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Mrs, Joseph Heatlicote, Married less Than Year Ago, Slainat Home.THREE WITNESS THE SHOOTINGHusband Fires Two Charges From Shotgun and Clubs Body With Stock.Des Moines, April 6.—Joseph! Heatlicote, a young English miner employed at Oralabor, shot his bride of less than a year to death with a double barrelled shotgun at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon and then beat her head into a pulp with the un-| stock in his infuriated attempts to crush out any spark of life that might have been left.The slaying, which was one of the most brutal that has come to the attention of Polk county authorities in years, was caused by jealousy, and was witnessed by three persons.The husband, 27 years old, has been madly jealous of his young wife since the day of their marriage, according to John Heatlicote, a cousin, and one of the three persons who witnessed the tragedy. The wife was fortnerly Miss Bessie Gordon, daughter of a miner.The shooting was witnessed by John Heathcote, cousin of the slay-. ier, Mrs. John Heathcote, a sister of the woman, and Samuel Robinson.According to John Heathcote, the, husband and his wife had been sitting in the house talking. About 2 o’clock the husband, who had been drinking, began to grow quarrelsome.‘‘My wife and I went over to Joe’s house a little after 2 o’clock,” Heathcote said. “We had not been there long until Joe suddenly rushed to tlie corner of the room and grabbed the shotgun. Without a word he fired point blank at Bessie. She screamed, ‘Oh Joe! Joe!’ andIran out of the house. He stepped into the doorway and fired again. Bessie fell into the street just outside the gate and Joe leaped to where she lay. He beat her head into a pulp with the gunstock.”Constable Henry Gillespie of Carney had been called, unknown to I those in the house, by persons who were afraid Heatheote’s temper . would cause trouble. Gillespie was] approaching the house from the carl when he heard the shots. He rounded the corner of thdlhtmse just in time to see the imuriated miner] striking his wife’s head and face with the gun. |When the officer rushed at him I Heathcote calmed down perceptibly and made no resistance.Sheriff Griffin was notified im-| mediately and Deputies Sam Henderson and Gus Hanslng were hurried to the scene. They found that Heatlicote had been taken to Carney to escape the wrath of a mob which had gathered about Him, threatening to do him violence. More than 200 persons had surrounded the Heatlicote home by the time deputy sheriffs arrived.John Heathcote was frantic as was his wife. Heathcote was deter-1 mined that the body should be taken into his home. Deputy Henderson refused to allow anyone to touch it, however, until after the arrival of Coroner Koons, an hour later.The. husband was taken to Carney and lodged in the office of Justice A. Burrell, where officers guarded him until the deputy sheriffs arrived. Deputies Hanslng and Henderson were followed by Sheriff Griffin himself and Deputy Henry Alber.Heathcote was brought to Des Moines and' lodged in the county jail. He will be taken to Carney today for a preliminary hearing before Justice Burrell.
Newspaper Details
Webster City Tribune
Webster City, Iowa, US
Fri, Apr 09, 1915
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
OK, USA 10 Jan 2023
Other Publications Near Webster City, Iowa
Hamilton County Journal
Webster City Tribune
Webster City Daily Freeman Journal
Standard Atlas of Hamilton County Iowa
