WOMEN SLAIN IN BED

The shooting started a little before 3 am when Collett went to the Helton home in Rockcastle county and shouted outside the door. As members of the family appeared he opened fire with a 44 caliber revolver.

His wife who was staying with her parents, and Mrs Helton are said to have been slain as they lay in bed.

Collett then went to the nearby Bordes home, across the line in Lincoln county and shot the two members of the family who were at home.

Collett fled from the scene of the second killing to near Brodhead, where he took refuge in a tourist cabin. Members of hastily organized posses were nearing his hiding place when he ended his life with the same revolver used in the other shootings.

He was dead when found, a bullet hole squarely between the eyes.

Community secluded

The community in which the slayings occurred is a secluded one in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains. There are no telephones in the neighborhood and complete reports of the tragedy were slow in reaching Danville.

Authorities of both Lincoln and Rockcastle counties joined in the search for Collett, and officers from Danville were dispatched to aid them when it was learned that he had committed suicide.

Collett is said to have lived in Cincinnati for a time and to have formed criminal associations there which may have linked him with the Dillinger gang, according to police.

HAD BEEN FUGITIVE

His roadhouse bore a bad reputation. The officers who raided it said they found nearly a truck load of merchandise that had been stolen from freight cars. Collett made his escape and had since evaded the officers by hiding out in the hill country with which he was well acquainted.

He is said to have threatened death to nine persons after the roadhouse raid. One of the intended victims is believed to have been the son of the Bordes couple.

Lincoln County authorities were told that one member of the Helton family, a daughter, escaped during the shooting.