The Oskaloosa herald., 1904-11-03
FIELDING RESPONSIBLE
Held BY Coroner's Jury For The
Death Of His Wife.

MEE
I'VE, the jury, find that deceased,
Mrs. Fielding, came to her death by
violence and that said body has upon
it the following marks and wounds In
dicted by Marshall Fielding, and
which the said jury 90 find caused the
immediate death of the said person
whose body was found as aforesaid,
to-wit: A gunshot wound through the
stomach, having entered below the
left nipple and passing through the
! body, causing the death Of said per-
SON."
Such was the sealed verdict return
ed by the coroner's jury In the IN
quest held Friday afternoon by Cor
oner Chas. Foehlinger, over the shoot
ing of Mrs. Marshall Fielding, at I'm
ion camp near Buxton, on Thursday
morning. The inquest was held at
Buxton in a room over the p~ostoffice,
and quite a number Of witnesses were
examined. Tine coroner's jury was
made up of F. B. Davis, I. o. Hays
and W. M. Sheldon, all Mahaska oun
ty men.
The evidence revealed the fact that
no one saw the shooting and no one
knew very much about it. 1t occurred
outside and some little distance from
the Joe Lewis saloon, and the first
that was known of the trouble or ac-
cident was the firing of the single
shot. The people in the saloon came
out to 9 what was the trouble and
found that Mrs. Fielding was shot.
Marshall made no attempt to. get
away but explained that he had acct
dentally shot the women in a scufle
for the possession OF the gun.
1t was shown that Mr.and Mrs. Field
ing had a serious quarrel on the pre-
ceding day, at which time and in the
presence Of witnesses he had taken
his gun, a large calibre revolver, had
dubbed his wife over the head in a
merciless manner, and had left her
all but s%enseless. No one of those
who saw this trouble would interfere
at the time on account of the fact
that the man had a revolver and being
generally feared by the people, no one
wanted to chance being shot. Field
ing was later arrested for this trou-
Bile and the gun was taken from him,
but when the Buxton justice discover
ed hat the trouble had occurred in
Mahaska county he concluded that he
had no jurisdiction in the matter and
dismissed the negro. Mahaska au-
thorities we're not notified.
Fielding during the trouble on
Wednesday had remarked that he in
} tended to put a stop to his wife's run
ming around nights and being away
from home, and this was the only in.
sight into the cause of the trouble
that the witnesses knew. Fielding is
reported to have said to one OF the
witnesses that no one knew really
what the trouble was over but himself
and wife. Fielding and his wife
seemed to be on the best of terms al
the dance Wednesday night and were
; partners in a number of dances. The
trouble seemed to have passed oil
right.
PoAIJ "ShI " inc JUG L0WiS
saloon after the dance broke up and
witnesses stated that all were drink.
ing but no n was intoxicated. There
were about a dozen men in the room
and half rs many women at the time.
which was about three o'clock THUGS
I day morning.
Some witnesses testified that Field
ing saw the gun lying behind the bar
and went behind the counter after the
: weapon. Joe Lewis demonstrated but
Fielding, promising to return the gun,
saying that ne wanted it only a short
time, was permitted to take it, and lie
left the place a short time afterwards
and in less than three minutes after
wards the shot was heard outside the
place. A post mortem examination
was held over the remains to ascer-
tain the cause Of death. 1t was found
that the bullet had passed through tho
upper end Of the stomach.
1t is a somewhat singular fact that
Mrs. Fielding made no statement to
anyone concerning the cause of the
shooting. She absolutely refused to
say a word concerning the trouble or
how it occurred. She accused no one
OF the crime, mol did she say that she
was to blame for the accident. Some
witnesses stated that Mrs. Fielding
was unconscious and could not talk,
while others said that she would say
nothing about the trouble. The fact
remains, however, that a life was TAX
en- and the caus OF the shooting
seems to be laid at the door Of Ma
haska county.