Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-11-28
Bert McNutt Fails to Appear at
His Own Wedding, and Later
Shoots Himself
THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN INSANE
Writes Letter to Fiance Protesting
His Love for Her and Saying That
She is in No Way Responsible for
His Death, But Gives No Reason for
the Deed.


ding guests had been hidden and the
feast prepared, but the groom came
not, and before the shadows of the day
had fallen he lay cold in death, destroy
ed by his own hand
| McNutt was 26 years old and for two
years had paid assidious attention to
Miss Guth, who is the daughter of Mr..
Theodore Guth of Ito East Twelfth
street. He was the son of Charles Nc
Mutt, whose brother George is a mem
Der of the city detective force, and an
other of whose brothers, Frank, is
county surveyor.
/ The young couple had beaome engag-
/ ed about six months ago, over the OBJ
Elections of the parents Of the girl. which
We're Withdrawn when the young peo-
/ pie announced their determination to
| marry. The wedding ceremony was
arranged to be performed at the home
of the bride and the guests, number
ling twenty-five, included her own pa
rents and immediate relatives of the
groom.
The guests gathered between IL
o'clock and the noon hour, at the toll
ing of which the marriage bonds were
! to be assumed. The Rev. j. II. krae-
mer, pastor of the ST. John German
| CONGREGATIONAL church at Twelfth and
! Lyon streets, was present to perform
the ceremony The party waited until
| ] o'clock in vain, for the young man,
and then dissolved.
The young mans parents remained
lat the Guth home longer than most
| OF the other guests. They left at about
3 o'clock But before they had reached
their own home in South Des Moines
their son had shot and MORALLY
wounded himself.
Known cause there is none. The
youth left an affectionate farewell note
to his fance. In 1t he protested his love
for her and declared 1t was strong and
in the shadow of death stronger than
ever before. He assured her that she
was in no way responsible for his deed,
further than this he did not go, for the
note had nothing in it, say his rela-
lives, to indicate the reason for his sui
eide
They believe that he was demented.
| They say that he has shown signs for
lseverai months of slight arrangement.
| His conduct preceding the hour of his
wedding is cited to Indicate the same
Thing. The physicians Who attended
him did not secure any information
| from him as to why he wanted to end
it all, but they formed the opinion that
he was deranged.
It tha N do
any plans for killing himself. His con-
duct does not indicate it.
He left home in the morning to go lip
town to get some things. preparatory to
the wedding. He was cheerful and
talked of his wedding. The morning
was bright, and the father and the
mother and the three children at home
said to one another that this was the
finest Thanksgiving day OF all the
years that had gone.
Up town the youth went to the rooms
| of Chef McCurdy and B. Fl. Paterson
over the Hawkeye Seed Company
building. He was the crack member
of the drill team OF the Gus Smith
/ Camp of Modern Woodmen, and Mr.
McCurdy Is one of the members of the
| team also. They were excellent
/ friends, and was thrown together in
the lodge because of the great interest
both took in It's work.
| AT the McCurdy room the marriage
| of the young man was alluded to, but
neither McCurdy nor Patterson knew
1 the exact time at which it had been
/ fixed having received invitations only
to the reception In the evening. Il did
not know that the ceremony was set
for noon.p said Mr.. McCurdy last night.
I'VE talked about the responsi Utilities
| of married life, and that sort of thing
| to some extent and McNutt proposed
that he would come up town in the at
| ternoon and together we would go to
the football game. consented to this.
and we arranged to meet at the Wood
men hall at o'clock. / supposed that
/ the wedding was to be later, for he said
| that it would be necessary for him TO
| be at his home at O'Clock. ] jumped
Ito the conclusion that that was the
| hour fixed. / never dreamed that it
was fixed for noon, and that he was
proposing an engagement for a football
game Immediately after being married.
| Now / see that it was an evidence
! of arrangement. He was perfectly
/ natural about everything, however, and
talked and joked and laughed as any
young man would. I noticed nothing
unusual about him at the time"
| Instead OF keeping this engagement
with McCurdy which was an impossi-
bility, of course, McNutt was at home
| preparing to kill himself. He returned
| to his fathers house soon after noon.
He could not get in, and this leads the
! family TO think that he did not return
/ to the house for the definite purpose of
committing suicide. Not being able to
get in he went across the street south
his parents, with whom he lived. re-
side at the northwest corner of Eighth
and Clay streets in South Des Moines-
and secured the key to his fathers
house, from his grandmother. who re-
sides there with her son, Robert Nc
Mutt
with this key he went into the house.
| After a time he came out, locked the
door and went down Clay street After
while he returned. His grandmother
saw him do this. She thought it queer
Indeed, with woman's Intuition, she
conceived the idea when he first asked
for the key that he was in a peculiar
| frame Of mind and that he was not nat
ural. She went out of her own house
and watched him go into his fathers
so impressed was she with this idea.
Having entered the house the second
time, the young man took a bath and
put on a night shirt. He may have
written the letter to the girl at this time