MOTHER AND SON DEAD.
A Mysterious Shooting in the Redpath Family.
SUICIDE THEORY.
Young Man May Have Tried to Save His Mother.
(Special Dispatch to The Globe.)
Mrs. J. J. Redpath and Son Shot.
A distressing shooting took place this evening at the residence of Mrs. J. J. Redpath, 1,065 Sherbrooke street. About 6 o’clock two revolver shots in rapid succession were heard in her bedroom, and the servants rushing in found Mrs. Redpath and her son Clifford stretched on the floor. Mrs. Redpath had a revolver shot in the brain and died in a few minutes. Clifford Redpath was shot in the brain also, and was taken in an unconscious condition to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where his death is momentarily expected. How the terrible affair took place no one seems to know. Mrs. Redpath was for some years in an extremely nervous condition, the result of partial paralysis of one side, and was afflicted with melancholia. Her son was a bright, intelligent, cheerful youth of 24, who had just graduated in law at McGill University. He was in perfect health. They were deeply attached to each other, and any cause in the shape of a quarrel must be dismissed. The supposition is that Mrs. Redpath had a revolver in her hand, perhaps with suicidal intent, and that her son in trying [page 9] to take it from her was accidentally shot, and that his mother then carried out her intention. This seems probable, for Mrs. Redpath, in moments of suffering, had sometimes asked friends if life were worth living. The suicide, if such it was, must have been entirely unpremeditated, for Mrs. Redpath had issued invitations for a dinner party, and the guests knew nothing until their arrival, when they were told by the servants that an accident had taken place. Mrs. Redpath belonged to the well-known family of sugar refiners, her husband being a son of John Redpath, the founder of the business. She was about 45 years of age.
Later—Clifford Redpath died in the hospital at 11.50. The family refuse to give out any information about the shooting, and did not even inform the police, who heard of it only indirectly late in the evening.