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Continuing the saga from yesterday’s post (if you missed it, you can read it here).

Leonard Supports Widow’s Story

Leonard’s story is substantially the same as the woman’s and he said that when Joynes left the house with the pistol in his hand.  He and Schreck followed him in hope of trying to prevvent him from shooting his wife.

“We overtook him,” he said, “about 50 yards from his home and tried to get the pistol away from him.  While we tosseled with him, it exploded and Joynes dropped to the pavement.  The pistol fell at his side.  Knowing that I had not committed any crime, I stood still, while Schreck ran away.”

“I did not have my hands on the pistol and when Joynes raised it in the air, his hand was on the trigger.”

Schreck said he is positive he saw Leonard wrench the weapon from Joynes’ hand and then point it at him and pull the trigger.  He told of the quarrel in the house and said that previous to that, while Mrs. Joynes was dressing, Leonard and Joynes had a quarrel in the kitchen and Joynes accused Leonard of paying too much attention to his wife.  No blows were struck, but he said that if he had not interferred, the men would have gotten into a fight.  At that time, Joynes did not have the pistol.  He verified Mrs. Joynes’ account of her husband going into the cellar to get the pistol.

Mr. Bradley told the police that he saw the three men struggling and then heard the report of the pistol, after which he saw Leonard lower his hand with the weapon init and let it fall to the pavement.  He jumped off the car and saw Schreck run away.  Leonard stood still and Mr. Bradley and several other citizens caught hold of him and held him until the arrival of Patrolman May.  He said that Leonard did not try to get away and told them that Joynes had shot himself.

Body Taken To Joynes’ home

The body was taken home by Messrs. Philip Peacock, 2813 Eastern avenue, John Haschert, 137 North Clover street, and Harry E. Hopkins, 724 South Luzerne street.

Both prisoners, it is alleged, were under the influence of liquor when arrested, and Mrs. Joynes told the police that her husband had also imbibed too much.

Joynes had been arrested several times on the complaint of his wife on charges of threatening to do her bodily harm.  About six months ago, he ran her from the house with a pistol, and she had him arrested.  On his promise to behave himself, the charge against him was dismissed by Justice Friedel, at the Eastern Police Station, and he also promised the magistrate to sell the weapon and never to own another one.  He is said to have told his wife that he had sold it.  When shown the pistol yesterday, she identified it as the one her husband had owned for several years, and the same one that he had promised to sell.  Besides his widow, he is survived by one small [son].

Leonard is not known to the police, and among his friends, he bears a good reputation as a quiet and peaceable man.  He is married and has seven small children.  He was 34 years old yesterday.

The case was worked up by Round Sergeant Glynn and Sergeants Klein and Glenn.

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Many attended Ollie’s funeral, as told in this account from The Baltimore American Newspaper:

HUNDREDS ATTEND FUNERAL OF JOYNES

Detail of Police Necessary During Services

Over Body of Man Killed by Shot.

The funeral of Mr. William Oliver Joynes, who was killed in a shooting affray Wednesday afternoon last, took place yesterday afternoon from his late home, 2901 Eastern avenue.  Not for sometime had a funeral in that neighborhood attracted a greater number of curious people.  Being an ideal afternoon, there were hundreds of citizens from every part of East Baltimore, and the vicinity of Eastern avenue and Streeper street was packed with a surging mass of men, women and children who attempted to secure a glimpse of the casket.  There were crowds standing on a mound in Patterson Park and it was necessary to detail several policemen to preserve order.

The services were conducted by Rev. J. Wynne Jones, pastor of the Memorial Presbyterian Church, Highlandtown.  The pallbearers were the following members of the Enterprise Lodge, Shield of Honor:  Messrs. William Gehrman, S.K. McAbee, Charles Martin, N.A. Worley, Andrew Ulrich, Frederick Sapp, John Langhan and Frederick Rose.  Interment was in Mount Carmel Cemetery.

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Mr. Leonard ended up pleading guilty to manslaughter and received an 18 month sentence.  To my knowledge, Minnie never remarried.  Just a few years later, their son, Ollie, Jr., was shown living in Baltimore with his maternal grandparents, Frank and Emma Haas, in the 1910 census.  He registered for both the WWI and WWII drafts, indicating he was single in both draft registrations.  I haven’t found any more information on him.  Hopefully, this will be the end of the murderous stories, but in this family, who knows what might turn up next?

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