Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-08-24
CASE OF SUICIDE,
SAYS THE CHIEF.
Head of Police Department Gives
His Reasans for Believing YER
million Shot Himself.
HAS FOLLOWED EVERY CLUE.
Both Bullets Accounted fOr--Dr. liaz'
els Story Regarding Mysterious
Man Who Walked Away.

All the evidence that has been on-
taned up to date. points to a case OF
suicide in the death Of Wilford A. .
yrmnion the druggist whose body was
found lying behind the prescription
case Of his store. 81 West Second
south street on Monday night
chief OF Police Lynch has been IN
close touch with all that has develop
ed In the remarkable cnsc. The best
men on the force have been working
day aud night on IT, and the chief mas
had careful reports Of all that has been
learned.
rs there anything pointing to murder
In this case7 what evidence is there
that Virmlion committed suicdeY
These questions were asked Chief
Lynch today. Here Is his reply
II know that some are trying 70
make murder case out OF H. but !
want to tell you that we have followed
carefully every possible clue have
made every effort 20 tasten the respon-
siblity NJ the young mans death where
II belongs. we have carefully ana thor
case, and so far there Is absolutely
no evidence OF murder, but on the
other hand everything points to sui
eide.
LAS to tho motive. so far we can only
guess at that As | said there Is no ev-
idence Of murder. But here il the evil
dence OF suicide
'Just before the shots were fired Pc
terson and Miss Smith were upstairs
above the store. Immediately after
The shots were fired Peterson ran down
stairs. lie said he heard a sound in
the store and naturally thought some
thing was wrong. He rushed quickly
down stairs and looked w and down
the street. Tie saw no ono. Miss
Smith also went down stairs and she
saw no one a street ear was passing
the place when the shots were fired
The motorman looked toward the store
but saw no one leaving OF even any
where near. Some people across the
street heard the shots, but they saw no
one. Then Peterson called to Nirmil-
ion, but got no answer Then he en-
tered the store and found the young
man lying behind the show case.
''Virmilion's body was lying face up
ward. His left hand was up ami
across his breast. His right hand was
down by his side and slightly under
HIS hip, His gun was there and from
that gun two shots had been fred. Both
these shots We're freshly discharged.
haye fired hundreds OF thousands OF
cartridges from almost every Kind Of
weapon, and | never saw more unmis-
taxable signs OF freshly fired shells
than those We're There is absolutely
no evidence that one OF the cartridges
had been fired some time before. Onp
Of the bullets crashed into the cash
register and was broken The pieces
were carefully gathered up and weighed
within q fraction ~ an ounce OF .3S
caliber bullet. The other bullet enter
ed the young mans head, II was n
3S caliber. only two shots were heard
They are both accounted for
How about the man who was seen
leaving the placer
mo one was seen leaving the place
II Is some distance TO the corner from
the drug store. Dr. Hazel says posi-.
lively that after the shots were fired
he saw n man walking rapidly across
the intersection OF the streets and dis
appear into the shadow Of the trees.
But mind YOU, DR.. Hazel said he could
not In any way associate the seeing OF
this person with the firing OF the shots.
lie could not say whether the man he
saw was white or black or whether he
" ore Hight or dark clothes
Nov, II the man was murdered,and
the murderer left the place Immediate
" after the shots were fired, he would
have been seer by Miss Smith, by Pc
terson, by the people across the street
and by the motorman, and possibly b.
Or. Hazel II Is more than 100 yards
60 the corner from the drug store We
know that very few men can run that
distance I'm 10 seconds. IL did not take
Peterson nearly that long to get down
stairs and look up and down the street.
~ know that II Is hard to accept
the suicide theory, and II Ia hard to
brand the young man with such an act
hut at the present time the murder
theory Is practically out OF the ques-
ton. Something may develop which
will throw more light ON tho subject,
but at this time all the tangible evil
dence indicates suicide, and there Is
really no tangible evidence OF a MUIR
der"
yesterday Justice clark called a jury
composed of William Carroll, n. D.
Mcdonald and J. g. Lynch. The jury
Is now investigating the case, having
continued the hearing this afternoon
The way tho case stands at the pres
ent time, the authorities arc working
largely ON theories,
During the coroners examination
Yesterday afternoon, G. w, Dallon, a
close personal friend Of the dead man,
testified. Mr.. Dallon's testimony war
practically the same as his statement
published I'm last evenings News"
Last night an autopsy was held, and
as a result Of that chief Lynch IS con-
WINGED that both shots fred were from
yirmilion's revolver, and both are ac-
counted for.