C. M. “Charley” Miller (Execution of)

C. M. “Charley” Miller was hanged at Harrisburg (Poinsett County) on August 12, 1910, for the robbery, murder, and dismemberment of a trapper and fisherman who had befriended him.

A. H. Flood, about sixty years old, was a trapper and fisherman living on St. Francis Bayou near Marked Tree (Poinsett County) in eastern Poinsett County “who had a fine trapping outfit, as well as a gasoline launch” and “by applying himself industriously to his calling had managed to lay up several hundred dollars.”

In April 1909, Flood met C. M. Miller, who was “practically penniless,” at Lake City (Craighead County) and invited him to be his partner in his business. Flood was last seen on June 4, 1909, and “soon afterwards Miller was seen to exhibit considerable money.” He told people he “had bought him out” and that Flood had left the area.

Suspicious officials went to Flood’s camp on Hatchie Coon Lake and found body parts in driftwood about 200 yards from his cabin. Other parts, including a deformed foot that a doctor identified as Flood’s, were found scattered in the area, and more were discovered in a stove in the cabin. When confronted about the discovery, Miller “made no answer. He merely hung his head.”

A grand jury indicted Miller on October 18, 1909, and his trial began a week later. He was convicted of first-degree murder on October 28, and while awaiting sentencing he requested to meet with Judge Frank Smith in private. Miller had managed to sneak Flood’s thigh bone, which was used as evidence, out of the courtroom, and when Smith entered the room he “pulled out the thigh bone of the man who had been murdered, which had the knee joint on it and made a mighty good fighting club,” a Paragould (Greene County) newspaper reported. Smith “proved himself a sprinter of the higher class in making for the door.”

Miller was sentenced to hang on December 17, 1909, but three days before the execution Chief Justice Edgar McCulloch of the Arkansas Supreme Court accepted an appeal of the conviction. Oral arguments were set for January 24, 1910.

The case was sent back to Poinsett County Circuit Court, where Thaddeus Caraway was the prosecuting attorney, for additional testimony, and the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction on April 11. Miller’s attorney, Clyde Going, applied for a rehearing, alleging errors by the court on April 25, and Governor George W. Donaghey on May 21 set July 15 for Miller’s execution. When the state Supreme Court refused the rehearing, Going appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, with Donaghey granting a thirty-day continuance on the execution to allow time for that procedure to move forward. While waiting for the legal proceedings to transpire, Miller was held in the Jonesboro (Craighead County) jail, where he “reads the Bible daily and seems resigned to his fate” while denying guilt for the crime. The U.S. court ultimately refused to hear the appeal, and Donaghey declined to commute the sentence.

On the morning of August 12, 1910, Miller was taken by train from Jonesboro to Harrisburg, arriving there at 9:30 a.m. The sheriff allowed his request to hold the execution off until 2:30 p.m., and Harrisburg filled “with people from all sections of this and adjoining counties, curious to get a glimpse of the man who was charged with so hideous a crime.”

At 2:30 p.m., Miller left the Harrisburg jail for the gallows at the county farm two miles away. He continued to proclaim his innocence to his spiritual advisor during the journey, but “at the gallows Miller weakened and refused to carry the falsehood into eternity with him,” finally confessing to the murder before the trap door was sprung.

Miller requested that his body be sent to the Memphis Medical College for dissection, but the college refused it, so he was buried in the Old Harrisburg Cemetery.

For additional information:
“Allege Error in Miller Case.,” Arkansas Democrat, April 25, 1910, p. 10.

“Charley Miller.” Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/265717935/charley-miller (accessed November 22, 2025).

“Decision of the Supreme Court Made at Once.” Jonesboro Sun, July 26, 1910, p. 1.

“Denies Writ of Error.” Arkansas Democrat, June 29, 1910, p. 3.

“First Degree Murder.” Jonesboro Sun, October 19, 1909, p. 1.

“His Last Appeal Turned Down.” Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, August 12, 1910, p. 5.

“Important Brief Filed.” Arkansas Democrat, January 26, 1910, p. 3.

“Judge Frank Smith Had Narrow Escape.” Paragould Daily Press, November 1, 1909, p 1.

“Miller Almost Loses Hope.” Arkansas Gazette, July 7, 1910, p. 2.

“Miller Hanged for Murder.” Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, August 13, 1910, p. 1.

“Miller Is Granted 30-Day Continuance.” Arkansas Gazette, July 10, 1910, p. 1.

“Miller Must Die for Murder of Fisherman.” Arkansas Democrat, April 11, 1910, pp. 1, 3.

“Miller to Be Hanged July 15.” Arkansas Gazette, May 22, 1910, p. 5.

“Miller Trial.” Jonesboro Sun, October 27, 1909, p. 1.

“News from All over Arkansas.” Arkansas Gazette, August 17, 1910, p. 9A.

“Stay of Execution Granted Miller.” Arkansas Gazette, December 15, 1909, p. 5.

“Three to Hang This Month.” Paragould Daily Press, December 4, 1909, p. 4.

“To Argue Miller Case.” Arkansas Gazette, January 4, 1910, p. 5.

“Two Murder Cases at Harrisburg.” Jonesboro Daily Tribune, March 24, 1910, p. 1.

Mark K. Christ
Little Rock Arkansas