Evening star., 1946-01-28
Veteran Kills
Wife, Child and
Self al ChiIIunl
Grandmother FIees
With Second Girl
To Escape Shotgun

To Escape Shotgun
An overseas veteran, his young
wife and his 2-year-old daugh-
ter were dead today as the after
math of Sunday afternoon
double shooting and suicide.
Victims of the triple tragedy were:
John H. Fitzgerald, IS, who came
home to TIC Chillum road, Chillum,
Md, on Christmas Eve after three
years in the Army. Police said he
killed his wife and daughter and
then turned the shotgun on himself.
Mrs. Mary Adele Fitzgerald, "A,
the wife, who had been working at
the Navy Department while her hus-
band was overseas.
Mary Anne Fitzgerald, younger of
two daughters, who died as she sat
on her mothers lap In the Chillum
home.
Second Daughter Escapes.
A certificate of double homicide
and suicide was issued by DR.. James
1. Boyd, county deputy medical ex-
aminer, and the bodies were re-
moved to Gasch's funeral home in
Hyattsville where funeral arrange
ments were being made today.
Saved from death by her grand
mothers presence of mind was the
other Fitzgerald child, 4-year -old
Carol Marie. The grandmother.
Mrs. George w. Chapman. rushed
the child from the room to safety
in the basement as the shooting
started.
The tragedy, according to police,
occurred about pm. as Mrs. Fitz-
gerald and her two children were
enjoying quiet Sunday afternoon
In addition to Mrs. Fitzgerald's
mother, Mrs. Chapman, several of
the Chapman sisters and brothers
were at home when Fitzgerald
walked in.
Appeared in Good Humor.
Police gave this account of what
followed:
Fitzgerald, who had not been home
Saturday night, arrived about $3.50
pm. He appeared to be in a good
humor and said he had come home
to pick up some of my things"
He went to cabinet, picked up
some shotgun shells and went up
stairs. When he came downstairs
a short time later, he was carry
ing a suitcase and 12-gauge pump
gun. The stairway is located in the
living room.
He started toward the front door
and was almost there when he
wheeled, set the suitcase down and
without a word fired at his wife's
head. The little girl on her moth
er's lap started to scream. Then
Fitzgerald shot the child through
the chest.
Shoots Himself.
As the child slipped from her
mothers lifeless arms, Fitzgerald
turned the gun and shot himself
through the head. To-
Mrs. Chapman, m eanwhile
snatched up Carol Marie and fled
to the basement. Margaret Chap
man, 26, and Mrs. Lois Nine, %,
sisters of the dead woman who had
been in the dining room, ran out the
back door.
Ruth Chapman, 81, another sister,
fed to the neighboring home Of
Mr.. and Mrs. Hugh McCully with
a Marine who had been visiting
the Chapmans. There they called
the police.
Police found the young wife's body
in her chair, that of the little
girl on the floor by her feet and
the veterans on the other side of
the room with the shotgun by
his side.
Report Frequent Quarrels.
According to police investigators
the veteran had quarreled almost
continuously with his attractive,
brown haired wife since his return
home. The younger child, neighbors
said, was born a few months after
he went to the Pacific with the
Quartermaster Corps, and he had
seen her first when he returned at
Christmas.
Mrs. Fitzgerald and the two
children had been living in the
Chillum home since he entered
service. The home is owned by Mrs.
Fitzgerald's father, George w.
Chapman, machinist at Soldiers
Home, who was away at the time
of the tragedy.
The Fitzgeralds had been married
five years. He was a plasterer by
trade, but had not worked since
his discharge from the Army. Po-
lice said Fitzgerald had a brother,
Milton Fitzgerald. living in River
ciIa Nd