Police probe murder

Riley County police this afternoon continued their investigation into the murder of a 28-year-old Manhattan man who was shot early this morning at his home.
    The man identified by police as Gayle Bruce Slater, of 830 Yuma, died about 12:45 a.m. from a gun shot wound to the head.
    Inspector Steve French said police received a report of a possible shooting about 12:50 a.m., and discovered the body within the home when they arrived at the scene.
    French said a brother, whose name they are withholding and who also lives at 830 Yuma, had been awakened by the shot and had phoned the police.
    Police officials said, however, they were not sure whether Slater had been shot inside of the house or outside.
    French said there were no witnesses to the shooting and termed the investigation “very wide and intensive.” He said it had not yet been narrowed down to any specific suspects. However, French said the possibility of a suicide had been ruled out.
    An autopsy is pending, he said, from which police hope to learn, among other things, the caliber of the weapon used in the slaying.
    French said no motive for the slaying had been determined.
    Services for Slater, whom French said was unemployed, will be handled by Cowan-Edwards-Yorgensen Funeral Home.

article from The Manhattan Mercury, April 17, 1975

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday for Gale Bruce Slater, 25, of 830 Yuma, who died of a gunshot wound.
    The Rev. Charles Bennett and the Rev. L. E. Madison will officiate at the Cowan-Edwards-Yorgensen Funeral chapel. Burial will be in Sunrise Cemetery.
    He was a member of the First United Methodist Church.
    Survivors include three brothers, Ervin Slater of 830 Yuma, Donald Slater of 917 Colorado and Ronald Slater of Minneapolis; and two sisters, Marlene Fewell of Pittsburg, Ks., and Ida Mae Williams of Topeka..

obituary from The Manhattan Mercury