The times., 1899-04-05

figures. one on the floor. another at the
other side OF the room on q couch, were
dimly discernible. Daylight was let in and
the crime in all its distasteful details was
revealed
There were no signs of a struggle in the
room. On the table was lying an ugly
looking butcher knife and two Washington
papers of date of March %. These papers
furnished the most peculiar detail of the
rrime. Their pages were opened to the
news story of the suicide of Hart Guinnip.
a New York real estate man, who shot and
killed himself in 4 Washington boarding
house because of despondency and i'll
health. These papers showed signs of hay-
ing been perused with great care. and an
absorbing study for criminologists will be
the mental condition under which man,
suffering bodily pain, perhaps. from his af-
Fiction. and deranged in brain, could be
urged to a frenzy wherein he murdered his
aged wife in her sleep and then committed
suicide.
The methods employed by him were
very similar to the manner in which Hart
Guinnip ended his life, and the hndest, If
not the most plausible explanation is that
the old man, having read the details OF
the crime of a fellow sufferer, brooded
over the emptiness of his existence, con-
tenplated the sensations of a murderer,
perhaps not seriously at first and was
goaded by the very perversity of his unbal-
al. 81. % Nf xt.tf
with whom he had lived for thirty years,
and then his own.
Position of the Bodies.
The old mans body lay near the middle
of the room on the floor. The head lay un-
der the table on which the knife and news
papers we're found. and in the right was
tightly clasped thirty-two caliber revol-
Yer. with two chambers empty. He had
evidently stood up very straight to shoot
himself after numbering his wife, falling
heavily against the legs of the table. The
bullet took effect above the right ear. and
death must have been instantaneous.
There was no Indication of commissions or
any final struggle.
On the couch at the other side of the
room lay the body of his wife. Until the
small red scar over the left ear and the
blood. dried into her pillow. were seen
she might easily have been mistaken for a
sleeping woman. Her face was turned
10 the wall. and apparently she had rot
moved after being shot by her husband.
She was killed in her sleep. for in no other
way could she have been shot in the man
ner described, and without the disarrange-
ment of the light covering spread over
her form.
With such circumstantial evidence to
start with the story of the crime seems
very clear. The old r-5uple had eaten din
ner, then closing the house for the night,
Mrs. Turner lay down on the couch for a
nap. leaving her husband TO the papers
from which it is supposed that he gained
inspiration for the brooding thoughts of
crime. upon which he dwelt until crazed.
and then went about executing the horri-
bic designs thus conceived.
Little Preparation.
There seems to have been no preparation
on his part beyond getting the revolver and
the butcher knife. 1t is supposed that. fall
ing with one weapon, he intended TO ac-
couiplish his purpose with the more brutal
one. and in this case it is mercy that
the revolver did its work well. unless
perhaps. a struggle with the knife woulc
have attracted the attention Of neighbors
which is hardly probable. at all events moi
in time 10 prevent tbs crime
Having killed his wife, the old man, az
condition af ha rnorn f00l
precautionary measures to insure himself
seclusion with his suicide. The shutters
were already closed, but that was no
enough He drew chair to the only win
dow through which the interior of tht
room might by any chance be seen ant
threw several pieces of his wife's appare
over its back What happened then beyond
his own death there is nothing to show.
How long he reflected over what he hat
done and what he intended doing there II
the room with the aged woman he hat
murdered is grewsome thought that may
well be dismissed. He emptied one NOR
chamber of the revolver into his brain an'
thus ended his earthly career.
Lamps Burned Out.
Every lamp in the house had burned ou
OF oil. which only proves more clearly wha
has already been said. There was littll
else in the home to be seen by the thre'
Investigators, and they were glad enough Il
beat a retreat and notify the village off
cIals, among them the coroner, George w
Hawxhurst, who summoned a jury com
posed of NJ. E. Church, J. D. Chaplin. J
H Garrettson, W /. Gordon, George A
Brunner. and J. S. Riley, and proceeded [
the Turner cottage. The bodies wer
viewed. the premises examined, and th
story of the discoverers heard again in de
tail whereupon the coroner announced tha
he would hold an inquest at 10 O'Clock thi
morning. with which he turned the re
mains over TO Harry L, Turner, the hal
brother of the dead man. Drs. Quick an
FadIey examined the bodies and declare
that death in both cases had been instan
Ianeous.
Before leaving the house, however, tn
coroner was rewarded in his search of tn
premises by finding will left by Westo
3. Turner. dated March II. from the tex
of which II is clear that the testator har
bored no thought Of violence against hi
wife at that time. The will follows:
Falls Church Va. March II. Is99.-I. Westo
g. Turner o; The town OF Falls Church. count
n l,sirfax. State of Virginia, being of SCUM
mind, make. publish. and declare tins my las
vill and testament, hereby revoking any and al
wills heretofore made iy me
Firsi-I direct Tat ny executor, heFeinaite
named pay my funeiai Expenses and all m
Just debts and liabilities as soon As can col
yrncftly be done aftei ny demise.