Murder in the Bushong Family
There have been at least two murders in the Bushong Family. The first involves Samuel Bushong .
3. Samuel b. 1794 son of 2John Jacob b. 1754 &Eva Bossert, son of 2. John b. 1732 &Elizabeth Sprinckel, son of 1. Hans John b. about 1692 and Barbara.
It seems that on October 15, 1840 Samuel went to town in Richland Co. Ohio to vote in the Election. Upon returning home he told his wife Margaret that he wanted to sell their farm in order to pay his debts.
Margaret refused thus throwing Samuel into such a rage that he took out after her with a axe. Catching her he promptly killed her then turned the axe on his two daughters Mary age 22 and Maria age 21 killing both. About that time his sons Jacob and Elias were returning home. When they saw their dead mother and sisters they tried to constrain Samuel. But Samuel being out of control proceeded to swing the axe at first one son and then the other. The boys fleeing for their lifes went to the home of a neighbor who contacted the authorities.
Samuel was tried for the deaths and found Not guilty by reason of Insanity. He was placed in the care of his sister Elizabeth and husband John Windle where he lived the remainder of his life.
THE MURDER OF ROBERT M. BUSHONG
7.Robert M. b. 1886, 6.Peter Melvin b. 1872 & Martha, 5. Peter b. 1836 & Francis Elliot, 4. John b. 1797 and Rachel Vam Vooris, 3. John b. 1760 & Janet Summers, 2. Jacop b. 1735 & Julianna Weigel, 1. Hans John & Barbara.
In November, 1916 Robert M. Bushong along with his wife Villa and two young children a girl aged 6 years and a son about 3 years and an Employee Howard " Roy" Turner, a young man of about 25 or 26 left Junction City Kansas from the home of Mrs. Bushong's father, J. G. Need, for a overland trip to Garden City where Bushong and Turner expected to work in the beet harvest and then go on to Colorado, probably to Denver where they had all lived before. Robert was 28 years old and had been in the dray business for some time.
On Wednesday afternoon a deserted wagon with two horses hitched to the back was noticed by passers by on the roadside north of the Wilson Cemetery near Wilson Kansas. On Friday Marshal McCoy of Wilson was called. Marshal McCoy took the horses to town and returned to the scene with two others in order to investigate. At first look nothing was found to explain why the wagon had been abandoned but after removing the wagon and its contents to town and a more through search was made the following was discovered:
A trunk containing papers identifying the occupants
A bloody hatchet and a pool of blood beneath a pile of old clothes.
Following clues found in the trunk Telegrams were sent to both Concordia and Barnard in order to ascertain more information regarding R.M. Bushong. The following was discovered:
The party had been observed by witnesses as they traveled. These witnesses reported seeing two men a woman and two children as far as Brookville, from there west to Wilson only one of the men had been seen.
On Sunday morning a party of searchers started east on the Golden Belt in search of evidence. The following was found:
The movers reached Wilson Wednesday about five o'clock. They had camped at noon at the Cow creek bridge the other side of Black Wolf. Under this bridge a fire had been seen and here were found clothes that had been burned in a fire. Remnants of the clothing contained bloody spots and were identified as belonging to R.M. Bushong. Proceeding East the searchers found where they had camped Tuesday night on Clear Creek . A pool of blood was found on the campsite, after which the banks of the stream were searched for evidence. Found in the water under the bank was a tin bucket containing a pair of lungs tied up in a flour sack and then the top of the bucket covered over and tied down with a gunny sack. It was never determined if this was human or animal.
Louis Honomichl reported his son had passed the campers near Wilson, and on their request had taken a trunk to Wilson which was checked to Denver on that evening's train. Wednesday night a woman along with two children boarded the midnight train there for the east.
Tuesday night Sheriff Storey received a message from the Chief of Police of Denver stating that he had arrested Howard Turner and Mrs. Bushong, and that Turner had confessed to the murdering of Bushong.
In an interview Turner confessed to murdering Bushong and burying the body on the Joe Janousek farm about two and a half miles northeast of Ellsworth. This information was wired to Ellsworth and the body was found about two o'clock on Thursday November 9 and was brought to Ellsworth. Howard also stated that he killed R.M. Bushong because he loved his wife. He said that Villa had nothing to do with the murder, and that he had done it alone .He claimed that Bushong had repeatedly mistreated his wife, and at the time he was killed he was berating her because some blankets had been lost out of the rear end of the wagon. The murder was committed about five o'clock on the afternoon of November 1, a few miles east of Carneiro on the Golden Belt road, with a hatchet which Turner secured out of the wagon tool box. Bushong was sitting on the front seat, so Turner says, whipping the horses. Turner stood on the bed of the wagon just behind him, and claims he became enraged at Bushong's repeated abuse of Mrs. Bushong, the children and himself, and without realizing what he was doing, he picked up the hatchet and struck Bushong on the top of the head. Bushong fell back into the wagon and Turner struck him seven more times with the sharp end of the hatchet. After this he took charge of the team and drove about an hour untill it was thoroughly dark when he unhitched one of the horses loaded the dead mans body onto his back and in this way .
On November 13, 1916 Howard and Villa were arraigned for the murder. Villa waived her preliminary hearing and was bound over to the district court.Howard Turner pleaded guilty to murder in the first degree.
Villa Bushong made the following statement:
He had threatened to kill her and Turner. " I asked him why he wanted to kill us and he said, Oh, for nothing. But we beat him to it.-Roy and I intend to be married if we ever get out of this scrape, "My husband was a brute", and I just can't feel sorry about his death. He had it coming as he had treated me terribly and Roy's the only man I ever met who seemed really to love me. If we live to be free once more we will be married and will be happy."
Villa Bushong was acquitted of the charge of being an accessory to the murder of her husband. The jury gave its verdict after being out 17 1/2 hours.
Howard Turner was found guilty of second degree murder.
On February 2, 1917 Villa Bushong returned home with her mother and seemed to have undergone a change of heart, she made the following statement:
"I was never in love with Howard Turner. I haven't made any plans for the future, and I don't know what I will do. I am going to try to find work, however, to help support myself and my children. I don't intend to marry Turner when he gets out of prison and never did intend to marry him. I am not in love with him and never was."
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