Christian and Mrs. Lemlee deaths Investigation results~!

LEMLEE

Posted By: Mary (email)
Date: 6/14/2007 at 13:16:27

Lamle Deaths - 1904
Montrose Journal - April 1, 1904

Text transcribed from old newspaper microfilm copy.
Research copy provided by Carol Klopfenstein, Winfield, IA.

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AGED COUPLE'S TRAGIC DEATH
Mr. and Mrs. Christain Lemlee Are Found Dead in Burning Building.

BULLET HOLE IN MRS. LEMLEE'S HEAD
Was it Murder, Arson and Suicide Or Were They Both Murdered?

Tuesday morning about 12:30 while Elmer Reed Jr. and his cousin, John Reed, were standing by the depot, one of them saw a fire down in the east part of town.

They started for the fire and when they arrived there found the house owned by Mirrick Reed ablaze. It is known as the old Harrison West place.

The house was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. C. Lemlee. About this time Bernard Besline arrived on the scene together with other people. No sign of life was seen in the house. The front door was locked and was broken down by John Reed, who went into the house, but could not stay on account of the fire and smoke.

BROKE IN A WINDOW.
A window was then broken in on the east side of the house and by reaching in, a bed was discovered and some burned bed clothes pulled out.

Another attempt was made to enter the house, with better success this time, finding the bed which fell to pieces when the men tried to move it. John Reed found the foot of a human being, but was unable to hold onto it, having to retreat again on account of the heat.

FIND MRS. LEMLEE.
The three men made another attempt, securing the body of Mrs. Lemlee bringing it out of the house, but not before it was badly burned.

Up to this time no signs of Mr. Lemlee had been seen and the rear part of the house had fallen in.

The fire had started in the kitchen near the partition but there was no stove in that room. The cooking and heating stoves were both in the front part of the house.

MR. LEMLEE'S BODY SEEN.
Shortly after the roof had fallen in and the walls had all burned except the studding, which were of oak and burned slowly, someone cried: "There is the old man!" which proved to be the truth. His skull could be seen plainly protruding through the debris and his body outlined under it.

Water was thrown on the body and and[sic] pike poles were used with which to drag the remains from the fiery bed. The body was burned beyond all recognition.

CORONER SENT FOR.
In the meantime Mayor Scott who was upon the scene had sent to Keokuk for Coroner Hawkes who arrived at 3:16 and was soon on the scene.

Dr. Buck was sent for and held a post mortem examination upon both bodies. The body of Mrs. Lemlee was examined first and a bullet hole was found, the bullet having entered the back of the head and came out near the left eye.

FIND REVOLVER.
The remains of what were left of Mr. Lemlee were examined but no mark of violence could be found. The skull had all crumbled to pieces after being taken from the fire. A 32-calibre revolver was found near where Mr. Lemlee lay in the kitchen. From his position it would seem as though he had fallen forward as he was lying on his stomach.

There were no loads in the revolver all of the shells showing that they had been exploded by the hammer striking them, as they all had dents in them. The revolver was one of the cheapest makes with a black handle and contained five center-fire shells.

JURY EMPANELED.
Tuesday morning a coroner's jury was empaneled consisting of H. D. Reeves, Elmer Reed Jr. and James Vermazen. A number of witnesses were examined and their testimony was all about the same as given in the first part of this article. Dr. Buck was on the stand and stated that he had held a post mortem examination, and found that Mrs. Lemlee came to her death from a bullet wound through the head. He said he could find no evidence that Mr. Lemlee had been shot.

HAND IN HIS POCKET.

A point that was not brought out in the coroner's inquest was that the facing of Mr. Lemlee's left pants pocket was around the wrist of his left arm, which would indicate that he died with his hand in his left pants pocket. It seems strange that a man that was committing murder, arson and suicide would do such a job with one of his hands in his pocket.

His lying flat on his stomach with that hand under him kept the cloth from burning - He was not up on his hands and knees as some of the county papers have been saying. The only evidence that he could have shot himself was the fact of the revolver being found near him.

HAD NO FIREARMS.
Eli Geiger made the statement before the jury that in a conversation a few days previous to his death Mr. Lemlee had said that he had no firearms about him, that he owned a shot gun but his son-in-law had it. Frank Cheesman says that he told him that he owned no firearms; this was when Mr. Lemlee lived on the Beck farm.

Then again a man that was going to commit suicide does not care about covering up his crime, but it is a historical fact that murderers most always set fire to a house in which they commit a crime of this character.
THE VERDICT.
We cannot see how a jury could make such a positive statement that he (Mr. Lemlee) killed his wife and then killed himself. The following is a copy of the jury's finding in his case: The said jurors upon their oaths say: "We find that said deceased came to his death by unlawful means having shot himself with a 32 calibre revolver in his own hands." The finding in her case was as follows: "She was shot by her husband before taking his own life." Signed by: H. D. Reeves, Elmer Reed Jr. and James Vermazen.

NO MONEY IN BANK.
The report that they had drawn a large sum of money out of the bank is untrue, as he never had any money in the Montrose bank. On March 1st he got a draft cashed for $22, that was drawn by the New York Life Insurance company. This fact goes to prove that he had a paid up policy in this company as the draft was for the amount of a dividend.

Another strange thing is - if he had any money - why did he put up his gold watch for security for a loan of $5 that he received from F. P. Barber about three weeks ago, saying that he wanted the money to buy some wood and to pay his house rent?

WERE THE DOORS ALL LOCKED?
Another point that might have been brought out by the coroner's investigation was the statement that the door between the two rooms where the victims were found was closed. Some say that it was, others say that it was not closed. This point could have been ascertained by carefully examining the premises after the fire, noting if the door hinges were open or shut. Also whether the back door was locked; the condition of the door locks would have shown this.

If this investigation had shown that both of the outside doors had been locked on the inside, it would have helped to confirm the theory that Mr. Lemle[sic] committed the terrible deed.

Mr. and Mrs. Lemlee were an aged couple of about 70 years. They had only resided here about three months, coming here from the Beck farm at Mt. Clara.

WAS UP TOWN TO VOTE.
The morning before he had been up town to vote and seemed to be in excellent spirits talking and joking with those whom he met. There can be no motive found that seems to justify such a rash act.

W. J. R. Beck says that Lemlee attended to his duties on the farm very well until a short time ago, when he received a fall, and since that time he seemed to act strangely, and, in fact, sometimes seemed to be a trifle deranged.

When the remains were taken from the fire and the examination made, forty cents in coin was found, a silver quarter, dime and a nickel. Mr. Lemlee had given out the impression to several people with whom he had talked, that he did not have to work, he had enough money to keep him. Such assertions as this might have led someone to think that he had money about the house.

EXPECTED TO MOVE TO NAUVOO.
Mr. Lemlee had been over to Nauvoo last week looking for a house to rent. He said that he intended to move to Nauvoo the last of this week.

J. C. Armstrong, of Fort Madison, who attended the M.W.A. meeting here Monday night and witnessed the fire, says in the Democrat that he "did not believe in the theory of suicide, as I do not think Mr. Lemlee's body could have burned to a crisp in so short a time unless benzene or oil had been poured over it, because the kitchen was only a shed affair and burned down very quickly. I believe the affair was a clear case of murder and a mystery that will never be solved."

THEY SEEMED HAPPY.
Chas. Kendall was in their home about 11:30 Monday forenoon, having called there to take Mr. Lemlee to the polls to vote. While waiting for Mr. Lemlee to get ready, he noticed that they seemed to think a great deal of each other, Mrs. Lemlee helping him in a loving manner. He also noticed that there was a box setting near the bed that looked like an old fashioned trunk. His attention was called to it as Mrs. Lemlee laid his overcoat on the box while Mr. Lemlee was putting on his shoes.

MYSTERIOUS TRUNK.
The remains of a trunk were found in the kitchen near where the body of the old man lay.

Eli Geiger says that he split some wood for the old couple Monday evening and placed it in the old kitchen and was positive that there was no trunk in there at that time. The question is, why was the trunk taken to that room?

If Lemlee shot his wife he only used one bullet, which would leave four remaining in the gun and as there was no evidence found that he shot himself in the body, supposing he shot himself in the head - did he shoot himself four times - it is not probable that he would shoot more than one ball into his skull. The question then arises, was there only two loaded cartridges in the gun? If there were more than this could he shoot them into his brain?

RELATIVE ARRIVES. Joseph Snyder, a son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Lemlee, arrived in Keokuk yesterday. Mr. Snyder's home is in Brighton, Iowa, and he went to Keokuk as soon as he heard of the death of Mr. and Mrs. Lemlee. He says that there are three children surviving Mr. and Mrs. Lemlee besides his wife. One son lives in Gardner, Kansas, another in Manhattan, Kansas, and a daughter is living in Friend, Nebraska. They have been telegraphed but have not answered as yet. Nothing will be done with the bodies of the dead people until the children are heard from.

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Posted June 14, 2007

Lamle Deaths - 1904