The Coconino weekly sun., 1894-05-17
AWFUL CRIME.
Missouri Family Mysteriously Murdered
 and Their Bottles Thrown In a Straw
 Stack-The Suspected Parties.

 A Missouri Family MysterIousIy Murdered
 and Their Bodles Thrown In Straw
 stack-The Suspected Parties.
 BLOOMFIELD, Mo, May 12.-This country was in fever of excitement yesterday, caused by one of the most diabolical crimes ever committed in this portion of the state. Gus Meeks, his wife, and two children, little girls, were murdered in cold blood Thursday night, and their bodies thrown in a straw stack for concealment.
 William F. Taylor, of Browning, town in the northern portion of this, Linn county, is lawyer and banker, and up to the day of the murder was cashier. He has for the past four or five years been arrested several times on different charges. Last fall he and Meeks, the murdered man, were ar- rested on a charge of stealing herd of cattle from farmers pasture and driving them to Purdin, where, it is claimed, it was their intention to ship to Chicago in the night. Meeks had his trial and was sentenced to the penitentiary. Taylor gave bond and his trial was put off and was to come up in Milan next week in the Sullivan county circuit court. While in the pen itentiary Meeks turned states evidence, was pardoned and came home and has since lived at Milan with his mother and family. He would, of course, have been dangerous witness against Tay- Tor
 Thursday night William Taylor and his brother, George, a farmer living near Browning, drove to Milan, a dis tance of twelve miles, in two-seated buggy. It seems that the Taylor brothers went to the home of Meeks and called him outside the house. Meeks went back into the house after awhile and told his family he was go- ing away to leave the country and that the Taylors were going to assist him, and then the wife said "I and the children will go with you, Gus" They all got ready and left with the Tay- lors, so the child said yesterday.
 George Taylor is prosperous farmer living miles from Browning. Yester- day morning little 7-year-old girl crawled out of straw stack on the Taylor farm and went across the road to the farmhouse of Mir. Gooch. She pitifully told her story of how she was awakened the night before while rid ing along in her fathers arms, of how she heard revolvers go off and her parents scream. Then something hit her on the head and she said she went to sleep she guessed and when she awole she was in the haystack. There was blood on her clothing and bruise on her head.
 Before she had finished telling her sorrowful story George Taylor at o'clock in the morning, was seen ap. preaching the straw stack with team and harrow and begin narrowing around the stack. The suspicion of the Gooch family was aroused, and they went out and told Taylor the story of the little girl. Taylor at once un. hitched the team, and mounting one horse rode of on the run toward Browning. He went to Banker Tay- lor's home in Browning, and about o'clock the Taylor boys were seen rid ing out of town on horseback, going eastward
 The bodies of Gus Meeks, his wife and two children were found in tn, straw stack, and upon an inquest be- ing held it was found that the father and mother had both been shot and then beaten with some weapOn or club