News Article - Golden and John Goins

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Harrisonburg Daily News Record September 29, 1930
SHOOTS TWO WOMEN AND WOUNDS SELF

Pennington Gap Man Must Answer For Slaying of Wife and Friend
Pennington Gap, Sept. 23

John Goins, who officers said wounded himself after a series of shootings
which claimed the lives of two women here last night, will recover, a
hospital announcement said today. A coroner's jury this morning reported
that Mrs. Lora Winters, 21, had met death at Goins' hands. it
returned a verdict that Mrs.Goins, 22 years old, was killed by some person
other than herself. Officers expressed the belief last night she had
committed suicide.

One small .32 calibre pistol spat out five bullets last night to bring
about the greatest tragedy in recent Lee County history. According
to Chief Bailey, jealousy caused the shooting. A week ago, he said,
he arrested Mrs. Winters on a whiskey charge.

Bailey scouts the theory that another person killed Mrs. Goins. The
woman shot herself, he gave as his opinion, because of worry over the
relations she thought her husband was having with the other woman.
The jury based its conclusion on the scarcity of powder burns on
the dress. Burns were there, Bailey said, but they were so indistinct that
the jurors found that the bullet had come from a greater distance
than would be the case in a suicide. Only one warrant has been issued
for Goins. It charges him with the murder of Mrs. Winters.