By Bruce Cline, director of the Little Egypt Ghost Society

John Carter (names have been changed to protect privacy) killed himself in his home on W. College St., in Carbondale, Illinois. The previous year, Carter’s mother died. Carter never married and lived all his life with his mother. Upon the mothers death, Carter’s siblings got a court order evicting Carter from the only home he had known. The siblings only cared about the money they would get from the sale of the home (less than $5000) little caring where their brother would go. Before killing himself he told a friend: “I’m not going to leave this place.”

Carter was to be evicted from the home on W. College Street by police acting on a court order. Nine officers went to the home to force Carter out. They broke into the locked house and found Carter dead of a gunshot wound. He apparently shot himself several days prior. Carter was sitting in a chair in his bedroom. The wound under his chin apparently was inflicted by the .410 gauge shotgun nearby. The old, single-shot gun had been fired once. He apparently killed himself rather than be forced from the house he refused to leave. When the court proceedings to evict were begun, Carter told a friend: “I’m not going to leave this place.” His ghost never did leave and still haunts the house to this day. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery.

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Bruce Cline is the Director of the Little Egypt Ghost Society based in Carbondale, IL. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army as a Corps of Engineers Officer. He is a former municipal, county and state law enforcement officer. Bruce lives in Carbondale, IL with his wife, Lisa and several cats and dogs.

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