Brindley, Louis 1878 – 1908

BRINDLEY

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/4/2019 at 16:29:52

Source: Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Feb. 14, 1908, LP, C6

Mystery Surrounds Death of a Des Moines Man.
Mystery that is baffling police and county officers surrounds the tragic death of Louis Brindley, whose body was found partially burned on the kitchen floor at his home in Des Moines.
With his wife, who is reputed to have said on the preceding day that she would not live with her husband another day, Brindley lived upstairs in an apartment house. The kitchen where his body was found was separate from the remainder of the living apartments.
Mrs. Brindley says she was awakened by smoke. She had removed her shoes, she says, lain down on the bed in the chamber and fallen asleep. People living below the Brindleys claim they heard some one go upstairs and stealthily come down shortly before the alarm of fire was given. Brindley left the apartments with the statement to neighbors that he was going out to get some money. When he came back he stopped and talked with a neighbor on the floor below, whom he told he had received but a dollar.
Firemen who entered the kitchen before the flames had a very good start say it would have been an impossibility for the fire to start from the stove, as the doors to it were firmly fastened. There were fumes of kerosene in the room and the oil can was empty.
Detectives are working on the case and the coroner is holding open his investigation.

Transcriber’s Note: Find a Grave shows he is buried in Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines. He was born June 25, 1878 and died January 31, 1908.