Mrs. Emma Winkey Dies Of Gun Wound, Believed Self Inflicted
Mrs. Emma Winkey, 37, passed away Sunday night at 10:32 o’clock at the Sterling public hospital as a result of a gunshot wound in the abdomen believed to have been self-inflicted with a revolver while visiting in the home of her brother Orville Dickey of Rock Falls. The shooting is said to have occurred about 8:30 o’clock, and was removed to the Woods ambulance about 9:30 o’clock. Guy Sanders, for whom Mrs. Winkey had been employed as housekeeper for the past four or five weeks and whose gun she is alleged to have used, is confined in the Rock Falls city jail pending the outcome of the inquest which Coroner C. M. Frye will conduct at the Woods funeral home today or Tuesday.
Deputy Sheriff John G. Haglock was called a short time following the shooting and went to the Dickey cabin, which is a small affair in a dense thicket of weeds a short distance east of route 88 in the south end section of Rock Falls. He found that Mrs. Winkey had been removed to the hospital and learned that Sanders had accompanied her. He talked with Sanders and was informed that Mrs. Winkey suggested they visit her brother late Sunday afternoon. They had been drinking and around 8:30 o’clock Mrs. Winkey is said to have entered the cabin, presumably to get something more to drink. Sanders and Dickey were sitting on a bench outside of the place when they heard a report of a gun and entering the house found the woman lying across the bed. Efforts were made to secure a physician and later the Woods ambulance was called and she was rushed to the hospital.
Sanders said he was unaware that she had the gun, which he stated belonged to him. He said he kept it loaded and on a shelf at his home. He was so excited, according to his story of the affair, that he picked up the gun and walked to the door and gave it a fling over into the weeds. He accompanied Deputy Haglock and Officer Ed Ohda to the scene of the shooting late Sunday night but was unable to locate the gun in the weeds and dense underbrush. Dickey was not located by the officers Sunday night and will be questioned today regarding his version of the affair. According to the story, as related by Sanders Mrs. Winkey held the gun to her abdomen and pulled the trigger. The bullet took an upward course and passed through her body. She never regained consciousness and passed away abut two hours following the shooting. The body was then removed to the Woods funeral home where it will remain until 2:30 o’clock Wednesday afternoon when the funeral services will be held at the Christian church in Rock Falls, conducted by Rev. Harry Shiffer. Burial will be in Central cemetery in West Genesee.
From the July 6, 1936 Sterling Gazette
Coroner C. M. Frye conducted the inquisition Monday afternoon at 1 o’clock at the Woods funeral home to learn the cause of the death of Mrs. Emma Winkey of Garden City. The jury after hearing from the various witnesses, including Orville Dickey, the woman’s brother, returned a verdict that she came to her death as a result of hemorrhage and shock following a self inflicted gunshot wound. The funeral services will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock at the Rock Falls Christian church, rev. H. E. Shiffer, pastor of the church will officiate. burial will be in the west Central Genesee cemetery. Dr. L. S. Reavley, who was at the Sterling public hospital when Mrs. Winkey was brought in, testified as to his examination of the bullet wound in her abdomen. She was in deep shock and passed away about an hour after being brought into the hospital. there were power marks on her abdomen, and indications that she had press the muzzle of the gun against her body when she pulled the trigger.
The testimony of the woman’s brother Orville Dickey, at whose shack she and Guy Sanders were visiting, and that of Sanders coincided and relieved the latter from a serious predicament. It was Sanders’ gun, a .32 caliber revolver that Mrs. Winkey used. Glenn Reglin, a nephew of the victim told of finding two notes. These were shown to the members of the jury and indicated that Mrs. Winkey was in a remorseful mood at the time she committed the rash act although outwardly to her brother and Sanders she acted in a somewhat jovial mood. Both men testified that they were sitting in front of Dickey’s shack when heard the report of the gun. Entering the shack Dickey asked his sister if she was playing a joke by shooting off a fire cracker. She shook her head and said “no”. It was then discovered that she had shot herself. Sanders grabbed the gun and walking to the door of the shack gave it a throw into the “jungles” which surround the shack. He explained that he was so nervous that he did not realize what he was doing. Dickey testified that a short time before the shooting he walked into the shack and saw his sister lying across the bed. He asked her if she had a cigarette and she replied that she didn’t. He walked outside again and within a few minutes the fatal shot was fired. Sanders told practically the same story. As she was being carried to the ambulance she said, “Let me alone, I want to die in peace. She then lapsed into unconsciousness and rapidly drew worse until she passed.
July 7, 1936 Sterling Gazette
Emma Winkey Obituary
