Ora Axsom

Subject: ORA AXAM
Submitted by: Deb Dailey (daileyknd@grm.net)
Source: Yuma Pioneer, Thursday, August 28, 1930

ORA AXSOM SHOT AND KILLED AT STRATTON, NEBRASKA
Coroner's Jury Renders Verdict of Suicide, But Relatives Think He Was Murdered

Ora Axsom a resident of this section for the past fifteen years, was seriously shot and killed early Monday morning at Stratton, Nebraska.
The body of the slain man was in the basement of a barber shop where a card game had been in progress during Sunday night.
It has been possible for Yuma people to obtain only very meager reports of the tragedy. The only communication received directly was the statement from Stratton that Ora Axsom had shot himself to death and an inquest would be held. But no word in Yuma has been officially received as to the result of that inquest. It was learned from Stratton that the coroner's jury reached a verdict of suicide. But friends who have seen the body reject the idea of a self-inflicted wound. They point to the fact that the deceased's head showed no sign of ? or powder marks. They insist that if the man had held the gun to his head and fired, the explosion would have left some marks. They insist that the man would have been compelled to hold his hand in a very awkward position to fire the shot. It was reported that the coroner's jury was over 18 hours reaching a verdict with no indications that Axsom met his death by other than his own hands. A son is expected to go to Stratton today and further investigate the shooting and place the case in the hands of the district attorney.

His wife and seven children, six sons and one girl, besides his mother and other relatives survive him. During the past several months Mrs. Axsom and the youngest children have been residing in Greeley, this state, the children attending school in that city. The older boys have been attending to the farm work while their parents were away. One of the sons went to Greeley as soon as he heard of the tragedy and brought Mrs. Axsom and the young children back to Yuma.

The funeral was held from the Yuma Methodist Church Wednesday afternoon, August 27, Rev. William I. Jones officiating and the interment was at the Yuma Cemetery.



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