Harrison V. Commonwealth

Walter Paul Harrison was, on August 8, 1943, indicted in five separate indictments for the murder of his wife and four infant children, all of whom met their death by drowning on June 25, 1943, when the automobile occupied by them ran backwards into an abandoned quarry filled with water. Harrison was tried on the indictment charging him with the murder of his wife. On September 25, 1943, a jury found him guilty and fixed his punishment at death. Judgment was accordingly entered on January 14, 1944. That judgment is now before us on a writ of error.