Pete J. Speroni, 43, a Sterling, Illinois carnival owner, died last Thursday of four gunshot wounds inflicted by an associate the night before within the sight of a large carnival crowd at Mt. Sterling’s Main street.
A half hour before the shooting, Sheriff Otto Shoopman of Brown county arrested Jimmy Murphy, owner of the athletic show which traveled with the carnival.
The sheriff said Murphy and Speroni had argued during most of the day; that the trouble started over a woman employee of the shows and that Murphy confessed he fired the shots.
It was disclosed that Speroni and his former wife were divorced in Hot Springs, Ar., in 1934 and that Mrs. Speroni and Murphy were married June 15, 1939 in Crown Point, Ind.
The P. J. Speroni Shows had opened in Mt. Sterling for the fall celebration. Speroni was shot as he stood near the ferris wheel. Two bullets from a .25 caliber pistol pierced his left side, one entered his back and one lodged in his left arm.
He was given first aid treatment and taken to a Quincy hospital where he died.
Sheriff Shoopman found Murphy in a tavern and lodged him in the Schuyler county jail at Rushville, where Brown county prisoners are kept.
Current Obituaries in the Astoria South Fulton Argus