CORONER CALLS FOR INQUEST IN ELECTION DEATH
Brother of Waterloo Star Is Killed in Courthouse Argument – Ironton Nov. 4 —(AP)—Coroner W, W. Lynd called an inquest today into the election night slaying of Bert McMahon. 30, Greasy Ridge resident who was shot to death in the crowded lobby of the Lawrence County, Ohio Courthouse.
Charles Roach, 45, was held in the county jail awaiting a murder charge which Sheriff K. F. Schweickart said probably would be filed
against him today after the inquest.
McMahon was a brother of Curtis McMahon, who gained fame as a member of the “Waterloo Wonders,” state high school basketball champions of 1933 and 1934.
“Both men had been drinking,” Deputy Schweickart said, “and they got into a political argument. There were 300 or more people around when Roach pulled a revolver and shot three times.
“They were all crowded up in the courthouse lobby, and it happened too quickly for anyone to interfere.” The deputy and bystanders said they did not learn the nature of the quarrel which led to the shooting.
All three shots took effect, one striking McMahon’s heart. Although physicians were summoned, he died within ten minutes as he lay on the
lobby floor. Greasy Ridge is a Lawrence county community about 20 miles from Ironton.
Wilmington News-Journal, November 4, 1936, page 3 Wilmington, Ohio
Waterloo Man Is Wounded in Election Fight – Former Member of Famous Basketball Team Victim.
Cincinnati Enquirer, 4 Nov. 1936 p12
Ironton, Ohio, Nov. 3 – Curtis McMahon of Waterloo, a member of the famed “Waterloo “Wonders” High School basket ball team that won the state high school championship in 1933 and 1934, was critically wounded in an election argument tonight in the Lawrence County Courthouse.
Physicians said McMahon, who was shot three times, had little chance of recovering. Charles Roach, 45, former candidate for Lawrence County Sheriff, was arrested following the shooting.
Sheriff B. R. Monte said that Roach and McMahon became involved in an argument and that while 300 persons crowded around in the interior of the Courthouse, Roach pulled a revolver and fired three times into McMahon’s body. Physicians, called immediately after the shooting, said McMahon’s death was a matter of a few hours.
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