Updated: 10 Oct 2008
Friday, November 6, 1903
The Dresden Enterprise
Dresden, Weakley County, Tennessee
Jim Burnett Suicides
Former Weakley County Citizen Ends His Life at Oklahoma City, O. T.
We take the following account of the tragic death of W. J. Burnett, a former Weakley county citizen from the Oklahoma City (O.T.) Oklahoma:
W. J. Burnett who is said to have been a banker at Sapulpa, I.T., committed suicide last night at 9 o'clock in his room in the Grand Avenue hotel in Oklahoma City. The weapon used was a 38-calibre pistol. The bullet entered his head on the right side, just behind the ear, and passed out in the same locality on the other side. Burnett registered at the hotel at 6 o'clock Wednesday morning and had not left his room during the two days he was a guest there.
He was found in night attire, lying across the bed and his head in a pool of blood. Among his effects were found a hypodermic syringe and a bottle of morphine. A scar on his abdomen indicated that he had long been addicted to the use of the drug.
Conductor Kirkpatrick, of the Frisco railway, identified Burnett as a banker of Sapulpa, and telegrams found on his person served as confirmation. On the back of one of the telegrams was a pencil notation requesting the I.O.O.F. lodge No.66 be notified and also his family.