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| Graphic courtesy of The American Journal |
A few years ago I was researching the family tree and came across a story of jealousy, murder and illegal surveillance. Naturally, I was disappointed to learn that the accused was not the same Florence Carman who was my GGrandmother but soon it didn't matter. The crime was sensational and I was quickly as caught up in it as the rest of the nation had been in 1914.
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| Lulu Bailey |
Lulu Bailey was paying a professional, although after hours, visit to the prominent Dr. Edwin Carman at his office/home in Freeport, NY on June 30, 1914. Suddenly there was the sound of breaking glass, a hand appeared in the window and a single shot rang out. Within minutes Mrs. Bailey was dead. The gun was never found.
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| Florence Carman |
Who was the killer? What was the motive? Who was the intended target? Why didn't Mr. Bailey know his wife had made this appointment? Did he know his wife was pregnant? So many questions including why did Mrs. Carman enter the crime scene after the police had departed to remove a hidden listening device that she'd recently had installed in her husband's office without his knowledge? Well, the latter is easy enough to answer.
Florence's jealousy was well-established. On May 20, 1914, Florence had been spying on her husband through the same ground-floor window when she'd seen Dr. Carman give his nurse, Mrs. Varance, $15, then the two kissed. Mrs. Carman burst in, slapped the woman across the face, told them both "This is a nice way for a married man and a married woman to act." She followed this up with "So that's where all your money goes?" Florence demanded the cash be handed over then kicked Mrs. Valance out of the office, telling her never to return. This didn't sit well with her husband and they argued.
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| Dictaphone machine, circa 1914 |
Florence Carman long suspected her husband might be cheating on her and she wanted to listen in on the appointments he had with various female patients, so on June 23, 1914, she purchased a Dictaphone and hid it in Edwin's office.
Could there have been a recording of conversation between husband and wife after the shooting which would incriminate Mrs. Carman? Is that why she snuck the device out of the office when the police weren't looking?Differing testimonials about Florence's movements on the night Lulu Bailey was shot and killed resulted in her arrest.
The Carman's maid, Celia Coleman, initially backed up Mrs. Carman's alibi but then she started to change her story; and as a witness during the October 1914 trial, Celia had firmly implicated Mrs. Carman in the shooting.
Much of the prosecution's case rested on the validity of Celia's testimony.
Celia testified that on the morning after Lulu Bailey was killed, Mrs. Carman said to her "Oh Celia, why did I shoot that woman? I hope God will forgive me."
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| Celia Coleman |
When asked why she'd lied initially lied to the police about Mrs. Carman, Celia responded that she'd "felt sorry for her." She also admitted to accepting a $5 bill from Mrs. Carman after the shooting and was told at the time, "This is for keeping your mouth shut."
Celia went on to say that, after she'd started to tell the truth, a representative of the Carmans had offered to buy her silence with a $300 bribe.
The prosecution failed to get a conviction....twice.
The first jury was deadlocked and the second trial in May 1915 saw Mrs. Carman acquitted.
The investigation ended there but not the story. Some possible insight into the reason for Mrs. Bailey's secret visit with the doctor came in 1929 when Dr. Carman was himself arrested. He'd been performing illegal abortions. He was on trial for manslaughter in connection to a 1928 procedure and another botched & illegal surgery the following year in which the woman lived. He was sentenced to 4 years in Sing Sing & obviously lost his license to practice medicine but the judge took pity on the 61-year-old physician and granted him probation.
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| Dr. Edwin Carman |
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