On July 12, 1890, Winona Newton was born. She would live in Kansas City, Missouri near 55th St. and College Ave with her family. After her mother was sent to an asylum in St. Joseph Winona took care of the home and her siblings.
In August of 1905, the 15-year-old Winona Newton began to meet with Austin Francis. He would come near the house and would give a signal so that Winona could meet with him.
Their relationship was not completely good. A friend of Winona stated that Winona claimed her lover had threatened to kill her several times. She had said that one of the times Winona went to Austin's office and he threatened to kill her if she would not marry him. Ada, Winona's 12-year-old sister, was sent in her stead to meet Francis a few times. He would tell Ada that he would kill Winona. Winona claimed that she didn't take the threats seriously and was not afraid of him.
On November 3, 1905, Winona complained of feeling ill. She would make dinner with the help of Ada, but at 7 p.m. she would leave after hearing the signal. After a few minutes, she would return and grab an empty china cup and rush towards the bridge. That night she would not return to eat dinner. Her father would look for her at a few places, but figured she went to stay the night with a friend and didn't tell them.
The next morning an 8-year-old boy, Roy Wilson, would find the body of Winona on the bridge. He would scream and run to his employer Mrs. Hollenbeck telling her of the body. From his window, Mr. Newton saw Mrs. Hollenbeck running and he had a bad feeling about it. Roys father would be called, and then two other men, and then Mr. Newton. Mr. Newton and Winona's siblings ran to the scene knowing it was Winona.
Winona's murder was brutal. It had turned out that inside the empty cup she was given a large amount of carbolic acid, but before the effects of the poison could work she was attacked. Her face showed evidence of being slashed she had a cut above her right eye and slashed beneath both eyes and an incision beneath her ear. She had been strangled as fingermarks were found on her throat. She would then get beaten with large stones found at the bridge
Austin would be arrested on November 5th. He would go to trial where he claimed that he did write letters to the girl, but was not her lover. He said that he met her at the bridge only a couple of times since August. That there would be no reason for him to murder her.
He would be found guilty, but the supreme court would overturn the conviction. It was believed that there was not sufficient evidence to say that Austin had killed the girl.
SOURCES:
The Kansas City Star Nov. 4, 1905
The Kansas City Times Nov. 16, 1905
The Kansas City Star Dec. 16, 1905
The Kansas City Times Dec. 19, 1905
The Kansas City Times December 21, 1905
Paxton Daily Record Jan 29. 1906
The Post-Crescent Jan 29, 1906
The Kansas City Star December 3, 1916
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