LEE RENFRO is accused by the Grand Jury of the County of Apache, Territory of Arizona, by this Indictment,
of the crime of MURDER of  ISAAC N. ELLINGER.
TERRITORY OF ARIZONA                                                                                                Springerville, A.T.
SS

COUNTY OF APACHE                                                                                                      November 18, 1886

The People of the Territory of Arizona send Greetings:

To Wilds P. Plummer, T.W. Jones and Dr. W.N. Sherman:

We command you, that all and singular business and excuses being laid aside, you be and appear before the undersigned Acting Coroner of the County of Apache, Territory of Arizona, at the residence of Dr. W.N. Sherman, in the Town of Springerville, in said County and Territory, on the eighteenth day of November, 1886, at ten O'clock A.M. then and there, to testify and give evidence in a certain Inquisition, now pending before said Acting Coroner, and herein fornot, or answer to the contrary at your peril.
Given under my hand this 18th day of November, 1886.

John T. Hogue
Acting Coroner
County of Apache
Territory of Arizona

This is to certify that I executed the written subponea by reading the same to the witness'es named, Wilds P. Plummer, T.W. Jones and Dr. W.N. Sherman, and making them acquainted with the contents thereof, on the eighteenth day of November, 1886.

In the Justice's Court
Springerville Precinct
County of Apache
Territory of Arizona

The TERRITORY OF ARIZONA
SS
COUNTY OF APACHE

The People of The Territory of Arizona send Greetings;

To W.I. Landell, John Johnson, Gustav Becker, Elisha Everett, A.A. DeWitt, James Thompson, M.A. Burk, Horace Russell, N.h. McCuistion, P.H. Snow, G.H. Crosby:

We command you, that all and singular business and excuses being laid aside, you be and appear before the undersigned, Acting Coroner of Springerville Precinct, County of Apache, Territory of Arizona, at Dr. W.N. Sherman's residence, in Springerville, on the 18th day of November, 1886, at ten O'clock A.M. then and there, to serve as a Juror in a certain Inquisition Now pending before said Coroner, and herein fornot, or answer to the contrary of your peril. Given under my hand the 18th day of November, 1886.


TERRITORY OF ARIZONA                                                                                                 Springerville, A.T. SS

COUNTY OF APACHE                                                                                                     November 18, 1886

In the matter of the Inquisition upon the body of Isaac N. Ellinger, before John T. Hogue, Acting Coroner.

The following evidence was taken.  Wilds P. Plimmer, first being duly sworn, deposes and says:

Q. What is your name?

A. Wilds P. Plummer.

Q. Where do you reside?

A. In Socorro County, New Mexico.

Q. How old are you?

A. Twenty five years old.

Q. Are you acquainted with the deceased, Isaac N. Ellenger?

A. Yes, Sir.

Q. How long have you known him?

A. Since August, 1884.

Q. Are you acquainted with the circumstances under which the deceased received the gun shot wound which caused his death?

A. I think I am.

Q. You will please state all you know about it.  When the shooting occurred, where and all the circumstances?

A. Myself, and the deceased went to Cieniga Amarillas, known as Phin Clanton's Ranch, on or about the 6th day of November, 1886.  I went there with the deceased to see Ike Clanton on some business.  The deceased asked Ike Clanton to come to Springerville with him.  Ike Clanton told deceased two or three times he could not come.  We set down to eat dinner and deceased and Ike Clanton and Lee Renfro got through eating dinner first.  When they got up from the table and went into the sitting room at Clanton's Ranch which stands off to itself on the east of the building.  Myself and Bill Jackson and Phin Clanton were left at the table when I heard a voice hollar, ho! ho! like some one excited.  Next, I heard a pistol shot.  Phin Clanton and Bill Jackson ran from the kitchen where we were eating into the sitting room, I following behind them.  I was met at the door of the sitting room by Lee Renfro with a six shooter in his hand, full cocked; and he ordered me to throw up my hands, and told me to unbuckle my belt.  I did not do it.  And he told Phin Clanton to take it off.  I told them not to make any brakes at me and they did not try to bother me.  Only Renfro kept his six shooter on me.  I then went in the sitting room where I found deceased standing, braced,his knees bent, trying to keep from falling.  When Phin and Ike Clanton told deceased to lie down on a bed on the floor.  We all, Myself, Ike and Phin Clanton and Bill Jackson, were looking at the wound deceased had received, when Lee Renfro said he did not think he had hit him anyhow.  The deceased said: ' Yes you have.' 'You have killed me and you have killed me without a cause.'  Then Lee Renfro said to Bill Jackson: 'Go and get me a horse.' Bill Jackson did not start at once.  When Phin and Ike Clanton told Bill Jackson to go on and get Lee a horse, one of them, remarking to Lee. 'You are in no hurry.'  Lee replied and said: ' No, I am in no hurry.'  The deceased then said; 'Take him in Boy's and don't let him get away.'  Ike Clanton then said:to deceased; 'We can't do it, Ike, he is a friend of ours.'  I asked Ike Clanton how he stood on this affair?  He said; 'Just as it is, I can't stand no other way.'  Lee Renfro then said; 'These boys are friends of mine and they stand with me.'  Ike Clanton then said; 'Yes, we stand with Lee.'  Then Lee Renfro walked out and walked and stood in the kitchen door about fifteen steps from the sitting room, holding his pistol presented at his side.  I then got on my horse and started for Dr. Sherman. This is about all I know about it.

Q. Did you hear any angry words between deceased and Lee Renfro previous to the shooting?

A. No, Sir. They were laughing and talking together while eating dinner in the kitchen, and while on the way to the sitting room after eating dinner.

Q. Did you not hear any disputation of any kind before the shooting?

A. I did not-hear any at all. They were talking friendly, apparently and joking about the Cotton Wood Ranch.

Q. Did deceased have any gun or knife in his hand when you went into the sitting room that you could see?

A. No, Sir.

Q. Did you ask the deceased any question as to how the shooting occurred?

A. Yes, Sir. And deceased told me that we were talking about the Cotton Wood Ranch and Lee Renfro shot me and that is about it.

Q. Were there any other shots fired at that time?

A. There was a while after.

Q. Were there any other shots fired at deceased?

A. No, Sir.

Signed, Wilds P. Plummer

Subscribed and sworn before me this eighteenth day of November,1886. John T. Hogue

Justice of the Peace
And Acting Coroner
Apache County
Territory of Arizona

T.W. Jones, first, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

Q. What is your name?

A. T.W. Jones.

Q. Where do you reside?

A. Socorro County, New Mexico.

Q. How old are you?

A. Thirty four years.

Q. Were you acquainted with deceased and how long have you known him?

A. Yes, Sir. I have known him since October, 1884.

Q. How old was deceased?

A. Twenty six years old.

Q. What was his reputation as a neighbor and citizen?

A. As a neighbor.  Good, as far as I know.

Q. Did you go to see him soon after he was shot?

A. Yes, Sir.  I arrived at his bed side two hours after he was shot and remained with most of the time until he died.

Q. Did deceased make a statement to you about the circumstances under which he was shot?  If so, state to the Jury what it was.

A. Yes, Sir.  After I arrived at Phin Clanton's Ranch, Ike Clanton requested me to see Isaac N. Ellinger, the deceased, in regard to the shooting.  He, Clanton, said that Ellinger was rational and could tell me just how it occurred.  I then asked the deceased Ellinger to make a statement.  The deceased told me that he and Renfro were talking about the Cotton Wood Ranch, and Renfro told Ellinger that he had understood that he, Ellinger, would have made him, Renfro, run down the Canyon if he Renfro, had jumped the Cotton Wood Ranch.  The deceased replied; ' It would have been no difference to him whether or not he ran.'  Then Renfro went for his pistol and tried to hit him with it first, and then shot him (deceased) with the pistol.  He, Renfro, shot me without any cause.  I asked deceased who was present when he was shot, and he told me; No one but Ike Clanton and Lee Renfro.

Signed T.W. Jones

Subscribed and sworn to before me this eighteenth day of November 1886 John T. Hogue

Justice of the Peace
And Acting Coroner
Apache County
Territory of Arizona

W.N.Sherman, first being duly sworn, deposes and says:

Q. What is your name?

A. Walter N. Sherman.

Q. Where do you reside?

A. Springerville, Apache County, Arizona.

Q. How old are you?

A. Thirty one years.

Q. What is your profession?

A. Physician and Surgeon.

Q. Were you called to attend deceased, Isaac N. Ellinger?

A. Yes, Sir.

Q. What caused his death?

A, In my opinion, deceased came to his death fron a gun shot wound.

Q. Did deceased make any statement to you in regard to the circumstances under which he was shot?

A. The first time we were alone in the room at Clanton's Ranch, I asked him if he had made a statement to any of his friends concerning the shooting?  He said he had told Bud Jones all about it.  Deceased, afterword, said repeately in my presence that Lee Renfro shot him without provocation, that it was a cold blooded murder, that he did not know Renfro was going to shoot, but thought he was running a bluff and that he (deceased) made no attempt to defend himself.  He made these remarks repeatedly to me and to others in my presence, and was perfectly rational when he made these remarks.

Q. How long have you practiced medicine and surgery?

A. Since Feburary, 1875.

Q. Are you a regular graduate of Medicine?

A. I am.

Q. Where, at what Medical College did you graduate?

A. First, at the Medical Department of the State University of Indiana, and later at the Medical Department of Butler University, Indiana.

Q. How long after deceased was shot did he die?

A. Four days.

Signed, Walter N. Sherman

Subscribed and sworn to before me this eighteenth day of November, 1886 John T. Hogue

Justice of the Peace
And Acting Coroner Apache County
Territory of Arizona
Filed, Dec. 10, 1886 Alfred Ruiz, Clerk.

The Tombstone Prospector reported that 'The Clanton's were at their Ranch, by some accounts, operating as heads of a ranch-jumping gang of ne'er do wells, including a man named Renfro.'  The Clanton's invited a neighboring ranch owner named Ellinger to their dwelling, and Renfro began abusing the guest over a ranch claim. Renfro picked up a six shooter and strode toward Ellinger.  Ike Clanton jumped in between the two, but 'Renfro' suddenly threw his pistol around Ike and Shot Ellinger in the breast.'  'The rancher lived several days in great agony, suffering a thousand deaths, and died on or about the 10th day of November last, 1886.'


TERRITORY OF ARIZONA                                                                                                    Springerville, A.T.

COUNTY OF APACHE                                                                                                        Nonember 18, 1886

Inquisition by Coroner's Jury

In the Matter of the                                                                 Before, John T. Hogue,
Inquisition upon the                                                                    Acting Coroner         
body of Isaac Ellinger deceased.                                                                                  

We, the undersigned Jury, summoned to appear before John T. Hogue, the Acting Coroner, of the Precinct of Springerville, and County of Apache, at the residence of Dr. W.N. Sherman, in the Town of Springerville, on the eighteenth day of November, 1886, to inquire into the cause of the death of Isaac N. Ellinger, having been duly sworn according to law and having made such Inquisition after inspecting the body, and hearing the testimony adduced, upon our oaths, each and all of us do say that we find the deceased was named Isaac N. Ellinger, was a Native of the United States, aged, about twenty six years; That he came to his death on the tenth day of November, 1886, at this County, by a pistol shot wound inflicted on the sixth day of November, 1886, by the hand of one Lee Renfro, and-we further find, that we believe Lee Renfro to be the person by whose act the death of the said Isaac N. Ellinger was occasioned, according to the evidence hereto attached.  All of which we duly certify by this Inquisition, in writing, by us signed, this eighteenth day of November, 1886.

CORONER'S JURY:

Luther Martin
Washington Landell
N.H. McCuistion
A.A. Dewitt
George H. Crosby
James Thompson
M.H. Burk
H. Russell
Elisha Everett

IN THE COUNTY COURT

in and for the

COUNTY OF APACHE, TERRITORY OF ARIZONA

THE TERRITORY OF ARIZONA :
                Against
LEE RENFRO            Defendant:                                                             INDICTMENT #10
                                                                                                                 Cal 82

LEE RENFRO is accused by the Grand Jury of the County of Apache, Territory of Arizona, by this Indictment, of the crime of MURDER committed as follows: Said LEE RENFRO on or about the sixth day of November in the year 1886, and before the finding of this Indictment, did at the County of Apache, Territory of Arizona, upon one ISAAC ELLINGER unlawfully, feloniously and of his malice aforethought make an assault, and the said LEE RENFRO with a certain pistol commonly called a six shooter which he, the said LEE RENFRO then and there in his hands, had and held and which said pistol was then and there loaded and charged with gun powder and lead bullets and which said pistol so loaded and charged, as before said was then and there a deadly weapon, did then and there, unlawfully, felonious, wilfully, deliberately and with malice aforethought, by means of said pistol, discharge and shoot one of said lead bullets into the body of said. ISAAC ELLINGER, and by means, the Defendant did then and there inflict a certain wound in and upon the body of the said ISSAC ELLINGER, of which said wound, the said ISAAC ELLINGER on or about the fifteen day of November in the year 1886, in said County and Territory died, contrary to the statutes of the Territory of Arizona in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the same.

(Signed) Harris Baldwin
District Attorney of Apache County,
Territory of Arizona.

From the Jack Becker Collection

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