Justice Kills 2 Sons, Self: 1933

BELL, SARLES, SHEPHERD, CHITTENDEN

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 8/30/2013 at 09:54:43

Justice Kills 2 Sons, Self
```````````````````````````
Fires on Boys in Bed, Threatens Wife.

Pictures on Page 8.

John S. Bell, 59, Valley Junction justice of the peace, shot his two sons to death and ended his own life Monday morning.

The shooting took place on the second floor of the Bell home, 533 Ninth st., Valley Junction.

Mrs. Bell told deputy sheriffs Mr. Bell entered a front bedroom and shot Jess, 20, as he slept.

Shotgun.
Hearing the shot, Mrs. Bell ran into the hall and was confronted by Mr. Bell, who was carrying a shotgun.

Mrs. Bell said he told her to "get out of the way" or he would shoot her.

She ran downstairs and heard a second shot from a back bedroom as Byron, 22, was slain in bed.

Mr. Bell then turned the gun on himself.

Mrs. bell notified neighbors, who called the Polk county sheriff's office. Deputy Sherriff Robert L. Souter, who lives in Valley Junction, went to the shooting scene.

Dr. William Carpenter, coroner, gave a verdict of double slaying and suicide after investigation. He said there would be no inquest.

Dr. Carpenter said Mr. Bell had worried about his sons and had been in ill health.

Restless.
The younger son, Jess, was dismissed from the State University of Iowa several months ago, the coroner said, while Byron was a psychopathic patient.

The coroner said he learned from Mrs. Bell that he husband had been restless during the night, and after sleeping until 2 a.m., he walked the floor until morning.

Bell had complained of severe pains in his head, and was said by the coroner to have told his wife he "didn't think he could stand it much longer." He was believed to be suffering from neuritis.

Brooding.
Mrs. Bell said her husband had been brooding and despondent.

Although Polk county justices of the peace have been under fire from the county attorney's office, no criticism has been made of Mr. Bell, Assistant County Attorney Al Adams said. He said no irregularities have been reported from Mr. Bell's court pertaining to criminal procedure.

Mrs. Bell said her husband had told her Sunday he was to take his court records and books to the county attorney's office Monday morning.

The books all justices have been called in for examination. She said she did not think the county attorney's investigation had weighed on Mr. Bell's mind.

Mr. Bell was one of two justices serving in Valley Junction. He had been a justice for three years, having started his second term in January. Several cases of wide interest have been heard in his court.

He came to Valley Junction in 1899 and was widely known.

Engineer.
Until three years ago, he had been a Rock Island railroad engineer. He retired because of a disability, failing hearing, at that time.

Anthony Swatta, who was shot in Valley Junction several weeks ago in another slaying-suicide, wsa an officer in Mr. Bell's court.

The bodies of Mr. Bell and the two sons were taken to the McLaren funeral home in Valley Junction. Private funeral services are expected to be held.

Besides his widow, Mr. Bell is survived by two daughters, Mrs. T.W. Sarles of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Mrs. Clare Chittenden of Des Moines; two sons, Dr. S.C. Bell of Grand Island, Neb., and Dr. R.R. Bell of Clinton, Ia.; and two sisters, Miss Carrie Bell of Des Moines and Mrs. George N. Shepherd of Chester, Mont.

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogy Society Obituary Book C, Page 205, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA