The double murder and suicide that shocked Columbia

On Tuesday, November 8, 1949, a husband and wife and their seven-year-old daughter were found shot to death at 305 Perry Street in Columbia.

Police Chief Eugene H. McManus identified them as Amos Arndt, 39, an employee of the Zimmerman foundry in Marietta, Vernice Barley Arndt, 34, and seven-year-old Patricia Ann.

According to McManus, Arndt apparently shot his wife and daughter with a 30-30 rifle and then shot himself. McManus said there was no evidence of a struggle and theorizes Mrs. Arndt and the girl were shot while asleep by Arndt who then shot himself by placing the muzzle of the rifle in his mouth.

McManus said that Mrs. Arndt previously had her husband arrested for disorderly conduct. Arndt paid the fine and costs of the charge a week previous. Two rifles and a shotgun were taken from Arndt at the time of the arrest, but were returned to him.

The police chief and other local officers were called to the home at about 6 p.m. when a neighbor noticed the daily newspaper hadn't been retrieved and a light was on in the house.

Police forced their way into the house through a window and found the body of Mrs. Arndt on a downstairs sofa, with a bullet wound through her left temple. 7-year-old Patricia, in pajamas, was found in an upstairs bedroom with two bullet holes through the back of her head. Arndt's body, with the rifle by his side, was found at the foot of the bed. The back of his head was blown off.

Dr. I. L. Moyer, deputy coroner of Columbia, issued a verdict of double murder and suicide and determined the shootings occurred about 2:45 a.m.

Private services were held at the Daniel Leber Funeral Home, Eighth and Locust Streets, with Rev, H. J. Behney officiating.

The bodies were interred in a single grave in the Sheaffer Cemetery in Elizabethtown.

[Source: Lancaster Intelligencer Journal]  

A tiny house now sits on the lot at 305 Perry Street, where the original house once stood.