie’s saloon, caging drinks from his companions and threatening his former paramour.

Jennie told several of her friends that she was afraid of Leigh and she felt he was going to kill her. On one occasion in July or August, 1905, she was sitting on the front porch of her saloon when Jack Fitzpatrick shot and killed James Stevenson behind the saloon directly across the street from her place. When she heard the gunfire, Jennie dived into her saloon for cover. She testified to her actions during the coroner’s inquest into Stevenson’s death, but other than to say that she thought the shots were meant for her she didn’t elaborate. It was obvious that she thought Leigh was shooting at her.

During the evening and late night hours of September 2, 1905, Clement Leigh and several companions drank heavily and steadily in Jennie’s saloon. Jennie had no contact with Leigh that night, and she retired early to her upstairs room.

The more Leigh drank the more sullen and morose he became. His drinking binge continued non-stop into the following morning, Sunday, September 3, 1905.

The subject of money came up among Leigh and his companions while they were imbibing, and Leigh said, “I intend to get a sum of money even if I have to die for it” Leigh didn’t elaborate on his comment, and his friends had no idea what he was talking about. However, at 8:00 o’clock Sunday morning he armed himself with a loaded revolver which Constable Henry Straugman had left behind the bar.

Apparently, Leigh knew that Jennie had a large sum of cash in her room from business proceeds; this was the money he intended to have “even if he had to die for it.” He climbed the stairs to Jennie’s room and kicked in the door. With the gun in his hand, Leigh terrorized Jennie, who was still in bed. The frightened woman jumped from her bed and bolted for the door. Leigh fired a shot and Jennie screamed from fright as the bullet just missed her. She ran down the stairs, through the saloon, and out of the front door onto the sidewalk. Leigh chased her the entire way, and as Jennie approached the street, he fired two more shots at her. One bullet struck her in the neck the other one entered her left side. Jennie fell into the street and remained there, paralyzed.

Leigh turned about, went into the saloon cellar, and got cartridges to reload his pistol. He immediately returned to Jennie and asked: “You are not dead yet, are you?” While Jennie piteously begged for her life, Leigh twisted her head around so he could get a better shot. From a distance of about eight inches, Leigh fired a bullet into Jennie’s head, killing her instantly.

Townsmen gathered on the scene when they heard the shots and Jennie’s screams. Before the stunned onlookers could grasp what had happened, Leigh stood up, placed the muzzle of the pistol to his chest, and pulled the trigger. The shot knocked him to the ground. He seemed convinced his wound was mortal. He picked his hat up from the ground and put it over his face to shield it from the sun and calmly waited for death to overtake him. However, the bullet Leigh fired didn’t enter his body cavity. Instead, it ranged around the exterior of his ribs and lodged in a muscle under his arm. The wound was painful but not serious, and Leigh was in no immediate danger of dying.

Deputy Constable Fred Brown arrived on the scene, quickly evaluated the situation and arrested Leigh for murder. As Brown led Leigh away, citizens removed Jennie‘s body from the street. The crowd of onlookers continued to grow, and there began mutterings of lynching Leigh. However, no leader emerged to lead the mob and the crisis quickly passed.

Later in the day, Kingman Township Justice of the Peace Anson Smith, acting as county coroner, conducted an inquest into Jennie’s death. Several witnesses testified before the coroner’s jury. Patsy Morton, Jennie’s friend and sometimes employee, said she was sleeping in a tent near Jennie’s saloon when she was awakened by the report of a gun and a woman’s scream. She emerged from her tent in time to see Leigh go into the cellar of Jennie’s saloon. He remained there a moment and then came out. As he walked back toward the street, according to Patsy, he was either extracting spent shells from a pistol in his hands or reloading it. She watched Leigh walk up to Jennie and shoot her in the head. A girl who resided in the tent with Patsy Morton was also watching Leigh and she screamed when Leigh shot Jennie. While Patsy looked at her companion, Leigh fired the gun again. When Patsy looked back toward the street, Leigh was lying on the ground. Patsy also testified that Leigh and Jennie had been living together for some time and that there had been several quarrels between them. Patsy Morton went on to say that Jennie didn’t want Leigh around but was afraid to leave him, afraid that he would kill her.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jesse Lawson informed the jury that he, at Jennie’s request, slept in Jennie’s saloon the night before she was murdered. According to Lawson, Jennie said to him: “I do not trust myself with the money while Leigh is here.” Lawson went on to say that Jennie had lived with Leigh and that he had dealt her “a dog’s life.” Lawson related that the night Fitzpatrick shot and killed James Stevenson, he had told Jennie that the Stevenson shooting was “too bad.” Leigh, who was also present, said, “There is liable to be another killing take place tonight.” Jennie felt the comment was a direct threat from Leigh.

C.H. Whitfield testified that he was in a nearby barber shop when he heard shots fired. He saw Jennie run into the street from her saloon and Leigh shoot at her. He heard J ennie plead, “Leigh, don’t shoot me no more!” At this point, Leigh went up to her and fired a shot into her head. As Whitfield approached Talbott’s saloon, next to Jennie’s place, he heard another shot and saw Leigh lying in the street.

W.A. Morgan told the coroner’s jury that he was delivering lumber that morning when he heard a woman scream and then a gunshot. He looked up and saw a woman in nightclothes run into the street. “Leigh followed right up and shot her.” He tried to shoot her again but the gun wouldn’t work. Leigh walked away while Jennie lay in the street. Leigh then returned to Jennie and said: “You are not dead yet, are you?” Morgan then described how Leigh had shot Jennie in the head. After shooting Jennie, Leigh sat in the street by Jennie and shot himself, “laying back easy.”

A.R. Irvine testified that he was filling a water tank in a nearby restaurant when he heard a shot and a woman scream. A short time later he heard two more shots and the woman screamed again. At this juncture he walked into the street to see what had happened. He saw Jennie lying in the street, and he walked up to her, as no one was around. Irvine saw one bullet wound in her neck and another one in her left side. She appeared to be dead. He placed his hand on the back of her leg to see if he could detect some life, but he felt no pulse and concluded that she was dead. Irvine informed the coroner’s jury that he then walked into Jennie’s saloon but there was no one there. He went on to Talbott’s saloon and asked some men there why they didn’t get Jennie out of the street because “she was shot to pieces.” He got no answer and went back into the street. As he walked toward Jennie’s body, he saw Leigh approaching him with a pistol in his hand. Irvine avoided Leigh by ducking into Jennie’s saloon.

Irvine continued by saying that he watched Leigh cock the gun and fire a bullet into Jennie’s head from a distance of about eight inches. Irvine, who was unarmed, retreated farther back into Jennie’s saloon as he felt Leigh might shoot at anyone he saw. Irvine heard another shot and looked out onto the street. He saw Leigh lying on his back on the ground by Jennie. At this moment, Leigh rolled to his side, reached over and got his hat, moved back to his original position and placed his hat over his face. Irvine finished his testimony by saying: “Miss Jennie told me at the breakfast table [in the restaurant where he worked] last Friday morning that she did not think she would live a month; that that guy, meaning Leigh, would kill her.”

While there were variations in the details of the murder, the witnesses essentially told the same story: that Leigh had murdered Jennie and prior to her murder she was fearful that he would soon kill her. The coroner’s jury ruled the following: “Jennie Bauters came to her death on September 3, 1905, by wounds caused by a gun in the hands of C.C. Leigh and the same was premeditated and maliciously committed.”

A murder charge was filed against Leigh, and Justice of the Peace Anson Smith issued a warrant for Leigh’s arrest. Leigh was trans­ported to the Mohave County jail in Kingman to await trial. A Kingman mortician embalmed Jennie‘s body to preserve it until a disposition of the remains could he made by her relatives. Jennie’s son, J.P. Bauters, of Chicago, Illinois, arranged for her remains to he buried in Chicago.

(Mr. Edwards is incorrect in his account of the burial of Jennie. She was actually buried in the Old Pioneer Cemetery in Kingman, Az. In 1917, the Old Pioneer Cemetery was moved to the Mountainveiw Cemetery. Mohave County had donated the Old Pioneer Cemetery property to the school board to build a new High school. Mohave County would not pay for your loved one to be moved to the new location. It was your responsibility to move your loved one while Mohave County provided the plot. What happened next stunned everybody, around 1940, children playing on the football field began unearthing bones of the bodies that were never moved. Several organizations complained about this and all the existing remains were exhumed and put in a solitary location on the property with a plaque dedicated to the unknown Pioneers buried there. C.C. Leigh was also buried in the Old Pioneer Cemetery and was never moved. This means that Jennie is forever entombed with her murderer!! )

Jennie Bauter’s tragic, brutal, and senseless murder sobered the rowdy citizens of Goldroad. It was the final straw. They were tired of the continuing violence, and this time they decided to do something about it. On September 9, 1905, the Kingman Mohave County Miner reported Jennie’s murder and Leigh’s arrest in detail, but the editor also published an addendum:

It is reported that since the several murders at Goldroad the people have concluded that it is necessary to make the undesirable residents of the town get up and “hit the high places” on the road to some other locality. In consequence the officer of that place has been making a cleanup and many of the “hop heads” have already gone away. These non producers are the mischief makers in a camp and the sooner they are driven out the better it will be for law abiding citizens.

The editorial summed up the community’s feelings very well and the citizens of Mohave County waited to see how the courts were going to deal with the matter.

On September 8, 1905, Clement C. Leigh appeared before Justice of the Peace Anson Smith for his preliminary hearing. The witnesses who testified in the coroner’s inquest testified again. Leigh seemed lethargic and refused to cross examine the witnesses, so Judge Smith examined the witnesses for Leigh. In the end, Judge Smith determined the evidence supported Leigh’s guilt and he ordered the case transferred to the district court for trial. He also ordered Leigh to be held without bail pending his trial.

The Fourth Judicial District Court for the Territory of Arizona convened in Kingman on October 16, 1905, to try Clement C. Leigh for the murder of Jennie Bauters. Leigh had pleaded not guilty to the charge. Judge RE. Sloan conducted the trial. Mohave County District Attorney William Blakely prose­cuted the case and Attorney Leroy Anderson provided the defense.

The jury was selected and the witnesses who testified in the coroner’s inquest and the preliminary hearing testified once more. Leigh’s lawyer provided the best defense he could for his client, but the evidence of Leigh’s guilt was over­whelming and the jury lost no time in convicting the defendant of first-degree murder. Judge Sloan sentenced Leigh to death by hanging.

During the entire court process, Leigh appeared unconcerned about his fate and sat quietly throughout the trial and sentencing.

Leigh’s mother and sister had traveled to Kingman from Visalia, California, to attend his trial. After Leigh was sentenced to death, his mother attempted to gather signatures for a petition to Arizona’s governor to commute Leigh’s sentence to life imprisonment. However, public sentiment was against her and she failed. She returned to Visalia.

The date for Leigh’s execution in Kingman was set for December 6, 1905, but Leigh’s attorney appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court on a writ of error. A stay of execution was granted in order that the appeal could be heard. Attorney Anderson alleged the usual points for an appeal but added that the jury selection consisted of only twenty-four members rather than the twenty-nine required by law. Therefore, the defendant wasn’t allowed the number of challenges provided by law and he had to accept jurors that were unacceptable to him. Further, jurors had talked to the witnesses about the case prior to the trial.

The case was argued before the Arizona Supreme Court in early 1906. On April 26, the Supreme Court affirmed the actions and orders of the lower court. On October 17, 1906, Judge Sloan again sentenced Leigh to hang, the date set for December 14, 1906, in Kingman.

As an aside in the case, on October 12, 1906, Constable Henry Straugman filed a request in the district court for the return of his revolver, the gun used to kill Jennie Bauters. The court records do not indicate an outcome, and it is presumed that his personal property was eventually returned to him.

By December 1, 1906, preparations for Leigh’s execution were in progress. The scaffold was already constructed and the trap was about to be installed. The Mohave County Miner prophesied that Leigh would meet his death “without flinching.” I Leigh seemed disconnected from events and disinterested in what was occurring to him. It was further reported in the newspaper that Leigh’s execution would not be a Roman holiday . Sheriff Walter Brown decided no more than the legally required viewers would be present at Leigh’s hanging, and a stockade was constructed around the scaffold so the public couldn’t view the execution.

On December 8, 1906, the Mohave County Miner reported a change in Leigh’s attitude. He was in good spirits and even joked with a newspaper reporter about his coming execution.

Meanwhile, Leigh’s attorney continued work on his case. He appealed directly to Arizona’s governor, saying his client was temporarily insane when he killed Jennie Bauters and, therefore, he shouldn’t be executed for his crime. Governor Joseph Kibbey granted Leigh a reprieve from execution until January 18, 1907, to give Attorney Anderson time to present his case. Anderson argued his best, but failed in his bid to save Leigh’s life. Jennie Bauters’ murderer was hanged in the Kingman jail yard on January 18, 1907.

According to the Mohave County Miner of January 19, 1907, Leigh’s courage held almost to the last minute. As Sheriff Brown entered his cell to escort him to the gallows, Leigh asked, “I suppose you have come for me?” When Brown answered in the affirmative, Leigh struggled to retain his composure; however, his legs failed to support him and he fell to the floor. He was unable to regain his feet and had to be carried to the scaffold and up the steps to the platform. He was held in place while the noose was adjusted around his neck and the hood was drawn over his head.

Clement Leigh was in a state of mental and emotional shock, and he seemed not to know what was happening to him. He couldn’t even make the last statement expected from a condemned man. The trap was sprung at precisely 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon, and Clement Leigh plunged to his death. After hanging thirty minutes, he was cut down and pronounced dead. His body was received by a Kingmnan mortician, and he was buried in the Kingman cemetery at county expense.

In January 1907, Jennie’s son arrived in Kingman to discharge his mother’s personal and business matters, which reportedly amounted to $14,000. The hanging of Clement Leigh and the settling of Jennie Bauters’ estate concluded the Bauters murder case. The citi­zens of Goldroad, a tough mining camp, regretted the tragic death of.Jennie Bauters, but they were secure that Clement C. Leigh got exactly what he deserved.

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