The Irish standard., 1910-06-04
AN AWFUL TRAGEDY
Thomas j. Gibbons of South St
Paul, Crazed by Drink, Commits
a Double Homicide.
His Faithful Wife and the Respected
Pastor of St. Augustine Church
the Victims.

broker of South ST. Paul, last Sunday
wife, Mary MCGOWAN Gibbons, fol-
lowing up the muroer few minutes
later by shooting Rev. f. ]. Walsh
of ST. Augustine church, who died a
short time afterward. Gibbons then
calmly gave himself up to the police.
The double tragedy took place imme-
(; diately after Gibbons and his wife had
returned from Minneapolis, where he
had been treated at the Lawrence
sanitarium since last Wednesday for
alcoholism. 1t was With the permits
sion of DR.. Lawrence that Gibbons left
| for his home, but he was under the
care of A. c. Anderson, one of the
nurses, and it was understood that he
was to return Immediately after see
! ing his children and attending to some
important business he had pleaded as
an excuse for leaving the sanitarium
AS soon as the couple entered their
home, Anderson in the meantime stop
ping at a hotel, it is said a quarrel
ensued. Mrs. Gibbons started to pre-
pare the evening meal. Only one Of
the seven children happened to be In
the house, a l0-year-old girl. She
afterward told the police that she
heard her father threaten to kill his
wife and, terrified she fled to neigh
Dor and gave the alarm. but too late.
Two shots rang out in rapid succession,
and the man was then seen to jump
into his rig, which was still waiting
at the door, and drive swiftly away.
| He drove directly to the home OF
Father Walsh, at the rear of the
/ church, called the priest out and, after
a few heated words, shot him through
the head twice. The priest staggered
toward his study and dropped dead IN
the hallway.
Bishop Joseph +. Busch, of Lead,
S. D., was the founder and first pastor
of ST. Augustine's church in South st.
Paul, and as the predecessor of Father
Walsh as we'll as a,personal acquaint-
ance of all the PERSONS concerned in
the tragedy, gave his opinion of the
shooting and its motives.
Il organized the parish of ST. Angus
tine and was the first resident pastor
of South st. Paul." he said, II knew
the Gibbons family thoroughly. What
happened yesterday might just as cas-
lily have happened Is years ago-the
conditions described today existed
then.
"Mr. Gibbons, the most popular of
men when sober and most success
ful stock salesman, was a perfect de-
mon under the influence of liquor.
Naturally Of cunning and suspicious
nature, drink made him most abusive,
especially to his family.
Mrs. Gibbons was the soul of hon.
Or devoted mother loyal wife and
a most conscientious Christian woman.
Her sense of duty and loyalty to hus-
band and children made her brave
heroically the constant fear and dan
ger of death.
Mr.. Gibbons, but a few months ago,
most profusely expressed his respect
and friendship for myself, and yet, on
one OCCASION he threatened to do vio-
lence to me in South St Paul.
II am absolutely certain that there
is no other cause for this terrible af-
fair than that the poor man is crazed
by drink. Mrs. Gibbons and Father
Walsh are both martyrs to duty. The
real VICTIM the one that needs our
sympathy is the unfortunate man who
for years has been under the domin-
ion Of alcohol, and who am. perfectly
sure is a confirmed paranoiac."
On Wednesday morning the bodies
Of Father Walsh and Mrs. Gibbons
were carried from St. Augustine's
church, where the funeral services
were held, to their graves Sixty mem
bers of the clergy. headed by Bishop
j. ]. Lawler of st. Paul, and Bishop
]. F. Busch of Lead, S. D., chanted
the service for the dead and partici-
pated in solemn requiem and high
mass. Every inch of space in the
aisles was occupied. Outside, several
hundred persons waited with bowed
heads.
Mrs. Gibbons funeral was held first
At $3.50 o'clock her body was taken
to the church. There the service fol
; the dead was held, and the sermon
was preached by Bishop Busch. The
speaker paid high tribute to Mrs
Gibbons as Christian woman, as q
wife and as a mother.
A pathetic scene followed when the
comm was taken from the church tc
the hearse for removal to the Unior
depot. Several Of the Gibbons chill.