Murder of Annie Yates

 In 1884, 23/24-years-old Annie Yates was living at No. 12, Burton-Crescent St. (now known as Cartwright Gardens) in London, England. It was a home that rented out furnished apartments to women. Annie's room was on the first floor in the back. At the time Annie was working as a prostitute. Annie's past is a bit mysterious. It's believed that Annie Yates was an alias as a friend said that her name was Mary Anne Marshall, and her friends were in Reading. One article refers to her as Mary Anne Yates. 

On the night of 8 March 1884 Annie Yates and another lodger Annie Ellis this was not unusual for the pair. Around 1 a.m. The two would part at Euston road as Annie Yates had gotten into a conversation with a well-dressed man. It wouldn't be until around 2 a.m. that Annie was heard coming home with a man who is assumed to be the same man she was seen with earlier. 

Around 3 a.m. screams were heard from Annie's room, but it wasn't unusual. The other lodgers said that she would go into bouts of hysteria and those sounded similar to her screaming that night. A considerable time after the screaming sounds of a man going downstairs and leaving the house was heard. This was also not an uncommon sound in the place so nobody went to check.

Annie would not end up coming down for breakfast. Between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. Annie Ellis went upstairs to check on her friend. The door was already open a crack so Annie E. went inside. What she saw was the bedding piled up on something. Seeing Annie's foot sticking out from underneath Annie E. pulled them off. 

Annie was laying on her stomach. She was partially dressed and was laying in a pool of her blood. She had a serious gash on the left side of her head above her ear and had a towel tightly tied around her mouth with the knot on the back of her head. Annie E. noted that there were bruises on the back of her legs. It was found that there was blood on the wall bed and towel. 

The alarm was raised to Mrs. Apex the landlady of the house. Mrs. Apex would send for medical help and notified the police station. Unfortunately, Annie had been dead for hours and it was believed the towel wrapped around her mouth had led to her suffocating.

Police searched for the weapon used to hit Annie, but it was not found. It's likely the wound on her head knocked her out and then the towel was tied around her mouth while she was unconscious It's unknown if he did intend to kill Annie or to silence her in case she woke up.

The room had also seemed to have been ransacked. It was found that the killer had possibly stolen a dark leather purse with a clamp and a gold ring Annie was wearing that night/morning was gone. Annies ring was described as 9-carat gold with three gems, a turquoise gem in the middle with two pearls on either side of it. 

The man last seen with Annie was around 25-years-old. He was described as being fair, with a medium height. He was wearing a black felt hat, brown cutaway coat, he seemed to have a respectable appearance.

According to Wikipedia, this murder was never solved.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

The Times 9 March 1884

The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser 15 March 1884

The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser 22 March 1884

Murder of Mary Rose Matthews

In late 1883 couple, Micheal and Maggie Cuddigan took in Mary Matthews. They adopted her from Denvers Catholic Orphan's Home. Mary's mother had died and her father put her in the home so she could be taken care of. The couple would take Mary from Denver, Colorado to their home in Ouray, Colorado. It was known by neighbors they did not treat the girl well.

On January 12, 1884, 10-year-old Mary was found crouched beside a haystack near the Cuddigan's home. She was underdressed for the cold and snowy weather. The Cuddigan's were notified and they brought the girl home. She would die a few hours later and with some secrecy the buried in a distant part of the ranch. They told people that she had accidentally fallen down the cellar steps and had died. 

Neighbors of the family were suspicious of them. They knew that the family treated the girl cruelly and combined with her sudden death and hurried burial suspicions grew. Neighbors would notify the coroner that they suspected that the foster parent's murdered Mary and her body was dug back up.

The autopsy showed that  Mary's body was covered in wounds. It was obvious the little girl was abused and overworked. She had cut marks all over her body from a knife, her leg was broken, her skull was fractured, her limbs seemed to have been frozen, she also had evidence of sexual abuse. It was believed the couple forced the girl to stay out in the snow as punishment.

When the Cuddigan's and Maggie's brother John Caroll was arrested. At the time of their arrest, the couple was preparing to leave the country. They were arrested along with the wife's brother John Caroll. The three of them would be kept temporarily at the Delmonico Hotel between 4th and 5th Ave.

 On Jan. 18th a lynch mob come for the trio. Michael outside city limits. Even though Maggie was pregnant she and her husband were lynched. He was hung from a tree and she from a ridgepole. They were going to hang John also but he told them he wasn't even there when the girl died and they released him. 

 People from the town were not angry about the lynching and thought the couple was deserving of it. Though Michael's brothers were said to be at the hotel and refused to stop the lynching and watched as the crowd of people took the couple away.

Their bodies were displayed in public view of the town. The bed that Mary used was also on public display which was four gunnysacks stitched together. The Cuddigan's were refused to be allowed to buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery and the local Catholic priest also refused to officiate the funerals even though he was against the lynching. No one wanted anything to do with the funeral and the coroner buried the couple on their ranch with the $240 Michael had in his pocket when he died. not one attended. Their money was left to their infant son who was taken care of by relatives.

Not only did the Cuddigan's bodies get displayed, but Mary's was also displayed in Denver. She was presented before the public to show how the young girl suffered before her death. thousands of people viewed her before her burial at the Denver cemetery.

The death date for Mary is wrong on Find a Grave. There were articles from Friday, Jan. 18th, 1884 stating the girl was dug back up and an autopsy was done on her body. It stated that she had died the Saturday before which would make it the 12th. 

Maggie was the first known woman to be lynched in Colorado. 

SOURCES

Find a Grave

Colorado  Encyclopedia

Bismarck Tribune Jan. 18, 1884

The Tennessean Jan. 22, 1884

The Linwood Leader Jan 24, 1884

Valley Falls Register Feb 1, 1884

Delta Chief Feb 6, 1884

The Alton Empire Feb. 7, 1884

Murder of Albert Lucia

On December 25, 1883, 32-year-old Christian Reibling was drinking early for the holiday in Lyndon, Illinois. Already drunk he went to the general store of C.W. Parkhurst looking to buy more alcohol. He got mad when he was told that the store did not sell liquor anymore. This angered him and at the same time, 19-year-old Albert Lucia came into the store.

For some reason, his anger was focused on Albert. He would then threaten Albert with his pocket pistol and tell him to leave the store. Albert being the meek and harmless type of youth left the store and went to a livery stable owned by Constable G.R. Cady. It was probably to seek some protection.

Christian not knowing that the boy went to the livery stable went there also. He would then see Albert laying on a pile of blankets and would get angry again. He would threaten him and told him to leave. 

Albert would state he did not have to get out unless Mr. Cady said so. Mr. Cady would stay silent and not request the boy to leave. Christian would then get his gun out and point it at Albert as he stood between him and the door. Telling him he had to leave. 

An effort was done in trying to take the gun away, but a shot was fired and hit Albert in the leg. It would shatter the bone. Albert would not die automatically, but his wound would cause infection and Albert would die on Jan. 5, 1884. 

He would admit that he did not remember the murder. That he had been drinking diluted alcohol the day before and a bottle of gin with a friend the day of. He stated that if he was in his right mind he would have not hurt the boy. At trial, he claimed that a smallpox sore he had in his head had helped cause him to murder the boy also. He said he regretted his actions that day. He would be found guilty and set to hang on May 16, 1884, in Morrison, Illinois.

Christian's last night was spent will no incident. He went to bed a little later. He was awake by the time the jailer came to his cell at 7 a.m. and stated that he slept very well that night. He was a little nervous and his stomach was upset. He didn't want the eggs and ham that was for breakfast, because he had no appetite. He did want coffee though of which he drank profusely. He would pray continuously that morning mostly in German. 

He would then see Reverend T.E.V. Sweet and Reverend Edward Breen. Prayers were offered to him and he would pray and talk as he walked around. The Sherrif's daughter at one point offered an orange to him to which he ate, and he smoked two cigars. 

At his request, the Sherrif and three members of the church choir would sing to him some religious songs. During the midst of this, he began to cry and he went back to his cell to conceal that he was crying while listening to them sing. 

He said the crying wasn't because of regret, but because of the religious ecstasy, he had drifted away from. He felt that he had been forgiven for his sins. He was accepting of his fate but admitted that it was hard to face the gallows. 

Around 150 people from the surrounding area came to see Christian hang. People were dressed in their Sunday best. Few who came were admitted into the enclosure, none of which were women. Though many women also came to watch the execution. 

His last words were; "Well," he said smiling sadly and bowing to the crowd." I am sorry for what was done and don't have unkind feelings toward anybody, and hope they have none against me. I believe I will be saved, for Christ died for our sakes. I believe it just as firmly as I live. I hope I shall go to a better place and I believe I will be saved by Him." He would hesitatingly look at the sheriff and smiled. "And I want to thank the Sheriff Mr. Beach for his kindness. He had always treated me as a gentleman." He then looked at the deputy sheriff. "Mr. Cole has also been kind to me so has Mrs. Beach. Well, that's all I have to say, gentlemen."

Mr. Sweet would recite a prayer for Christian, when he finished the prayer he was hung at 2:06. He went straight down and struggled for an instant. He would be dead by 2:15 his neck was broken. The on-seers who were permitted to watch were civil, but those outsides tried to make their way in or were climbing trees so they could watch. None of the people there were relatives of his.

SOURCES:

Legal Executions in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Missouri pg 9

Quad-City Times May 16, 1884

Chicago Time May 16, 1884

Chicago Tribune May 17, 1884

End of Watch: Michael F. Doran

 On May 31, 1884, 40-year-old Keeper Michael Doran was working at the Eastern Penitentiary in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania. For the last two weeks, he was in charge of the weaving department and was put in charge of a new group of men. One of the tasks was to allow the men a few minutes of exercise in the yard connected to their cells.

Among the men was Joseph Taylor. At the time he was in the penitentiary for murderous assault. He had attempted to kill a man by beating him and trying to throw him out of a second-floor window. He had a history of violence against people and animals. 

On this morning Keeper Doran let Joseph Taylor out of his cell. Another prisoner Benjamin Sayers claimed he saw Joseph while he was doing his duties as a cook. Joseph had walked out of his cell and to the railroad track running from the kitchen, stop beside the bread car looked up and down the track, and returned to his cell yard. What happened next was not witnessed.

It's believed that Joseph hid in his cell and waited for Keeper Doran to return to lock him in. He would then attack and hit him about the head with a weavers spool. He would then continue to beat him about the head with an iron bar that keeper Doran had that was used to close the cells. He would then go back into his cell and sit and wait. 

Another keeper noticed Keeper Doran's absence and went to look for him. When he was found he was said to be an unrecognizable mess and moaning. His face was so badly beaten, and parts of his brain were exposed from the beating. He would be brought to a bed and Dr. Robinson would see to him. Unfortunately, his wounds were too severe. He was still alive for a short time but did not become conscious. He would die by noon. 

The murderer kept his mouth closed at first for the murder, but he would admit the reason. He was upset and believed that the physician and keeper Doran were conspiring against him. He had been administered drugs that caused nausea that was prescribed by the prison physician. Other articles stated that he believed that he was secretly being given medicine in his food and that he also asked to be given medicine when he was killing Keeper Doran. He stated he would have rather killed the physician than the keeper. 

Joseph Taylor then would go to trial for the murder. There was an insanity plea, but he would be convicted and set to be executed for the murder. He would be hanged on July 16, 1885. 

SOURCES:

Other Absence Ledger PDF pg 1

Officer Down Memorial Page

The Times June 1, 1884

The Philidelphia Inquirer June 2, 1884

The Times October 29, 1884