Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-09-25
is IT MURDER OR SUICIDE ?
Mysterious Death at Shohola Sun
day Night,

Lydia smith Found Dead in Her Room
The other Occupant Man whS
Claims He was to Marry Her Next
Day.
Something of a sensation was
aroused in the town Monday by the
report that parties from Shohola
were here seeking the offices of the
coroner to hold an inquest on a body
of a woman dead from pistol shot.
Coroner Geiger Immediately re-
paired to the scene of the tragedy
and summoned jury to investigate
the cause of death which subse-
quently found verdict as follows
4" That Lydia Smith came to her
death from pistol shot by un-
known hands at the house of John
Wohlfarth between the hours of
o'clock p. m. Sunday evening and
a. m. Monday.
Signed, LORENz GEIGER, Coroner.
GEORGE HAAS, Foreman.
JOHN WoHLFARTH.
w. j. SADLER.
WILLIAM SADLER.
L. j. SwEzEY.
GEORGE p. HAAS.
The coroner from statements made
by different ones deemed it his duty
to bring the man down and lodge
him in Jail, which was done Mon
day night. From the somewhat
chaotic utterances of that official we
CLEAN the following as to the facts
of the case. Early in July the wo-
man came to Wohlfarth, who lives
some three miles from Shohola and
keeps a boarding house, to work as
a domestic, claiming to be. widow
with three children, two of whom
remained in New York and one a
boy some 9 or 10 years old was with
her. Matters ran smoothly until
about a week prior to her death
when a man appeared, whose rela-
tions to her seem to have been of an
intimate nature for they occupied
the same room.
Sunday night it is stated they did
not retire until very late, and Mon
day morning when called did not
respond until repeated efforts were
made when the man came to the
door and said the woman had shot
herself. She was found lying on
the bed with pistol grasped in her
right hand and a bullet hole in her
right temple. Her companion stated
that he heard no shot and was una
ware of her condition until awaken
ed by the rappings on the door of
the room.
He further stated that he had CIV
en- her $3.50 specifying the kind of
money, and that they were to be
married that day The boy above
alluded to, seemed to corroborate a
part of this statement by saying
that he saw the man have a large
sum of money, the day previous.
Careful search however failed to rec
veal any trace of any sum whatever,
in possession of either the man or
woman. Both seemed to be penni-
less. The man whose name was not
definitely learned, as he was called
Smith and Shultz, and Herman was
released from confinement Tuesday
afternoon by the Sheriff, who had
no warrant, or commitment or au-
thority to detain him. It seems
passing strange that jury composed
of six presumably intelligent men,
aided even by a Pike County Coro-
ner, should, after learning the max
ed fact that the man was alone in the
room with her when she was shot,
and as he stated with his pistol, ac-
cept the statement that he heard no
shot fired and that she had killed
herself, and render a verdict as
above recorded. What may be the
true inwardness of the matter may
never be known. 1t may be pre-
sumed that the verdict, which is in
the handwriting of one utterly in
competent to draw a paper of such
moment, expresses the real senti-
ment Of the jury, but it is also in
comprehensive how a jury with or
binary intelligence and unbiased
Judgment could so stultify the sit
uation as TO render a verdict which
entirely exculpated man who GER
tainly was in position demanding
a searching scrutiny before q COM