Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1910-09-23
Murder Mystery
at Lunenburg.
Mrs. Florence M. Dodge
+ Accused.
Arrested by her Nephew.
MOTIVE FOR. MURDER OR SUICIDE
NOT APPARENT.


on the premises for two weeks. lie had
painted the outside of the house aud
was finishing the inside. At the time
of the tragedy he was painting in the
bedroom. At few minutes before II |
O'Clock the neighbors heard three shots |
and Mrs. Dodge shortly after rushed out
OF the house crying that the man had
committed suicide.
The Dodge house is not isolated.
Across the lawn is the home of the Rev
II. e. Howard, the pastor of the Con-
gregational Church. Mrs. Dodge ran
ont in the yard and called to Mrs.
Howard Mrs. Howard had heard the
shots and looking up saw Mrs. Dodge
leave her ironing in the kitchen aud
pass by the windows of the bedroom.
In this statement Mrs. Howard cor
roborates the statement of Mrs Dodge
who says she was in the kitchen ironing
when she heard two shots fired in the
front hall, and that she rushed into the
bedroom and found Heath lying in
pool OF his own blood. On finding him
Mrs. Dodge says she ran for bottle of
brandy, which WIS kept in the kitchen,
and returning poured some down
Heath's throat. She then gave the
alarm.
Heath never regained consciousness
and the autopsy showed that the bullet
had pierced his heart, entering in the
back under his left sh oulder blade, and
issuing from his breast in front.
The course of the bullet showed that
he was kneeling down at the opposite
side of the room from the door. Even
if the bullet had not entered his back
the evidence of two other shots shown
by the scars on the hard wood floor and
the marks on wall and ceiling where the
two bullets ricocheted would prove that
Heath had been shot down 10y some one
standing in the door or outside and aim.
ing at the person kneeing.
The mute testimony of these bullet
scars and the course of the bullet that
killed Heath and of the posi- ton of the
body, together with the absence of the
slightest scattering, all prove conclusive.
ly that the painter was shot down ii
cold blood without the slightest warning
without sembance of a struggle.
Mrs. Dodge has been placed undei
arrest because no one was seen in the
vicinity of the house at the time pre-
ceding or Immediately following thu
sounds of the shots, which were hearC
by several people in the village, bu
Mrs Dodge's social standing, her wealth
influence in church circles and her un
, blemished reputation have made it i'm
possible for the people of Lunenburg t,
sYmpathize with the activity of the loca
, authorities who have placed her unde
, arrest.
r The problem confronting those wh
would like to believe that someon
entered the house and shot down Heat
: while at work is the revolver Tn
B. deed was committed with 3S-calibr
double action weapon, which Mrs
+ Dodge admits belonged to her late hus
a band, but which she claims she had no
kept loaded since his death.
t An autopsy has been performed b.
. Drs. b. H. Stone and e. II. Dalton o
: Burlington, J. &. Bretling of Lunenbur
I and Ernest Palmer of New York. The.
e found that Heath could not possbl
e have shot himself in the" manner indi
l. Gated by the course of the bullet, whicl
: had entered at the back, passed through
n the heart and lodged in the front of hi
e shirt. 1t was also found that the othe
: two bullets fired had grazed the thresh
g old of the bedroom and lodged in TIN
e walls opposite the Kitchen door.
s Mrs. Dodge is one Of the eaIthies
d women in Lunenburg and well know,
d throughout the county. She is
s churchworker and has always been fore
most in deeds of charity. She is unde
e arrest in her own house under guard q
i two deputy sheriffs. Harland B. How,
u and Harry Blodgett of St. Johnsbnr,
: have been retained to represent her Sh,
y is bearing up under the charge wifi
o wonderful fortitude.
y The autopsy disclosed the fact that
d there was found in Heaths stomach ;
e small quantity of brandy, which corrob.
: crates Mrs. Dodge's statement that sb,
y poured some down the mans throat.
d No motive for murder or suicide ha,
been discovered at time of poino T.,
e press and the case is mystery. 1t il
C to be hoped that something will he do
1t Veloped at the hearing that will throw
some light on the matter.