Belle Fiske-Newton: Shoots Her Detective Lover

Belle Fiske was born about 1902 in Oklahoma,(possibly Arkansas) her father was Irish and her mother was a Cherokee Indian. She married Fred Howard Newton 15 May 1934 in Brighton, CO.



Inmate: #16520 Denver Jail
Rec: 6 June 1934
Crime: Murder
Age: 32





She had only been married a few weeks when she went to her loverboy, Detective James Sherman Turner, they got into and argument and she somehow gets his revolver and shoots him. She then goes to a farmers house to get  a ride back to town. The farmer finds the body the next day. She claims she threw the gun in a river or creek.




His first wife Maude L. had filed for divorce because of desertion and cruelty on 4 March 1934, they had been married 23 June 1928.

The Murder:

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40606996/belle_newton/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40607353/belle_newton/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40605295/belle_newton/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40605611/belle_newton/

The Acquittal:




Belle was pregnant, I would bet anything it was the detectives child. The argument occurred because she married Fred Newton to save face because she was carrying his child. Which I am sure he knew, He most likely wasn't going to leave his wife as they were lovers for several years. 

They have some dates wrong, his death date on Find A Grave is 16 June 1934, she was arrested the 6th.

The Detective:

James Sherman Van Buren Gowan Turner was born in 1886 in North Carolina to George Washington Gowan and Francis Jane Dill. Why he added so many names to himself is really a puzzle. He was married to Annie Claressa Singleton. They had no children.



Young James Sherman Turner

A 1935 City directory shows Belle and Fred Newton living at 219 W 10th av in Denver, CO.
A possible 1940 census of them with no children.

This was the last document I found for her. I wanted to find out more about her baby.



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