The Washington times., 1924-11-19
QUIZ TWO SONS.
INFURANCE
DEATH
Officials Doubt Minister'S Wife
craWIed II Fiery HoIe
to Die

3a8t ~ hNbS
Continued from First Page.)
reply, Il don't see how she could
have
Probe 70 BE Thorough.
The coroner indicated today that
he win not return q verdict IN the
death until the mystery has been
pFobed from all possible angles.
Following funeral services here.
the body was to be sent TO Paris,
Ohio, for burial.
Meanwhile. several detectives az
signed to the case were comparing
the stories told by persons already
examined.
Witnesses QulEzed.
County Prosecutor King ana
Police Lieutenant SheIlenbarger
spent all Of yesterday Questioning
members Of the family and Wit
ilesses.
The last witness to testify last
night was the driver Of q bread
wagon. which left bread at the
sheatsley home about ? p. m. Mon
day. He declared that he had
not seen Mrs. sheatsiey at that
time. nor had ne heard or seen
anything unusual about the house.
The Sheatsley have lived in the
community nine years. during
which the minister has had charge
Of the church. Their domestic rela.
lions always have been aInioable,
police were told.
Clarence Sheatsley was twice
questioned AZ to why he did not
report the finding Of his mothers
body IN the furnace shortly after
3 o'clock, He said he noticed q
necuIlAr odor when he rot home
and traced It 70 the furnace. He
said he opened the furnace door
ana saw her bedy. Testimony
showed that his older brother and
both sisters came home more than
an hour earlier than the father.
but that the younger boy did not
report his finding to them.
Smelt RABBIT PeIt."
Milton, the older boy. related that
he attended classes at Capital Uni.
versity during the morning and
that all members Of the family
we're at dinner at ~ o'clock. He
and the two girls left home about
1915 ,. n. leaving Clarence, his.
father and mother at home.
esamAA~.SAS.~ N.k~AYamR.-S AZ.
minister left home about $50 p. m
about fifteen minutes later.
Milton returned home about S:16
p. m. and sInelled peculiar odor
even before he had entered the
house. He did not investigate,
thinking Il was rabbit pelt burn
ing, he Said. Questioned as to the
odor, he said It was like burned
hair or flesh
Not until his sisters returned
from school about 4:30 p. m. and
were attracted to the furnace by
the odor did Milton investigate, he
said. The girls asked him to see
what was In the furnace. He ac-
cOnApanied them to the basement
and opened the furnace door q
trlflea but hurrtedly closed it when
voClunle Of smoke and fumes
poured forth, he said. He retcaeed
his steps upstairs and soon after
wards went 70 the school campus
to practice football.
No Family SUSPECTS.
He was called from the campus
an hour later and upon reaching
home was told that MAMA has
been found in the furnace. Cues.
toned closely as TO why he did
not investigate further when he
opened the furnace door q trifle,
Milton said he thought perhaps q
rabbit pelt had been thrown In with
the garbage.
Police said no, member Of the
family was considered as q suspect.
Clarence was questioned further
about the usual time bread was
delivered at the house. He said
the same man had been calling for
about q year. He noticed the bread
| on the kitchen table when he came
home at 3;1b o'clock, he said.
After you knew that the .odor
that attracted you was the burning
flesh OF your mother, did YOU 70
to the furnace and look at the
body?T Prosecutor King questioned.
81 did not" Clarence answered.
why didn't your" the prosecu-
tor questioned again.
Couldn't Stand Sight
81 didn't want to look at my
mother burning in a furnace" he
said simply.
Each Of the witnesses was asked
concerning a certain student in the
university, who Is Ill in q local hos
pttal. The minister told police that
he visited her yesterday while on
his regular round Of mercy. The
children knew the patient and
testified that she was also known
to their mother and that her name
had been mentioned BY the family
only as other members of the pas.
tors church were.
Battling as was the testimony Of
the younger son, officials do not
attach any significance to the fact
that he failed to notify his
brothers and sisters when he first
found the body.
Officials, however, are unanimous
In their belief that the woman could
not have ended her own life In the
manner described. The furnace Is
the usual type. The door is about
fourteen inches square, and is two
feet from the floor. The srnalihess
Of the door and it's height from the
floor would render 1t impossible for
the woman to crawl into the open
ing feet first, and, had she gone In
head first, she would not have been
able to turn in the furnace and close
the door, they contend.
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