In the early morning hours of Saturday June 1, 1935, Mr. P.A. Walls made an unusual and stunning discovery by the side of the highway.
On the ground, clad only in his underwear, a man was nailed to a cross, wire was wound around the upright board and his neck to hold him place.
The police and an ambulance responded. The nails removed, the wire cut and the man transported to a hospital. His wounds were painful but not serious. If doctors and nurses could stave off infection, he'd make a full recovery.
The people of High Point, North Carolina were shocked. Who would do such a thing? And why?
The victim was 36-year-old R.J. (Roman James) Riggs; he operated a service station not far from where he was found.
R.J. told the police that three men had burst into the small room at the service station where he was sleeping, threw a towel over his head and while dragging him out towards the road said, "You've been so good we're going to nail you to a cross. If you yell we'll shoot you." They yanked the towel from his head and fled. It was unsure whether or not he knew any of his attackers.
R.J. estimated he lay there for 2 hours before Mr. Walls came along at 5 AM.
Police had few leads but immediately brought Roman's estranged wife Della in for questioning. Mr. and Mrs. Riggs were not unknown to the authorities. Prosecutor Gaston A. Johnson also announced his intentions to interview several members of Della's family.
R.J. Riggs and his second wife Della had married on June 28, 1928. By April 14, 1935 they were living apart and Della had filed paperwork requesting maintenance for her and their two daughters, Mary and Martha. One week before the crucifixion, R.J. had been arrested for contempt of court and violating the separation agreement when he removed one of the girls from the wife's home. He'd been released on bond.
Police were right to assume Mrs. Della Riggs was at the heart of the matter but they were wrong to think she or anyone in her family had orchestrated the attack.
Later that day, from his hospital bed, Roman James Riggs admitted that he'd forced his 15-year-old son Donnie, from his first marriage to Lillie Riggs (nee' Morton), to assist in what was an elaborate and misguided attempt on R.J.'s part to win back the affections of his estranged wife Della.
R.J. had constructed the cross himself and gathered the wire but it was Donnie who wrapped the wire around his father's neck and drove the 3" nails into the fleshy part of his father's hands (between the thumbs and forefingers) then through the flesh of his heels. Police were not able to easily locate Donnie. He was said to be hitchhiking his way to relatives in Jacksonville, N.C. - a distance of nearly 200 miles. Police wanted to question Donnie but didn't intend to charge him. R.J. was steadfast in his claim that he had forced his unwilling son to assist.
R.J. had hoped news of the assault would gain him some sympathy and Della would agree to give their marriage another chance. His previous attempt had no promising impact. Described by friends and relatives as having become "a bit of a religious fanatic" who would often discuss the crucifixion of Christ, R.J. had recently gone to the home of Della's parents, thrown himself upon the living room floor and prayed for her to see the light and take him back. She refused.
It was uncertain if a crime had been committed or if R.J. could be charged with anything. Perhaps "mayhem" offered Prosecutor Johnson. Certainly, R.J.'s sanity was in question.
R.J. was ordered to spend several days under observation and declared insane by Dr. W.J. McAnnally, the city health officer, however, there was no room for him at the State Hospital (now Broughton Hospital) in Morganton, NC. Troubled by this, Della's father rightly told the press, "If he is insane he should not be allowed to remain at large."
Justice of the Peace C.C. Muse agreed and filed the following report:
"R.J. Riggs having been adjudged by me to be insane and it appearing that he is subject to such acts of violence as threaten injury to himself and danger to the community and that he cannot immediately be admitted to the hospital for the insane and that he cannot otherwise be properly retained.
"You are therefore commanded to receive the said R.J. Riggs into the common jail of Guilford County, where he shall remain until he can be entered into a hospital for the insane or until he is otherwise discharged by law."
R.J. spent less than two weeks in custody. Dr. R. M. Buie, Greensboro's health officer, found R.J.'s condition had greatly improved during his stay at the county jail and that he could find no evidence of lingering insanity.
On June 11, 1935, Roland James Riggs was a free man and, although he was quickly back to manning the gas pumps at his service station on Route 10-A, he didn't intend to stay in High Point.
"36 years I have given to the Devil, the remainder of my life will be given to God. I have already bought a Bible. It'll be here in a few days and I am going out in religious work."
R.J. was next seen at the police station on June 16, 1935 when he asked that his cross be returned to him, hoping it's removal would put a stop any "publicity." On his way out of the station he said, "I am going to eastern Carolina and try to make enough money to take care of my babies."
Della consistently refused to have any contact with R.J.
On October 9, 1936, R.J. was back in the news and back before a High Point, N.C. judge. R.J. had been found guilty of occupying a room for immoral purposes. R.J. was 38-years-old and his roommate was 16-year-old Ivyrene Brown. R.J. did not take the stand in his own defense and was sentenced by Judge Lewis E. Teague to serve six months on the county roads. His attorney filed an immediate appeal.
Miss Ivyrene Brown, who weeks early had been tried and convicted on the same morals charge, testified in R.J.'s defense. She denied they had occupied the same room and was rewarded with a perjury charge.
R.J. had 2 children with his first wife, Lillie Morton. Their youngest son John Henry Riggs, was a gunner's mate, 3rd class in the US Navy and serving on the Dorchester when it was torpedoed by a German submarine on February 3, 1943. John was listed as missing in action and then declared dead on February 4, 1944. John was 20-years-old. The sinking of Dorchester was the worst single loss of American personnel of any American convoy during World War II; 675 of the 904 men on board men died. In 1948, the USPS issued a stamp commemorating the tragedy and 4 chaplains who gave up their lifejackets so that others may live.
I can find no further record of Donnie; I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Lillie married twice more (in 1938 & 1960) before passing away at the age 91 on July 13, 1990.
R.J.'s second wife Della Riggs (nee' Durham) never remarried. Their eldest daughter Mary Emma died on May 10, 1965 at the age of 36, she had been hospitalized for pneumonia three days prior. She left behind a husband, Everett Farmer.
R.J. and Ivyrene Brown married on June 4, 1938. They had 6 children and stayed together in High Point, NC until his death from a heart attack on February 18, 1984, at the age of 85. Ivryrene would live until she was 97 and die in 2017. The 1940 census listed his profession as carpenter.
