Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1895-05-07
LATER DETAILS.
THE MYSTERY CLEARED UP IN THE
coRDoN-6RoWN TRAGEDY.
Gordon Knew of the Meeting -Interceptedi
Letters-His Story of the Struggle
Browns Desderate Fight wounded and.
Unarmed.

The mystery surrounding the Cor
don Brown tragedy in Louisville was
cleared away by developments subse-
to our last report. Gordon discov--
cred the infidelity of his wife through,
letters addressed to his colored
servant girl which he gave to Mrs
Gordon for the girl. According to,
Gordon he never suspected his wife
until little over week before. For
some time letters had been coming
to his Office. in the Columbia build
ing addressed to"Miss Parolee Mitch
ell, care of Merchants Advice, COL
umbia Building, Louisville, KY"
His wife inquired so particularly
about these letters when they failed
to come.regularly that his suspicious
were aroused and he opened one of
them. He then had his wife watched
and knew when she sent the telegram
to Brown. A friend helped him in
the matter.
When Arch Brown met Mrs. Cor
don on Fourth avenue last Tuesday,
Gordon's friend saw them. He fol-
lowed them to West and Madison
and then went to Tenth and Green,
where he telephoned to either. Corr,
don's Office or to another point where
the latter had agreed to wait, The
import of the message was that the,
guilty pair had been freed.
Gordon met his friend at Tenth and
Green and the two went to West and
Madison, where the house, to which the
woman and Brown had gone, was point.
ed out. Before Gordonleft his friend
to enter the house. he promised that
he would do nothing rash and it is.
said insisted that he was wholly un-
armed. The only reason he wanted
to go into the place, he said, was to-
verify his suspicious and show his
wife that he was cognizant Of her un-
faithfulness.
Gordon, who is still on the verge
of insanity, was able to tell his story
by degrees last week. He said his.
ideas were to wait below and confront
his wife with his knowledge of her,
guilt and asked the boy how long he
supposed the couple would have the
upstairs room. He said they gen
orally staid all day. He then sat
down to think it over and heard
them talking and later walk across;
the floor to where he supposed the
bed was. He thought he heard his
wife call her companion Bob"
He didn't know what to do, and de-
cided to write a note to Bob" up
stairs, thinking he might induce him
to come down. He then began the
note which was found in the hall, as
follows: Dear Bob: | want to see
you" But he was so unstrung that
he could not finish it.
Gordon then became desperate and
went upstairs and knocked on the
door. Brown opened the door a lit
tie and he forced himself in and the
struggle began. He claimed that
Brown, during the struggle, got his
pistol from an open satchel and fired
two of the shots, but this is hardly
true. Gordon must have fired at
once and broken Browns arm. The
Critic in discussing this point says:
From all the circumstances attend
ing the killing, it seems plain that
Gordon fired the first shot, and that
Brown never had a chance to reach
his pistol. After Gordon had
emptied his revolver, he secured
Browns pistol, which was in an open.
valise, and fred four more bullets
into his body, saving one shot for his
wife. The papers have had a good
deal to say about whether Brown
showed any courage and whether
Gordon was the first to fire.
he condition of the room showed
that Brown had fought
desperately for his life and that Cor
don with equal desperation gave him
no show. 1t was not duel beetwen
two men equally matched. 1t was
a death struggle between the enraged
husband on one side and his wife's
paramour on the other, and it was no
time for fair play or giving equal
chances"
This view of the case is borne out
by the fact that eight wounds We're.
found on Browns body. The bali
the door was the one that
went through his ear, as the direction
showslt went from the bed, where
The struggle at one time was carried
On. The other two shots were fred
1T Mrs. Gordon. One hit her and
the other missed her as she ran down
the steps MORALLY wounded. There
we're but ten shots and Brown could
lot have fired any OF them, as his
sight wounds showed.
Gordon's trial was set for to-day.
)ut he may not be able to stand trial,