Omaha daily bee., 1912-09-16
Council Bluffs
THOUSANDS VIEW THE BODIES
Curious People Pass Through Under
taking Rooms to See Dead.
no DEVELOPMENTS IN CASE
Nothing Discovered to Disprove that
Crime Was Committed by Craxed
/: Father--FanernI to Be
Held Today.

Thousands of people filed through the
rooms of the Cutler. undertaking estab-
nshment at Council Bluffs Saturday and
viewed the uo6ies of .strtin Thompson,
his wife and their S-year-old son. Ray
mond, all dead by the hand of the ap-
parentiy crazed father. BY a coincidence
the coffins were arranged In the same
order as the bodies were found in the
biood-bespattered room at their home on
the Martin farm, six miles from Council
Bluffs Friday afternoon
There were no developments Of any i'm
portance tending further TO establish or
discredit the conviction that death had
come to all three through the insane
act of the man. The theorx OF murder
and suicide is most res.,ctantly received
by the friends and relatives of Thomp-
son. Samuel Christlansen. brother of
Mrs. Thompson, who lives five miles east
of the city. after examining. the letter
left on the table In the living room,
with the envelope bearing bloody finger
prints, expressed his doubt yesterday that
It was written by his brother-in-law. He
said the writing was smaller. ncater and
better than that OF Thompson. He had
none Of the dead mans letters with him
for comparison.
This impression was also shared in a
measure by Mr.. Myrtue, for whom
Thompson worked building the booths
end arches for the carnival. He was in
such doubt yesterday afternoon after
critically examining the letter that he
returned to the shop and got several OF
the time sheets made out by Thompson
during the progress Of the carnival work.
They did not contain enough writing to
!. permit a favorable comparison. In some
respects the writing was greatly similar
and in others dissimilar. All were writ
ten with pencil. In the time sheets the
writing was heavier ana the character
much larger. The greatest dissimilarity
was In the letter IT."
The family record shows that Mr..
Thompson was Is years old and his wife
"A. They were married here twenty-five
years ago, when. as Miss Caroline Chris
tiansen. the woman followed the man
who had won her love In their Denmark
home and became his bride. During all
Of their married life they were noted
for their devotion to each other. Two
years ago Mr. Thompson sent his wife
and young son back TO the old home
to visit. that their relatives there might
join in the love and pride with which
his parents regarded him. A year ago
the little fellow had an accident and
suffered broken arm. Both father and
mother remained at his bedside almost
constantly. Their love and solctude was
80 great that they would not permit him
TO sleep anywhere but on cot in their
own room. The father cherished the boy
with almost an idolatrous love, and II
Is this that makes II so difficult FOR his
friends to believe that he could have
ever thought Of harming him. The two
other children, Christina and Dora, both
adult young women. are in state OF
complete physical collapse following their
visit to the farm home. Miss Dora, who
W teacher In the public schools at Han
cock. Ia, was in state that caused
grave concern yesterday, and both were
under the care OF physicians.