Descendant: Death isn’t ‘ghost story’

The great niece of a woman who died nearly 94 years ago hopes to set the record straight about her great aunt’s death, which has evolved into local ghost lore.

Kmarie Boles Hearn, the great niece of Violet Boles, who was infamously shot by Elmer Jones in 1922, expresses frustration with the substantial omission of much of the account of the murder, as retold locally. She said that leaving out much of the story fails to honor the human nature of the situation.

“This is not a ghost story,” Hearn said. “It is a true story of my family.”

Hearn said the story of Boles’ death is often told near the end of the full account. It begins with Jones repeatedly coming into the tea room where Boles worked and asking her

out each time. It goes on to say that the final time Jones walked into the tea room, he shot Boles to death and then shot himself to death.

Hearn said that this account omits the story’s important background.

The relationship “went on for several years, and built up,” Hearn said.

Hearn said Jones and Boles were friends before the shooting, dating back to high school, and that his infatuation with Boles had lasted for several years.

“They were friends,” Hearn said. “She was very kind, but she said ‘Elmer, that’s all I want. We can be friends, and that’s all I want.’ Elmer was rather obsessed with her.”

Hearn said Jones’ obsession with Boles continued after high school, even after fighting in World War I and while living away from Hot Springs. A letter dated back to March 6, 1921, sent from Sacramento, Calif., reads as follows:

“Dear Violet — You probably think by this time that I am not going to keep my promise and that I have forgotten you but I have not, and cannot forget you.”

Another letter with an unknown date indicates Jones had proposed to Boles at least once:

“Yes I remember the time I proposed, and you refused, but what if I should do it again? What is your answer?”

“It got to what I would say, in this day and time, would get a restraining order,” Hearn said. “He was calling her home. Her brothers would answer the phone, her mother would answer the phone. He would not leave her alone.”

Hearn said that the trauma of the war probably contributed to his obsessive state. The historical book “Hot Springs Gunsmoke” cites that Jones “had been severely wounded” in the war and “did not seem to adapt to his civilian life.”

Jones eventually returned to Hot Springs, where he visited what was then the Japanese Tea Room at 366 Central Ave., Boles’ place of employment, and asked her out on multiple occasions. After being rejected on every occasion, on Dec. 2, 1922, Jones walked into the tea room, tapped Boles on the shoulder and, upon her turning around, shot her three times. Jones then turned the gun on himself.

Hearn said Boles’ death devastated her immediate family. She said her mother didn’t even attend the funeral.

“It affected her mother for the rest of her life,” Hearn said. “The grief never left her. It physically affected her, with her health and her mental state.”

In light of all of these details, Hearn wishes that anyone who would like to retell the account of Violet Boles would consult her to get the story straight.

“It’s just not appropriate to tell a story when you have family still living in the same place who can corroborate the actual story,” Hearn said. “That’s the problem I have.”

Hearn said she feels it is important that the story be told, so long as it is told factually.