Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-03
Tragedy Occurs Before Dsy at HiS
Farnam Street Home.
POLICE SAY IT WAS A SUICIDE
No Pistol IL Found On or About the
Victim, who Had Been Out
and Had Just Returned
Home.


at 4lOs Farnam street, or on his way home,
a few yards up the street.
The first Information the police received |
of the tragedy was at I a. m. 1t was |
telephoned them from the hospital. Drs. |
]. p. Lord and Langfeld performed an |
operation there, but in vain.
81 am positively convinced that Dr. |
Rustin committed suicide" said Chief Of |
Police Donshue yesterday afternoon after |
he and Chief of Detectives Savage had
made a long and searching investigation of
all the facts at their command They spent
some two hours in consultation with Mrs.
Rustin at the family home and they,
with Mrs. Rustin, made vigorous search
for the revolver. but failed to find It. Mrs.
Rustin at first felt sure her husband had
been murdered. but finally concluded with
the Officers he killed himself
County Attorney English last night ad-
vised Chief Donahue to report all his
findings to the coroner and let him de-
eide on the advisability of holding an in
quest The chief said he would make
that report this morning, and the coroner
doubtless will decide at once on the
matter of the inquest. The chief said that
while he is satisfied and convinced in his
own mind of the theory of suicide he
will continue his Investigations to the
point where there may be no possibility of
any other theory
While the hour of Or. Rustins shooting
seems to be pretty clearly fixed at a.
m, the hour when he returned TO his
home is not definite. A young man
standing at the corner of Fortieth and
Cunning streets waiting for the election
returns says he saw the doctor pass
there going home at about IL o'clock.
/ WI, AI,1.s
until o'clock brooding and contemplat-
| ing perhaps will never be known.
Spoke of Suicide.
! Information has come to the chief that
DR. Rustin intimated during the last two
or three days of his life that he contem-
/ plated suicide. This Is one of the causes
| that has figured in the change of convic-
| tion on the part of Chiefs Donahue and
| Savage. both of whom at first secuted
the theory of suicide.
Two reasons, among others Chief Dona-
hue preferred not TO disclose, Influenced
! him at first in arriving at the conclusion
of murder rather than suicide. There was
the impossibility of finding the revolver
and the fact that the shot was in the
stomach. If the man killed himself. It was
argued. the pistol should be on the scene
and IT was also urged that no doctor
J
in the stomach.
"He might have shot himself while COM
ing to the home and thrown the pistol
where 1t could not be easily found" says
the chief. "Of course 1t is strange that the
pistol cannot be found, but these strange
things cannot always be accounted for"
DR.. Rustin will be buried Saturday after
noon, the services being held at o'clock
by Rev. T. j. Mackay at All Saints Epis-
copal church.
Carried Heavy Insurance.
DIR. Rustin was insured heavily. Luther
Kountze of the First National bank a
friend of the family, who went to the
house to be of service soon after ,the
tragedy, was asked the exact amount Of
the insurance, If 1t was $4,000. and re-
piled:
II cannot name the exact amount, but
should say 1t was in that neighborhood
l will be able to tell exactly within three
days"
or this amount $22, 500 was carried with
the Penn Mutual and this is all incontesti-
BILE. He had some with the New York Life,
but representative of that company de-
clined to say how much He used to carry
a policy with the Equitable, but 1t lapsed
some years ago.
There has been some talk since the
tragedy of difficulties in the financial af-
fairs of DR.. Rustin and a report was cir
culated that the First National bank
which held some of the doctors paper.
denied by officer of that bank who
said that while II carried some of his
paper the amount involved was nothing
to give apprehension or change the re-
| lations that had always existed and cer-
tainly there was no room for ascribins
the Doctors death to worry over these
matters.
Doctor and Wife Talk,
Here is the statement Mrs. Rustin made
by Chief of Detectives Savage.
"Dr. Rustin was out until early in the
morning. l was awakened about O'Clock
by the report Of a pistol shot. 1t sounded
as il 1t had been fired up the street some
, distance. I soon heard second shot Ny
first thought was OF someone shooting a
cat. on hearing the second shot, which
: sounded like 1t was in front of ou1
0 house, I Immediately ran downstairs
; out upon the front porch and there found
5 my husband sitting in a chair. Whats
. the matter?' l asked. I've been shot h'
( replied l then called DR.. Lord and h'
t cared for him and got him to the hospital
where l remained with him until death"
Il was called to the house by Mrs
Rustin about S:SO." said Dr. ]. p. Lord
j 'and reached there, l should judge, abou
3:45 going from my home, 1921 Farnan
= street rapidly as I could. l didn't lool
at my watch. but 1 should think it wal
about that time. 1t seems the doctor
asked that l be called. 1 could not sa,
= that he was conscious when 1 arrived o.
h at any time after He talked, but onl,
Il in an incoherent way. 1 got him L
It the hospital as quickly as possible. o
e course, not regaining consciousness, he di,
y not make a statement. / think he tried
" for he talked, but we could not under
stand him.
The bullet was a Ss-callber and wen
through the liver. stomach and right kid
. ney. lodging in the back"
A. DIR. Lord Says Suicide.
y; Asked as 10 his theory for the tragedy
,e DR.. Lord said
A. My idea is that of suicide"
= The maid a. the Rustin home said sh
did not hear the shot, but that Mrs
Rustin, whose bedroom is in front OF tn
house over the front porch. heard tn
Sle S shot and ran down. finding her husban
ID in the chair, There was no sign OF
le scuffle OF bloodshed on Ihe porch, indicat