Gastonia, March 25—Harry Shuford, a brother-in-law of Solicitor George W. Wilson and prominently connected in Gaston County, was found dead in his room at the Bessemer City Hotel Saturday morning at 10:30 o’clock with a pistol wound through his right temple, the pistol lying by his hand, and with a lager wound just above his right temple, a half-inch long and three-fourths of an inch deep, which had been inflicted by some heavy instrument.
The first theory that Mr. Shuford had committed suicide was flouted later when an autopsy was made by Dr. L.N. Glenn, county physician, which revealed that the instrument which produced the larger wound on the right side of his head had produced a complete fracture of the skull.
The mystery incidental to the finding of Mr. Shuford’s body rivals the enigma shrouding any murder ever committee in the annals of Gaston County, local officers declare.
Mr. Shuford was lying in his bed in the hotel, in the room which he customarily occupied, and was beneath two heavy army blankets. When his body was discovered, there was no unkemptness disclosed. He seemed to be lying just as he had gone to bed, without any of the bed clothes being ruffled and without any semblance of disarrangement in the room. The pistol was lying near his right hand, but there was no trace of any other of the probable instruments that, physicians say, produced death.
Suicide Theory Dismissed
Every vestige of suspicion that Mr. Shuford had committed suicide was soon dismissed after Dr. Glenn performed the autopsy and found that the bullet from the pistol had ranged directly through the right temple and lodged in the opposite side of his head, a small bullet from a .25-caliber gun, and that this shot had evidently been fired by Mr. Shuford’s assassins in the hope of concealing the fact of the murder. The coroner’s jury, which began an investigation of the murder about noon Saturday, heard evidence form Dr. Glenn and others to the effect that, in their judgment, the murderer or murderers fired the pistol shot merely for purposes of concealing their crime and to create the impression that Mr. Shuford had shot himself. The theory of suicide was generally accepted during the early hours after announcement was made of the finding of his body. First examinations revealed only the small wound in his right temple. When Dr. Glenn, however, began an investigation, he found the larger wound, an ugly gash above the pistol wound, had been concealed by clotted blood. The extent of the blow delivered upon the head of Mr. Shuford was not indicated until the autopsy was made and the skull found to have been fractured clear around.
Room Was Locked
The theory of murder has been universally accepted, although circumstances are bewildering. Mr. Shuford’s room was locked from the inside, by means of a latch. It was opened only after the hotel proprietor had gotten a pass-key Saturday at 10:30 o’clock and entered the room. How entrance could have been affected stands out as one of the most baffling phases of the murder. The room occupied by Mr. Shuford was on the second floor of the hotel and there were no signs that entrance had been affected from the exterior. The condition of the room also indicated the presence of no intruders or that there had been a struggle between the dead man and his attackers. However, the theory of suicide has been completely abandoned and the coroner’s jury, which adjourned late Saturday, will be reconvened Sunday morning to continue its inquiries to verify the belief of murder.
Mr. Shuford did not go to his room until 1 o’clock Saturday morning. The night watchman at the McLean Mills, in the offices of which the slain man was employed, talked to him while he was putting his car in the garage prior to going to the hotel and it was then about 1 o’clock, the watchman said. Mr. Shuford had been over to Mount Holly to visit Miss Ruth Ensor, a student at Queens College of Charlotte before the Christmas holidays, and to whom he was engaged to be married in April. According to reports from the Ensor home, Mr. Shuford left there about 10 Friday night, came through Gastonia and stopped at a local café about 11:30 and was next seen by the night watchman between 12:30 and 1 o’clock. Mr. Shuford was traveling in a new car which he had just purchased Friday.
Saw People in Room
A mill operative, who lives within 50 yards of the hotel, is the only witness found so far who throws any light at all on the supposition of murder. He said that when the whistles blew about 4:30 o’clock Saturday morning, he got up and was occupying himself about his home when he noticed a light in the hotel room of Mr. Shuford and distinctly saw the forms of three men silhouetted against the background. This man’s first statement to this effect was unimpressive in view of the generally-accepted theory of suicide, but later his testimony was regarded as furnishing the only basis for the officers to begin their investigation of the murder. The operative said he was not particularly impressed at the time the sight of the men in Mr. Shuford’s room.
When found, Mr. Shuford had $30 in his pocket, which adds a further complication to the mystery. The suspicion that robbery might have been a motive for the crime is upset by the presence of this money unless it can be developed that Mr. Shuford was carrying a much larger sum and that his assassins left this to cover up their tracks. Mr. Shuford had deposited a few days ago $4,000 in one of the Gastonia banks, his share of the estate of his late father, the administration upon which had just been concluded, and this money remains to his credit in the bank.
Popular Young Man
Mr. Shuford was regarded as one of the most prominent and promising young business men of the county, with wide family connections and generally popular in Gastonia where he was born and reared, as well as in Bessemer City, his business home. For several years he has occupied a position in the offices of the management of McLean Mills.
He was a son of the late former sheriff of the county, M.H. Shuford, and is survived by three sisters and two brothers, the sisters being Mrs. George W. Wilson, wife of the solicitor of this judicial district; Mrs. R.M. Reid and Miss Laura Shuford, and S.S. Shuford, all these of Gastonia, and J. Oscar Shuford of Lincolnton.
Funeral services will be held Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock at the residence of R.M. Reid and will be in charge of the pastor of the First Methodist Church, of which Mr. Shuford was a member.
From the front page of the Charlotte News, Sunday, March 26, 1922
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