Iberia County Louisiana Archives Obituaries.....Stafford, Muriel N. - November 1920
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Mary K. Creamer marykcreamer@yahoo.com June 9, 2019, 11:20 pm

source: New Iberia Enterprise and Independent Observer. (New Iberia, La.)
1902-1944, November 13, 1920, Image 4 

BABY MURDERED BY UNKNOWN PROWLER.

Two-year-old Child of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Stafford, Former Iberians, Killed in 
Mother's Arms.

With a shell from a 38 calibre revolver as the only clue, officers are still 
searching for the unknown person who shot and killed Muriel Stafford, the 2-
year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Stafford, seven miles south of Temple 
near the Guadalupe Indian reservation about 11:30 o'clock Friday night. No 
motive for the firing of the mysterious shot which struck the baby in the 
back of the head has been learned by the officers. It is thought that the 
shot was intended for the former owner of the store.

The inquest was held in Tempe yesterday afternoon by Coroner Cummings. The 
verdict was death due to a gunshot wound inflicted by an unknown person. 
Funeral services for the little one were held yesterday afternoon in Tempe, 
Arizona.

According to the story told by Mr. Stafford, about 11:30 o'clock on Friday 
night he heard some one rattle the front door of the store building and then 
the back door. Mr. Stafford lives in an apartment over the store, of which 
he is manager, a stairway at the back of the store being the only entrance 
to the apartment. After listening for several minutes, Mr. Stafford said, he 
heard the sound of crashing glass in the front part of the store and he got 
up out of bed and lighted a light. - Greeted by Shot.

His wife got up at the same time, he said, and their small daughter was 
awakened by the crash of the glass. Stafford said he got his automatic 
revolver and flashlight and went to the door leading out to the stairway. 
His wife, he said, followed him with the baby in her arms, its head resting 
on her left shoulder. Mr. Stafford said he opened the door and stepped onto 
the small porch at the head of the stairs.

At the instant he started to flash his light, a shot was fired from the 
ground about thirty feet away. The shot went through the panel of the door 
and struck the baby in the back of the head. Mrs. Stafford, he said, was 
approaching the door when the shot struck the baby. The bullet passed 
through the baby's head, struck a panel in the dining room of the apartment 
and then rebounded into the kitchen where it was found.

Mr. Stafford said he fired one shot in the direction of the flash of the 
other gun and then his gun jammed and he could not use it. No other shots 
were fired and the unknown murderer left the place. Officers investigating 
the affair found that an iron bar, used about the store to prop open the 
screen door, had been used by the unknown person to punch a hole through a 
widow. The bar had been left in the window after it was thrust through the 
glass. - Had No Enemies.

Mr. Stafford stated that he had been at the store about a month and had come 
from Texas recently for the health of his wife. The store formerly was owned 
by Frank W. Turner and H. J. Robichaux but about a month ago Turner sold out 
to Robichaux. Mr. Turner was unable to throw any light on the murder 
yesterday. He stated that he had some trouble with several Mexicans in the 
neighborhood over their conduct in the store but could not assign any motive 
for them shooting at Stafford thinking that it might be him.


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