People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1894 — TRAGEDY IN IOWA. [ARTICLE]

TRAGEDY IN IOWA.

George Croft Shoots His Wife and Himself in Court at Oskaloosa. Oskaloosa, la., April 19.—This city was thrown into great excitement Wednesday afternoon at 3 o’clock by a murder and suicide It occurred just at the entrance of the courthouse, and the suicide escaped a worse death by ending his own existence. The victims were Mr. and Mrs. George Croft Trouble had been brooding some time in the Croft household, and Wednesday afternoon papers had been drawn up and a divorce granted. A few minutes after the decree had been granted Croft asked his wife to step outside the courthouse with him. No sooner had she done this than he drew a revolver and shot her through the left breast. She fell on the stone wa'k. Croft then shot himself through the temple, and, staggering into the sheriff’s office, fell on the floor dead. Mrs. Croft is living, but her injuries are doubtless fatal. Croft was 35 years old and kept a billiard halL