Frank Broadnax, another murderer convicted in McDowell County, had been scheduled for execution at the same time as Caldwell. However, after a personal meeting with the prisoner, Governor Atkinson delayed the hanging for thirty days to allow for further investigation into whether the murder of Sherman McFadden had been premeditated. At the time of the murder, Broadnax was the constable of a local "law and order organization," formed in response to rampant lawlessness and drunkenness in the town of Kimball. During the thirty-day commutation, the courts determined the shooting had not been accidental, as claimed by the defendant. On November 9, just before Broadnax went to the gallows, he warned, "Let bad whiskey and bad women alone. I have made my peace with God and I will soon be with him." Over the years, a number of condemned prisoners made strikingly similar declarations. Since the press was rarely granted personal interviews with the prisoners, it is unknown whether these statements were coincidental or fabricated by prison officials or the clergy.