Phoenix weekly herald., 1898-09-22
MURDER AND SUICIDE.
VIM. A. Belcher Kills Himself
and Mistress.
No Particular Cause Ascribed Save
Dissipation and Vicious
ness

Phoenix today again witnessed an
other one of those awful tragedies
which are so often the elimination of
long lives of dissipation and vicious
surroundings.
William Belcher, commonly called
''The Cockney' shot and killed his mis-
tress. Rose Gregory or perhaps more
faIniliarly known as Minnie Powers
He then placed the weapon in his
mouth and fired bullet into his own
brain falling pros trate and dead across
her feet
The COckney is we'll known charac
ter about town being an engraver by
profession but for the last few years
has been given over entirely to dissi-
patton. He has been enabled to do so
by the fact that he received occasional
and regular remittances from his for
mer home in England and as he cared
TO accumulate nothing he led riotous
life
Minnie Powers has been well
known character in Phoenix for the
last 10 or 20 years and though wo-
man of i'll repute has been noted for
many acts of kindness and as a gener-
al thing has been orderly in her con-
duct not interfering with others. She
has led rather Il dissipated life though
not noisily so and has rarely given the
officers occasion to interfere with her
affairs. She was the proprietor of
saloon on east Jackson street in the To-
cality referred to as the reservation -
Tie Cockney has been her bartender
and it is alleged their relations were
even more familiar
About 10 o'clock this morning a coup
q of GIRLS in 1af f-ff. lot
heard some shooting but saw no dis
turbance and paid no attention to it
About 1 o'clock another girl, Flora
Wilson. went to the house to rent a
room She could get no answer to her
rap and went in. glancing into the bed
room to the right. where her eyes fell
on a scene awful to behold. The
Powers woman lay in he'd with her
hand under her head. as though sleep
ing. which she evidently was when the
fatal shot was fired and from which
Slumb9r she never awakened. A bull
let hole was visible on the right side
of the head above the ear and another
had Denetra ted the center of the body
a little to the right of the heart. The
corpse was literally swimming in blood
as it seemed the mattress could not
absorb the crimson flow.
Across her feet with his own feet
on the floor and his right hand grasp
ing a 44caliber revolver, lay the life
less corpse of Belcher.
He must have stood opposite her
right side by the bed when he fired the
shot into his victims head. then fired
the second shot into her body walked
deliberately around the foot of the bed
to the other side, placed the weapon
in his own mouth. holding it with his
left hand. pulling the trigger with his
right hand.
As before stated, he fell across his
victim. mingling his life blood with
hers. as together they entered a long
eternity
The little finger of Belchers left
hand was powder-burned.
The alarm was given at once by
Flora Wilson and the officers were
notified
Coroner JohnstOne at once summon
ed a jury and viewed the remains and
the bloody scene surrounding. He set
the inquisition for 1 o'clock Monday
next.
DR.. Duffield at once answered a sum-
mons and found on his arrival that |
was to he done save perhaps |
expert testimony as to the nature of
the shots.
The pistol had four empty chambers !
and the supposition is that four shots |
were fired.
Belcher was drunk and in Jail last |
night and after his release this morn |
ing was seen in an intoxicated condi- |
ton on Washington street. When in |
liquor he was known to be very quar-
relsome man, though really having no
particular enemies save himself He
would appear when drunk to want to
10 things mean and disreputab1e just
FOR the sake of doing something,
hough when sober he was al
ways of a laughing good natured dis
position. 1t is not known that he ever
lad any particular trouble with the
Powers woman, save when he was
trunk, and generally disorderly and
he general belief is that the murder
vas mere matter of drunken insan-
ty.