|
IDAHO COUNTY FREE PRESS (Click
here for the initial article on this murder)
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1917
VAN HORN KILLING PREMEDITATED, ASSERTS HIS GRIEF-STRICKEN
FATHER; SLAYER SENTENCED TO PENITENTIARY
The killing of Frank Van Horn, Grangeville young man who met
death at the hands of Frank Bishop at McCall, November 29, was deliberately
planned, in the opinion of M. Van Horn, the young man's grief-stricken father,
in Grangeville.
The father, after conducting an investigation of the tragic
deed, which resulted in the death of his son, is satisfied that Bishop had for
some time planned to kill the young man, and only awaited a favorable
opportunity to commit the crime.
Bishop Sentenced to Pen
Bishop, who surrendered to the authorities immediately after
the killing, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the district court of Valley county
at Cascade, and has been sentenced to an indeterminate term of from one to ten
years in the state penitentiary at Boise.
Young Van Horn and Bishop had not been friends for several
weeks previous to the shooting, says the boy's father, and friends of the dead
man say that Bishop had made the threat that he would "get" Van
Horn. The fact that the revolver which Bishop used to kill Van Horn had
been wrapped in newspapers and placed behind the counter in a pool room at
McCall, lends emphasis to the elder Mr. Van Horn's belief that the killing was
premeditated.
Bishop Grabs Revolver
Bishop, according to eye-witnesses of the tragedy, who have
reported details to the dead man's father, when he became angered at Van Horn,
immediately went behind the counter in the poolhall, seized the revolver from
the paper and fired four shots - all in the magazine - some of which went
astray. Bishop, after killing Van Horn threatened to slay a friend
of the dead man, but the friend dashed out of the building and escaped. He
was one of the men who accompanied the body of Van Horn to Grangeville.
Another fact that had much to do with the father forming the
opinion that Bishop had planned the murder of his son, was the receipt about two
weeks before the killing, of a letter by the wife of the murdered man. The
letter which was written by Frank Van Horn, was addressed to his wife here, and about
the margin of the envelope was drawn a heavy, black line indicative of
mourning. The letter which told the young wife of Van Horn's plan to pay a
holiday visit to his family here, also advised Mrs. Van Horn not to depart on a
contemplated journey to McCall, where she was to have joined her husband.
Saying that the trip was a long and difficult one, and the roads poor, the young
man prevailed upon his wife not to make the journey.
Black Margin a Mystery
The Van Horns are unable to account for the black margin on
the envelope. Some think that the letter, before being posted, might have
fallen into the hands of a confederate of Bishop, who, desirous that the life of
Van Horn might be spared drew the line about the envelope, as a mysterious
warning to Van Horn's relatives that the young man was marked for death, and
giving them an opportunity to "read between the lines" and advise him
to leave the McCall country. Again the drawing of the black margin on the
envelope might have been in the nature of a black-hand warning of approaching
death.
The mysterious black margin on the envelope was given little
thought on the part of young Mrs. Van Horn at the time the letter was
received. However, when word came that her husband had been slain, she
immediately connected the mysterious envelope with the murder. She at once
attempted to locate the envelope, but it had disappeared. Mrs. Van
Horn thinks she simply mis-placed the envelope and that she will find it.
|