Carlton was given notice that August 15, 1914, would be his last day in their employ. Before he left, Carlton plotted to kill the residents of, and workers at, Taliesin. His primary target was draftsman Emil Brodelle, who had called Carlton a "black son-of-a-bitch" on August 12 for not following an order. Brodelle and Carlton also engaged in a minor physical confrontation two days later. He planned the assault, targeting the noon hour, when Borthwick, her visiting children, and the studio personnel would be on opposite sides of Taliesin's living quarters awaiting lunch. Wright was away in Chicago completing Midway Gardens while Borthwick stayed at home with her two children, 11-year-old John and 8-year-old Martha. As only two survived that day and there was no criminal trial, the sequence of events have been posited based on details from the two survivors (William Weston and Herbert Fritz), and evidence found at the scene. On August 15, Carlton grabbed a shingling hatchet and began an attack. It is believed that he started with Borthwick and her children, John and Martha, who were waiting on the porch off the living room. Apparently, Mamah Borthwick was killed by a single blow to the head, and her son John was slaughtered as he sat in his chair. Martha managed to flee, but was hunted down and was found slain in the courtyard. He then coated the bodies in gasoline and set them on fire, setting the house ablaze. Carlton then turned his attention to the six other diners. It appears that he poured gasoline underneath the door of the far end of the living quarters and set the gasoline on fire. Draftsman Herbert Fritz managed to break open a window and escape, though he broke his arm in the process. Carlton went around the outside of the room, near where Fritz had exited, and mortally wounded Brodelle. The next person coming out that side of the room, William Weston, was struck twice by Carlton and apparently left for dead. Carlton then attacked the others from the opposite side of the room: Brunker, Ernest Weston, and David Lindblom. Lindblom was attacked and burned, but still able to go for help with William Weston. With the house empty and people wounded, Carlton ran to the basement and into a fireproof furnace chamber. He brought a small vial of hydrochloric acid with him as a fallback plan in