ELZIE REX

REX

Posted By: Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert (email)
Date: 2/8/2002 at 21:22:35

Decatur County Journal
November 5, l9l4

ELZIE REX, who was taken to the state
hospital at Clarinda Wednesday of
last week from this county, died there Friday
and the body reached home
Sunday. Preparations were at once made for
the funeral and interment at
Palestine Church west of Leon on Tuesday, and
the service had been held
and the casket was ready to be lowered in the
grave when it was decided
by his relatives that a further investigation
of his death should be
made. Accordingly the body was taken back to
Garden Grove in charge of
Undertaker Sheffer and arrangements made to
send the body back to
Clarinda with a demand for a coroner's
inquest. Mr. Sheffer had
returned that evening from Clarinda where he
had gone to investigate the
death in the interest of the family. There
were numerous bruises and
cuts upon the head of the deceased and it is
reported that another
inmate had acted suspiciously and had been
heard to mutter things that
led to the belief the injuries might have
been inflicted by him. A full
investigation is being demanded by the
family.

_______________________________________

Decatur County Journal
November 5, l9l4

An inquest was held at Clarinda Friday of
last week over the body of
ELZIE REX, who had died at the state hospital
at Clarinda and had been
sent to the home near Garden Grove for burial
and then returned to the
place of death for an inquest. The following
concerning the inquest
appeared in the Des Moines Capital last
Saturday the special being
published under a Clarinda date line:

Suspicious that ELZIE REX, farmer, age about
35 years, from near Garden
Grove, Decatur County, patient at the
Clarinda state hospital who died
at that institution between Sunday and Monday
morning last had not died
a natural death, the body of REX which had
been sent from the hospital
to Garden Grove was returned here for a
coroner's inquest yesterday.
The jury found that he died in a delirium and
not from an injury or
blow.

REX was committed to the hospital from Leon
and was received at the
Clarinda Hospital October 2l. Relatives and
others testified that they
saw no scratches on the face of Rex before he
went to the hospital,
while scratches appeared on his face after
his death.

Dr. Max E. White, superintendent of the
hospital, declares that he
observed scratches on the patient's face when
he came to the hospital
and several physicians and other witnesses in
and out of the hospital
testified that there was no evidence that any
scratches on his face were
serious.

Three physicians and a licensed embalmer
representing all parties,
certified that in their opinion REX came to
his death from exhaustion
while in a state of delirium, and that in
their opinion the abrashions
upon his neck and face did not hasten or
cause his death.

REX was in a bed adjoining that of a paretic
patient the night REX died
and evidence was that the two talked much
before they quieted down late
at night. There was blood on the paretic's
fingernails after REX was
found dead. Dr. Witte testified that REX had
acute delirium at the time
of the patient's receipt at the hospital.
The condition of REX was such
that the doctor predicted that he could not
live long. The hospital
employees testified that it never was
necessary to handle REX roughly.

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Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
February 6, 2002

This is very sad--and the truth may never be
known.