Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-07-24
A FEARFUL CRIME.
DEPUTY RECORDER AUlT. Of BELMONT, MUIR
DERS HIS WIFE.
BE Then Shoots Himself ant Finally Takes His
Life by Hanging Himself in a Barn
Insanity the Probable Cause
Of the Deed.
4 wife murdered by her husband.

A wife murdered by her husband.
Shot down in cold blood in her bed room.
The murderer first shoots himself and
then takes the rope route out OF the world.
Insanity, caused by ill-health, the prob
able cause.
Such. in brief was the terrible tragedy
which startled all Belmont county yester-
day. aud which this morning, when its de
tails became known. viii be set down far
and wide as one of the most awful crimes
which mind diseased could possibly urge
upon one of the human family.
The murdered wife was Mrs. Vaudeville
Ault. nae Miss Armstrong, one Of the most
accomplished and best known ladies of The
county, and her husband, who first sent her
out of the world. only to follow by suicide,
few minutes later, was the Deputy Recor-
der Of the county, a son Of George Ault,
prosperous farmer of Centreyil'e, Smith
township. and hitherto held TO be one Of the
most exemplary of men, being held in high
esteem by all who knew him. The crime is
Almost horrible and deplorable one, and the
sad news will cast gloom over the entire
extent of Belmont county.
Vaudeville Ault, the murderer and sui
eide, was a promising young man OF about
thirty.oue wears. About two years ago he
was appointed Deputy Recorder OF the
county by Recorder Beckett, and at once
left his fathers farm and moving his fam
ilv. consisting of wife and two children,
TO St Clairsville. he entered upon the dis
charge Of the duties Of the Office. Ab0uta
wear ago one child-a son-died, and last
winter the father was attacked by Ia
grippe, from which he never fully recover
ed As the advent of summer found him
still in poor health, TO which the combining
and unaccust0med Office work at the Court
House contributed, Mr.. Ault, by the adj
vice Of his physician, temporarily gave up
the office and concluded TO devote all his at
tention TO rcgaining his health. The
family left St Clairsyille two weeks
ago. and after spending few days
with his wife'S mother, Mrs. William Arm
strong. near Armstrong; Mills, they went
to Mr.. Ault's fathers, at Centreville. There
they concluded TO remain quietly, and MIR.
Aults health soon began TO improve
While at his fathers, Ault continually
fretted over his delicate health and his ell
forced absence from his official duties, and
often talked in a detected manneraO0ut ms
financial affairs, saying he expected ne
would end his days in the poor house. Lit
tie serious attention was paid 10 such eN- !
prcssi0ns, however, they being looked upon
as natural outgrowth of his ill-health. |
At one time, however, it seems there was |
a discussion in the family circle about the /
ACCESSIBILITY of sending Ault to an
ASYLUM until his mind should /
have entirely recovered from the |
depressing effects of his illness, but his
father and wife always protested, IN TINS |
connection, that as soon IS his health was
restored he would regain his mental equl- ]
librium, and in the further behef that ne
was as harmless as a child. TINS, every /
one who knew him. thought, and his VIE, |
above all others, felt safe and secure with /
him. for he almost worshipped her. Thus /
all ideas as to the turn his mind might take
were at sea. There had been nothing UNI I
usual in his actions Of late, and the poor |
young wife was sleeping soundly IN her
fancied security when the man she loved !
and who reciprOcated that love in his right |
mind took away her innocent life.
About three o'clock yesterday morning /
George Ault. the father. his wife, and an I'M |
married daughter, Miss Adena. were awak-
ened by the report OF reVOlVercOmlngfr nom /
the room occupied by Vaudeville Ault and |
MS WIG. ana LllA@ NlNA vas AAAARN NA tAAt4lbnA
Immediately bv a second. Miss Adcna Ault .
sprang out Of bed, and started toward her |
brothers room when the door opened and |
Mrs. Ault ran out, in her night dress, |
the front of which was red with blood. !
The wounded and dying woman at once
turned, and ran back into her own room,
5O6, Vaudeville Why did you do
this
She then fell to the floor and died in an
instant. When Miss Ault followed the |
wounded wife into the room, her brother
was living on the bed, bleeding profusely
from bullet wound near the centre of his
forehead As his wife's dying enquiry
rang out. Ault started up, and eXclaiming:
~Oh. God, YOU dead and me alive" he
seized the revolver he had used, and which .
he had tossed on "a shelf after shooting him
self in the head, no doubt intending 10 shoot
himself again His sister at once sprang at
him and seized the pistol in the hands oithe
cIazed and desperate man, terrible strug-
Gle ensuing in the dimly-llghted room, over
the dead body of the murdered wlie- MISS
Ault finally succeeded in obtaining posses
sion Of the revolver, and threw it through
a window.
The frantic man then rushed to the bal
conv. evidently with the idea Of throwing
himself headlOng 10 the ground, but sud-
denly changing his mind, he ran down
stairs eyading his father, and disappeared /
in the grounds surrounding the house.
The father at once ran TO some neighbors
for aid. and a search for the murderer and
would-bc suicide was at once Instituted.
For some time no trace Of nm could be
found, but about daylight he was traced to
the barn of James Mokelyey, about
quarter of mile from his home. Enter
! -, l,.,,. ba haftsnf no rnnptfarar !
found swinging from beam, by check
lime. and cold in death. He had taken the
line from a set of harness, tied one end TO
the beam. made moose OF the other about
his neck, and then throwing the weight OF
his body on the line by stepping out OF
door had choked to death, his body hang
ing outside.
The body was cut down and removed to
Mr.. George Ault's, where an examination
showed the ball the deceased had fired at
his own head in the first attempt TO take
his life, had struck him Just TO
the left of the centre of the fore
head and CHANGING from the skull,
had ran along under the scalp 10 near the
ton of the head, making q wound which
would not have been dangerous The re-
volver with which the deed was performed,
had been borrowed from brOtherln-aw,
on Tuesday. on the plea Of wishing TO shoot
al a mark. for amusement The weapon
was Of large calibrc, and originally CON
tanned three cartridges, which created the
impression. yesterday, that Ault intended
to kin his child also, but was prevented by
the arrival Of Miss Adeua Ault on the
scene. The boy, who Is four years OF
ace. was sleeping gently in an adjoining
room while the terrible tragedy which re
moved his father and mother from earth,
was being enacted.
The home OF Mr.. Auli, az Centreville,
several miles southwest of Bellairc, was
visited by large numbers of people, yester-
dav. citizens hocking to the scene of the
horrible tragedy from all points of the com
pass as the news rapidly spread. There
were few words of condemnation heard,
all iustinctiveiy feeling that insanity was
the cause of the crime, and that the hither-
10 genial and warm-hearted husband ought
not 10 be held morally responsible for a
crime from the mere thought of which he
would have shrank in horror, had he been
sane