Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-12-10
MURDER BY WHOLESALE.
Five Persons Killed by Jealous
Lover. Who Then Commits Suicide.

A telegram to the New York Herald from
Omaha Neb, December 6, says: Meager details
reached here to-day of one of the most dabolical
wholesale butcheries ever committed in this
state-the killing OF five persons by one man,
followed by the suicide of the murderer. The
scene of the slaughter is the town of Walworth
Custer county, q locality without telegraphic
facilities. which fact accounts for the time taken
for the story to reach the outside world AL
though the crime was committed Wednesday
night the news did not reach here until to-
night. and even now the facts are not all known
The victims of the horrible affair were John
Finley wdower about sixty years old; Mary
FINLEY his daughter. aged sixteen; Fannie Fin
ley, Mary's sister. aged eighteen: John Williams
suitor for Marys hand, and Charles Watkins,
Fannie Finleys lover.
THE MURDERER.
The perpetrator was Thomas or Timothy Fur
qun. who was a rejected sutton of one of the
young ladies' it is not known which. All par
ties were residents of the town where the
tragedy occurred. The motive for this horrible
butchery was jealousy. The two young ladies
have for some time been receiving the atten-
tons OF Watkins and Williams. and it was gen.
orally supposed that there was to be a double
wedding about Christmas time. Young Fur
qun has always been considered an exceedingly
quiet industrious and inoffensiye young fellow,
and though it was an open secret that he had
been an adlnirer of and sutton for one of the
Finley girls and had been rejected, no one ever
Thought that he was capable of such crime.
He has for some time been giving tokens of his
unriendly feelings toward the young men who
proved successful in winning the favor of the
girls. but no one seems to have ever heard him
make an open threat.
THEIR LAST DANCE.
On Wednesday night the two Finley girls, in
company with their lovers (Watkins and Will
liams), attended dance Young Furqun had
asked one of the girls to go with him. but she
declined on the score, it is believed of pre-
viOus engagement. This seems to have been
the acme of his bitterness over his unreQuited
love. and to have driven him into murderous
frenzy. He did not 90 to the dance but laid in
wait Tor the party, nursing his hatred and plan
ming revenge. When the party drove up to the
gate OF the Finley homestead after their night
Oi pleasure Furqun was there with double
barreied shotgun loaded with blue whistlers."
The party were in spring wagon just large
enough to comfortably carry the four. The
jealous man was hidden.
THE TRAGEDY
Unseen By his victims he leveled his gun and
fired both barrels in quick succession at them.
The contents OF the gun literally riddled the
bodies OF all four. killing them almost instantly
Hearing the shooting and the death screams Of
his daughters. Mr.. Finley rushed from the house
to his own death. The murderer struck the old
man blow over the head with the butt of the
gun. and repeated the blow until his brains were
beaten out The murderer then completed his
horrible work by blowing out his own brains
with revolver. Such is the story OF the horri-
bic affair as obtained from number OF sources
and reports. all of them more or less in their
Character contradictory but all agreeing in their
general features. One report says that the muir
d.Sr fltp nod ,a,tt,.t
crime, while another says that his body WAS
found on the river bank some distance from the
others. indicating that he had some idea of escap-
ing from the slaughter, but changed his mind.