True Crime Chronicles: From Berryville to the Chair-The execution of James Harold Hyde

James Harold Hyde

'In the spring of 1947, the Carroll County town of Berryville, was shaken by a violent act that would leave an indelible mark on its history. James Harold Hyde, a 28-year-old laborer and World War II-era worker, known for his dedication to family, became the central figure in a haunting murder case that culminated in his execution.

.On April 28, 1947, Hyde, intoxicated and agitated, arrived at the home of his fiancée, Margaret Simpson. A heated argument erupted when Margaret refused to leave with him. Her father, Frank Simpson, stepped in to protect her, but the confrontation turned deadly. Hyde shot Simpson and beat him with an iron bar, killing him in front of his family.

Hyde later claimed the act was unintentional, driven by alcohol and emotional turmoil, but the evidence--Margaret’s testimony, physical injuries, and Hyde’s own admissions--pointed to deliberate violence.

The trial in Carroll County Circuit Court gripped the community.

Frank Sherma Simpson, the victim at the heart of this tragic case, was a dedicated World War I veteran whose life exemplified both family and service to his country.

Born on September 26, 1895, in Arkansas, he enlisted as a Private in the U.S. Army during the Great War, serving with honor before returning to his roots in Berryville.

Over ten days, a jury of ten men and two women heard Hyde’s insanity plea, supported by evidence of prior head trauma and a psychiatric evaluation. Yet, the jury convicted him of first-degree murder.

The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the verdict on December 22, 1947. Initially set for September, Hyde’s execution was expedited at his own request. “I just want to get it over with,” he told Judge Maupin Cummings, citing concern for his parents’ suffering.

On February 13, 1948, Hyde faced the electric chair at the Cummins Unit in Lincoln County. Witnesses noted his eerie calm, describing him smiling and winking as he was strapped in.

“This is my first ride on the hot seat,” he quipped to Captain Tom Coghill, the prison superintendent.

The execution proceeded under the watch of officials, including Rev. William K. Wyllie and Assistant Superintendent Henry Hyde. A thunderstorm rolled in afterward, lending a somber note to the grim event.

In a remarkable final act, Hyde donated his corneas, a rare gesture for the time. The transplant, performed at Baptist State Hospital in Little Rock by Dr. Cubie Lee Johnson, restored sight to a blind man. Treasury Secretary John W. Snyder later confirmed the operation’s success, casting a bittersweet light on Hyde’s legacy.

Hude's story --reserved in court records, newspaper archives from the Arkansas Gazette, Berryville Star-Progress, and Santa Ana Register, and medical reports, Hyde’s case remains one of over 200 executions in Arkansas between 1913 and 1967.

Margaret Carolyn Simpson Dillard, the daughter whose life was forever altered by the violent death of her father. carved, created a path forward despite the trauma of 1947.

Born on July 20, 1924, in Beaver, Carroll County, Arkansas, Margaret endured the loss of both parents--her mother, Ida Cannaday Simpson, in 1941, and her father in the tragic confrontation with James Hyde.

She later married John Frederick Brown in 1952, building a life with him until his death in 1974, and then found companionship again with Johnnie Ray Dillard, whom she married in 1982, remaining with him until his passing in 1992.

Margaret’s journey ended on July 26, 2008, at the age of 84, and she was laid to rest at Forest Park Cemetery in Fort Smith,