Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-10-30
SHOOTS FRIEND;
COMMITS SUICIDE
ROMPO USRANOFF KILLS SPERRO
ACHISBIROFF IN T. M. E. R. & L.
COMPANY CAMP.
TRAGEDY NEAR DELAFlELD.
Police Believe S4cide May Have Fol-
lowed Ren2or5e from Accidental
Shooting of Friend.
MURDER THEORY is ADVANCED

WAUhESE1A, w 49,, OCI. Af-lSpe-
cial. l-Rompo Usranoff, aged 10, q
Macedonian cook at the camp Of the
Milwaukee Electric Railway at the Wa
terville road crossing, twelve miles west
Of this city near Delafeld, shot and
killed Sperro Achisbiroff, a fellow coun-
tryman, Friday afternoon and subse-
quently took his own life by shooting
himself in the throat, dying instantly.
The tragedy occurred in a little shack
on the outskirts of the Macedonian camp.
AS there were no eye witnesses it will
probably never be known whether Usra-
noff accidently shot his companion and
then, fearing summary punishment at
the hands of his fellow countrymen, or
in fit of remorse took his own life, or
whether the tragedy was murder and sui
eide. Thetheory that the killing of
Achisbiroff was accidental is supported
by the fact that the men had always
been boon companions and afectionately
addressed each other as brother"
Scout Vendetta Theory.
The rumor that the shooting was the
result of a vendetta arising from quar-
rel between the men over the affections
of a Macedonian woman formely en-
ployed at the camp, is secuted by Robert
Lowerre, Jr, of Delafeld, foreman at
the camp, who believes the shooting was
accidental. Usranoff was cook and stew
ard at the camp and drew his pay from
the other laborers, while Achisbiroff was
common laborer. An open account
book in which the individual accounts
of the laborers were kept, spattered with
blood. lay between the bodies, which
gave rise to the theory that the men had
quarreled over money which Usranoff
may have claimed his companion owed
him.
Achisbiroff was shot in the left side,
the bullet passing through the liver and
lungs and unfolding itself on the right
side, directly underneath the skin. He
lived a few minutes and made a futile
self in the throat directly beneath the
chin, the bullet passing upwards and
penetrating the brain. He died instant
ly. The shooting was done with a 49,
caliber liver johnson revolver.
Foreman Heard Shots.
Foreman Lewerre passed through the
camp ten minutes before the shooting oc-
Cured and saw the two men talking to-
gether near the stove in the cookshed.
A few moments later Ivan Spas heard
q shot and running to the shack saw
Achisbiroff writing in agony on the floor
in Usranoff's sleeping room, which adj
joins the kitchen. Usranoff was bend
ing over the body of his friend and mum
bling excitedly to himself. Spas ran to
summon Lowerre and as the two were
returning they heard a second shot and
found Usranoff lying dead in a pool of
blood on the kitchen floor, the revolver
lying nearby. Drs. r. S. Perkins, Sum-
NIT, and A. J. w. Nixon, Delafeld, were
hastily summoned but their services
were useless. Spas and Lowerre lifted
Aschisbiroff from the floor to the bunk,
where he made an effort to raise him
self and speak, but failed and toppled
over dead.
Find Skull Fracture.
An examination of the bodies today at
the Biggs undertaking rooms revealed
a long skull fracture on the left side of
Usranoffs head, which apparently dis
pelIs the Theory that Achisbiroff was ac-
cidently shot. The finding of the skull
fracture together with statements made
by Ivan Spas to an undertaken after the
officers had left, makes the theory that
the two men Quarreled over the account
book, the most plausible, and it is believed
that Achisbiroff struck Usranoff on the
head and that the latter then shot Achis-
biroff and, fearing violence at the hands
of his enraged countrymen when the muir
der was discovered, took his own life.