AX MURDER IN THE GREEN SWAMP
Murder in the Swamp. The Green Swamp was home to infamous 1918 ax murder that happened in the swamp Lake and Sumter Counties off of the East Tract.
The incident that took the lives of Isham "Isom" and Sallie Browning Stewart dates back to May 1918 and involves a couple whose grandson, Joshua Browning, with the help of his ax-wielding friend John Tucker, murdered them in their sleep at their homestead along Tanic Road in the Green Swamp Wildlife Management Area, to steal cash.
The Sheriff’s report said the bodies weren’t discovered for about a week and when they were found, the cabin was covered with vultures. The bodies of the murdered couple were discovered in the cabin by H.G. Browning, Josh Browning’s uncle, when he returned a horse that he thought belonged to Isom Stewart. The couple was in an advanced state of decomposition, with crushed skulls, thought to have been caused by an ax. Sallie Stewart, found lying on the floor, also had a broken leg and broken arm. Isom Stewart was found on the bed. The coroner’s report stated they were both killed in their bed by an ax.
Both Josh Browning (Grandson of Sarah Stewart) & John Tucker (his friend) were caught and both, after a few trials, were sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder, 10 years for each offense.
Tucker lived approximately 12 years after getting out of prison, before dying in 1951. Tucker’s grave can be found in the old Tuckertown Cemetery, where the oldest gravestones date from the 1850s. Theirs a grave for a Johnnie Tucker, born 1900 and died in 1951. The fate of Browning is a mystery.
There is no evidence that either showed any remorse, but chose denial and lying in an attempt to escape justice.
The incident that took the lives of Isham "Isom" and Sallie Browning Stewart dates back to May 1918 and involves a couple whose grandson, Joshua Browning, with the help of his ax-wielding friend John Tucker, murdered them in their sleep at their homestead along Tanic Road in the Green Swamp Wildlife Management Area, to steal cash.
The Sheriff’s report said the bodies weren’t discovered for about a week and when they were found, the cabin was covered with vultures. The bodies of the murdered couple were discovered in the cabin by H.G. Browning, Josh Browning’s uncle, when he returned a horse that he thought belonged to Isom Stewart. The couple was in an advanced state of decomposition, with crushed skulls, thought to have been caused by an ax. Sallie Stewart, found lying on the floor, also had a broken leg and broken arm. Isom Stewart was found on the bed. The coroner’s report stated they were both killed in their bed by an ax.
Both Josh Browning (Grandson of Sarah Stewart) & John Tucker (his friend) were caught and both, after a few trials, were sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder, 10 years for each offense.
Tucker lived approximately 12 years after getting out of prison, before dying in 1951. Tucker’s grave can be found in the old Tuckertown Cemetery, where the oldest gravestones date from the 1850s. Theirs a grave for a Johnnie Tucker, born 1900 and died in 1951. The fate of Browning is a mystery.
There is no evidence that either showed any remorse, but chose denial and lying in an attempt to escape justice.