SLAYS COUPLE, KILLS HIMSELF
The Rock Hill Herald, Rock Hill, South Carolina; August 21, 1943
Expert Trapshooter Uses Shotgun, Then Takes Poison

Casper, Wyoming -- An expert trapshooter killed his former woman friend and a soldier Wednesday night on the front porch of her home and then committed suicide by taking poison, Coroner W. L. Bustard said today.

The dead were Thelma Rowray 32, and Private Herbert W. Schartz, 22, of Lockport, New York, both of whom were killed by sudden blasts from a 12-guage shotgun as they sat in a swing. Coroner Bustard said the slayer was Hugo E. Nickum, Caper sportsman, whose body was found near his abandoned automobile.

The Coroner said Nickum and Miss Rowray were close friends for a number of years. Bustard gave this account: Nickum approached the Rowray residence with a shotgun. He opened fire before reaching the porch steps and Miss Rowray fell, struck in the right chest. She died almost instantly. A second shot was wild but a third struck Scharts as he leaped from the porch. The soldier died in a vacant lot adjoining the house.

A neighbor, attracted by the shots, gave chase as Nickum drove away, Bustard said, but lost sight of the fleeing automobile as it passed a cemetery. Nickum's body was found half a block from the car. Clinched in his hand was a hunting knife and nearby was a small bottle.

Bustard said Miss Rowray became acquainted with the soldier, stationed at the Casper Army Air base, shortly after Nickum was discharged from the army at Fort Frances E. Warren, Wyoming, Nickum won several medals in trapshoots in the Rocky mountain region.

Additional notes: Hugo was born in Carroll County and grew up in Manning. His father was Isaac Joseph Nickum, his mother was Caroline Benninghaus Koeppe, both of Manning, Iowa.
Hugo’s siblings included John Hester Nickum of Manning, Nora Abigail Nickum of Manning, Wilson A. Nickum, Daisy Mae Nickum, Thomas Henry Nickum, and Lawrence Jacob Nickum.