WIFE AMONG PERSONS HE SLAYS

Her Parents and Brother Also Murdered in Their Home

By Associated Press,

BOISE, Idaho, Oct. 30---William Cameron, formerly proprietor of the Carey, Idaho hotel and livery and mail carrier between Picabo and Carey, shot and killed his wife's parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Adamson, his brother-in-law, James Adamson, his little daughter, aged 18 months and his wife and finished his bloody work by shooting himself in the head at Carey last night. Cameron is still alive, but there are not hopes for his recovery. All of his victims were shot in the head with a revolver and with the exception of James Adamson all did instantly. Cameron whose wife was suing him for divorce when to the Adamson home in search of her, he entered the kitchen door with a revolver in his hand Adamson Sr., who had the baby girl in his arms, marred to disarm him and was shot in the head and instantly killed. Cameron pursued the others and shot them all down with the exception of Adamson's unmarried daughter, Edith, and Cameron's three other children, who escaped.

WIFE'S BODY FOUND.

The body of Mrs. Cameron was found shortly before midnight in an outhouse back of the Adamson home. She, like Cameron's other victims, had been shot through the head and instantly killed. Beside her lay Cameron himself, with a bullet in the head. He was still alive, but there are no hopes of his recovery. The three elder children of the Camerons and Edith Adamson, sister of Mrs. Cameron, all of whom fled with Mrs. Cameron when the shooting began were found uninjured. Cameron was recently arrested at the instigation of neighbors for assault on his wife. She testified that the wounds she bore resulted from a fall against a table when she fainted. The court expressed appreciation of her efforts to save her husband, but found Cameron guilty and he was given a jail sentence. Through the influence of friends he was released in a short time and had been brooding over his domestic troubles since.

MORMON FAMILY.

Carey, where the shooting occurred is a little town on the Blackfoot-to-Mackey branch of the Oregon Short Line in Blaine county. The Adamson who came from utah, were one of the most prominent and highly respected families in the community. There were four sons and two daughters in the family. One of the sons, Lennox Adamson is bishop of the Mormon church and was formerly chairman of the board of county commissioners. James Adamson one of Cameron's victims recently returned from a Mormon mission. The boys were associated with their father in the mercantile business. The elder daughter married Cameron about ten years ago. Three children, two sons and a daughter were born to them. When Mrs. Cameron fled from her father's home she was accompanied by the two elder children and her married sister. Cameron followed her, paying no attention to the children or his sister-in-law. She took refuge in an outhouse, where she met the fate of her parents, her brother and her little daughter. Physicians say that Cameron's death is only a matter of hours. Cameron shot with dealy aim all his victims being hit in head. He was raised in Bellevue, Blaine County, and bore a good reputation up to the time he had trouble with his wife and their neighbors caused his arrest and imprisonment for assault. After that, it is claimed, he became dissipated. Cameron's friends, who are many, insist that he must have lost his reason as he was not quarrelsome or vindictive even in his cups.

"Wife Among Persons He Slays,"
Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California),
30 Oct 1915, p. 9, col. 4.

Page updated December 2023