BATCHELOR : MAX : Genealogy Query


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Date Posted:

05-Sep-2004

Surname(s):

BATCHELOR : MAX

Query Text:

WOMAN HUNTS BROTHER SNATCHED AFTER '54 KILLING by Connie A. Higgins, Dispatch Staff Reporter Mary Cole's one wish is to find her long-lost brother. Fifty-five-year-old Cole of Bremerton, Wash., hasn't seen her only brother in more than 40 years. ''The only thing I remember is that Johnny had blond hair and blue eyes. He was fair and really cute,'' Cole said. On this day in 1954, Cole's mother, Elizabeth Batchelor, was found slain in her Columbus apartment. The night before, Batchelor's 26-year-old live-in boyfriend - Sgt. Clifton Dunaway, a military police officer - had pumped five bullets into her and then shot himself in the head, according to Columbus police. Batchelor, who died at age 43, was originally from Harvey, Ill., but had been living in Columbus for about 10 years. When her mother was killed, Cole was 13 years old and living with her father, James Batchelor, in Oak Park, Ill. Her parents were separated, and her brother, John Leonard, then 11, lived with Batchelor and Dunaway in an apartment at 396 1/2 N. Washington Ave. But at the time of the murder, Johnny was staying with a baby sitter who Cole believes took the child. ''Family members have looked for Johnny on and off throughout the years,'' Cole said yesterday by phone from Washington. ''But he's not registered for having a Social Security card or no records under his name. Whoever took him, we believe they've changed his name. The big mystery is, where did he go?'' On Sept. 1, Cole put an advertisement in The Dispatch as part of her search for her brother. She said her mother had been a nun before marrying her father, and the two had a rocky marriage. ''I remember my mother as a strong and loving person,'' said Cole. Her father, who died in the early 1980s, had custody of her and Johnny, but he let the boy live with his estranged wife because he suspected Johnny was not his biological son, she said. ''Father searched for him for a while. He would make comments about the military guy taking his son. He was always vague,'' Cole said. ''I guess he didn't want to talk about it because it was too painful.'' The last time Cole saw Johnny, she was 10 and he was 8. She was staying with her paternal grandmother in South Webster, Ohio. She remembers their mother bringing Johnny to visit, but the grandmother could not handle two children, she said. So for a short period, Johnny stayed with a woman in South Webster, Cole said. ''We were both switched around pretty much from one place to another. ''After my grandmother's death, things went bonkers,'' she said. ''I stayed in boarding schools and foster homes because my father worked a lot.'' Earlier this year, Cole learned a family secret, but it didn't give her any leads to Johnny. She has a half-sister, Ruthann Swindell, who lives in Ludowici, Ga. Batchelor bore Swindell in 1947 at St. Ann's Hospital and soon gave her up for adoption. Swindell learned about Johnny through birth records and found Cole, married and with a daughter, through relatives. The two sisters plan to meet soon. They are still hoping a reunion will include their brother. ''He's my full brother,'' Cole said. ''I pray every day that we all can be together.'' Fort Hayes GI Kills Woman Friend, Self A 26-year-old Army sergeant killed his 43-year-old woman companion with five pistol shots late Thursday night, then fired a sixth shot into his own head. The shooting, ruled homicide and suicide by Coroner Robert A. Evans, occurred in the couple's untidy apartment at 396 1/2 N. Washington Av. The apartment is across the street from Fort Hayes, where the dead soldier, Sgt. Clifton Dunaway, 26, of Irvine, Ky., was stationed with the Military Police. His victim, police said, was Mrs. Betty Max Batchelor, 43, the mother of two children. Police said the couple had lived together for some time and that numerous complaints of fights and arguments between the two had been recorded by police officers. The shooting, timed by police at shortly after 10:45 p.m., apparently followed another such argument. Although police found no witnesses who heard the shooting, the time and probable circumstances were established by testimony of two fellow soldiers of Sgt. Dunaway. According to Maj. Daniel F. Brewer, provost marshal of the Ohio Military District, the sergeant was to have served as guard on a bus taking military prisoners from Fort Hayes to Fort Knox, Ky. It was scheduled to leave at 11:10 p.m. Cpl. Raymond Watson, 31, of Springfield, told police he went to the apartment shortly before [continued on page 3, col. 1] 10:45 p.m. and was admitted by Dunaway. He said he noted the time as "almost quarter to 11" as Dunaway picked up a small clock near the bed. Watson told police he spoke to Mrs. Batchelor, who was seated on a living room couch, and that the couple began to argue as he left. Back on the post, Watson remarked to other soldiers that Dunaway and Mrs. Batchelor were "fighting again," police were told, and then made the prophetic comment "wouldn't it be something if they are shooting one another?" About 10:55 p.m., Cpl. Donald Landis, 22, of Detroit, Mich., went to the apartment. A member, with Dunaway and Watson, of Military Police Company 23064. Landis said he planned to summon Dunaway for the 11:10 bus assignment. The corporal told police he found the door of the second floor apartment ajar but got no response to his knock. A few minutes later, he said, he returned and knocked again with no result. Watson reported he returned a second time, about 12:10 a.m., knocked and called, then pushed open the door. He added, to police: "I know Dunaway was a heavy sleeper and thought maybe he didn't hear me. I stepped into the apartment and saw Betty on the floor between the living room and the bedroom, and I saw the blood on her chest and brassiere. "I took another step into the apartment and saw Dunaway. He was on the floor on the far side of the bed, right next to Betty but with his head near her feet." Watson said he hurried back to the post and reported to the desk sergeant, who called police. Mrs. Batchelor was clad in black slacks and a brassiere. Dunaway was in full uniform. THe three-room apartment was in disorder, police said, with dirty dishes and leftovers of a meal littering the kitchen. Coroner Evans said Dunaway fired a .22 caliber automatic pistol, which was found between the bodies. He said Dunaway apparently fired the first shot into his victim's abdomen and that other bullets struck her in the stomach, chest, jaw and forehead as she slumped to the floor. Officers at the scene included Patrolman Edward Waller, the first to arrive, Detective John McPeak of the Homicide Squad and Investigators Kenneth Page and Robert Gumbert of the ARmy's Criminal Investigation Division. Fort Hayes officials said Friday they accept the coroner's verdict without question but would proceed with their own investigation as standard Army procedure. Police said reports of disagreements between Dunaway and Mrs. Batchelor were nothing new to either police or Army authorities. Patrolman Waller said he took a shot gun from Dunaway "several months ago" after the soldier had threatened to shoot Mrs. Batchelor. A 12-gauge automatic shotgun, a .22 caliber rifle and boxes of shells were also found in the apartment. Police said they had found a letter, dated Sept. 22, written by Mrs. Batchelor to "Sis and family" in which she said she was "leaving Cliff." The letter stated she was tired of his bringing men to the apartment for whom she had to "furnish the beer and food" and that she received only $35 a month from Dunaway toward expenses. Police theorized the quarrel may have developed over Mrs. Batchelor's decision to move to another apartment. Patrolman Waller is assigned to the district where the shooting occurred and had met Mrs. Batchelor during his investigations of complaints at the apartment. He said he talked with her Thursday afternoon when he stopped at the Phinney & Smith Triangle Grocery, 343 Cleveland Av. where she was employed as a clerk. He said she told him she planned to move to an apartment on Nail Av. Police found a number of her suits and dresses piled on the bed in the apartment Thursday night, and some of Dunaway's uniforms on the bedroom floor. The couple sub-let the apartment from Sgt. Leroy Smith of the Columbus Detective Bureau. The Rev. John Costello, pastor of St. Patrick's Church, administered last rites to Dunaway and Mrs. Batchelor. The bodies were taken to the Egan-Ryan funeral home. Fort Hayes records show Dunaway entered the Army eight years ago and served in the Far Eastern Theater from October, 1950, to Feb. 20, 1952. He earned the Bronze Star and three battle stars for service in Korea between Nov. 15, 1950 and Jan. 24, 1951. He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Susan Dunaway, Irvine, Ky. Mrs. Batchlor's survivors had not been located early Friday. Records found in the apartment show she had a daughter, Mary Theresa, 13, and a son, John Leonard, 11, and that she formerly lived in Hammond, Ind. Police said Mrs. Batchelor had been arrested once in Columbus on a minor offense. Columbus Dispatch 9/28/1954 Page 11A Funeral Rites The funeral service for Mrs. Elizabeth Batchelor, 43, who was found slain Friday in an apartment at 396 1/2 N. Washington Av, at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Egan-Ryan funeral home. Burial will be in Obetz Cemetery. Mrs. Batchelor was shot to death by Sgt. Clifton Dunaway, 26, of Irvine, Ky.