Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1911-04-14
SWALLOWS ACID WHEN
HIS WIFE LEAVES HIM
SUICIDE. NEAR ALTON


Police Find Wife of Man Who
Killed Himself at Avon in Staun-
ton Boarding House
Poison solved the problem Of d.
mestic uuhappiness for @. II. Pur.
nell, of Avon, near Alton, Sunday. |
); hours after neiRhbors found his
y, y in his home and learned from
s;l,nt. acid-staiped lips part of the
S ~ of the tragedy. the Staun-
s,l elics located the wife Of the
sisi!, in q boarding house here,
.sc. she had come on Friday after
20 "a blowing q separation from her
II sal, and heard from her the rest
i Is.
Police FIND THE WIFE
Tis, Fl st intimation Of the tragedy
,.no in the tinkiipg of the prone
Osil in the polics station at about the
hour when people were getting ready
to 60 to church. The voice at tha
i othsr emu Of the wire was at Alton
and was that of L. D. Lipscomb, who
told the officer talking to him Some
/, chapters of the story. Purnell had
committed suioide, he said, presumably
because his wife had left him.. She
had come to Staunton. he explained,
AMI he wanted the police to look for
her, To help them in their search
he furnished a description of the
woman whioh enabled Officer Goche-
nour to locate her at about 8 O'Clock
in the afternoon after ne had visited
almost every hotel and board ing
house ia town.
At the houss of Mys. Daniel Beli,
Main aud st. Clair str eeis. she officer
vas told that person who might be
Mrs. Parnell han been taking her
meals there since Friday and that she
was rooming at the residence Of B.
N. weller, just few doors up the
street. 1t ia q singul fact that the
houss of Mrs. Bell was the last OF
the fi,sr's list.
REFUSED TO SEE OFFICER
Whsn Mrs. PurnelI was told by Mr.
Weller that q gentleman wishei to
seq her in the parlor she refused to
60 downstairs. although she did not
know that her caller was an officer
unless she had guessed it, for she
had not been told thst ne was. Then,
at the suggestion of Mr.. Weller, the
policeman went upstairs to her room,
and a. signt of him the woman ap-
psared to swooa. Q1iokiy rs2ai 1iag
her conposure as Goshs1oar address
ed her as Mrs. Purnell, sis sskei in
greatly excited manner how ia officer
knew her name. When he had con
vinced her that he knew not only that
but also much more about her, then
Goohenour told her that her husband
had been found dead.
Her only comment in leply Was 81
never believed he would do it,.
TELLS HER STORY
Then little by little the wife told
what enabled the officer to put two
and two together to make fonr. She
had quarreIed with her husband on
Monday q week ago. after they had
lived unhappily almost from th sir
marriage day last December. He
had often threatened to kill her and
then end his own life, sne said, and
finally sha decided to go. From
Monday until Friday she lived with
a neighbor at Avon, shs sad. and
it was on the afternoon of the latter
day she had come here, and upon
arrival had been directed to Mrs.
Bells house by a man in shoe store,
whom shs asked for sdvice.
Chow do you know SO much about
me?" was the question the woman
fired at the officer, as she suddenly
interrupted her narrative. "But one
person In the world canld hive told
you all of that" shs exclaimed.
The Zone person" to whom Mrs.
Parnell referred was L. D. Lips
comb, a merchant Of Alton, q married
man. and the person who first com.
municated with ths police and who
scanned to have an intimate knowl-
enge of the woman's affairs. 1t was
he who told the police that she was
here, how much money she had, also
that she had lately written to NASH
Vile. Tenn, her former home Later
she admitted that she knew Lipscon6
we'll aud that cha Was thu cause of q
fight that he had with her husband.
! ALI of this ths woman told volan-
tarily, soms of it while at the lodg.
] ing h 3use. the rest or it at the resi-
deace Of Chief Lipscomb where she
| had been escorted by ths officer who
found hsr.
= WIDOW IS A BEAUTY
EaMrs. Purnel appears to be in the
thirties and is described as han n1sone
woman From the fingers of ths
hand with which now and then she
brushed tears from her eyes as she
toll her story there flashed brilliant
diamonds, while another gem ad orned
Z, some fluffy stuff about her throat. She
was elegantly dressed In gray,
tailored suit, with hat to match, and
" ore beautiful fnrs.
People at Alton yesterday afternoon
ssamad to urafer not to discuss the