|
a.
|
Note: Charles D Gaffney: Charles was 27 years old when his father died and 37 when his mother died. COLUMBUS DISPATCH DATES DECEMBER 16, 1930: SELF DEFENSE IS CLAIM IN KILLING: Sister of Charles Gaffney Challenges Deputies' Story of Shooting: A double investigation was underway Tuesday into the killing of Charles Gaffney, 57, of 953 Hart Rd. by sheriff's deputies late Monday.Gaffney's sister, Mrs. Frank Shields, 545 S. Burgess Av., said she was "not satisfied" with the stories of the three deputies after she and her husband attended a hearing in Sheriff Paul's office Tuesday morning.Meanwhile Coroner Murphy was making another investigation. He said late Monday that it was "justified homicide." The coroner reported to the sheriff Tuesday at noon that Gaffney had only been shot once. The bullet went thru his left arm, into his chest and came out the right side of the heart, Murphy said. It was previously believed that Gaffney had been shot three times.Paul exonerated the deputies saying they were acting in self-defense. Mrs. Shields has retained Attorney John Conner to make an investigation.Conner, who had known Gaffney, said "I haven't learned all the facts yet, but Gaffney was an inoffensive person and it is hard to belive he was causing a disturbance.Gaffney was killed after a gun battle with Deputies Tim Donavan, Bert B. Callahan, and Orland Everett.Sheriff Paul sent three deputies to Gaffney's home on receipt of complaints that he was threatening the lives of truck drivers who went past his home.Shields, however, countered by saying that any hostility her brother may have shown toward the truck drivers was due to the fact that an attempt to rob him of more than $300 which he carried on his person was made recently."We went to Mr. Gaffney's home and he opened the door" Deputy Everett said."Then he slammed the door in our faces and ran thru the back door. He went to the side of the house and opened fire on us. He fired four times. We returned the fier. Donavan, Callahan and I fired two shots each. A shot from Callahan's gun or mine took effect. He fell. We waited to see if he was shamming. Then we went up to him. He was dead. There was no doubt Gaffney was drunk. Neighbors said they had seen him staggering around just before we went there. The deputiescalled Murphy. Gaffney, an employee of the Municipal Light Plant, was a widower. He had no children. He lived alone in his little home.The deputies found $75 Dollars in bills sewn in his undershirt. Mrs. Shields explained. "I sewed the pocket on his undershirt so that the money would be safe. He said he did not want to put the money in a bank. I know that not so long ago an attempt had been made to hold him up in the gravel pits near his home." Everett said Gaffney, with shotgun, had stopped truck drivers all day. COLUMBUS DISPATCH DECEMBER 16, 1930: DEPUTIES SAY HART ROAD MAN FIRED ON THEM. Victim said to have threated neighbors and truck drivers. Find $275 dollars in shirt. Sister says she thinks brother feared robbery and wasn't drunk. Stories of how Charles Gaffney, age 57, of 953 Hart Rd, a city employee, alledly threated truck drivers and neighbor's child, before he was shot to death by deputy sheriffs at his home, Monday night, were related, Tuesday,as relatives pushed an inquiry of the shooting. Mrs. Neva Sheets, 880 Hart rd, told how Gaffney, intoxicated, had cursed at her daughter after having an argument with truck drivers of the Ohio Sand & Gravel Co. "I had sent my daughter, Jennie age 12, to the garage on an errand, but she came running back into the house, saying she was afraid because Gaffney had passed by and cursed at her. About five minutes later I saw Gaffney with a shotgun walking toward his home. A few seconds later I heard him shooting. I thought he was killing a dog and looked out the window, then I saw that the police had shot him." Witnesses said that after frightening Mrs. Sheet's daughter, Gaffney had gone home, obtained a shotgun and started stopping all truck drivers that passed near his home, apparently looking for one man. There were two stories current as to why Gaffney sought out a special driver. According to Albert White of Worthington, Driver for Gravel Co., who is hauling dirt from a field near Gaffney's home, one of the gravel co. drivers had tramped on Gaffney's new shoes earlier in the day. Officials of the Co. However, said on of the drivers had nearly run him down and it irratated him. Call to sheriif's office asking police be sent to Gaffney's home was made by officials of the company. After visiting the office of the co. the deputies stated they went to Gaffney's home. "I knocked on the door and told Gaffney that we were police officers, to come out, that we wanted to talk to him, said Donavan, Instead of doing so, Gaffney opened the door and thrust a shotgun out at him. Then he withdrew the gun and slammed the door shut. The deputy stated that he ran to a side window but Gaffney slipped out the rear door into the back yard and opened fire on him, shots from the gun entered the corner of the Gaffney home near where he was standing. It was then, he stated, that his associates opened fire. Three bullets killed Gaffney. The sherriff's found $275 in the victim's shirt. Mrs. Frank Shields, sister of the deceased, expressed the opinion to Sheriff Paul that instead of being intoxicated, as was generally believed, Gaffney was really afraid of being held up. on two occasions on his way to work at the Municipal light plant, last winter, Gaffney was held up, she stated, and that on one other occasion was the subject of an attempted robbery at his home. Gaffney believed that the men employed by the sand and gravel co. were responsible for these attempts, she said, and that this trouble with them was results of that belief. The victim had been employed at the municipal light plant for 12 years. Mrs. Shields who resides at 545 S. Burgess av., a sister, Clara Krug of Chillicothe, and two brothers, Samuel Gaffney of e. main St. and Joeseph Gaffney of W. Park Av., appeared before Sheriff Harry Paul, Tuesday to obtain a statement of the shooting. Thre other brothers, John, David and George also survive. Funeral services will he held Friday at 2 p.m. from the hom of Mrs. Shields. Buriel willb be in Green Lawn Cemetary, under the direction of J. I. Hughes-Woodyard Co.
|
