| Notes |
- LKH note:
The photo of Opal McCane's headstone on Find a Grave shows death year as 1933 and an news article transcribed there proports to be from December 1933.
However. his death certificate and numerous news articles all state his death as December 25, 1934.
News articles dated December 1934 are in the Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro Kentucky; Wilmington News=Journal, Wilmington, Ohio; Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky; The Owensboro Messenger, Owensboro, Kentucky; and the Lexington-Herald, Lexington, Kentucky.
[5]
- LKH note:
News article from Find a Grave incorrectly gives date of publication as 27 December 1933.
YOUTH KILLED WHILE HUNTING
Companion Held For Shooting;
Claims He Shot In Self Defense
VANCEBURG, Ky, Dec. 26 A quarrel among members of a party
of rabbit hunters about 10 a.m. today two miles south of Concord, Ky, resulted in the slaying of Opal McCane 24, married, and the arrest of Charles Gilbert, 21, married, in connection with the shooting.
Sheriff Clark Esham of Vanceburg said that Gilbert surrendered when he went to the scene of the shooting. The sheriff said that Gilbert claims he shot in self defense. The prisoner, according to the sheriff, said that he and McCane and two other youths were hunting when McCane got into a quarrel with one of his companions and fired at him but the shots went wild.
Gilbert claims that when he remonstrated with McCane for shooting at the boy, McCane turned the shotgun on him, and Charles Gilbert fired, killing his companion instantly.
Coroner H.M. Bertram investigating the shooting. He said that McCane was shot In the stomach, the full load of the shotgun shell striking the hunter. Both of the principals live near Concord. John McCane, the father of the victim, resides In Adams county near Manchester, 0hio.
The body was brought to the Kimble undertaking parlor here.
Copied from The Portsmouth Times Portsmouth, Ohio.
Dated Thursday December 27, 1933
According to his death cert. he was a victim of a homicide.
[1, 5]
- Lewis County Man Gives Up in Killing
Special to the Courier-Journal
Vanceburg, Ky., Dec. 25 - Charged with the fatal shooting of Opal McCane, 24 years old, on a road near the Pine Grove Church, two miles south of Concord, Ky., at 22 o'clock last night, Charles Gilbert, 24, waived examining trail today and is in jail here to await action of the grand jury.
McCane's body was found on the roadside at 6 o'clock this morning, shot through the abdomen. Gilbert surrendered to Sheriff Clark Esham last night following the shooting, which he said was in self-defense.
It was reported that Gilbert, McCane and a third person were returning from a hunting trip and engaged in an argument, which led to the shooting. According to Gilbert, McCane fired at the third person, whose name was not learned, and Gilbert fired at McCane when the latter turned to fire at him.
McCane is survived only by his wife.
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky. Thursday, 27 December 1934.
[4]
- Vanceburg Man to Plead Self-Defense In Shooting
Vanceburg, Ky., Dec. 27 (AP) - Officers said Charles Gilbert, 24, would plead self-defense in the fatal shooting of his brother-in-law, Opal McCane, 24. Gilbert surrendered to Sheriff Clark Esham after McCane's body was found on a roadside near Concord.
The Lexington Herald, Lexington, Kentucky. Friday, 28 December 1934.
[4]
- LKH note:
Opal McCane's death certificate gives his wife's name as Laura McCane and his marital status as divorced.
[2, 5]
|
1908 - 1934 (26 years)
[1, 2, 3] 
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set