The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-07-07
JURY TO DECIDE
THE QUESTION
Was Arthur Douglas Killed or Did
He Commit Suicide?
THE STORY OF MRS. SHUPE
HELD WITHOUT BAIL TO THE
DISTRICT COURT.
SPECIAL to The Herald


county Jail at Paris, Ida sits Mrs.
! Caddie Shupe. who, on last Monday.
waived examination on the charge of
numbering Arthur Douglas in this city
last Sunday morning at about 1 O'Clock.
The shooting was done with a .32-cali-
bre bull dog pistol. and il took place IN
the humble home of Mrs Shupe The
bullet entered the breast near the left
nipple and pierced the main blood YES
sci leading to the heart. Death was
almost instantaneous, so the doctors
said.
In short time the officers of the law
were on the spot, together with a
| brother Of the dead man and a physi-
clan. a hurried examination showed
| how death had been produced, and al
! most as quickly. the woman, who was
also present when the outsiders ar
| rived, was placed under arrest pending
further examination.
On Monday coroner's jury was en-
paneIed, and after hearing what evil
dence they could have access 10, report
ed that Arthur Douglas came to his
death from a gunshot wound. inflicted
by -32-calibre pistol, held in the hands
of some person unknown 10 the jury
Immediately on the return of the
JuTyS findings, the county attorney had
Mrs Shupe placed under arrest, and
later the preliminary examination ter
minated as above stated and the next
regular term of the district court will
! be called on to try her on the charge
of murder. This will be next fall, I'M
less the Judge decides to call a special
session of the court before then. This
Will be the first time in the history of
old Bear Lake county that woman
has ever had to face such "A serious
charge.
Mother of Six Children.
Mrs. Caddie Shupe. the accused wo-
man. is about thirty-five years old, and
she has lived in this city nearly all her
! life She is the mother of six chill
/ dren. four boys and two girls. the old
est Of whom is girl about seventeen
years. while the youngest is boy of
three years. She has relatives scattered
all over southern Idaho and throughout
Ctah- A year and half ago she was
. divorced from William Shupe, her nus
band. and since then she has been conf
PEELED to support her children, largely
through her own efforts. This she did
at first by doing washing and other odd
work that she could get. Later she
rented rooms in her small home and
among those who came 20 board was
Arthur Douglas. In her evidence before
the coroner's jury, she stated that he
asked TO come to her house.
Lived as Man and Wife,
After he came TO board and room with
her he insisted, so she says, in having
the other roomers leave, saying he
would take care of her and her children.
To the outside world. it seemed that
they lived pretty much as man and
wife, though his work took him away
from the house during much of the
night, he being on the night shift at his
saloon. During this time she formed a
strong attachment for him, and when
he went to another place to room, which
he did last winter, she insisted on his
coming back to her home. He put her
off from time to time so she testified
until she demanded of him that he re-
turn and protect her and her children,
as he had promised This he agreed to
do on the tenth Of June last. but for
some cause failed. Then he agreed to
come on the goth, but again failed.
Then she wrote him a note that he must
come not later than the LIST of July. ''Or
something terrible would happen" This
something" she explained to the jury,
was that she might take her own life.
He came on the list of the present
month and brought or had sent to her
house a part of his clothing On the
night of the LIST. or Saturday last, he
came into her home about midnight,
and almost Immediately they began
Quarreling. He was i'm a very bad hU-
NOR, she testified. and she herself was
in no better spirits. She upbraided him
for not coming and living with her and
doing by her as he had agreed. When
she asked him if he intended to
make good his word (presuma bly, to
marry her. though she did not say So
in exact words to the jury he answered
by saying: II don't know; I can't tell
Night of the Tragedy.
This was always his answer that
night to her every appeal After par
Ieying for an hour or so he Went into
the kitchen 10 take a bath. He had dis
ROBBED himself and put on night shirt,
bathing himself sponge fashion. He
was sitting on d chair washing his feet,
and she was standing near him talking.
Finally he complained that cold
draught was blowing on him from a
window in a small pantry near by. and
she stepped over to the door of the
pantry to put the window down. She
had to open door to get at the window
and while turning the knob, with her
back to the sitting man, she heard a
shot. Turning she saw Douglas stand
ing up and evidently about to spring
towards her. Thinking that he meant
to shoot her, she rushed past him,
screaming to another part of the house.
He uttered only one word: "Caddie,"
and fell headlong on the floor. with the
blood squirting from the pistol wound. |
She went back into the room where he
was lying and put some water in his
face, trying. TO revive him, but she soon
All of her children but two were
sleeping in another part of the house,
and she had some trouble TO get them
awake sufficiently to dress themselves
and go for help
Another Woman in Utah.
All the above enumeration of alleged /
facts she gave in her testimony before
the corOner's jury She further stated |
that Douglas had received one or two |
letters from some woman IN Utah in |
which this Utah person said she WAS
coming to Montpelier to live with him /
Mrs. Shupe said the letters seemed to |
worry the recipient, especially when |
she (Mrs. ShupeD demanded to know |
If ne intended to take this Utah wo- |
man, and throw her and her children \
out on the world, after all she had done !
for him?" Mrs. Shupe said that she 1
believed the receipt of these letters and !
their effect on the man had caused him !
10 commit suicide. She was especially |
strong in her assertions that he had !
shot himself while her back was
turned trying to open the pantry door. |
She alleged further that II was her |
pistol that was used, but that he had !
taken IL from under the pillow on her !
bed. where he knew she had always |
kept it, She said however, that she |
did not see him with the gun while |
ShEa