Edna Buckles story did not end with her marriage to Carl Ernst. She continued to live in Bloomington and for a time lived in Peoria. She lent her name and photo to various quack cures advertising in the Pantagraph in the twenties, assumedly to bring a little money into the house.
In 1930 her four daughters were all married, three of them living in Bloomington and one in Lockport. Marie had married William Walters sometime before 1920. In 1930 Marie was working as a laundress, just as her mother had worked in 1915. Emma was married to Jesse Zinn and Theresa to Joe DaSilva.
The family fabric had survived the death of their father and a period in the orphanage although none of the daughters lived with their mother at the time of the 1920 census. All of this would change on September 4, 1930.
On the date of Edna's death Emma and Theresa were both with their mother. On the night of her death, Edna had refused to let Carl into the house. Their marriage had been troubled for a long time. Carl Ernest was a coal miner as Henry Buckles had been. Theresa told reporters that Carl had been kicked in the head by a mule and received an injury to his brain which doctors said would eventually make him insane. Edna and Carl often fought and he was abusive to Edna, according to Theresa.
When Carl broke his way into the house that night, Theresa ran to call the police, but she was too late. Carl killed his wife with a razor and then attempted to take his own life. Edna was found in the front yard, as Henry had been found 15 years earlier.
As before, two little girls, Anne and Mary, were left alone and one was the only witness to the event.