Velma Coulter Murdered
On December 16th 1930, Velma Coulter, a twenty year old school teacher, was discovered dead in the Garret School House in Maryville. A dedicated teacher, Velma stayed after to decorate the classroom for Christmas. Her neighbors, who noticed that she did not return as night fell, went to the schoolhouse looking for her. That is when they came upon her body, heavily beaten, in the middle of the school room. The community in shock, called for the police department to immediately find the murderer and this anger was only incited further by the newspapers headlines in many different towns.
After his arrest, Gunn was interrogated for several days and held in the Maryville jail. During this time, Gunn confessed that he was the murderer even with evidence that didn't clearly point him out as the murderer. Once he had confessed, the date of January 12th was set as his trial. However, once the newspapers published that he had confessed to the crime and was being held in Maryville, local residents became outraged and angry. Fearing mob action, Gunn was taken to safety to St. Joe where once again he was threatened by a mob. The police moved him once more to Kansas City, where he stayed until his return to Maryville on January 12th, 1931.
In the first few days of investigation, there weren't any suspects arrested, however, according to the police, many pieces of evidence were collected including a shoe print and a watch. Some important witnesses came forward and picked out Raymond Gunn as having an argument with the late Velma Coulter the day before she was murdered. Gunn had a bad repuation in town; disliked because of his skin color and was already an ex-convict, the community seemingly already had agreed upon that he was the murdered. However, on night of December 18th, Raymond Gunn was arrested due to suspicion from the witness reports and the next day the newspapers printed this arrest.
