A story appeared in the Hanover Evening Sun (Hanover, Pennsylvania), 22 February 1937, describing a murder which took place in Clarks Valley, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The murder was committed by Clair Guy Wingert, a trapper from that area, who claimed that the persons he fired shots at had poisoned his toe. Today’s post is the first of a multi-part series in which newspaper images and articles of the time are used to describe the affair.
MAN KILLER, WIFE SHOT BY TRAPPER
Woman Is In Critical Condition at Harrisburg — Accused Says Pair “Put Poison In His Toe”
HARRISBURG, 22 February 1937 — A 51-year-old Clarks Valley trapped and hunter, known as Huckleberry, who is accused of killing a man and seriously wounding his wife, sat in his cell today in the Dauphin County Jail, and complained that the pair he shot “put poison in his toe.”
The woodman, C. Guy Wingert, faces a murder charge as a result of a shooting affair in a small log cabin Saturday near Dauphin.
State Police quoted him as saying repeatedly, “I’m a sick man.” His chief concern was his toe, they said.
Shot at Breakfast Table
William M. McElwee, 40, who was shot as he and his wife were preparing to sit down to breakfast in their modest home. He died six hours later in the Harrisburg hospital.
His wife, Mrs. Dorothy McElwee, 23, is in the hospital in a “very critical” condition, suffering from bullet wounds of right arm, chest and abdomen. Her chance for recovery is slight. She has not been told of her husband’s death.
The shooting took place in the log cabin home of the McElwees as they were preparing to eat breakfast. Wingert, who hunts and traps for a living and is Winter caretaker of the Y.M.C.A. camp near Dauphin, had stayed overnight at the McElwee home.
Draws Gun, Starts Shooting
State Poice say he walked into the room where breakfast was being prepared, pulled out a 22 caliber revolver and started shooting. McElwee collapsed with bullets in his right ear, right arm, and neck.
Wingert, police reported, ran from the cabin after the shooting and went to the home of Mrs. Frank Paschall, a widow, who lives nearby. Police arrested him there later.
Wounded, Mrs. McElwee ran from the home screaming and was found later by her 80-year -old grandfather, A. L. Strickler, who lives nearby, lying face downward in a small creek.
Best Friends, He Said
Wingert, who police say readily admitted the shooting, claimed the McElwees were his best friends but that he shot them because “they had put poison in my toe.” He is suffering from an infected left toe.
State Troopers said that Wingert is apparently mentally unbalanced. He had been acting peculiarly since the death of his brother, William Wingert Sr., and the latter’s son, William Wingert Jr., who were killed in a min accident ten days ago at Williamstown.
“Huckleberry,” as Wingert is known to residents of the valley and visitors to Camp Shikellimy, acted as self-appointed caretaker of the Y.M.C.A. camp and also hunted and trapped for a living. He resides in a small shack about a half mile from the camp but frequently made trips through Clarks Valley visiting people.
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For other parts of this series, see: The Poison Toe Murder, 1937.
News articles are from Newspapers.com.