Murder-Suicide at Palmyra, 1939
New Jersey Mirror 1 Jul 1939
Officials who made an investigation of the suicide of William S. C. Roray, Palmyra lawyer, said the cause was that he believed he had a cancer of the stomach. Before killing himself, he shot his wife to death.
Discovery of the double tragedy was made by the Rorays maid, Mrs. Dorothy McLean, who went to the house at 430 Leconey avenue, Palmyra, at about 11 A. M. on Thursday mornign and found the doors locked, the lights still burning and the milk bottle on the porch. She gained entrance through a second story window by means of a ladder, and found the dead bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Roray. Coroner George A. Whomsley and County Detective G. Clinton Zeller both described the tragedy as "a plain case of murder and suicide." Roray was senior member of the law firm of Roray and Turnbull, in the Broadway-Stevens Building, Camden. Mrs. Roray was a member of the Breyer family who head(sic) a large ice cream concern. Roray spent almost two weeks in West Jersey Hospital for observation and rest, being discharged June 9, it was revealed by police. His wife was there at the same time for a minor operation. "Mrs. Roray apparently was shot as she slept," Dr. Charles F. Voorhis, the family physician, said. "Her lifeless body was found in her bed, with a bullet hole through her left temple.
She was in a night dress and the bed covers were pulled over her body. "Apparently Roray awoke early, shot her and then shot himself. All the upstairs lights were burning when I arrived. "We found Roray's body in his bed, across the hall from the bedroom of Mrs. Roray. He was in night dress and was under the bed covers. There was a .32 calibre pistol clasped in his right hand when I arrived. There was a single bullet wound through his right temple." Both had been dead for at least four hours, Dr. Voorhis said. Roray's associate is Craig J. Turnbull, of Collingswood, who went immediately to the Roray home when he was informed of the tragedy.
Roray also was conservator and later receiver of the First National Bank of Palmyra, which was closed in March, 1933. He was receiver at the time of his death. Roray ran for the Assembly on the Democratic ticket, in 1932, and was defeated. He was admitted to the bar in February, 1912, and became a counsellor in February, 1921. The Rorays had one child, a boy, who died in 1917, when he was one year old. Roray was 58; his wife, Florence, 52. Private services were conducted at the Snover Funeral Home, Palmyra, conducted by Rev. George Lockett, pastor of Palmyra Baptist Church, on Monday. Interment was in Morgan cemetery, Palmyra.
Officials who made an investigation of the suicide of William S. C. Roray, Palmyra lawyer, said the cause was that he believed he had a cancer of the stomach. Before killing himself, he shot his wife to death.
Discovery of the double tragedy was made by the Rorays maid, Mrs. Dorothy McLean, who went to the house at 430 Leconey avenue, Palmyra, at about 11 A. M. on Thursday mornign and found the doors locked, the lights still burning and the milk bottle on the porch. She gained entrance through a second story window by means of a ladder, and found the dead bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Roray. Coroner George A. Whomsley and County Detective G. Clinton Zeller both described the tragedy as "a plain case of murder and suicide." Roray was senior member of the law firm of Roray and Turnbull, in the Broadway-Stevens Building, Camden. Mrs. Roray was a member of the Breyer family who head(sic) a large ice cream concern. Roray spent almost two weeks in West Jersey Hospital for observation and rest, being discharged June 9, it was revealed by police. His wife was there at the same time for a minor operation. "Mrs. Roray apparently was shot as she slept," Dr. Charles F. Voorhis, the family physician, said. "Her lifeless body was found in her bed, with a bullet hole through her left temple.
She was in a night dress and the bed covers were pulled over her body. "Apparently Roray awoke early, shot her and then shot himself. All the upstairs lights were burning when I arrived. "We found Roray's body in his bed, across the hall from the bedroom of Mrs. Roray. He was in night dress and was under the bed covers. There was a .32 calibre pistol clasped in his right hand when I arrived. There was a single bullet wound through his right temple." Both had been dead for at least four hours, Dr. Voorhis said. Roray's associate is Craig J. Turnbull, of Collingswood, who went immediately to the Roray home when he was informed of the tragedy.
Roray also was conservator and later receiver of the First National Bank of Palmyra, which was closed in March, 1933. He was receiver at the time of his death. Roray ran for the Assembly on the Democratic ticket, in 1932, and was defeated. He was admitted to the bar in February, 1912, and became a counsellor in February, 1921. The Rorays had one child, a boy, who died in 1917, when he was one year old. Roray was 58; his wife, Florence, 52. Private services were conducted at the Snover Funeral Home, Palmyra, conducted by Rev. George Lockett, pastor of Palmyra Baptist Church, on Monday. Interment was in Morgan cemetery, Palmyra.
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