Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-09-28
FAM|LYSLAUGHTERED
The Husband and Father Doing
the Work and Ending His Cory
Reveiry with Suicide.
SIX FOUND DEAD AND TWO DYING

Mother. Halle and Five Other Children
Shot {" Death as They Lay in Bed, Every
Bullet Reaching Vital Part-No Known
Cause for the Trayedy--Another Star
Witness in the Luetrer, Trial Te,ls a
Story of the Famous Vat,
carroll, Ia, Sept. 2S.-The home OF
John Becker. Il farmer living eight
miles northwest Of Carroll, is the scene
Of a terrible tragedy which took place
Sunday night. He is dying, his wife and
baby are dead at his home: his son
Henry is at deaths door; in one bed
three ether children are dead, and in
another lies the dead body Of little Liz
zie, aged 6. Blocker was to helm a
neighbor thresh yesterday morning. and
on not putting in an appearance about
CLOCK his brother Henry, who lives
Win the Old folks about twenty rods
away, went to learn the reason of his
failure to halp. The doors were locked
ana there were no signs of life about
ne tired to get in the house, but met no
response, and finally ne kicked in the
ooor ana found the state of affairs
ecoNe Inscribed Boecker with his wife
ard baby slept in back room. and the
three cornses lay on one bed.
How the Eight Met Their Deaths.
'he wife had been shot in the neck
with shotgun, which stood in the
corner; the baby had been shot and its
head crushed with the butt of a re-
No!Ner. Ihe man still breathing had
puilet hole high up on the forehead and
@
shooter, two chambers empty. II is a
story and half frame house, and IN.
stars Henry. aged S. and Lizzie, aged
g. lay on a bed with bullet holes in the
forehead. the latter dead the bow still
breathing, and in the opposite corner OF
the room, Caroline, aged IA. Christine.
aged 3, and John aged 3. were dead.
each with a bullet hole in the forehead.
though Caroline had two.
Late yesterday afternoon the bodies
We're stll untouched, the sheriff and
coroner being occupied in arranging for
the inquest and other prelimiraries. In
quiry will be pushed today and the ver-
dict Of the coroner's jury will be rem
dered. 1t is undoubtedly q case of rnur-
der and suicide. The indications are
that Booker first dispatched his wife
with the shotgun, shooting her in the
neck; then used the revolver on the
baby first shooting it and then knock
ing out its brains with the butt He
then went upstairs where the &ss- chill
dren were sleeping and killed them. He
must have used light. for his aim was
effective, each victim being shot in the
forehead.
All but two children met with instant
death. and two lay as calmly reposed as
If il sleep. All except Henry, who was
not yet dead when found, were att!red
in night robes. BOccker had reloaded
the weapon while upstairs. and evident
ly sent the second bullet into the oldest
girls brain just before leaving thereon.
Going downstairs he stretched himself
beside the corpse of his wife and shot
himself. His right hand was burnt by
the powder. showing much use of the
revolver. The revolver he borrowed
from his brother Henry last Thursday.
remarkicg that he wanted it to kill
rats in the cellar It is now recalled
that he had since practced target shoot
ing with it. Boecker was "a years old
and for over twenty years had lived in
the same neighborhood-in fact. on the
same farm.
No Prcmoniiion of the Tragedy.
Sunday he attended Roman Catholic
services at Breda with his wife and
some Of the children. Later in the day
he was visited by n neighbor. who says
that when he left the BOecker home in
the evening they were seemingly a
happy family, and not a premonition of
the awful tragedy acted a few hours
later was manifest on Boecker or any
one of the household. Members Of his
fathers family saw he had no family
troubles, his financial affairs were IN
good shape, and they can assign no mo-
tive for the terrible crime. On the 9TH
er hand il Is hinted that this man who
lived an ordinarily good life for thirty
five years, did not turn an incarnate
fiend since sundown Sunday evening.