The Sullivan, IL, newspaper carried the story of the tragedy resultingi n his death:
"MURDER AND SUICIDE SHOCKS COMMUNITY
Nimrod Huff Crazed by Drugs and Drink, Kills Sheriff Fleming and TakesO wn Life
Friday afternoon of last week trouble originated at the home ofPe rry Bland that terminiated in double murder at the farm residenceof Ru fus Huff, west of Sullivan.
Nimrod Huff, who was crazed by hard drinking and 'dope' after ana ttack upon Ada Sipe with a corn knife, eluded the officers and wentto t he home of his father.
Sheriff Fleming, being informed that Huff was at his father'shome i n the country, got a car and accompanied by Deputy Sheriff C.H.Bristow a nd Chief of Police John Tolley, went to Mr. Huff's residencewith a war rant for the arrest of the son.
Nimrod Huff took a bottle of whiskey with him and in spite of hism other's pleading and tears, he kept on drinking and kept a shot gunin h is possession, insisting that he was going to town. The familytried t o keep him at home. John Taylor was passing and Huff calledto
him and got in his buggy to come to town. Just at that time thesherif f and his deputy arrived, passed the buggy and stopped and theofficers a lighted and walked toward the buggy. The lights wereflashed and a sho t was fired which struck Sheriff Fleming, coveringalmost his entire bo dy. He fell and expired in a short time. Oneshot struck Policeman To lley. Deputy Sheriff Bristow dropped flat tothe ground and the next s hot passed over his head. Nimrod Huff thenescaped into the corn field . After the elapse of about thirtyminutes he was heard to call and th e report of a gun followed. Hisbrother, Roger, went to him and Dr. Da vidson and others went fromwhere the dead sheriff was lying. They asc ertained that Huff hadplaced the muzzle of the gun against his side an d fired the shot thatended his own life. The particulars are brought o ut in the testimonygiven below:
CAUSE OF TRAGEDY
Friday about 4 pm, Nimrod Huff in a rage and intoxicatedcondition w ent to the home of Perry Bland on East Jackson street. Hewent to the k itchen as was his custom to call on Miss Ada Sipe, adomestic in the ho me of Mr. Bland.
He was heard to say 'there's going to be trouble.'
He carried in one hand an old, rusty, dull corn knife, with thath e struck at her face, she threw up her arm to ward off the blow andcau ght the lick on her right arm. She was struck a lick on the backof th e head and another on the forehead. She caught the knife in herhand, h e bit her hand to force her to let go. Miss Sipe in themeantime order ed the police called. Mrs. Bland & Mrs. Fults bothphoned for the offi cers. After the attack on the girl, Huff left thehouse and went aroun d the block swearing he would clean out the wholebunch, meaning those l iving in the block. On returning from his triparound the block, he we nt upon Mayor Pifer's porch and sat down.Mrs. Pifer remarked to him t hat the police were coming. He slappedhimself on all his pockets and s aid, 'I have got nothing. I canwhip him with my fist.' He also said ' Ada cut herself.'
He saw the policeman coming and walked towards the Presbyterianch urch, when Tolley got south on Washington street to the house tothe so utheast corner of the intersection of Jackson & Washington,Huff was ab out 200 feet ahead of him by W.L. Hancock's.
Ada Sipe's father lives near Cushman. She has turned a deaf eart o parents and others offering her good advice.
She worked for Mrs. Bland about 2 years ago, but at that time shew as out too much of nights and Mrs. Bland would not keep her.
She went away, after being away several months, came back andbegg ed to be taken in, saying she would do better, which she did.She clai ms that for about three months, she has been trying to getride of Huff 's attentions, then he would become enraged at times andforce his atte ntion upon her and make threats.
The corn knife was found, after the trouble, behind a trunk onthe p orch.
Dr. Lawson was called and took 2 or 3 stitches in the gash on theg irl's wrist. None of her wounds were serious.
The substance of C.H. Bristow's evidence before the coronor'sjury ; information near 4 pm Friday came to the Sheriff's office thatthe s heriff and police were wanted at Perry Bland's. The Sheriffbeing out o f town, his Deputy C.H. Bristow started there. At the
street he got into a buggy and was driven to near there when they gott o Jackson street, they noticed people looking West, and also sawpolice man, John Tolley to the west and drove to him. Tolley got inthe buggy , but Bristow alighted and got in one back of them and theparties all d rove to the school house where a crowd was collected.They inquired if a nyone had Nim Huff, and could get no informationfrom anyone. They dro ve around the school house, one going in onedirection and one in the o ther direction. As he disappeared, theywent back to Blands to ascerta in what was the matter.
The police and sheriff had been called there once or twicebefore, n ot to make arrests, but to quiet things.
At the Bland house, they found that Ada had a cut on her arm, herw rist bitten, a bad place on the back of her head, and she told themshe w as cut on the top of her head with a corn knife.
Ada Sipe told them she would swear out a warrant for Nim. Mr.Bri stow got a warrant of Atty. J.K. Martin and taking Justice of thePeace S iple with him where Ada Sipe was, she acknowledged it andBristow took i t to the Sheriff, who had then returned to his office.
The corn knife was also delivered to the sheriff.
Ada Sipe in the meantime told the officers that Nim Huff hadcalle d her up 3 times but would not tell where he was. She asked theCentra l girl she said, and was told that she thought he was on Line49, the s ame line VanGundy's are on. The Sheriff, the Deputy, andthe Chief of P olice went to VanGundy's residence and learning that hehad not been th ere, and that they know nothing of him; the officersreturned to Sulliv an. It was reported that one of the Van Gundy boyswas taking their ca r out of the shop to take Nim Huff out of the
county. The officers then hired another car and driver to start inpur suit. Before they got started they heard he was at his father'sreside nce in the country sitting on the porch. 'We went there andjust befor e we got to the house, we saw the buggy in the road. Ithink Mr. Flemi ng said to throw the lights on them so we said stopand he stopped the c ar and he and I jumped out about the same time.He was in the back sea t and I was in the front seat; we started backtowards the buggy; we ha d the flash lights and had them lit. We tookthree or four steps and t he first report Mr. Fleming said, 'Oh, myGod, I am hit' or a remark to t hat effect. Just that quick I droppedto the ground and held there. M r. Fleming staggered back and died;my opinion at first was that he lai d down to keep out of the way ofthe shooting. I found out differently a fterwards; the second shotwas imemediately after the first and about t hat time there wasseveral hallooing. Mr. Huff and Roger were both hal looing, not toshoot, and Mr. Huff ran to Mr. Felming and I got up and w ent back towhere he was, and we worked with him for quite a while.'
Mr. Bristow had Mr. Flemings gun and the two shells they found int he road in his pocket. He testified that he had heard three shotsfire d, two at the wagon in the road and one in the corn field later.
Mr. Bristow was about three feet from Sheriff Fleming when thesho ts were fired and didn't know Nim had a gun until the first shotwas fi red and never saw anything when he got out of the car, norheard a word s poken by any of the other parties, until after theshots were fired and t hey hallooed, don't shoot. It was dark at thetime. Mr. Bristow gave a s his opinion that they were about 50 feetfrom the buggy where Nim was w hen the shots were fired, and thoughthe recognized him by the light of t he car, but did not notice a gun.
The sheriff did not say anything after he was shot and lying inth e road. It seems to me he lived about one-half hour after he wasshot.
'I was trying to get through over the telephone and Centralwouldn 't answer; we could't get any telephone service at all.'
Mr. Bristow says there were two men in the buggy when they passedb ut did not know where the third one was. He did not know whetherthe s hots were fired from the buggy or the ground.
Ben Cochran testified that after he had worked with Mr. Flemingso me time, he turned his car and started to town for a doctor. Hemet Dr . Davidson at the railroad and they went back to the scene ofthe trage dy. A couple of minutes after he got back he heard a shotto the north east of them, someone said, 'Nim has shot himself.' Hecalled just bef ore he shot. Roger Huff asked for a lantern and wentto him.
Roger Huff testified that Mr. Van Gundy told him that Nim was int rouble with a girl. That was just as the 5:30 train was goingthrough. ' When I got home at 6 pm, Nim was on the porch with somewhiskey and a s hot gun. Mother was there crying, trying to get thegun from him. I t ried to keep him from going to town, just then JohnTaylor came past, N im hallooed to him; I pinched my father saying,Keep Nim while I talk t o John Taylor. We, Taylor and I tried to keephim at home. His mother s natched the whiskey but he got it again.The car came up and I tried to g et the gun. He leaped over thehorse's head and jerked the gun to this s houlder.' Roger, his fatherand mother soon after the shooting went to M r. Fleming and helpedcare for him.
The Jury in the inquisition over W.M Fleming were Dr. J.F.
Lawson, C.E. McPheeters, F.A. Reese, John A. Webb, M.S. Mattox and
W.S. Harris.
VERDICT
The Jury found that Warren M. Fleming came to his death by a guns hot wound fired from a shot gun in the hands of Nimrod N. Huff.Said d eath occurred about 7:30 Sept.5, 1913 in front of the residenceof W.R. H uff.
The Jury that held the inquisition over the body of Nimrod N.Huff w as F.E. Pifer, W.L. Hancock, A.N. Woodruff, Grover Hines,Dennis Lander s and A. Gifford.
They heard that he came to his death by shooting himself."
