Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1913-03-29
WILLIAMSBURG
MYSTERY IS
UNSOLVED
Coroner Throws No Light on
Shooting and Burning
Of Four
INTIMACY REPORT
DENIED BY FRIENDS

WILLIAMSTOWN, n. j., March 20.
The last act in the tragedy of Sat
urday night. when il is supposed Leo
Wharton murdered his wife, a G.
year-old daughter and johnson
Hemphill set fire to the house and
then committed suicide was enacted
here yesterday when Coroner Vernon
l.. ID. Stultz conducted the inquest
in which Prosecutor Joseph j. Sum
merrill took the leading part The
tragedy is just as much a mystery
with the inquest completed as when
the bodies were. found In the ruins
There were no new developments.
and the verdict was such that there
is n question about the whole affair
A score Of witnesses we're heard, and
the jury, composed Of John W. Nc
Clure, foreman; Amarian Oliver,
David S. Champion, Hammond Ire
land, Herman Lutz and Isaac Til
ton, returnd the following YER
dict:
THAT Johnson Hemphill came to
his death by gunshot wounds at the
hands OF some one unknown.
THAT the body of the woman is
unidentified and that she came to her
death at the hands Of some one un-
known.
"That the body Of the child is uni
Identified. and that II came to death at.
the hands OF some one unknown.
THAT the remaining body is uni
Identified, both as TO sex and name.
and came to its death at the hands
Of some one unknown"
The town hall, where the inquest
was held, was we'll filled at 10 o'clock,
when Coroner Sultz called DR.. Il. NJ.
Duilield, OF Glassboro, who made a
pest norton Oh the bodies. From
the clothing that remained on the
unburned portion Of one of the bod
les il was shown that it was that of
Hemphill. A ring later identified by
a brother and found where the body
lay was shown to be that of Hemp
hill. A gunshot wound above the left
nipple IVES the cause of death, ac-
cording to the physician.
The latter examined the otker bod
les, but was unable to determine the
sex. There IVES no question as to
one OF the bodies being that of the
child in question The skull Of this
corpse wcs battered in as though by
a blunt instrument an da bullet was
found In the brain. In the body sup
posed to be that of Mrs. Wharton,
there was a gunshot wound from the
back, and this may have caused
death
Harry Hook. who lived across the
street, at 9 o'clock Saturday night
saw lantern in the yard. as he fire.
quently had seen before. At o'clock
he was awakened by calls from
neighbors and saw the house in ruins.
He had heard no rumors of intimacy
between Hemphill and Mrs. Wharton.
In fact, none OF the witnesses had
heard anything OF this kind, al
though the same question was asked
all.
Il was shown by witnesses that
Mrs. Wharton and Johnson We're in
town together; that Lillian had been
left home with her father; that
Hempill bought a dozen bottles Of
beer at the hotel and placed them
in a bag, and that he bought meat at
a shop. A local clothier sold him a
pair OF trousers as late at IL o'clock
Saturday night, and II was shown
that Mrs Wharton bought candy af-
ter 10 o'clock An effort was made
10 show that the man and woman at
tended an entertainment together,
but this was not proven.
Miss Bessie Bramin, school teach
err at New Brooklyn, boarded with the
Whartons but was not there on Sat-
urday night She said me revolver
and rife In question we're always
kept loaded behind a chimney i'm the
sitting room. Lillian slept with her
mother
To the question: What we're the
apparent relations between man and
wife," Miss Bramin said. Always
agreeable; there were no spats; Mr.
Wharton worked hard and always
retired early" During her stay there,
Il was customary for Mrs. Wharton
TO hitch up a hose and drive into
town. She had never seen anything
wrong between Mrs. Wharton and
Hemphill
None Of the other witnesses could
throw any light on the tragedy. II
was shown that Hemphill and Mrs
Wharon had been seen together sew
eral times. but nothing was thought
Of t. They we're neighbors and Il
was merely supposed they came into
town as such
I'm her testimony Mrs Hook admit
ted that all she knew about any in
timacy was just rumors. Neither she
nor her husband heard any shots on
the Saturday night in question. She
had seen the revolver and rifle be-
hind the chimney. had known they
we're loaded, and had seen the re-
volver many times In her visits I'M
der the pillow of Wharton's bed.