Marjorie Short Is Wounded as Kelly Gilbert Kills Self

SHORT, GILBERT, ISAACSON

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 2/21/2015 at 16:31:30

**Handwritten: 56

Marjorie Short Is Wounded as Kelly Gilbert Kills Self

A dead man and a badly wounded woman was the result of a shooting incident in Keosauqua Monday night. The victim was C.P. (Kelly) Gilbert, 75, who shot Mrs. Marjorie Short first and then killed himself.

The above in brief is the way Sheriff Orville Lee, Deputy Herschel Dickey and Coroner Harold Catcott reported the affair which took Gilbert's life and put Mrs. Short in the hospital with a badly lacerated shoulder from a shotgun blast from Gilbert's gun.

In Critical Condition

Late Tuesday evening (at the time this is being written) Mrs. Short's condition was still reported to be critical. Blood transfusions were given during the day. She had suffered a broken shoulder and upper arm from the blast. She was to be operated on Wednesday morning.

The shooting took place about 11 p.m. Monday on the woman's farm where Gilbert worked and made his home. The farm is located a few miles northeast of Keosauqua.

Mrs. Short is an Van Buren County Memorial Hospital in Keosauqua with shotgun wounds in her lung, right shoulder, neck and face. The extent of internal damage caused by the pellets was not wholly known but her condition is regarded as serious.

A Widow

Mrs. Short, a widow, worked as a nurses aid at the hospital here. Her husband, who died several years ago, was an invalid.

Deputy Sheriff Herschel Dickey said the incident was approximately as follows:

Gilbert had been living at the farm home of Mrs. Short, a widow, and previously had complained because Burdette Isaacson of Hillsboro had been seeing her.

Mrs. Short and Isaacson were away Monday night. When Isaacson drove into the farm yard, Gilbert fired a shotgun blast through the window, striking Mrs. Short.

Found Dead

Gilbert then went to the other side of the car and fired again but the charge struck the door post.

Isaacson was not hurt. He drove Mrs. Short to the hospital and notified authorities.

Sheriff Lee, Deputy Dickey and a highway patrolman, after extensive search, found Gilbert dead of a shotgun wound. He was found in an outbuilding on Mrs. Short's farm and his double-barreled shotgun was at his side.

Coroner Harold Catcott said that although the self inflicted shot was the indirect cause of Gilbert's death, he probably died of shock long before the loss of blood would have brought death. The body of Gilbert was found by the county sheriff, his deputy and a highway patrolman about 3 p.m.

**Handwritten: GILBERT

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Book D, Page 250, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA