| Transcribed by Norma Knotts Shaffer from microfilm
of the Calhoun Chronicle dated 6/17/1920.
Lem Laughlin a Suicide
Lem Laughlin, the noted bootleg bandit of this county, committed suicide
by hanging himself Tuesday night. He was confined in the Jackson
county jail at Ripley serving out a sentence for bootlegging. There
were many other indictments against him both in the federal and state courts,
some of which were of a very grave nature. It is presumed that Laughlin,
discouraged by the long prison terms most surely confronting him and disheartened
by the hopelessness of escape, decided to end it all by taking his own
life.
He wrote a note asking his jailer to ship his remains to Spencer and
to telephone his wife to come for them.
Laughlin is survived by a wife and several small children. | 
