Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1867-11-20
Tragedy.


The person who first discovered tn
shocking crime which had been perpetra
ted was the wife of Mr.. Gregory.
Gregory had in his employ, at tn,
rooms, q young woman, Isabella Roy, who
lived with her parents on the West side
She had been ENGAGED with him some siI
months, during the former portion o.
which time she boarded at home. Under
the plea that the distance caused her late
appearance il the morning, Gregory in
| duced her to board at his horse, and they
ACCOMPANIED each other to and from HI:
place of business. An intimacy sprang up
between them. which ct length grew to be
of q questionable character. To the wife
this seemed to bode no good, and she re
monstrated with him upon the subject, but
without avail.
On Friday morning Mr.. Gregory, and
Miss Roy left home as usual. taking with
them a basket containing their dinner
In the evening they did not return, and
Mrs. Gregory spent 3 night Of the most
painful anxiety and alarm. On Saturday
morning she could bear it no longer, and
determined to visit the rooms and ascertain
the cause of their absence.
Between eight and nine o'clock on Sat
urday morning, Mrs. Gregory, accompan-
led by her daughter Ida, passed up the
stairway, unlocked the door, and entered
the apartment. In the reception parlor
nothing unusual was observed, but upon
passing into an adjoining room a spectacle
met their eyes which might appall the
stoutest heart. Upon the floor lay the
rbaeslx onr,zo oF tha rehop an1 Esfba-
his throat cut, and large pools of blood at
different places in the room, For a mo-
ment they we're frozen with an agony of
grief and terror, and then rushed out
screaming almost in a state Of frantic de-
liri m. The occupants of the adjoining
rooms, and persons on the street, were
alarmed and in a few moments the rooms
were thronged with horror-stricken spec
taIors. At first, only the corpse of Gregg
~ was seen, and no n supposed that
there was another yet darker chapter TO
the brutal crIme,-that q defenceless wo-
man had been brutslly murdered before
the commission of the suicidal act. The
waste room was butdimly lighted, and a
candle was necessary in order TO discover
what it contained. Several persons enter
ed, and were thrilled with terror as they
beheld, lying at the foot of the stairway,
the body of q woman. who was afterwards
found to be Isabella Roy. A large revolv-
er lying upon the floor, two or three feet
from the corpse, readily suggested tho
means Of her death. The appearance of
the corpse indicated that she had been
shot upon the stairway, and had fallen to
the floor and was left in that position by
her murderer. A~subsequent examination
of the body showed that the fatal bullet
had entered the Left temple, and must
have caused instant death. The face was
blackened as if by powder, and 1t is sup
posed that the fend incarnste, bent upon
the full accomplishment of his purpose,
after the Intellectual shots, Went up to her,
placed the muzzle of the weapon directly
against head, and finished his bloody work.
From the appearance of the body the ply
expressed the opinion that she had
been dead at least t~wenty-four hours, in
the event Of which the murder must have
been committed during the forenoon of
From a bullet hole in the face of GREGG
~, just below the nose, it is evident that
bis first attempt at self-destrnction, wss
made with the pistol, probably with tIe
only remaining charge in the weapon.A
Through his nervousness and excitement,
be erred in his aim, and the wound inhict-
ed was not a fatal enc. He intended,
doubtless, to kill himself with that ~instr1-
ment, but had expended five of the shots
before succeeding in the murder of the
girl, and was then compelled to finish the
work with q knife. That he resorted to
the latter means, only through necessity,
is proved by the fact that the only knife
found was a small pocket knife. This was
lying upon the floor of the operating room, /
SIX or eight feet from the body of Gregory.
The blades were all dull, and he could only
have carried out his design by great effort,
on by the frenzy of desperstion.-
The frightful cash in the throat also in
this, as 1t was rough and jagged.
and the physicians, after examining it,
that he must have drawn the knife
his throat at least four or five times.
The body of Gregory was found in the
doorway between the opersting-roO Dol and
the chemical-room. He had died while
reclining upon his right elbow. his shoul-
der being supported by the door casing,
and the head dropping over, presenting q
most horrible spectacle. The posture was
remarked by all as being a singular one.
The face. pale and ghastlY, was spotted
with blood, and the upper portion of the
was also saturated. There was
but little blood where the body lay, show
ing that he had probably staggered and
there, when the weakness Of death
upon HIM.