On the 11th of June, 1882, John Louis Sisley, living in the town of Lima, in a portion known as the "Bad Lands," on account of the several crimes committed there, was married. During the night of the 13th some of the young men of the neighborhood inflicted a charivari on the young couple, which greatly disturbed the bride. Early the next morning she was found lying dead about eighty yards from the house, with a 22-caliber revolver in her hand, with four of its chambers discharged, and there were four bullet-wounds in the woman's breast.
The husband stated that he had loaded the revolver with the intention of "helping the boys with the charivari," and then left it in his pocket; that he did not know when his wife got up and went out, and did not discover her absence till he got up in the morning.
The coroner's jury seemed to think it a case of suicide, and this theory was held by the defense when the husband and others were arrested for murder. The prosecution denied that the woman could have fired four shots into herself. The preliminary examination before Justice Keene, of Lancaster, was of prodigious length and cost the county more than $3,000. Louis Sisley and his mother, Mrs. Stout, and Hamilton were bound over pending action by the circuit court. At the next term of court the prosecution was not ready for trial and the accused were released on their own recognizance. Action against them was afterward nolle prosequied. The question whether the killing was suicide or murder was hotly argued in the newspapers and awakened great interest in all parts of the county.