LEADER DEMOCRAT

APRIL 18, 1896                                            PAGE 2            

FARMER KILLED FARMER

A Quarrel Over a Boundary Line Ends In a Tragedy

MANSFIELD, Mo.,  April 18.  Robert Morgan was shot and instantly killed by W. B. Mathus late Thursday evening near his home, six miles south of Ava, The shooting was the result of a quarrel over a disputed boundry line between the men's farms.

Morgan was moving the rocks from a wall built by Mathus, when Mathus told him if he did not desist, he would kill him.  Morgan started to move a stone and Mathus emptied the contents of a double- barreled shot gun into his left side, killing him instantly. Nineteen shots struck him, and part of the charge went through his heart.

The affair was witnessed by several parties, among them was Morgan's mother, wife and children.

After the shooting Mathus went home, left the shotgun and at once fled the country. The sheriff and posse have been out searching for the murderer, but so far have been unsuccessful.



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