36 -year-old Tom Wafer and Knighten Atkins, about the same age, vied for the affection of the same woman. This competition for her love was a recipe for disaster. On Saturday, June 17, 2022, Tom and Knighten encountered each other on the street corner near the Commercial Bank in Arcadia and got into a heated dispute over the woman. The argument escalated until Knighten pulled a pocket knife and cut Tom across the chest and into the muscle of his right arm. The cut severed Tom’s brachial artery, the major blood vessel which supplies blood to the upper arm, elbow, forearm, and hand.
Doctors attended to Tom’s wounds but were unable to stop the bleeding. On Sunday, June 18, Tom died from loss of blood. Knighten was arrested and charged with murder. With Tom’s death and Knighten’s arrest, neither man enjoyed the affection of the woman.
Source: Bienville Democrat, July 22, 1922, p.1.
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