Family Annihilator

Dr. Arthur F. Woolsey, DDS
Central NJ Home News photo-
August 3, 1928

Forty-three years before John List became (perhaps arguably but I don't think so) New Jersey's most famous famous annihilator, there was Dr. Arthur Field Woolsey, DDS.

By choosing a career in dentistry, Arthur was following in the footsteps on his father, Walter Woolsey, DDS. These were big shoes to fill. Walter was successful, well-respected and even served as President of the New Jersey State Dental Society in 1907.

Arthur was 22-years-old when he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Dental School in 1913. His first practice was in Orange, New Jersey. While not achieving the same success as his father, Arthur had served as President of the Union County Dental Association.

By1928, Arthur and his father were sharing office space at 1162 East Jersey Street in Elizabeth, NJ. [That location is now the home of the New Yorker Deli.]
 
Arthur, his wife Marguerite and their two young children enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle. Arthur belonged to several exclusive social and civic clubs; Marguerite was a fine hostess. They lived at 133 East 6th Street in Roselle, NJ.

Union County's Chief of Detectives, John A. Galatian, would later describe their lifestyle as an attempt to "keep up with the Joneses."

A failed attempt.

By August 1928, 37-year-old Arthur Woolsey was $17,000 in debt; that's $254,889.65, in today's money.

Arthur had a $9,000 mortgage on his home and $8,000 in other assorted but unspecified debts. He quite simply was living beyond his means.

It is believed that Arthur broke under the stress of his insurmountable debt and, after his father refused him a personal loan, Arthur reached a tipping point.

Dr. Walter Woolsey later denied knowledge of his son's financial situation and made a public statement, through his attorney, that he was never approached for assistance. 

Asked to comment on his family's tragedy, Walter observed, "My boy's mind must have been affected."

Chief Galatian felt differently and when he asked about Arthur Woolsey, Galatian told reporters that "the man's actions so far appear normal - at least in the sense that he knows what he is doing."

In anticipation of a possible insanity defense, Galatian told George Kenney of NY's Daily News, "He appears as sane as you or I but we must have him examined to forestall any defense based on an insanity plea."

Galatian described the 37-year-old Arthur Woolsey as a "Babbitt."

The Miriam-Webster Dictionary provides this definition for that word - "a person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards"

This is a specific reference to a satirical novel by Sinclair Lewis published in 1922 and it's title character.

Arthur found his financial situation dire and in an attempt to spare his family "the embarrassment of poverty," Arthur concocted a plan to kill his wife and two children then commit suicide. But just like John List would on November 9th 1971, Arthur lost his nerve when it came to taking his own life.

Arthur's lengthy confession would make it difficult for the defense team to later claim temporary insanity. In particular, was the fact that Arthur had decided on this murder-suicide plan several weeks in advance. His confession was given freely and signed with a pen Marguerite had bought for him.

The Woolsey family -
Daily News photo - Aug. 3, 1928

On the morning of August 1, 1928, Arthur got an early start to the day. He was out of bed between 6 and 6:30AM. Arthur removed a .25 caliber Colt automatic pistol from his bureau drawer.

Now, it's a fact that the exact sequence of events that morning differs from one newspaper to another but here is the version printed in the Asbury Park Press on August 2, 1928 and the one I believe is the most accurate as it closely matches what Arthur stated in his confession.

The first to die was Marguerite (35). His wife of 12 years was shot once in the head, twice in the chest. She had just gotten out of bed.

Their son Arthur, Jr (7) heard the violence and was just getting out of bed when his father shot him. The boy was shot once in the head.

The youngest of their children, Mary Elizabeth (4) was awake but still in bed when her father entered her room. She was shot once in the head.

Sadly, the end result is the same no matter which source you choose but the NY Daily News account changes the order of the deaths and would have the readers believe all three were asleep when killed.

This is the sequence of events as printed in the NY Daily News:

Dr. Woolsey shot his son, Arthur, Jr first, as the boy lay sleeping - once in the head.

Next to die was Marguerite. Also asleep, she was shot once in the head and twice in the chest.

Lastly, it was Mary Elizabeth's turn. She likewise was shot once in the head by her father.

The Asbury Park Press goes a bit further with their forensics. According to their August 2, 1928 edition:

"Mrs. Woolsey was shot twice in the breast and once in the head. The daughter was shot thru the head and the boy thru the cheek. Physicians called by the police are said to have expressed the belief that the children may have lived several hours after they were shot."

Five gunshots in all and the neighbors heard nothing that morning.

Arthur would spend the next 6 to 7 hours after the murders getting his affairs in order. Once again, newspaper accounts differ on the sequence of Arthur's movements after killing his family but there is no doubt he did all of the following before calling police.

Arthur cleaned the blood from the bodies of his wife and children. Police would later find all three bodies side by side on Marguerite's bed.

Arthur made himself breakfast. [No details on what he ate, much to my disappointment because I live for the minutia.] 

Neighbors recalled seeing Arthur outside of his house around noon. This might have been when he left the house briefly to purchase some cigars at the neighborhood tobacco shop.

"I seldom smoke more than two a day, but I chew many more than that," Arthur reportedly claimed.

Upon his return, Arthur sat down to write four letters (three to Roselle, NJ residents and one to an individual in New Hampshire) and he supposedly smoked a few cigars.

The letters were later examined by a team of alienists. One letter was Arthur's confession of his crimes and his wish that the bodies of his wife and children be cremated.

The three other letters were personal in nature and I suppose had no bearing on the case. I'm assuming this to be true because the content of those missives and the names of their intended recipients were not made public.

At some point that morning Arthur "lost his nerve" and was unable to commit suicide.

At 1PM, Arthur placed a phone call to the Roselle Police Headquarters. He asked Chief Burt Avery to stop by when he had a chance because "I've just murdered my wife and two children."

photo from the NY Daily News - Aug 2, 1928

Arthur was calm and composed when Chief Avery and two uniformed officers arrived. Arthur asked Avery if he had a cigar before escorting them to the bodies.

When Arthur Woolsey was taken into custody he told the police "I've never felt better in my life."

It was as if great burden had been lifted.

No further motive, other than the one given by Arthur, could be found.

Arthur's 10 page confession was made available to the press and this is what was printed in the Times Union (a Brooklyn, NY newspaper) on August 2, 1928:

"It has been running through my mind for several months just to do something of this sort; that is, to relieve my wife and children from any embarrassment, the reason of my financial difficulties. The only way out, as I looked at it, was to take their lives.

Dr. Woolsey then states that he worked all day Tuesday in his office, went home at 6:30 PM and spent that night with his family. The confession continued:

"I could not sleep much during the night, and this morning I got up at 6:30 o'clock and my wife got up at the same time. The idea came to me to kill my wife and children. While my wife was standing near the bed I went to the bureau and got my revolver and shot my wife, she dying almost instantly.

"I then picked her up and placed her on the bed. When I fired the shots that killed my wife, my son, Arthur, was awakened in another room, and commenced to get out of his bed. I then shot him. He died immediately, and then I shot my little girl both of them dying immediately.

"The little girl was in bed in a room adjoining the boy's room.

"I then went downstairs and prepared breakfast for myself, after which I went upstairs and wiped up some blood on the floor, and also washed off the bodies of my wife and chilren.

"I then stayed around the house until 1 o'clock this afternoon, when I called up police headquarters in Roselle and notified them of what I had done."

"I have never had any trouble with my wife," the confession continues, "and she has always been true to me and the only reason I took her life was to relieve her of any embarrassment by reason of my financial difficulties.

"We have always lived happily together."

Two days later, on August 4, 1928, The Morning Post (a Camden, NJ newspaper) printed these portions of his confession:

"Dr. Woolsey (the elder) has made a wonderful success of himself financially, but as a father of his children, no.

"My family is upstairs, quiet, and I am waiting for the constable to come to repossess my car. Even now I can realize fully just what I have done or what I shall do. I loved my wife and children so much. I cannot make myself leave them. Perhaps the only spark of manhood left me will come out in my next action. 

"I have tried to do all I could to make them happy and get them healthy. Now I have everything mortgaged to the limit and not a cent of my own except that which is due me in the office." 

Chief John A. Gallatian and Dr. Arthur Woolsey -
Public Opinion, August 4, 1928

This appeared in Time magazine's August 13, 1928 edition:

"Being a good dentist evidently is no longer the thing. The man who commercializes dentistry is the successful businessman."

A young dentist, Dr. Arthur Woolsey, of Elizabeth, N. J., in despair, wrote that on his own stationery last week. And he wrote this: "I have everything mortgaged to the limit and not a thing of my own except that which is due me at the office. If that had come in when it was due this could have been avoided. My only message to the dentists with whom I have worked is to work for cash only; credit will only bring trouble."

Funeral arrangements for Marguerite, Arthur, Jr and Mary Elizabeth were handled by Dr. Walter Woolsey.

On August 4, 1928, their bodies were buried at the Fairview Cemetery located in Westfield, NJ.
 

Findagrave image uploaded by Gloria

[For folks interested in such things, Fairview Cemetery is the also the final resting place of Whitney Houston and her daughter Bobbie Kristina Brown.]

Findagrave image uploaded
by Lori Concannon

Findagrave image uploaded
by Lori Concannon

Arthur's trial was set for December 3, 1928.

Although it was Arthur's intention to plead "not guilty," he changed his mind and entered a plea of "non vult" to three charges of first degree murder.

Essentially, he was not contesting the charges against him.

Arthur received a life sentence for murdering Marguerite, to be served at the state prison in Trenton, NJ.

Oddly, Justice Kalisch opted to suspend sentence when it came to the murder of Arthur's two children.

According to The Pittsburgh Press,
"This, it was pointed out, would be an
effective barrier to possible efforts to
obtain Woolsey's release on parole."

Newspapers describe Dr. Woolsey as listening with little interest then quietly saying, "Well, it's all over." Arthur cast a glance in the direction of his parents and his brother before being lead out of the courtroom.

The Courier News photo, 1928

Despite the life sentence, Arthur continually applied for parole.

His name was submitted then rejected in April 1937, in September 1937 and again in August 1939.

Finally and surprisingly, on December 5, 1941, Arthur Woolsey, now 50-years-old, was granted parole. He had served 13 years.

Dr. Woolsey was one of 46 inmates granted parole that day and one of ten parolees who had been imprisoned for murder. So much for Justice Kalisch's intentions.

Arthur's version of the crime, as related to the Clemency Court, and reported in the Paterson Morning Call newspaper on December 6, 1941, was that he had killed his family in "a period of temporary insanity. He first blackjacked his wife and then shot her and the children."

[On June 9, 2020, I submitted an Open Public Records Act request for access to Arthur's parole records but was advised on June 24, 2020, by Dina I. Rogers, Esq., Records Custodian of  New Jersey State Parole Board, that "the State Parole Board has no parole records regarding Arthur Woolsey. Due to the age of the conviction/sentence, I am unable to even locate Arthur Woolsey in the State Parole Board’s electronic database."]

In 1944, Arthur, then 53-year-old, married for a second time.

Dr. Woolsey's new bride, Myra Keith Robertson (47), was a widow, so they had that in common. Myra's husband of 19 years, Alexander Robertson, had died on June 19, 1943 at the age of 58.

Arthur and Myra lived on the sprawling grounds of (the now shuttered) Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital in Trenton, NJ where Arthur was employed as a dentist.

Marlboro State Hospital grounds

An example of the staff housing.
Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital - Doctors Row. Photo from MarlboroHistory.com

In December 1949, several New Jersey newspapers reported that Dr. Arthur F. Woolsey was seeking "a pardon or commutation of sentence."

 Seven years after being paroled, it wasn't enough that Arthur had his freedom and was making a new life for himself.

[In my OPRA request, I asked for access to Arthur's 1949 Application for Pardon or Commutation of Sentence. I had hoped to see what the motivation for his request was but I was advised that "this part of your request is denied as records relating to executive clemency are deemed confidential and are exempt from disclosure pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9, Executive Order #9 (1963), Executive Order #21 (2002) and Executive Order #26 (2002)."]

Newspaper accounts from the time, indicate that Dr. Woolsey enjoyed several vacations on the west coast, including trips to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in North Carolina (1943), the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness of Colorado (1946), the Flathead National Forest-Sun River in Montana (1947), Pettit Lake in Idaho (1948) as well as the Grand Canyon (1952) and Hawaii (1955).

In October 1956, Dr. Woolsey, then 65-years-old, decided his camping days were behind him and donated his gear to Marlboro's Boy Scout Troop 86.

Myra died on Feb 10, 1958, at home, following a long illness. Arthur inherited half of her estate and the other 50% was shared by her 2 two nieces and a nephew. In addition to some specific pieces of jewelry being left to her sister and niece Ellen, Myra's will also bequeathed $100 to her brother "for the sole purpose of having a good party." Myra was buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, NJ beside her first husband.

Dec 4, 1952 clipping -
Dr. Arthur Woolsey is seen at the extreme left

In April 1960, Arthur, now 69-years-old, married for third time, in Pinellas, Florida.

His new bride was Elizabeth Powers, 57-years-old. She likewise had two former spouses but had divorced each of them. Elizabeth also had three grown children from her first marriage.

The Sept 7, 1961 edition of The Freehold Transcript and Monmouth Inquirer printed a list of Monmouth County voters and amongst the names I find Arthur F. and Elizabeth Woolsey with their address as "Station Hospital, Marlboro." All this tells us is that Arthur was still working and living on Hospital grounds with wife number three.

I don't know when Arthur retired from dentistry but he and Elizabeth eventually relocated to North Carolina where Arthur died on May 3, 1976 at the Haywood County Hospital. Cause of death was heart failure. He was 85-years-old.

Elizabeth died 19 years later, at the age of 92. They are buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Franklin, N.C. It's curious that Arthur's headstone has a typo. Surely there was sufficient time between their two deaths to have that fixed.

Dr. Arthur Woolsey's headstone at Woodlawn Cemetery in Macon, NC - findagrave photo uploaded by Gail R. Anderson

"Lady In The Lake" by Laura Lippman

While this is most definitely a true crime blog, I'm going to recommend a work of fiction.

Why?

Well, not only was "Lady In The Lake" by Laura Lippman an enjoyable novel but it has its roots in two actual Baltimore crimes that occurred in 1969.

Just like any good "Law and Order" episode, the names have been changed to protect the innocent but the inspiration for the victims are real.

I won't go too deeply into the particulars of the crimes because there are enough parallels between what's true and what's imaginary, regarding the lives and deaths of the victims, that to do so might spoil the book for you.

However, I'd hate to leave you hanging or require you to research the real crimes yourself.

It's a fine line.

Here's the description from the back of the book:
 

The New York Times bestselling author returns with a novel set in 1960s Baltimore that combines modern psychological insights with elements of classic noir, about a housewife turned aspiring reporter who pursues the murder of a forgotten young woman.

In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone seems to know—everyone, that is, except Madeline “Maddie” Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even pampered housewife. This year, she’s bolted from her marriage of almost twenty years, determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a passionate, meaningful life. 

Maddie wants to matter, to leave her mark on a swiftly changing world. Drawing on her own secrets, she helps Baltimore police find a murdered girl — assistance that leads to a job at the city’s afternoon newspaper, the Star. Working at the newspaper offers Maddie the opportunity to make her name, and she has found just the story to do it: a missing black woman whose body was discovered in the fountain of a city park lake.

Cleo Sherwood was a young black woman who liked to have a good time. No one seems to know or care why she was killed except Maddie — and the dead woman herself. Maddie sets out to find the truth about Cleo’s life and death, but Cleo’s ghost, privy to Maddie’s poking and prying, wants to be left alone. 

Maddie’s investigation brings her into contact with people who used to be on the periphery of her life — a jewelry store clerk, a waitress, a rising star on the Baltimore Orioles, a patrol cop, a hardened female reporter, a lonely man in a movie theater. But for all her ambition and drive, Maddie may fail to see the people right in front of her. Her inability to look beyond her own needs could lead to tragedy and turmoil for all sorts of people — including the man who shares her bed, a black police officer who cares for Maddie more than she knows.

Esther Lebowitz

Author Laura Lippman was all of 10-years-old when, on September 29, 1969, Esther Lebowitz disappeared while on her way home from school.

Esther -
Baltimore Sun photo

The search for 11-year-old Esther and the discovery of her body two days later made the pages of the Baltimore newspapers and these events made a lasting impression on young Laura.

Laura followed the case closely, perhaps thinking "this could easily be me."

Laura had easy access to the updates on this developing story because her father, Leo Lippman, Jr., was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun; two copies of his newspaper (an early and an evening edition) were delivered to the Lippman house every day.

Wayne Stephen Young, 23, was quickly caught and the forensics that made the arrest possible are the same in real life as in the book.

Young confessed to killing Esther in a fit of temporary insanity.

A psychiatrist for the defense, Dr. Ian Mackay, testified that when Young killed Esther he "was trying to destroy his mother." Dr. Mackay stated that Young had been under "perpetual stress" for years because of a "dependence on his mother's will."

Wayne Stephen Young's father, Albert,  had died in 1954 when Wayne was 8-years-old.

Esther Lebowitz had been struck on the head 17 times with a blunt instrument and sexually molested.

Wayne Stephen Young escorted into Baltimore Police HQ by Sgt Harry Bannon, 1969

The insanity defense was rejected and, after 30 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict. Young received a life sentence in prison.

He was out of sight but the crime was never truly forgotten by the community. Especially as parole hearings and multiple appeals filed on his behalf over the decades wouldn't let people forget. In fact, when Young died in prison, on December 21, 2015 from heart failure, he was awaiting a new trial.

It wasn't until 1989 when Laura Lippman, following in her father's footsteps, began working as a reporter at the Baltimore Sun that she had heard of the mysterious 1969 disappearance of 35-year-old Shirley Lee Parker.

It's fair to assume that even if 10-year-old Laura had heard of Shirley's fate, it wouldn't have resonated to quite the same degree as the death of someone in her own age group.

Shirley Lee Parker, HS photo

Shirley Lee Widgeon Parker, a twice-divorced mother of two boys, aged 9 and 14 years, was reported missing by her mother on April 23, 1969. This was five months before Esther Lebowitz went missing.

Shirley held many jobs over the years but at the time of her disappearance she was working at the popular Sphinx Club as a bookkeeper and bartender. She was also a secretary for the Urban League and did volunteer work with the NAACP.

Pratt Library collection

Shirley was last seen in the company of her 33-year-old boyfriend, Arno West.

The couple had engaged in a "heated argument" when Shirley confronted Arno about him buying clothing for another woman with money from her paycheck.

Arno was reliant on money Shirley funneled his way and the idea that he was using her money to buy gifts for another woman infuriated Shirley. Arno told police that he and Shirley went for a drive afterwards, to have some drinks and "cool off."

According to Arno, Shirley wanted to walk around Druid Hill Park and he witnessed her climbing over a 10 foot gate to access the lake. Arno followed suit, struggled with Shirley and managed to persuade her not to go for a swim in the lake. Afterwards, he dropped Shirley back at the house she shared with her mother and youngest son.

Shirley's mother, Theresa Austin, told police her daughter never came home that night.

Theresa Austin - AFRO, May 13, 1969

The possibility of accidental drowning was immediately dismissed by Shirley's mother. Theresa told reporters, "Shirley was an expert swimmer. She was once a Druid Park pool lifeguard."

When asked if Shirley was suicidal, Mrs. Austin told police her daughter "loved life."

"It's not like my daughter to stay away without calling me or inquiring about her 9-year-old son David, who is here with me. Something awful must have happened."

Shirley's older son from her first marriage, Richard Price, Jr., was living with his father in Pennsylvania.

On May 12, 1969, police did drag the 25 foot deep lake but found no trace of Shirley.

Nobody thought to check the fountain.

The Baltimore Sun never mentioned Shirley's disappearance or the searches and interviews conducted over the two months that she was missing. Only the chance discovery of her badly-decomposed, fully-clothed body which was found floating face-down in the lake's fountain warranted a mention.

On June 2, 1969, a crew of three electricians had been dispatched to repair the two lights at the top of the fountain and were shocked to find a body wedged between some pipes and lights in a four foot depression on the top of the fountain.

The lake's fountain rose 20 feet above the water and was situated about 380 feet from the nearest shore. The top of the fountain could be reached by climbing an 18 foot metal ladder.

Druid Hill Park Reservoir fountain, mapio.net site image

Several factors make Shirley's boyfriend Arno West look guilty.

Arno was seen arguing with the victim the night she disappeared.

Arno also told conflicting stories about Shirley's purse. He initially told investigators that he had picked up the purse after convincing Shirley not to enter the lake and handed it back to her prior to dropping Shirley at home but then it was Arno who phoned the police to report finding Shirley's purse one day after her disappearance - hanging on the railing of the fence that surrounds the lake.

Arno was also the only one of Shirley's friends or family who told investigators that Shirley was "depressed." He failed the polygraph test and he was admitted to a mental hospital following the discovery of Shirley's body.

It should be noted that Arno West was never charged and in recent years, Shirley's son David has stated he doesn't suspect either Arno West or his own father, former Baltimore disc jockey and record store owner, Joe Parker, of having a hand in the death of his mother.

In a May 11, 2017 interview with AFRO, David is quoted as saying, “What I think happened was my mother swam out into the lake because she was an excellent swimmer, she got awards for swimming. I feel like she swam out there to clear her mind after the argument with Arno and to think about me and my brother. I think when she was ready to go, she stood up and fell back and hit her head on the spout where the water comes out, because the autopsy said she had a hole in the back of her head.”

“I think she hit her head and fell back and was unconscious and with the water coming down on her, she drowned.”

David Parker said he has been unable to find any answers after all these years. “I just want some closure…even if they say anything to pacify me. I have six children asking about their grandmother and I can’t give them no answers.”

On October 21, 1969, Theresa Austin met with Baltimore's Medical Examiner to review the evidence in the case.

Shirley, March 1969

Mrs. Austin had been haunted by dreams of Shirley and the possibility that the body she had buried was not her daughter. No family member had ever formerly identified the body that had been pulled from the fountain. It was too badly decomposed for anyone to make a visual identification.

The severe decomposition also made it impossible for the medical examiners to tell police how Shirley died.

"If she had drowned, we wouldn't be able to tell," said Dr. Edward Wilson.

"We have ruled out several causes of death," he continued. She wasn't strangled, stabbed or used narcotics. There were no needle marks, and we were particularly interested in whether she died this way."

"We also ruled out electrocution."

Contributing to the woman's uncertainty was news from Theresa's sister who claimed to have received a long-distance call over the summer from a woman who said "Hello Aunt Janie. This is Shirley."
 
And while the clothing found on the body was a match to what Shirley was reportedly wearing the night she disappeared, nobody in the family had ever seen these articles for themselves and the clothing had subsequently been destroyed, because of their condition.

However, the FBI had confirmed identification through fingerprints. Shirley had held several governmental positions over the years, including the Baltimore Post Office, so her fingerprints were on file.

This meeting was the first time Theresa had heard exactly how that identification was confirmed. As upsetting as it was to learn that Shirley's hands had been removed and shipped to the FBI's latent fingerprint department in Washington, D.C., it helped assuage her doubts.

How Shirley Lee Parker ended up in the fountain remains a mystery to this day but fortunately "Lady In The Lake" is a work of fiction, so in Laura's book there is a resolution.

I don't believe this is an active investigation. It was ruled a suspicious death but not necessarily a homicide.

Was the disparity in the press coverage attributable to the 25 year age difference between Shirley and Esther or was it a matter of race?

While the Baltimore Sun and most of the other mainstream newspapers largely ignored Shirley's disappearance, Baltimore's AFRO Newspaper covered it extensively. This disinterest on the part of the other newspapers is reflected in the novel.

Laura Lippman has said "I can't write about Baltimore and not write about race" and that racial divide is a big part of this novel, which is set in 1966.

A psychic is consulted in the book and here too there is a parallel to real-life events.

Preferring to remain anonymous until she had more details regarding the missing woman, in late May 1969, an East Baltimore medium said she was "beginning to get vibrations."

Reportedly, "the vibrations come in strong and then for some reason they go weak."

Unfortunately, it seems as though the vibrations were never stable or strong enough for her to assist the police with their inquiries.

In 1973, self-proclaimed prophet Jerome Q. Mills came forward, hoping to lead police to the truth of Shirley's death.

Jerome Q. Mills

Mills claimed to have conducted a solo seance at the lake on day three of a planned 40 day fast. During that session, Mills had a vision and recounted it to AFRO reporter Charles Ludlow.

"I traveled back in time and actually witnessed the events that led to Shirley's death. I heard her scream, I heard her being beaten. I was inside a yellow station wagon which carried her to the lake. She died in the vehicle and not the lake and I saw her paralyzed on the right side.

"One person drove her to the lake and I saw this person push her body over the iron fence surrounding the lake and I saw her dragged into the water.

Unfortunately, Mills was unable to identify the individual, saying "a veil prevented me from seeing the person" who drove Shirley to the lake. Neither could he see the license plate of the station wagon because he was traveling inside the vehicle.

Making a cameo appearance in Laura's novel is the real-life, trailblazing policewoman Violet Hill Whyte aka "Lady Law."

Mrs. Whyte retired from the police force three years before the deaths of Esther and Shirley so she never worked on either case. Her appearance in the novel is mostly limited to a party thrown in her honor but her inclusion is appreciated.

Violet Hill Whyte - Baltimore Sun file photo

Mrs. Whyte became Maryland's first black law enforcement officer on December 31, 1937.

When she accepted the position, Violet was a 39-year-old teacher, wife and mother of four.

Throughout her career, Violet specialized in cases concerning the protection and well-being of children but she was once called upon to work undercover as a dope addict and helped break up a narcotics ring.

Mrs. Whyte ultimately achieved the rank of Lieutenant and retired after 30 years on the force.

According to the Baltimore Sun, after her retirement, Mrs. Whyte "worked as a field-work supervisor for Planned Parenthood of Maryland and continued visiting prison inmates and nursing homes carrying along her famous "sunshine" bags of gifts and toiletries." She passed away on July 19, 1980 at the age of 81.

There are two video tributes to Violet Hill White available on YouTube. Here are the links -

From the Baltimore Police Dept - https://youtu.be/2cofBWC9foI
From WBAL- TV, Baltimore - https://youtu.be/tTKUMJIJp90

"The Lady In The Lake" is not the first Laura Lippman novel to draw upon real-life tragedies for inspiration but I'll save that for a future blog post.

Laura Lippman

Lady in the Bullpen

This story has an accompanying video and I'm choosing to provide a link to that video at the beginning, before we get to the meat of the story.

Why?

Because it's a clip from the game show "To Tell the Truth" and, as anyone who's familiar with the show's format knows, there's an element of mystery involved until Garry Moore says "Will the real ..... please stand up."

You don't actually need to watch the video in order to appreciate this story but you might not want to see what Wilma Schneider looks like before trying to guess which of the three women she is.

Also, Kitty Carlisle and Peggy Cass each say things in the video clip which connect directly to this story.

Kitty recalls seeing a newspaper photo of Wilma and Peggy questions the wisdom of putting women in such close proximity to men who have been without female companionship for any period of time.

Here's the link, watch or don't watch - https://youtu.be/09lVFoHKZx0

And here's the story -

In December of 1972, the Reagan administration announced that on June 30, 1973 it would be closing down California Youth Authority’s Los Guilucos School for Boys and Girls (coeducational since the Fricot School for Boys closed in April 1971).

The school, once solely for delinquent girls aged between 11 and 17 years old, had been operational since 1945.

In 1972 there were 160 employees.

The facility's staff was assured that "every effort would be made" to find them jobs.

However, CYA director Allen F. Breed didn't shy away from the truth when he stated "It is only fair to note, however, that the previous closing of two institutions has reduced the number of placement opportunities and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to offer positions to all displaced staff."

And this is how Wilma Schneider became San Quentin's first armed female guard.

Wilma, then 30-years-old, had been working at Los Guilucos for three years when the announcement came. She was employed as a group supervisor and assigned to the visitor's center.

The school's closing was a real blow to Wilma because she was in the middle of divorce and the mother of three young children, aged 1, 5 and 7 years old. She couldn't risk being unemployed so she agreed in February 1973 to accept what, according to Wilma, was "supposed to be a lateral transfer" to the San Quentin Prison's Visitors Center.

Much to her surprise, on day one of her new job, Wilma, who was wearing a pink pants suit because there were no uniforms for women, and another gal named Georgia Gruver, were told that they would be expected to work the same job assignments as the male guards and that they had the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 to thank for it.

Georgia, 26-years-old and the wife of a fellow San Quentin guard Lawrence Gruver, quit before the week was out. Wilma, however, needed that $753 a month salary and didn't feel as though she had the same option.

Is this the photo Kitty Carlisle saw?

It was big news in early March 1973 that, for the first time in San Quentin's 121 year history, there would be a female guard and the press were all over it.

Wilma's picture appeared in newspapers across the country and she eventually made the game show circuit, appearing as a guest on To Tell The Truth (April 4, 1973) and later What's My Line? (June 14, 1973).

However, Wilma's appointment was not a popular one.

An anonymous editorial in the March 3, 1973 edition of the Spokane Chronicle started off with “Whoever assigned Wilma Schneider to her present job ought to be kidding, but apparently he isn’t.”

The same article finished with "Prisons never lack for problems. This one San Quentin hardly needs, even in homage to equal rights.”

There was also much controversy revolving around of the awkwardness of female guards being assigned to supervise the showers. Captain of the Guards William Merkle said "I don't think the courts were thinking of all of these things when they acted. They may have to take another look at the situation."

The inmates concurred, especially when it came to Wilma seeing them naked.

Edward Jones, a 40-year-old inmate serving time for manslaughter, complained that he feels it's "an invasion of my privacy to have a woman watching me while I'm taking a shower. It makes me feel small and uncomfortable and I just don't like it."

The Men's Advisory Council, a group of elected convicts which investigates prisoner complaints, organized a petition.

Wilma was sympathetic to the inmates' feelings and said "All I can do is handle it the same way a doctor handles an examination; I'm not going to gawk at them. It will take time but eventually they'll feel more comfortable with me around."

Inmate Ben Rasnick, 52-years-old and serving a life sentence for his part in the shotgun murder of Lloyd Green, compared the hiring of a female guard to "putting someone who's starving in front of a locked delicatessen; there's bound to be trouble."

Although, seemingly more concerned for his own safety than Wilma's, Rasnick further stated, "I know it will make me nervous if there is a female on the block. I'll wonder if someone's going to attack her and who will get shot as a result."

Wilma certainly felt a lot of pressure. She told the Associated Press, "I can't help but think that if I don't succeed, I'm going to ruin it for all women."

Georgia Gruver's departure opened the door for Mrs. Bonnie Briggs, who began training as San Quentin's second female correctional officer on March 5, 1973. Briggs, then 29 years old, was a former dispatcher for the California Highway Patrol.

Both Wilma Schneider and Bonnie Briggs were defendants in a March 1973 lawsuit filed by inmate Larrance Hand.

Larrance Hand, in his early 40s and serving a term of 8 years to life for his 1972 rape, sexual perversion and kidnapping conviction, alleged "cruel and unusual punishment" because the women were "in a position" to watch him bathe and carry out other biological functions normally performed in private, or at least out of the presence of women.

Hand was especially bothered by Wilma's supposed strong physical resemblance to his wife; a woman with whom Hand claims to have enjoyed a normal marital relationship prior to his imprisonment. Wilma's presence was a daily reminder of his inability to continue his marital activities with his wife.

Wilma "Willy" Schneider, 1973

[Let me just comment at this point that Hand's "loving normal marital relationship" is called into question when you consider his crime. Also, ironically, the complaint was filed before the "To Tell The Truth" episode in which Peggy Cass suggested it would be "cruel and unusual punishment" for the inmates to be in close proximity to female guards.]

Hand demanded that the two women be fired and he be awarded $1.99. That's not a typographical error.

Not surprisingly, on June 28, 1973, Hand's case was dismissed.

Larrance Hand eventually changed his opinion on women guards.

In a letter published in the November 1973 edition of the San Quentin News (a prison newspaper), Hand wrote, "I can now sincerely say that they (the women guards) are a credit to the staff and place no threat to anyone on either side of the bars."

Hand added, "I feel it is only fair to express my views after the eight months since "Willie" Schneider broke the ice and became the first female guards at San Quentin."

Although Hand still maintained that while he had "some reservations about the women supervising a shower area or giving a skin search, I welcome them to work in all other areas of our city."

By November 1973, there were 5 female corrections officers at San Quentin.

Hopefully, by then the male guards had also changed their opinions regarding women in the workplace as there was some genuine resentment when Wilma started. How much of a difference had 8 months made for them?

In March of 1973, the male guards expressed their concerns about a woman's ability to back them up in a violent situation. Captain of the Guards William Merkle told reporters "You're substituting a strong arm for a weaker one and it's impossible to know what will happen."

Wilma stated at the time, "I wish I knew the answers to all the men's concerns about safety. I want to convince my colleagues that I'm not here for self-glorification, that I'm serious about my job. My biggest challenge will be letting them know I can handle the job."

In an attempt to drive home how vulnerable she was, some of the other guards would purposely put Wilma in potentially dangerous situations.

In a 2015 interview with California's Sierra Star newspaper, Wilma said “That first week was the worst. They used every tactic they could to scare us off. They sent us all over the prison, into the towers, put us on every shift. They sent us to blocks (Wilma was sent to East Block, where 950 inmates were housed) and told us that we had to shower the inmates. It’s only because the inmates threw such a fit that we were pulled from that duty. They took us into the black museum, where there were ghastly photos. Weapons made from toothbrushes, toilet paper holders, or carved out of wood were lined in neat little rows. That’s all it took. Georgia left, but I was stuck because of my personal circumstances. I think I kind of got mad about then, and decided if I was going to leave, I would do so on my own terms.”

From that same interview comes this anecdote -  “Some of the games the guards would play” Wilma said, “... one time I worked in the library alone. There was supposed to be a librarian and another guard, but I was alone. In walks a guard with six black inmates, and that guard leaves. One of the inmates walks over to me and says he wanted to show me something. What he showed me was the broom closet, and he says to me ‘looks like they have set you up again. If anything goes down, just get into the closet.’” Fortunately, nothing happened that day, and Wilma never felt physically threatened as a guard, believing as a Christian, that she was protected by God.

Not everyone was a jerk though and Wilma found a friend in Sergeant C.E. Bud Jordan. According to Wilma, Sgt. Jordan promised to walk the yards with her “until these clowns (the guards) get used to seeing you around here,” he said.

 “A lot of the guards thought I was a woman’s libber, thought I was going to go after the easier jobs,” Wilma added, “and one day, Bud asked me what a good-looking gal like me was doing there, so I explained my situation to him, and things got a lot easier for me because when Bud likes you, everyone likes you.”

Sgt. Jordan also put in a good word with Lieutenant Molloy who oversaw the prison's visiting center and about four months after being hired, Wilma was transferred to the job she had initially sought.

After 2 1/2 years at San Quentin, Wilma quit. “It was just too depressing,” she said. “I guess the pressure finally got to me. It’s like a drop of water constantly hitting a rock in the same spot - eventually, you wind up with an indentation.”

She made the decision to quit one day in August 1975, after leaving work. Wilma drove through the gate and thought to herself "I'm a creative person, I need to get the hell out of here."

Wilma said she didn't want to become hardened like the inmates or even some of the guards and considered her quitting a matter of survival. Although the quote attributed to Wilma in the press, at the time of her departure, was "I was losing that softness all females should have."

Wilma used her two weeks vacation as her two weeks notice and cut all ties with the place.

It was reported in the September 1, 1975 edition of the Honolulu Advertiser that Wilma would be working with ghostwriter Norman Singer on a memoir called "Lady in the Bullpen."

After she quit, Wilma was almost immediately approached by the National Organization for Women (NOW) and asked to become a civil rights activist and give speeches but she declined.

Wilma never viewed her position as anything other than work.

"I wasn't down there for any kind of women's movement," she said, I was there to do a job and to feed three kids."

Now that she was gone, former Captain of the Guards, William Merkle, who had hired Wilma Schneider, said “She had to absorb a lot of criticism from a lot of people. I have to give her credit for that. The sex barrier that she broke will never be rebuilt.”

In an interview with San Quentin's remaining 6 female guards, printed on September 15, 1975 (two weeks after Wilma's departure), corrections officer Betty Holland acknowledged that "certain guys will never accept us. I just tell them I'm here for a job, not to be a woman's libber."

Wilma supported herself working as freelance artist for children's books while she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Human Relations and Administration from the University of San Fransisco. She then worked as a mental health clinician until her retirement. Wilma reinvented herself so much so that she now goes by the name Wendy Woods.

In 2015, Wilma finally finished that memoir. It's called "Flowers and Guns" and she dedicated it to Bud Jordan.

Wilma says the title is a reference to the roses she says the San Quentin inmates would give her as gifts.

Wilma laughed and said, "I always thought I would call it 'Roses and Guns' but we all know why I can't do that."

I'd love to tell you my opinion of the book but it's out of print and over-priced. The second printing is even more expensive than the first. As of this writing, Amazon has the book listed for anywhere between $894.00 and $1,012.90.

Confounding Celebrity Crimes #3 - Annie Oakley

By mid-August 1903 a shocking and tragic fall from grace was being published in newspapers across the country. Annie Oakley had been arrested.

Annie Oakley - public domain image

 Here are some of the headlines:

Washington, D.C.'s Evening Star - Tue, Aug. 11, 1903

The Indianapolis News - Tue, Aug. 11, 1903

Courier Post, Camden, NJ - Tue, Aug. 11, 1903

The Topeka (Kansas) State Journal -Tue, Aug. 11, 1903

The Evening Journal - Wilmington, Delaware, Aug. 12, 1903

The New York Tribune played it a little safer:

New York Tribune - Tue, Aug. 11, 1903

If the general public was surprised to hear of this scandalous development, imagine how Annie Oakley felt. She wasn't actually sitting in a Chicago jail cell when news of this story reached her; she was at the Atlantic Highland, New Jersey home she shared with her husband Frank Butler.

In fact, on the day of the arrest, Saturday, August 8, 1903, the real Annie Oakley was participating in a trap shooting contest at the Jackson Park Gun Club in Paterson, NJ.

Newspapers soon realized their mistake and printed corrections but the story was already out there and retractions rarely get the same amount of attention as the more sensational, if incorrect, stories.

Annie and Frank Butler were outraged at the potential damage this would do to Annie's sterling reputation and they would spend the next six years filing lawsuits against the newspapers who had printed the initial story. Most papers cribbed the copy filed by George W. Pratt, one of William Randolph Hearst's reporters.

It has been said that William Randolph Hearst tried to avoid paying the anticipated court judgments of $20,000 (equivalent to $581,298.88 in today's money) by sending an investigator to Darke County, Ohio (Annie Oakley's birthplace) to collect reputation-smearing gossip from Oakley's past. The investigator found nothing.

Annie Oakley won all but one of her 55 libel lawsuits. When all was said and done, the Butlers had collected less in judgments than the total of their legal expenses but it wasn't about the money.

But what about the woman who was arrested. How had this case of mistaken identity come about? Did she really try to pass herself off as Annie Oakley?

On August 8, 1903, Chicago police officer John J. Mulcahy, of the Harrison Street Station, answered a complaint by a Charles Curtis. Mr. Curtis wanted to report the theft of his trousers by his  roommate. Curtis suspected the woman had stolen his pants with the intention of trading them for drug money. Mulcahy made the arrest. Whether or not the woman was guilty of theft was moot at that point because she was most certainly drunk or high and disorderly.

When booked, the woman identified herself as "Lillian Cody." This wasn't the name she was born with but that was her professional name. "Lillian Cody" was born Maud Marie Lee in Canada on February 22, 1872. She and her English-born parents eventually settled in Pennsylvania.

Maud began training with the Forepaugh Circus as a contortionist and trick rider at the age of seven. In March 1888, she served as a practice assistant to sharpshooter S.F. Cody.

S.F. Cody, 1909

S.F. Cody was born Samuel Franklin Cowdery, on March 6, 1867 in Davenport, Iowa. Samuel looked like a young Buffalo Bill Cody and, seeking to capitalize on that as he pursued a career in show business, Samuel changed his last name. S.F. would willingly claim a (bogus) familial connection to Buffalo Bill when it suited him but he was also known to deny it.

Although S.F. moved on to another town once the circus season opened, he and Maud reconnected later, on October 7, 1888, in the town of Reading, Pennsylvania.

Maud had been living and working in Reading for several months. No doubt, running away to join the circus sounded pretty good to a 16-year-old girl who was a cleaner at boarding houses. Off they went.

In February 1889, S.F. and Maud were performing at a dime museum in NYC. Dime museums were popular but not well-respected. Although, the lifestyle must have appealed to Maud because she stuck with it.

The couple toured the country, taking work where they could get it - including circuses, vaudeville and burlesque.

On their way to Kansas, the two stopped off in Norristown, PA to get married. The wedding was on April 18, 1889. Maud was 17-years-old, S.F. was 21-years-old.

Annie Oakley-public domain

Maud soon developed her own sharpshooting act. Maud even replicated the famous mirror trick-shot that Annie Oakley used in her act but with far less success.

It was on Saturday, March 10, 1890, in Stamford, Connecticut that Maud performed that particular trick for the last time.

The Washburn & Arlington Circus was in town and the venue was packed. Maud announced she would shoot a half-dollar coin while aiming at it's reflection in a mirror.

Maud lifted the rifle to her shoulder and as she was readying herself, a strand of her long brown hair fell across her eyes. As Maud reached to move the hair out of her eye line, her finger brushed against the trigger and the rifle discharged. Twelve-year-old Mary King, seated 20 feet away, was shot. A .22 caliber bullet lodged in the girl's chest, near her right armpit.

Medical attention was immediate but local doctors were unsure if they could remove the bullet. Mary's condition was considered critical.

Maud was placed under house arrest at a hotel and an expert surgeon was called in. Fortunately, the bullet was extracted, Mary recovered and authorities deemed the whole incident a terrible accident, lacking in malice. Maud vowed to never touch a rifle again. She did not, however, promise to stay away from revolvers.

Washburn & Arlington released Mr. and Mrs. Cody from their contract.

S.F. thought they might have some success overseas and, in June 1890, S.F. sailed to London. One month later, Maud joined him. S.F. decided she should adopt the stage name Lillian Cody and that they would promote themselves as a brother/sister act.

The couple soon found work at various venues. In late 1890, they joined a "Wild West Burlesque on Skates" show that played at the Olympian Club in London. This show was a lampoon of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Shows and Maud was to appear as "Any O' Klay."

During their time in England, the Codys had made the acquaintance of Mrs. Elizabeth Mary King. Elizabeth was married and had four children, three boys and one girl. Maud took the time to teach the two younger boys to shoot.

On November 8, 1891, Maud boarded a boat headed for America. Maud was traveling alone and she would never see her husband again. She was 19-years-old.

Something had caused a rift between Samuel and Maud. Elizabeth took Maud's place in the act and in Samuel's bed.

Elizabeth divorced her husband, christened herself Lela Cody and on November 21, 1891, "S.F. Cody and Family, the Champion Shooters of America" made their first appearance on the stage. The "family" consisting of S.F., Elizabeth (now Lela) and Elizabeth's two youngest sons, Leon and Vivian.

Nov. 1898 ad for the "The Klondyke Nugget" show

Maud returned to her parents' home in Swedeland, Pennsylvania to nurse her wounds, both emotional and physical.

Performing in these Wild West shows was taxing and dangerous. Maud had her share of injuries, including an 1894 fall during a parachute jump from a balloon which landed her in a tree.

A common cure for pain back in those days was a dose of morphine. Is this how Maud first became addicted to drugs? As a treatment for on the job injuries? Morphine wasn't illegal but it was highly addictive. There is no clear evidence to say when Maud starting using morphine but there's no doubt that she used and abused it.

Maud ultimately returned to show business but as a solo act. I wasn't able to find any notices to show that Maud performed during 1892 or 1893 but in 1894, she was once again very active.

It wasn't uncommon to see Maud referred to in newspapers as Buffalo Bill's niece. It isn't true but it's just marketing. Maud was also promoting herself a cowgirl who would ride any horse, broken or unbroken. This was true.

In advance of  Iowa's 1894 State Fair, this item began appearing in local newspapers:

Estherville Daily News - Thurs, Aug. 23, 1894

From September 3-8, 1894 Maud performed at Iowa's State Fair. Here's a description of her act.

This ad appeared in the Detroit Free Press on September 2, 1894 and it encouraged locals to bring their wild horses to the fairgrounds during the upcoming State Fair, promising that Lillian Cody would tame them-

Sixteen days later, there was this ad for the Michigan State Fair and it contained a clear indication that Maud was coming off an injury to perform.

Maud found employment but perhaps struggled personally. While Maud had worked multiple times during 1894, there's little evidence that she worked in 1895.

Then on October 24, 1896, Maud was arrested in Indianapolis, Indiana for attempting to steal a $23 fur collar from the Boyd, Besten & Langen Store. At her trial, Maud testified that the fur collar had accidentally stuck to the lining of her coat and that she hadn't intended to steal it.

Judge McCray found Maud to be guilty of larceny but took pity on her and released Maud on her own recognizance. It was felt that Maud was clearly suffering from morphine addiction and it was considered she wasn't responsible for her actions. In fact, Maud was sick in the courtroom while awaiting sentencing and could barely leave the courtroom under her own power. Maud's friends promised to take her to a sanatorium where she could receive treatment.

Maud eventually was able to return to work but tragedy struck again.

On January 7, 1897, Lillian was attempting to reduce her operating expenses by manufacturing for herself the target balls that she used in her act.

Maud was boiling a mixture of coal tar and sulphur over a flame in the backstage area at the Casino Theater in Anderson, Indiana when a theater employee dashed by Maud with a bucket of water. The other woman stumbled and water splashed into Maud's pan of boiling tar. There was an immediate eruption and Maud was burned on her arms, face and under her jaw. Dr. Willson made her as comfortable as her could - no doubt with some morphine.

Four months later, an article entitled "Kentuckians Go Home," printed in the May 26, 1897 edition of The Tennessean, mentions Lillian Cody's participation in the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.

The 1900 US Census lists Maud as living in Pennsylvania with her parents and her profession is "champion expert shooter."

I cannot find any newspaper accounts, dated after her appearance at 1897 Expo to indicate that Maud was gainfully employed until she pops up again in 1902. Unfortunately, again the news isn't good.

May 1, 1902 ad

Sept. 5, 1902 ad

On May 16, 1902, while performing in Buckskin Bill's Wild West show in Russellville, Kentucky, Maud was thrown from a horse and badly injured.

Newspapers reported her condition as critical. She escaped with a dislocated right hip and multiple bruises. It can be supposed that she was prescribed morphine for the pain.

Interestingly, the "V.F. Cody" whose name headlines the event on the left is a man named Victor Anderson. He adopted the moniker Vic Cody after pairing up with Maud in 1896 to perform in a Wild West Show held at Cincinnati, Ohio's Zoological Gardens. It seems that Maud had some leftover posters from her "Cody and Sister" years with S.F. and Victor had no problem assuming that name.

Dislocated hip or not, if Maud didn't perform, she didn't get paid so with a real "the show must go on" attitude she joined the "Great Buffalo and Wild West Shows United" and was back in the saddle early by July 1902 rather than taking the time to properly recuperate from her hip injury.

One year later, Maud was sharing an apartment with a man named Charles Curtis in a particularly run-down section of Chicago. He was a friend when she needed one but Maud had pushed him a little too far when she stole his trousers.

As luck would have it, several reporters were hanging around the police station looking for a good story when Maud was brought in. Three reporters gained permission to interview Maud between the hours of 2 and 4 AM, Sunday morning.

As far as I can tell, the prisoner never identified herself as Annie Oakley but there were enough similarities between the professional lives of the two women that assumptions were made and reporters drew their own conclusions after hearing portions of the rambling, incoherent statements which Maud had made during her initial incarceration.

Lockup keeper sitting outside jail cells in the Harrison Street police station in 1907

Police matron Anna Murphy was on duty during that time and apparently heard Maud saying that she had been married to Sam Cody, who was Buffalo Bill's son. Maud claimed to have been a sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show before another woman took over her role as "Annie Oakley." Maud claimed to have performed in Europe and that she had a son named Vivian. The prisoner admitted to being a morphine addict. These were all things Anna Murphy would testify to in an October 25, 1905 deposition, used during Annie Oakley's later legal proceedings.

Well, Maud was a sharpshooter in several Wild West Shows and she had performed in Europe. Maud had been married to Samuel Cody (a man who at times claimed to be related to Buffalo Bill). Elizabeth King, the woman who had assumed Maud's role as "Any O'Kay" in the act, had a son named Vivian. Maud was a morphine addict. The press had even gotten that fact wrong though by claiming Annie Oakley was hooked on cocaine.

Anna Murphy described the prisoner as being 29 or 30 years old, with dark hair and dark eyes. Her clothes were unclean, she was pale and haggard but Maud had made some effort to look presentable. Maud had no visible skin sores but she had wrapped a cloth around her neck, under her jaw. This might have been done to cover up any scars left from her 1897 coal tar mishap.

Charles Curtis visited Maud in prison on Sunday, August 9, 1903, the morning after her arrest, he even brought her a sandwich and some coffee. There's a chance Charles no longer wanted to bring charges against his friend for the theft of the trousers, which she said she would return to him, but Maud was still facing charges of public intoxication and disturbing the peace.

On Monday, August 10, 1903, Maud appeared before Police Magistrate John R. Cavelry. Her name given at the time of her arrest, "Lillian Cody," was announced and Maud stepped forward.

Officer Mulcahy presented the charges to the magistrate and said "This woman claims to be Annie Oakley, the famous rifle shot. She is full of disease and morphine and has been living with a colored man, Charles Curtis, on Sherman Street, I think. She is accused by him of stealing a pair of trousers."

Charles Curtis had not appeared in court to press the charge of theft so it would be dropped but Maud clearly was not looking her best and there was the other charge of disorderly conduct. Maud was fined $25 and seeing as she couldn't pay that, she was to spend time in Bridewell Prison and essentially dry out.

Chicago's Bridewell Prison, circa 1903

Reporters, looking for someone to blame for their own errors, turned their attention on Maud and they weren't kind. Maud was described as "badly diseased," an "imposter," "a physical wreck," "a toothless hag," etc. Much was made of Maud performing in burlesque, a very low form of entertainment. Even vaudeville players looked down on burlesque performers.

In her own deposition, taken on October 30, 1905, the answers Maud gave to questions asked went a long to explaining how her personal history could be mistaken for that of Annie Oakley's but the Butlers weren't prepared to let the newspapers off they hook and they continued to seek justice for the false reporting.

Interestingly, although Annie Oakley might not have remembered it, Maud recalled and testified to the fact that she had actually met Miss Oakley in early 1889 while Annie was performing in "Deadwood Dick" with fellow cast member S.F. Cody.

Sadly, as time passed, Maud's behavior was becoming more erratic. Whether it was long term effects of the morphine use or, as some have proposed, schizophrenia, we can't truly know.

In early November of 1904, Maud was arrested for stealing coal from Pennsylvania's Reading Railway coal cars. She admitted her guilt in open court and on December 7th was sentenced to 30 days in prison.

Upon her January 1905 release, Maud went to live with her parents again.

Three months later, in April 1905, Maud married a young, illiterate Italian immigrant named Gaetano Fontenelli. The union, illegal anyway since she and Samuel Cody were still married, didn't last.

In early 1906, Maud's family had her committed to Pennsylvania's Norristown State Hospital for the Insane.

Female Convalescent Building, built between 1907-1909

While the inmates of the Norristown State Hospital weren't being purposely mistreated, the facility, which opened in 1880, ultimately became over-crowded and under-funded. Patients were sleeping in the hallways, there were insufficient facilities for the patients, etc. A state grant made expansion possible and, between 1907 and 1909, five new buildings were added, including the Female Convalescent Building.

Little was heard about Maud after her entry into the asylum until S.F. Cody died in an August 7, 1913 plane accident.

Man-lifter War Kite designed by S.F.

S.F. had been openly pursuing his passion for flying since 1901, first with manned kites and then planes that he would design and pilot himself. S.F. Cody was successful and respected in the field.

William Evans

On August 7, 1913, S.F. was test-flying his latest design, the Cody Floatplane at a location in Aldershot, England.

Thirty-year-old Cricketeer William Evans was S.F.'s passenger. Leon King, Elizabeth's son had given up his place on the flight to make room for Evans.

The plane experienced structural problems at 200 feet. Neither S.F. or Evans were strapped in. As the plane broke apart, they plummeted to the ground and were killed instantly, S.F.'s neck was broken.

Wreckage site - August 7, 1913

Maud had been telling people for years that her husband was dead and there's a possibility she actually believed that. In Maud's 1905 deposition, she stated that Sam had drowned while trying to reach the North Pole.

There was quite a bit of press coverage, both overseas and in America, when S.F. Cody actually died and this drew the attention of Maud's family back in  Camden, New Jersey.

As far as they knew, S.F. Cody had never filed for a divorce from Maud nor had Maud sought one from him. Maud was S.F.'s widow not Lela Cody and as such was entitled to a portion of his estate.

Maud's father Joseph and her stepmother (*) Elizabeth indicated that they would filed a claim on S.F. Cody's estate with Maud as a beneficiary.

(*) Maud's mother Phoebe had died on February 3, 1910. Cause of death was "chronic nefritis."

According to the second Mrs. Lee, who was also Phoebe's sister and thus Maud's aunt, they had tried to several times over the years to contact S. F. and asked him for help with Maud's health care issues but they had heard nothing in response.

Maud was declared incompetent in 1914 so that her family could go forward with their claim. Maud testified in court that she understood this pronouncement was in her best interest.

Seven years later, the court ruled in Maud's favor. She received one thousand pounds. I believe that's roughly $14,000, in today's money.

When Maud's father Joseph filed paperwork requesting a guardianship for his daughter, the October 13, 1914 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported: "Later the couple engaged in balloon ascensions and parachute leaps. In one of these Mrs. Cody was injured so that her mind was affected and for about nine years she has been a patient in the asylum here."

Maud was never released from the Norristown State Hospital. She died on March 20, 1947 from heart failure with dementia praecox as a contributing factor. Maud was 75-years-old and had spent the last 41 years of her life in the psychiatric hospital. Maud's death certificate, filed under the last name "Fontenelli," lists her usual occupation as "circus rider." She's buried in an unmarked grave at the Norris City Cemetery. The Cemetery sits on what was once Norristown State Hospital grounds.

photo from Norris City Cemetery's website

So, while Maud Lee, aka Lillian Cody, will forever be remembered for NOT being Annie Oakley, I think it's only fair that we accurately remember Maud for who she was and what she achieved in her own career before mental illness and morphine addiction took hold.

Annie Oakley, born Phoebe Ann Mosey, died on November 2, 1926, at the age of 66. Cause of death was pernicious anemia. A heartbroken Frank Butler died 18 days later. Her ashes and his body are buried in Brock Cemetery in Versailles, Ohio.

I've spent quite a bit of time searching for a photo, promo poster or line drawing of Maud Lee aka Lillian Cody but I have come up empty. It's disappointing but I'll keep looking - because that's what I do. However, I don't wish to hold up this blog post in the meanwhile, especially as it's very likely there is no surviving photo.

Clearly, my main focus here is Maud but there's an excellent dual biography of S.F. Cody and Maud Lee that I'm strongly recommending to anyone with an interest in these two individuals. S.F. had his own brushes with the law and he enjoyed a very varied career. So, for additional reading, pick up "A Pair of Shootists" written by Jerry Kurtz and published in 2010.