THOMAS, Lillian Teresa

Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) Tuesday, July 23, 1968, p. 9 Murder and Suicide? The shooting deaths of a Morristown area couple Sunday night apparently were murder and suicide, sheriff's deputies said yesterday. The bodies of Lillian Thomas, 42 and James Sanders, 51, were found in Sanders' cabin at the Brown's Well Camp north of Morristown, investigator's said. Sheriff's Sgts. Harry Koch and Benny Lucero said they were told by a friend of Mrs. Thomas that she had expressed fear of Sanders a short time before the shootings. Sheriff's Sgts. Harry Koch and Benny Lucero said Mrs. Thomas, a divorcee, had been shot in the chest, side and head, apparently with a 22-caliber rifle found at Sanders' side. Sanders had suffered a single head wound, apparently inflicted by the same weapon, Lane said. The investigators said a note, believed written by Sanders, was found in Mrs. Thomas' hand, apparently pressed there after her death. It read: "Buerry us side by side in the Wickenburg Sim-cemetery." [Transcriber's note: also see article, "Study of Gun Deaths Ordered to Continue," Arizona Republic, Saturday, July 27, 1968, p. 8]