WILKES COUNTY, N.C.--- On October 21, 1866, Tom Dula was convicted of the murder of Laura Foster. It was at daybreak that the jury returned the verdict in the Iredell County Courthouse, where it had been moved from Wilkes County. The jury had not received their orders from the judge until about midnight the night before.
They deliberated during the night. The defense moved for an arrest of judgment, which was overruled and the judge pronounced sentence: that Thomas Dula be hanged by the neck until dead on November 9, 1866. Former Governor Zebulon B. Vance represented Dula pro bon.
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Speculation abounded as to Vance’s reasons for taking the case, one of the few he ever lost before a jury. Regardless of his motives, he gave a spirited defense and succeeded in twice taking the case to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
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The crowds of spectators and reporters that appeared in the courtroom were as likely there to see the charismatic Vance as they were to hear the sensational testimony.
Ultimately, however, the High Court upheld the conviction and Dula was hanged for the crime in May 1868.
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