Ray County, Missouri - New York Times transcription; March 23, 1897 A Whole Family Murdered Jealous Farmer Kills His Wife, Her Relatives, and Then Himself Kansas City, March 22. - Bee Rainwater, a farmer living in Orrick, Ray County, murdered his wife, his mother-in-law, Mrs. William Artman; Ethel Gentry, his step-daughter, and John Thurman, a step-brother, and then blew his own brains out, Saturday evening. Saturday night Rainwater went over from his place to the Artman house to visit his wife and children. he was annoyed by some dogs barking in the orchard, and said to Thurman: "Johnny, lets kill those dogs." Thurman took a shotgun and Rainwater a revolver and they left the house. When they had gone about fifty yards Rainwater, without having said a word, stepped behind Thurman and shot him dead. Rainwater then hurried back to the house. He had brought back the gun which Thurman had taken out, and this he leveled at Mrs. Artman's head saying: "D___ you, I've got you all." Mrs. Artman threw up her hands as Rainwater fired, the charge of shot carrying off every one of her fingers and the right side of her head. He then shot his wife and step-daughter. Afterward he reloaded his gun, and, going to the front of the house, shot himself. Jealousy and a belief that his mother-in-law was interfering with his domestic affairs is believed to have been the cause of Rainwater's crime. he and his wife had frequently quarreled. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by County Coordinator USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or their legal representative, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------