Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1904-04-29
The Fall of q rliniSter

picture and that of bis wife appear
conspicuously in connection with
hairing head lines, in the New
York daily papers. beeause~ef-hls
wife.
- From the statements Ct the pa
pnrs he must have secured the pas
torate of the very fashionable Eliz-
abeth New Jersey, presbyterian
church (the place where he at
tempted to take the life of his
wife), not long after leaving Mont
Grey, and it seems that he enjoyed
the confidence and respect of his
congregation.
His wife who was a Miss Martin,
her mother now being matron at
the Western State Hospital, at
Staunton. has been an invalid for
a number of years, and according
70 her statement he had grown
tired of her and wished her out of
the way that another might take
her place.
The night after the marriage of
their eldest daughter to a wealthy
Standard Oil man, is the time the
murderous assault was made, and
is spoken of by Mrs Buckle thus:
Shortly after midnight awoke
to find my husband standing over
me. Frightened by the hatred in
his eyes | asked him. what was the
matter. He replied, II just want
ed to see if you were asleep"
She complained of having a
headache, and he offered to dampen
a towel, she said, and put it on her
forehead. What occurred then was
told to Police Justice Mahon by
the complainant, as pale and still
bearing marks of a violent struggle,
she wildly described the terrible
ordeal as follows:
When my husband offered to re-
lieve my suffering | was somewhat
surprised, as he seldom showed me
any courtesies of the kind. But
he left the room and returned in Il
few minutes with a large Turkish
towel. Before bringing it to ME
he carefully closed the door leading
into the adjoining room occupied
by our daughter, Virginia.
Then he brought the towel to me.
1t was dampened with warm water
instead of cold and | told him that
a warm towel would rot relieve a
headache. He replied that it was
good enough and folded it in a
thick square, | noticed this, rs we
always kept dim light burning
in the apartment because of our
baby, who slept in a cradle near
the bed.
Suspecting nothing, permitted
bin to lay the towel over my face,
but remarked to him that it was
too far down, as it covered my nose
and mouth. He said, mo matter;
you will feel better in few mo-
ments."
| was grateful because of his un-
usual kindness, and was slow to
realize that the towel was being
firmly and gradually pressed closer.
Then came the awful realization
that was at the mercy of a muir
derer. His look Of hatred, which l
had noticed upon awakening, now
came into my mind and | tried to
scream. But it was useless. The
damp towel completely shut off ut.
terance and my breath was rapidly
leaving me.
In the struggle that followed |
fell from the bed. This awoke the
baby and it's cries brought my II
year old daughter to the room. My
husband tried to explain to her
that | had fallen out of bed while
asleep, but when | regained con-
seriousness | told my daughter that
her father had tried to murder me.
She aroused the neighbors and
they took me with them for the
balance of the night.
When | returned to the parson-
age next morning Mr.. Buckle was
gone. He returned at noon and
asked me to forgive him. | told
him if he would make known the
truth | would live with him for the
sake Of the children. He said to
tell the truth would ruin him.
lie then left me, taking what
money was in the house."
No warrant has been issued for
his arrest.
A later paper adds that Mr.
Buckle resigned as pastor of the
Church and his where.
abouts is not known, but he is
to be in New York. He
sent Mrs Buckle S125 and promis-
ID to support her when he got
work.
In talking for the press Mrs
Buckle said further:
Mr. Buckle hates sick people.
lie always declared he would abol-
sh all the homes for incurables
md kill off all the idiots; that 1T
vas a great mistake to prolong life
when the person was not in good
condition physically. He frequent