Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-12-11
NEW YORK GIVEN A SETBACK
WHEN DEMOCRATS DECLINE
TO SEND CONVENTION THERE
MILWAUKEE MAN
STAYS HIS WIFE
AND hides CORPSE

MILWAUKEE, Wis, Dec. Sc.
Ray Tompkins, White Fish Bay Real
Estate man, and former member Of
the faculty of the Milwaukee Normal
school for twelve years, tonight was
in the county Jail formally charged
with first degree murder in connec-
ton with the death of his wife.
Mrs. Tompkins disappeared Thurs
day, after sending their two children,
Dorothy, ten years old and Robert,
seven years old, to school in the
morning.
kins, accompanied officials to a wood
ed glen known as Lions Den" near
Dongas Bay eleven miles from Mil
waulxee, where the nude and headless
body of a woman, later identified as
his wife, was found. Aiding the
sheriffs men in uncovering the body,
which was covered by muck, leaves,
and stones, in a well-hidden spot,
Tompkins turned to Sheriff Phil
Westfhal and said in a choking
voice: "Who could have done this
thing? Find the guilty one"
Three hours later according to an
announcement by George A. Shaugh-
messy, Tompkins' iron nerve broke
and he confessed to stranglinG his
wife into Inconsistencies, placing
her body in a bath tub, where he re-
moved her head under tap Of rum
ming water.
Details leading up to the Staying
of the woman, according to the coun-
ty attorney dates back considerable
time, beginning about three years
ago, when an apartment house,
which Tompkins owned and in which
he made his home. was under con-
struction.
He suffered a breakdown and was
,ker by his wife to his home in
BLOOMINGTON. ILL.,, and later visited
his wife's parents at Clinton, Ind.
While there he showed indications of
mental disorder, and returning here,
was placed under the observation OF
DR.. F. G. Studley. who declared him
paranoie'-
Woman in case
Another woman, whose name the
authorities have not revaled, is said
to have brought about conditions in
his acme which resulted in the at
tack on Mrs. Tompkins.
| Recently the home life of the Iomp.
| kins had been such that Tompklns
| lived in a room in garage at the
! rear Of his apartment house. mrs
, Tompkins came into possession of In:
formation involving her, husband
with another woman, and pre-diVorce
settlement was to have been arrang-
ed the day she disappeared. she
was to have received $175 month
and a share in income derived from
the apartment house.
In her distress over the condltlon
of affairs at her home, Mrs, Tomp
kins addressed letter to her
father. in which she detailed her
troubles and told of her huspa1lu >
infidelity, declaring she would place
charges against him unless ne o4'
vided his property with her and con-
scented to q separation.
In his confession, as related py
the district attorney, Tompkins sald
he came into possession OF the Iettet
before his wife posted it. He went
to the apartment Thursday morning
after the children had left for school
and confronted her with it. After
t-stromy few moments, he declared
his wife said: you are only GOOD
for tending furnaces.
This taunt enraged him, and ne
caught her by the throat. choking
her into unconsciousness. He car
ried her to the bathroom, where ne
placed Ter in the tub. turned on the
water and went to the kitchen,
where he procured a large butcher
knife, with which he removed her
head This ,he carried to the base
ment and placed in the furnace.
Body Found
Later In the day he placed the
body in trunk, carried the trunk
and it's contents to the garage
where he loaded it into his machine,
and at his convenience drove to the
spot where he hid the evidence OF
his act,
The first intimation which came
to the authorities that Mrs. Tomp'
kins was not at her home, was the
result of a telephone message from
her daughter to an aunt, 1nqulrlng
where her mother might be found,
explaining that she had not been
nome since Thursday morning and
that her father had not said where
she had gone. The child added that
with her brother she had taken
lunch with her father on Thursday
and that they had dinner away from
home that evening. The. child re-
fused to go to school when her
mother did not come home Friday
morning.
This information, conveyed to tho
police, started the search for Mrs
Tompkins. which was fruitless, un-
til J. F. DANCES, owner of an estate
OIL which the body was found, called
and advised that Tompkins had
talked with him regarding the loca-
ton of the home of his caretaker
end that later an automobile an
swering the description Of one
owned by Tompkins had been driven
to Lions Den. The marks in the
soft earth were the imprints of
tire carrying the same tread as
those on Tompkins' machine.