OCR Text |
Show wifftMaiEE his .life? ; Mjstcry Surrounds Death of Wilford A. S. Ylr-' million; Found Gasping Gasp-ing His Last With Bullet Bul-let In His Brain. Was WMord Al Scott nrmirUon,' a Popular druggist with aplace of busl- . ness at 611 West Second South street. ' the victim of an assassin or did he com- mit suicide Monday nlghtf That Is a ' Question that the police are now working work-ing earnestly to solve. At 10:U o'clock Monday night two shots were heard In the West Side drug store, owned by Vermillion, and when a few moments later , Charles Peterson, who lives In apartments over the drug store rushed Into the place he found Vlrmlllloa Iylng on ths floor behind the prescription . counter, gasping for breath, and trying vainly to articulate soma words which Peterson was unable un-able to hear. Beneath VlrmUllon's , body was a .cheap .32-caIiber revolver. fronTwhich two shots had been fired. Vlrmilllon was bleeding from a bullet wound In his face, the ball having struck him tear the right nostra, and passed through into the brain, where ft lodged. Peterson immediately called several doctors, and Dra Waits and Hazel re-sponded. re-sponded. Vlrmlllion was dead few moments after their arrival. He was unable to make any statement before his death. , Circumstances) Ars Strange. Thars are several circumstances of a ' most peculiar nature that are troubling the police. , One of these Is that the . drawer, located near the 'prescrlp-wM)-nter' W.as but the money W"chw" received during the day Was f"" 1 drar- One of the shots, r elEL from VirmllUon-s nyo?. ver, struck the cash register, breaking off one of the keys, which was found later under the edge of the counter, a few feet from the register. - Had Pen in His Hand. When Vlrmilllon was found he held In Bis hand a fountain pen. and on the counter near him was a partly written letter to a school chum In California. In this letter Vlrmlllion had asked tbe chum whose name is Maynard. to come to Salt Lake during the present summer sum-mer and pay him an extended visit. " There was nothing in this letter to Indicate In-dicate that Vlrmlllion even remotely considered taking his own Hfe. or that he was in any way despondent. Heard ths Shots Fired. Mr. and Mrs. M. B. Smith, proprietors of the lodging-house situated above the drug store, had retired for the night, and had extinguished their light only a few moments before the shots were heard. Mr. Smith concluded Immediately Immediate-ly that an attempt was being made to rob the drug store, as there have been many burglaries and robberies In the neighborhood during the last two years, and he dressed himself hastily and ran down stairs. Sound of Footsteps. Mrs. Smith said that she heard footsteps foot-steps scurrying across the floor of the drug store an instant before the shots were fired, but neither she nor her husband, hus-band, who kept a close watch on the front door, saw any one leave the drug store. When Smith reached the drug store the front door was standing open. There was no sign of any person In the street, who could have left the drug store after the shots were fired. Saw No One Leave. ' P. A. Carlln, who lives In the White bouse hotel, was walking from the Xtlo Grande depot to his hotel, on the opposite oppo-site side of the street. He said he heard the shots, but saw no one leave the place. Just as the shots were fired he looked to see what was the cause, but a street car passed at that moment, shutting the drug store from his sight. He went across as soon as possible, but could see no one. Says Wan Left Store. James GUllland. who has a lunch stand on Second South street, said trat he saw a man Immediately after the . shots were heard, run east from the drug store, and stoop low, as if to hide his face from observation. This man who was ebcut 8 feet 5 inches In height, he said, ran east from the drug store until he reached the corner and then fled south, keeping out of sight as much ' as possible, and seeming to endeavor to hide In the shadows as he ran. Revolver Is Identified. - When the . undertaker went to the drug store for the body, the revolver was found on the floor directly beneath the body. 'This weapon was almost positively identified as belonging to Vlrmilllon., When the cash In the register was counted Monday night, it "as found that all of It was accounted for save about $2. One of his friends. C. W. Dallon, 734 t East Second South street, stated to The Telegram Tuesday morning that Vlr- . i million had had a great deal of trouble during the past few months, as his cash was frequently short. He said that Vlrmilllon had . frequently complained (Continued on page t$ Was West-Side Druggist. (Continued from page 1.) J to him that someone had been "tapping" "tap-ping" bis till, for amounts that ranged from $2 to $5 and that these losses were of daily occurrence. ,.. Had Watched fox Thief. Dallon said that Vlrmllllon was unable un-able to say who had stolen the money, but that ne had kept a close watch for the thief and was never able to apprehend appre-hend him.- These constant losses aggravated ag-gravated Vlrmllllon, Dallon said, and he also said that Vlnr.'.lllon frequently stated that if he catsht the thief, he would see to it that he got a term in prison for the thefts. Dallon made the following statement to The Telegram: Business Was Prosperous. ' "1 have been on the most intimate terms with Vlrmllllon for more than two years and always found him to be of a cheerful disposition. I know that his business wae prospering, and that he was not Involved In, any financial difficulties. He always paid cash for his supplies, and only Monday paid an account ac-count of $300 to a wholesale drug firm here In ordenjto get the discount. He always took In more money than he needed to run the buMnese, and he was never short of money during the time that I knew him. Bad Good Habits. ' ' "He was a young man of exemplary habits, never drank, used but little tobacco, to-bacco, and- never gambled. A few days ago, August 10, he had the lock changed on his front door for the purpose of keeping out the person who had been stealing his money. A few weeks ago he left the keys to -the register In the register . when he went to the bicycle racjes, and when he returned, they were gone. He advertised for them and paid a reward to get them back, asking no questions. "Vlrmllllon arid I spent the early evening together. He was then cheerful cheer-ful and happy in the thought of meeting meet-ing his father, who was coming down tonight from Dillon on a short visit. He had nothing to fear from a visit from his father and had rig reason to consider suicide. I have helped him Jn making up his books and know that he was making ma-king money. On Best of Terms. "He and his father were devoted to each other and were as chummy as two school boys when they were together. He was looking forward with a great deal of pleasure to the visit that he was to have with his parent." Dr. P. G. P. Attlas, a Greek physician, who had yi office near the drug store, corroborated Dallon's statement that Vlrmllllon was making money and that he was cheerful at all times. He said that had there been a shortage, the young man could have secured the money mon-ey from his friends so that he could make a good showing to his father. Was a Young Man. Vlrmllllon was a young man, 24 years old. He was recently graduated from the University of California and had taken ta-ken a post-graduate course, which he finished with honors. He was a careful student and was considered a thoroughly thorough-ly reliable pharmacist.- He was a Mason. Ma-son. His mother and two sisters -re here for the summer, visiting him. His relations rela-tions with them were of the most tender ten-der character, and they are nearly prostrated by the tragedy. His father. Judge J. S. Vlrmllllon, Is a wealthy resident of Dillon, Mont. He will arrive here Tuesday night. He was on his way here when the death of young Vlrmllllon occurred. There was nothing that the police can learn that could be construed as a motive for his taking his life, although they were of the opinion that he had killed himself. |