Evening star., 1924-11-19
PASTOR CONVINCED
| | WIFE KILLED SELF.
Rev. C. v. Sheatsley Changes
Story Given at Inquest
Yesterday.
by the a associated Press.

i s,By the Associated Press.
y COLUMBUS, Ohio, November IL
IRey. c. v. Sheatsley, pastor of Christ
SIutheran Church of Bexle~, suburb,
fwhose wife's cremated body was
Staken from a heating furnace in the
sffamily home late Monday. today
!. changed his testimony of yesterday
land told Prosecutor King that he be-
fiieved his wife had taken her own
plife.. Yesterday he had refused to ac-
scept suicide verdict.
4, The minister's statement was made
He called Prosecutor
al ohm r. King on the telephone just
3few hours before the funeral was TO
ibe held and said he desired a per
Ssonal' conference. The prosecutor
swith a stenographer went TO the min
{ister's study, where he declared lie
3wished to change testimony gwen
5:y esterday.
i: YESTERDAY YOU asked me if | had
5:sny personal opinion as to how my
:vife met her death and | told you
s:ajd not" he began. y have sent for
i.you to tell you that | now nave a
!:conviction of what happened. rms
lis my own deliberate conviction
:mada after considering all angles IN
:the case.
{, Il believe that my wife killed her
:self"
Has Remained Composed.
Tbrcuehout hours of questioning
i:.Rev. Sheatsley has maintained fisio
-aemposure. Reluctant to accept
E1ardict of suicide. he could offer no
motive for murder.
3S"Is there anything you can teii
MI of any event in Mrs. Sheatsiey
nast life that would lead her to con-
template suicide or which would OTTER
any motive for murder? prosecutor
King asked him.
Il know of absolutely nothlns,
the minister replied. .She was al
VANS of a quiet disposition, inter
csted in her homework and my
church and occupied with our chill
dren.
The minister has long been an en-
thusiastic huntsman. In company
with another pastor he spent Vaca-
ton last summer in the 'Michlsah
woods Last Saturday he was huht-
ing with friends. aud bagsed seNerai
rabbits. which he brought home. be
cause these pelts had been burned in
the furnace. the children were not
undulv su~picious of the peculiar
oaor emitting fSom the fNnace on
the afternoon the mothers body was
found" they said
Only Partial Facts.
The investigators have only partial
facts concerning the condition OF
the furnace when the body was
found. The minister testified that
before going to town he refuefed the
furnace and that he left.it thorough
ly hot and filled with flame. Clar-
ence, the younger son, told police
that shortly after pm. when he
opened the door and recognized his
mother. the furnace was filled with
flame.
Police attach little significance to
Clarcnce'S testimony that he dis
covered the body, Yet fai'ed to tell
his brother and sisters of his find
His exclamation that he did not
wish to worry them until his father
knew the fact was accepted. He
said that he was attracted to the
furnace Immediately upon returning
from school and recognized the body.
His brother and sisters were in the
room above, but he passed them by
and went to his own room without
notifying them of the tragedy.
Coroner Murphy, however, contends
that the fire could have been banked
with ashes by the woman before she
crawied into the opening, but even
he cannot account for the door being
closed.
Prosecutor King conferred last
night with chemists, but could OBJ
tain no definite information as to
the length Of time necessary to ere
mate a body in an ordinary furnace.
He had hoped to establish the exact
time of the tragedy with such infor-
nation.
May Lose Pain.
The prosecutor also was told that
insane persons sometimes lose sense
of pain and that human muscles do
not always contract when in severe
pain.
Much emphasis is being placed on
the position of the body in the fur
mace. The younger son testified that
the back was to the door, with feet
on one side and head on the other,
the body somewhat in reclining po-
sition, when he first identified r AL
most two hours later. when he ac-
companied his father to the furnace,
the body had fallen. but the back was
still toward the door.
Prosecutor King believes that it
would have been impossible for the
woman to have entered the heated
vault feet first. Even had. she been
able to accomplish this, he believes,
she would have been unable to close
the door because her back was
against it.
fhFe LOyils
Members of the minister's congrega-
ton who have appeared before police
are loyal to the minister and his
wife. They discount the suicide the
ory, but likewise could offer no clue
for murder.
Neighbors We're questioned again to-
day, but none saw any one enter or
leave the house during the time the
wife was alone.
Coroner Murphy is cooperating
with the police and the county at
torney in the investigation. He admits
that murder might have been pos
sible, but was also convinced that
she could have suicided.
The house was being thoroughly
searched today for possible clues. If
the woman took her own life police
feel certain that she would have left
some message explaining her act.
They point to suicides of other edu-
Gated people and claim that in almost
every instance the suicide left note
of explanation.