The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-14
SHOOTS HIS AUNT AND THEN HIMSELF Monroe Wells Dies from Self
 inflicted Wounds WOUNDS WOMAN FATALLY weIls' Mind Was Unbalanced-Youna Man Had Been In AsyIum-shoots Miss 5eale-Tries to Shoot
 His Mother.
WOUNDS WOMAN FATALLY

With unbalanced mind, but with every evidence of careful planning, Monroe Wells. the 21-year-old son of MT. and Mrs. W. s. Wells of North Birmingham. shot and killed his aunt, Miss Addie Beale, yesterday morning, then turned the pistol on himself and sent two bullets into his brain.
 Miss Beale died at 12:.O o'clock this morning The remains will be sent to Oneonta this afternoon; and the inter- ment will take place there. She was 27 years old and well known in North Bir- mingham.
 The tragedy occurred at the Wells resi- dence on Twentieth avenue, between Twenty-sxth and Twenty-seventh streets, about s:3O o'clock. By noon Wells was dead, and late in the afternoon it was announced that his aunt could not live through the night. A bullet entered her brain. and the cerebral matter oozed from the wound, showing that the brain had been penetrated and the tissue severed.
 Medical Assistance.
 As soon as the shooting occurred medi- cal assistance was summoned Dr. z. T. Chamblee and Dr. NJ H. Collns attending Wells and Miss Beale. The physicians stated at once that there was no hope for either of the wounded, but later they thought that Miss Beals fife might be saved by an operation. Dr. Hefin was then summoned, but after 2 consultation it was decided not to attempt an oper- ation as there was no chance for the woman to live.
 Young Wells mind was unbalanced, but this was the first evidence of a disordered brain since his return from the asylum at Tuscaloosa, where he was sent after an attempt to put an end 10 his entire family last summer by poisoning the cof- fee for breakfast.
 Borrowed Pistol.
 Early yesterday morning Wells borrow ed a pistol from a next door neighbor, with the statement that there was a mad dog in the yard which he desired to kill. The pistol was .3S calibre Smith & Wesson. Wells hid it first, and from the investigation made after the shoot ing 1t is believed that he intended wait
 
 would be present, so that he might kill them all at once
 He began to fear, however, that the pis- tol would be discovered and that he would be arrested and his plans thwart- ed. He went to the hiding place and se- cured the pistol and then started into the house. The first person he saw was his mother. He fired at her first and the bullet was buried in the wall a few inches above her head. The young man then started out of the room, and saw volver and fired at her once, the bull let striking her in the center of the neck just below the base of the skull. It ranged upward into her brain.
 Mrs. Wells fearing her son would shoot at her again. escaped from the house, as did also his little brother boy too young to comprehend the awful tr7 r7-edy which was taking place.
 Walked Into the Hall.
 Wells then turned and walked into the hall where he sent two bullets into his own brain. The first of them caused him to fall to the floor, but did not render him unconscious, and he then placed the pistol to his forehead and fired the sec ond time. Both of the bullet wounds were about an inch above the right ear, and both of the bullets lodged in his head. The surgeon probed for them. and the instrument went entirely through the head to the opposite side of the skull. They did not, however, come through
 Neighbors ran to the house when they heard the pistol shots and the first sight which met their eyes was the body of young Wells in the hall He was lying on the floor and bleeding rrofusely and grooming as if in great agony. They then went into the room adjoining the hall, where they discovered Miss Beal lying on the floor, also in great agony. Mrs Wells was seated on a chair near the fire place, prostrated from the shock and scarcely able to give any account of the affair. The youngest Wells child was in the room, seemingly dazed by what had occurred.
 Messages were at once sent to Mir. Wells, who is a prominent contractor. He was formerly employed by the Con-