Individual Details

Death

Leon Furr, formerly of this county, but recently of Ritchy, found dead in a room of a Vicksburg hotel this week. Unmistakable signs of poison were found in his stomach, and a man named Schmitz was arrested on suspicion and is now in jail. Mr. Furr was a son of the late Mr. Issac Furr, and moved to the delta about three years ago. He leaves a number of relatives in this county. The remains were carried to Brandywine for burial yesterday.
The Port Gibson Reveille, Port Gibson, Mississippi, November 5, 1914


The ‘‘mystery surrounding death of Leon Furr,’’ the young man who was found dead in bed at a rooming house operated by Winnie Brown at the corner of Walnut and Main streets yesterday morning, has been solved, according to Chief of Police Groome, who has been active on the case since the discovery of Furr’s dead body. Officer Doc Eads brought J. D. Smitz in this morning on the Y. & M. V. train from Hollandale, where he arrested Smitz on a warrant charging murder and robbery. Smitz and Furr, it will be remembered went to the house of Winnie Brown together the night before Furr was found dead the following morning. Winnie Brown, came to the city hall this morning and Chief Groome asked her if the man in custody was the man who came to her house night before last with Furr, and she said that he was. Smitz would have nothing to say. He sat sullenly, handcuffed, although it was quite noticeable that he was very nervous, his hands shaking and lips twitching, while the officers were making a record of the articles found in his pockets when arrested. He was taken to jail by Officer Eads and a charge of murder and robbery stands against him. Furr the man who was robbed, it is stated, had money amounting to nearly $500 in his possession when he was brought to the rooming house of Winnie Brown, and the theory of the police is that Smitz put a large amount fo cocaine in a glass of whiskey and gave it to Furr, with the intention of ‘‘knocking him out" and then robbing him. Smitz, it is said, has been around Vicksburg for several days and according to reports had not had any money until yesterday. He was seen yesterday in the Pastime Pool room counting two large rolls of bills, one roll containing, according to the information gathered by Chief Groome, $90, and the other a larger sum. When he was arrested by officer Eads last night at Hollandale Smits had but $48.25 on his person. Among the other things found in Smitz’ pockets were some small bottles, containing something which will have to be determined by a doctor or chemist; a packet of some queer looking medicine, and a pair of ‘‘crooked’’ dice. It is not at all unlikely that Winnie Brown will be taken into custody in connection with Furr’s death. It is the belief of the authorities that she and Smitz planned the robbery of Furr, but that it was not their intention to kill him. Winnie Brown is an angular, far from prepossessing blonde woman and when she met Smitz at the city hall today, showed signs of nervousness. After identifying the prisoner she immediately left without having anything whatever to say to any one. A brother of Leon Furr, the dead man, was here for the purpose of looking into the mysterious and suspicious death of his brother, and made the statement that Smitz lured his brother here from some government work near Richey, Miss., with the promise that he would get him a position with the city as a detective. Mr. Furr says that Smitz also wrote letters to his brother from Vicksburg telling him that everything was fixed for him, (Leon,) to go to work as a city detective; to come immediately and that he would meet him at the Royal hotel. Will Furr says that Smitz knew that his brother was a frugal man and took good care of his money. The letters are said to be in Leon Furr’s suit case, and the suit case is being looked for by Chief of Police Groome today. Believing that he was coming here to be a detective, it is thought that the young man may have shipped his suit case here by express under an assumed name. Smitz is known as a "tin born” gambler and ‘‘fakir’’. He is said to represent himself as a "Voodoo" man among the negroes to whom he sells concoctions of his own manufacture. Late yesterday afternoon the body of young Furr was first identified by E. M. Shannon and J. Ashton. Will Furr will take his brother's remains to Port Gibson this afternoon for burial. Chief of Police Groome stated this morning that Dr. Ike Knox, who examined the contents of the stomach of the dead man, said he found indications of cocaine poisoning which strengthens the theory that young Furr was lured here for the purpose of robbery. Officer Eads, who deserves credit for being on the alert when he was sent to Greenville last night to try and catch Smitz, says that he thought Smitz might have stopped in one of the smaller towns,—either Rolling Fork or Hollandale and that he was on the lookout for him. It is in the small towns, it is said, where Smitz practices his ‘‘skin games"’ mostly, and for this reason officer Eads was on the lookout. Smitz boarded the train with a ticket to Greenville, and after the train started the officer walked into the next coach and placed Smitz under arrest. Smitz offered no resistance. Chief Groome says that the case was worked out and the arrest made in record time -- quicker than any case has ever been worked up by the Vicksburg authorities. The Chief and his officers are entitled to much credit for the work accomplished in this case. Coroner Thompson visited Smitz in jail this afternoon. Smitz declared there was no case against him, and assured the coroner he would soon be out of trouble.
The Vicksburg Post Vicksburg, Mississippi • Wednesday, November 4, 1914