Individual Details

Death

Funeral Services for Robert Emmett Furr, 57, and his wife, Henrietta, 44, victims of a murder-suicide act yesterday will be held at the Backs, Troutman and Kaulbars Mortuary chapel at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Furr was an orange rancher and retired car salesman. His wife was employed at Boss Coverall and Linen Supply Co., Anaheim. She was a member of the Izaak Walton League. Interment will be in Anaheim Cemetery.
Anaheim Bulletin, Anaheim, California, June 21, 1958

ANAHEIM — A murder and suicide cracked the early morning hours in Anaheim today when a man shot and killed his wife with a high-powered rifle while she lay in her bed, then turned the gun on himself. According to Anaheim police, sometime around 2 a.m., Robert Emmett Furr, a retired 57-year-old rancher and car salesman of 9299 N. Helena St., entered the bedroom of his wife, Henrietta Furr, 44, placed the nose of a .301 cal. Kreig rifle to her head and fired. Investigating officers Harold Bastrup and Norman Cook said Furr then set the gun under his chin or in his mouth and shot himself. The heads of both victims were literally blown off, they said. One neighbor allegedly told police that she thought she heard shots sometime between one and two in the morning. The 20-year-old son of the couple, Melvin Furr of 511 N. Vine St., Anaheim, discovered the bodies about 7 this morning. He told police he was waiting at his home for his mother to pick him up to drive to work, a regular morning routine. When she was late, he said he went to his parents home and walked in on the tragedy, then phoned the police. A 14-year-old daughter, Kathleen Elizebeth (sic) Furr, had spent the night away from home visiting a friend and was notified of the death of her parents this morning. The Furrs had two other daughters, Mrs. Darlene Lois Williams, 20, 11772 MacGill St., Garden Grove and Mrs. Marlene Louise Evers, 21, of 1172 Verona St., Anaheim. Young Kathleen Furr said her sister Darlene had been injured in a traffic accident about three years ago and her father never got over it. Police said so far they have found no reason or motive for the murder suicide. Dep. Coroner Wally Fix ordered the bodies removed to the Backs, Trautman and Kaulbars Mortuary in Anaheim.
The Register, Santa Ana, California, June 20, 1958