A new article has been added at Newspaper Abstracts > United States > Pennsylvania > Berks http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=1751 Also visit our new sister sites: http://www.AncestorsOnTheWeb.com http://www.Genealogy101.com Direct link to article: http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?id=49781 Submitted by: Gigimo Article Title: The Philadelphia Inquirer Article Date: February 17 1911 Article Description: Woman Murdered by Husband, Who Ended Own Life. Wilmer W. BURKHOLDER, of Reading, Figures in Double Tragedy. Article Text: Reading, Pa., FEb. 16.--In a fit of jealous rage this afternoon, Wilmer W. BURKHOLDER, a retired horse dealer, aged 38, rushed into the crowded workroom of the cigar factory in which his wife, Lizzie BURKHOLDER, aged 33, was employed and whipping out a revolver shot her three times in the back. The couple were separated and the wife had refused to return to him. He then turned the weapon upon himself and fired two shots into his right temple. Both were rushed to the Homeopathic Hospital, where the man died within an hour without regaining consciousness. The woman died tonight, two of the bullets having penetrated a lung. She recovered consciousness for a short while, but made no reference to the shooting. In a blood stained envelop, addressed to the "Coroner of Berks county" found in BURKHOLDER's pocket, were inclosed a letter to the Coroner, a note that he had sent to his wife earlier in the day and a receipt for the payment of dues on his insurance policy. All showed that the murder and suicide had been premeditated. In the note BURKHOLDER pleaded with his wife to return to him, saying he had looked after apartments in which to live. "I will give you every penny I earn. Do make up your mind and come with me. God knows I mean all good. Give me a chance, do not tramp on me. I am down and will see you this evening." Written on the back of the note is the following: "I sent this to her with a boy. She told the boy to take it back where he got it. She wanted nothing to do with me. She will have something to do with me today." The letter to the Coroner recites that BUCKHOLDER and his wife were married February 1, 1909, and got along fine together. "I do not believe there is a sweeter woman in the world." The letter then blames a relative of the wife and another man, with whom she was accused of being intimate, with being the cause of the trouble. "I am now going to the cigar factory where she works," continues the letter, "and if she refuses to come with me I will end both our lives. I paid my insurance today. This with what I have in my pocket will bury me. Bury both of us in Elias Church Cemetery, Newmanstown. She belongs to the cigarmakers' union and will be $500." This letter was not signed. On a separate slip of paper was this message: "I own a block at Newmanstown. Notify Frank NEWMAN, Newmanstown, Pa., and H. L. BURKHOLDER, 1050 South Ninth street, Harrisburg." The letter states that Carrie FRY, with whom Mrs. BURKHOLDER boarded, would be able to find the insurance policies and concludes with "Good by, all." The tragedy marked the culmination of a long period of domestic difficulty. Shortly after noon today BURKHOLDER visited the cigar factory and asked to see his wife. She refused to leave her work bench, sending out word she had no time. To fellow workmen she exclaimed that she was afraid to go out. It was then that BURKHOLDER entered the workroom, walked up to his wife, tapped her on the shoulder and as she turned around whipped out the 32 caliber revolver and shot her. The woman fell to the floor. Stepping back a few paces and coolly placing the revolver at his own temple he again pulled the trigger twice and fell in a heap. As he lay on the floor he again fired at his head, but the bullet missed and whizzing past several other woman, became imbedded in the wall. Then he became unconscious. At the hospital it was found that one of the bullets in the man's head penetrated the brain. This caused his death. It is said the BURKHOLDERS were once wealthy. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ PA-Old-News ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ NewspaperAbstracts.com - Finding our ancestors in the news! TM http://www.NewspaperAbstracts.com