IT'S A MORGUE MYSTERY
WOMAN ASKS TO SEE BODY OF
JOHN W. GUMLEY.
Hurried Away, Promising to Report
Later on -- By Telephone Informs
the Undertaker That Gumley
Is a Lost Brother.
The murder of John W. Gumley by his wife at their home, 1319 Liberty street, Friday night, developed a mystery yesterday which the police expect to clear up today at Stine's undertaking rooms, where the body awaits burial. Gumley, 44 years old, and a teamster, may prove to be the long lost brother of a well-to-do family living in the vicinity of Nineteenth street and Troost avenue.
Late yesterday a young woman, heavily veiled, called at the undertaking rooms and asked to see the body of Gumley. The caller declined to identify herself when questioned by an attendant, but stated that her residence is near Nineteenth street and Troost avenue. The unknown woman was escorted to the undertaker's private morgue, and the body was drawn out for her inspection. Immediately she showed great agitation and asked to be taken out of the room.
MYSTERIOUS CALLER DISAPPEARS.
"I would almost swear it," she was saying to herself as the attendant led her back to the private office of the undertaker.
Then the mysterious caller, who had declined to tell her name and exact address, told those about her that she is confident Gumley was her brother, who had been lost to her family for many years.
"When I read his description in The Journal," she said, "I at once thought of the brother we have so long awaited. And there was something familiar about the name, too. He might have assumed that or it might be his own -- I would rather not say any more at present."
The mysterious caller left the undertaking establishment, saying she intended calling on friends who would know the body for sure and that she would return with them for an identification.
REPORTED BY TELEPHONE.
But the young woman -- that's the way the undertaker described her, although he said she might be of "middle age" -- did not return. Instead she telephoned Mr. Stine last night that the identification had been verified and that she will call today to take charge of Gumley's body. She stated that Gumley's mother is in town, and that the aged woman will accompany her to the undertaker's morgue today -- but still the woman who is sure she is Gumley's sister declined to state her name. The police and the undertaker are confident the mystery will be cleared up this morning.
GUMLEY WAS SHOT BY WIFE.
Gumley was shot by his wife, Mrs. Rebecca Gumley, at 8:13 o'clock Friday night in his own home. The wife told the police her husband deserted her a week ago, and that he returned during the afternoon. In the evening, according to Mrs. Gumley and various witnesses to the tragedy, a quarrel growing out of Gumley's uncomplimentary remarks about a boarder led to a fight. As the husband started toward his wife with an upraised chair, the witnesses say, Mrs. Gumley fired two sots. The second lodged in Gumley's head and he died later at the emergency hospital.
After her arrest Mrs. Gumley did not deny the shooting but said: "I did it in self-defense."
