
Houston Chronicle front page for Dec. 13, 1929.
Houston Chronicle fileThis day in 1929 saw another particularly grim news day in Houston.
Burgess (spelled Birgus here) Couch and his wife, Verna (spelled Berna), were found dead in her mother's home on Wooding Street in Magnolia Park. The two had been separated for some time, but Burgess returned to the home and fatally shot the 20-year-old woman before killing himself.
In a note to his mother, Burgess asked that he and Verna be buried together in a double casket.
As you can imagine, that didn't happen. Verna is buried in Evergreen Cemetery , not far from where she lived, while he is buried at Earthman Resthaven Cemetery.
In other news, a deadly fight between two teens in Goose Creek stemmed from a basketball game. Carl Rayner was injured when he was struck and hit his head on some railroad tracks. The injuries proved fatal.
A 14-year-old involved in the fight was charged with murder.