PHOTO CAPTION: Mrs. Lyda Trueblood Southard, whose trial on the charge of slaying her fourth husband opens in Twin Falls today. The prosecutor alleges that the woman was also responsible for the deaths of three other husbands, a brother-in-law, and a baby by her first marriage.
PHOTO CAPTION: MRS. LYDA SOUTHARD on her way from Honolulu to Idaho, where she will be charged with the murder of four husbands, a child and a brother-in-law. [Standalone]
[Untitled, syndicated (Keystone View Co.), The Evening Ledger (Philadelphia, Pa.), Jun. 17, 1921, p. 30]
PHOTO CAPTION: Mrs. Southard, First Husband and Child – Mrs. Lydia Trueblood Dooley Mchaffie Lewis Myers Southard; her first husband. Robert Dooley, and their child, Laura Mae Dooley. Dooley and the child are both dead and their deaths are being investigated.
***
MRS. SOUTHARD’S HUSBANDS.
Husband Insurance
No. 1—Robert Dooley $ 4,600
No. 2—William McHaffle 500
No. 3—Harlem Lewis 3,000
No. 4—Ed Myers 10,000
No. 5—Paul V. Southard 10,000
The first four husbands are dead; the fifth is aiding her defence against the charge of murdering the fourth.
***
FULL TEXT (1921): San Francisco, May 20.—”She swept the men of her choice off their feet—courted them so persistently that they could not escape.”
[“Complete Story of Mrs. Southard’s Wooings,” Sheboygen Press (Mi.), May 18, 1921, p. 7]
***
FULL TEXT (1921): San Francisco, May 20.—”She swept the men of her choice off their feet—courted them so persistently that they could not escape.”
That’s
the way V. H. Ormsby, a deputy sheriff of Twin Falls, Idaho, describes
the romance of Mrs. Lydia Southard, under arrest at Honolulu on a charge
of murdering Ed Myers of Twin Falls, her fourth husband.
Ormsby
and his wife, who also is a deputy sheriff, are en route to Honolulu to
return Mrs. Southard to Twin Falls, where she will be questioned about
the mysterious deaths of three other of her five husbands, a
brother-in-law and her own daughter.
Mr.
Southard, now the wife of Paul Vincent Southard, petty officer on the
U. S. S. Chicago, has promised not to fight extradition. Her husband
offered to pay the expenses of his wife and an official to Twin Falls so
that the investigation may be speeded.
Mrs.
Southard denies the charges and says she can satisfactorily explain the
deaths of her former husbands. She told officials she believed she was a
“typhoid carrier,” and that this may have been responsible for some of
them.
“Take
poor Ed Myers for example,” says Deputy Sheriff Ormshy. “He was the
woman’s fourth husband. In 1920 he was running a little ranch out near
Twin Falls when Lydia came home after Harlem Lewis. Husband No. 3, had
died in Montana and she had collected $5,000 in insurance.
~ Everybody Talking. ~
“She rigged herself out fit to kill, bought a long mink coat and a closed car. Everybody in town was talking about the way she ran around to dances.
“She courted Ed right off his feet.”
“She
talked around town that she wasn’t in love with Ed, but she wanted a
home, and she said that sometime she might learn to love him.”
“Well, in August she and Ed were married after he took out a $10,000 insurance policy. In September Ed died.”
“The
townfolks weren’t just satisfied. They started a lot of talk and the
insurance company held up payment on the policy. The matter got into
politics and folks wanted to know what the candidates for sheriff would
do about Lydia.”
~ She Didn’t Worry. ~
“But
Lydia didn’t seem to ho worrying. After she left for California the
town got more dissatisfied than ever and in January I was assigned to
the case.”
“I’ve
had the bodies of the men dissatisfied and examined. Three chemists
each working separately, reported to me that they found arsenic. I
interviewed the doctors who attended he husbands and obtained statements
from them that enabled me to build a strong case against her.”
“After
Lydia left Twin Falls late 1920 she met Southard at a dance. Later they
were married and when Southard was transferred from San Francisco to
Honolulu he took his bride along, he’s still loyal to his wife.”
“The
marital experiences of the one-time Missouri country town girl eclipses
even those of fiction. Ten years ago while still in her teens she was
attending Sunday school and enjoying the popularity that goes with
being a village belle in the village of Keytesville, Mo. At that time
she was living on the farm of her father, William Trueblood, about two
miles from town.
Following
the opening of new irrigated territory in Idaho, Trueblood moved his
family to a section near Twin Falls. Robert Dooley, a school-day
sweetheart of Lyttle, and his brother, Edward, followed soon after, and
settled near the Trueblood farm.
In
1912 Robert Dooley took Lydia, then 20, into Twin Falls one day and the
two were married. Edward Dooley went to live with them.
~ First Husband Dies ~
One
day Edward Tooley became ill. Within a few hours he was dead. Lydia
explained that he had eaten salmon from a can that had stood open for
some time. Lydia and Robert Dooley accompanied the body back to
Keytesville for burial and folks in the home town got their glimpse of
Baby Laura Marie, daughter of Lydia.
About
three weeks after Lydia and her husband returned to Twin Falls, Robert
Dooley died. Lydia said he had insisted on drinking from a cistern on
the farm that was close to the barn and that he had died of typhoid
fever. At that time neighbors said she expressed the fear to them that
their baby, too, would die of typhoid.
True to her prophesy, three weeks later Baby Laura was dead.
Mrs.
Dooley collected $4,500 on insurance that had been carried by the
brothers and a short time later was married to William McHaffie.
The
two went to Montana to live and settled on a ranch. McHaffie took out a
$500 insurance policy and made one payment on it. In a short time he
died, but when Lydia went to collect the insurance she found that the
policy had lapsed a few days and the company refused to pay it.
In
June, 1919, Lydia married Harlem Lewis, an automobile salesman, with
whom she had become acquainted in Montana. One month later, on July 6,
Lewis died from when doctors said was ptomaine poisoning, and Lydia
collected $5,000 in insurance.
Following the death of Lewis, Lydia returned to Twin Falls where she met and married Myers, husband No. 4.
***
FULL TEXT: A REMARKABLE escape, paralleling in its way that
of Dumas’ famous woman character, Milady, has started a nation-wide search for
one of the most intriguing and seductive killers in the history of modern
crime.
The woman, who has been accused of murdering four husbands
and a brother-in-law, by soaking fly-paper in water, is known from coast to
coast as “Mrs. Bluebeard.” That she may meet the fate of the woman so
colorfully described by Dumas—who was killed by D’Artagnan and his comrades— seems
probable, as she has been described by prison alienists as “a horn killer, not
with gun or dagger, but with slow, excrusiating [sic] poison.”
She has proved that no prison walls can hold her, and made
her escape from the Idaho State Penitentiary by fascinating, as did Milady, a
prison guard, who is believed to have rigged up for her an ingenious ladder of
plumbers’ pipes and torn blankets and garden hose. This guard, however, died
before Lyda Southard made her break for freedom.
The criminal history of Mrs. Southard, the “Twentieth
Century Borgia,” started upon her graduation from high school in Twin Falls,
Idaho. She had come with her parents from Missouri, and after her graduation
tad taken a job as waitress and cashier in a cafe.
It was here that the smiling, dimpled little girl, then
known as Lyda Trueblood, met Robert Dooley, a “boy from back home.”
Robert Dooley was then working in Little Falls. After they
were married he took his bride to Missouri. This was in 1912. Three years later
they were living on a farm not far from Little Falls, with Robert’s brother,
Ed.
Lyda had persuaded her husband and brother-in-law to take
out a joint insurance policy for 52,000. A short time after this Ed fell sick,
apparently from indigestion and died. His body was taken back to Missouri and
Lyda and her husband collected his insurance. The husband then took out a
policy for 52,500. He died shortly afterward, as did Lyda’s baby daughter.
The young widow collected the money on the policy and went
back to work in the cafe. A year and a half after her first husband’s death,
Lyda married Gordon McHaffie, the son of a prosperous Tennessee farmer. He,
too, took out a $5,000 insurance policy.
The couple went to live in Billings, Montana. That Winter
Gordon died. But his insurance policy had lapsed and his widow was unable to collect
a cent. His death was supposedly from the “flu.”
Lyda remained in Billings for the remainder of the Winter
and in the Spring she met and married Harlan Lewis, a big, genial truck
salesman. He, to, carried $5,000 insurance, naming his wife as beneficiary. He
boasted that he had never been ill a day in his life, but he soon became sick
and died—the doctors diagnosing his demise as
having been caused by “gastro-enteritis.”
Lyda disappeared after her husband had been placed in his
grave and the insurance paid. But, in the Summer, of 1920 she reappeared in
Twin Falls and there met Edward Meyer, a 35- year-old bachelor, an industrious
and thrifty farmer with some means.
They eloped to Pocatello, Idaho, in August of 1920, and left
for Salt Lake City on their honeymoon. Meyer did not last as long as the other
husbands, as he was stricken in the same month and died in a few days.
Partly through the suspicions of an insurance sales-man, who
had paid Lyda her insurance after the death of Lewis, and with whom she had had
words, and the news of her various husbands’ .suspicious deaths, she was
eventually arrested. The five bodies were all exhumed and Herman Harms, Utah
State chemist, and Edward Rodenbaugh, Idaho State chemist, found traces of
arsenic in each of them. The woman’s baby was also exhumed but no traces of
poison were found.
In their investigation the authorities found that the woman
had bought large quantities of fly-paper. Reams of it were found at Meyer’s
beautiful Blue Lake ranch, and several large barrels, in which it had been
soaked to extract the arsenic, were also discovered.
Lyda, before her arrest, had embarked on another matrimonial
odyssey. She had gone to California where the records showed that under the
name of “Edith Meyer,” she had married a navy man—Paul Vincent Southard. They
had sailed for Honolulu, where every effort was made to apprehend her.
However, she returned of her own accord to Little Falls,
where she was promptly placed in custody and brought to trial.
She was found guilty of murder in the second degree for the
death of her fourth husband, and sentenced to from fourteen years to life.
At the time of her escape she had already served ten years
and was eligible for pardon. But she had planned on escaping and had worked her
fatal fascination on Jack Watkins, a prison guard, who is supposed to have
manufactured the ladder for her and provided her with a saw with which she sawed
a bar from her prison cell.
Watkins died before she left prison. The ladder had been
buried for weeks beneath the prison walls. The escape itself was dramatic. Women
inmates, evidently under the spelt of the woman, who could fascinate those of
her own sex as well as men, staged a party and played the phonograph and sang
while she was gaining her way to liberty.
David Minton, who bad been pardoned but a month before, is
believed to have aided in the jail break. It was learned that he had purchased
a roadster a day after his pardon, and another peculiar circumstance was that
the day before the woman’s sensational escape several thousand dollars worth of
jewelry were stolen from the home of ex-Governor Moses Alexander.
It was also learned that Minton had fitted his car out with
a complete camping outfit — a tent, bedding, cooking utensiles and provisions.
Also that Lyda had been seen with him.
There was one report that Lyda and an ex-convict, a woman,
had planned her escape years before this report said. Lyda had gone to the
woman’s ranch far out in the desert country of Mountain Home. But authorities
watched this ranch for days and could find no trace of Lyda.
Officers in Nevada have been on the alert, thinking that she
might be headsd across the border. Customs officers also had a tip that she might
have escaped by airplane, but there has been no verification of this.
All the law enforcement agencies west of the Mississippi have
be«n apprised of the woman’s hegira and have been deluged with circulars and
pictures in which she was described as:
“American; white; aged 89; height 5 feet 2 inches; weight
142 pounds; eyes blue with brown iris, complexion sallow, bobbed hair.”
What the authorities considered one of the best tips
resulted in a woman-hunt, in which prison guards, detectives and cowboys
participated. A mysterious, unsigned letter, one of the hundreds received by
Warden R. E. Thomas, of the Idaho State Penitentiary, gave the officials
concise directions as to how Lyda could be located.
This letter contained a rough map and instructions after
this wise, “Intelligent men who know the desert will be able to find the
fugitive if they follow the directions closely” The letter directed that the
posse should go to Twin Falls and then follow a devious trail to the northeast
to a spot marked “hiding place.”
The posse scoured a 22-mile stretch of desert covered with
dusty and gray sage, and later picked up a trail which led into the foothills
of the Minnadoks National Forest. These hills jut suddenly from, the sands of
the desert and are filled with tortuous canyons and ravines through which flow
turbulent and swollen mountain streams.
Gulches and draws filled with willow, scrub pine and giant
sage, might well hide a car for weeks in this forlorne country, which is seldom
traversed save by a wandering Basque sheep herder.
Into the fastnesses of this mountainous retreat went a
hundred men, all bent on taking justice in their own hands, after the manner of
the ‘“Three Musketeers,” who decided that they would be court and jury and rid
the world of a woman whose seductive powers made her stand beyond the law.
But the search was of no avail. The reward, originally of
fifty dollars, was later raised to $1,000. Deputy United. States Marshal H. A.
Bucheneau, in leading the search, has impressed on the members of his posse the
dangerous character of the woman.
Warden Thomas has characterized her an one of the most
dangerous criminals at large.” He has appealed to all officials to watch the
Canadian and Mexican borders, as well as the seaports.
“Some man will probably pay with his life in agony and death
before this ruthless woman can again be brought’ to justice “ he says. “That
she is the modern ‘Mrs. Bluebeard’ is certain.”
The prison warden says he cannot impress too greatly on the
minds of the authorities the danger of having the “shifty eyed, fascinating
woman” at large.
• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •
EIGHT MEN WHO SMILED AT COMELY LYDA.
• ~ •
DEAD
Robert Dooley, a farmer of Little Falls, Iowa., who married
her in 1912 and took out a joint insurance policy of $2.000 with his brother —
Edward Dooley, also a farmer. Edward died in 1915 from
violent gastric disorders. Robert then took out a policy for $2,500 and died of
the same symptoms shortly after.
Gordon McHaffie, son of a prosperous Tennessee farmer,
married Lyda in Missouri in 1917. He later took out a $5,000 insurance policy
and died in 1918.
Harlan Lewis, a truck salesman, married her a few months
after her third husband’s demise. After signup for a $5,000 insurance policy he
died of gastric disorders.
Edward Meyer, well-to-do Idaho farmer, married her in 1920
and died on their honeymoon in Salt Lake City. Lyda disappeared.
Jack Watkins, a prison guard, who is supposed to have rigged
up the ladder for her escape, died in April of this year.
ALIVE.
Paul Vincent Southard, a navy man, married her after she
fled to California from Salt Lake City. He left her in Honolulu.
DISAPPEARED.
David Minton, the ex-convict who is believed to have aided
her. Benjamin Cheesman, a salesman, whom she is supposed to have married to
Canada.
• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •
[“Fantastic Getaway of the Smiling ‘Mrs. Bluebeard’ That Men
Can’t Resist; Although Blue-Eyed Lyda Fed Arsenic to Five Trusting Men, the
State Believes Two Others Risked Everything to Help Her to Freedom,” The Salt
Lake Tribune (Ut.), Oct. 25, 1931, p. 7]
***
***
***
PHOTO CAPTION: Fifteen-month search for Lyda Southard, 40, “woman bluebeard” who escaped May 5, 1931, from the Idaho State Prison at Boise, Idaho, ended in Topeka, Kan., postoffice where she surrendered to a detective who recognized her. Mrs. Southard was alleged to have poisoned four husbands and another male relative to collect insurance. She was sentenced from Twin Falls, Ida., in 1921 to a term of 10 years to life.
[“’Mrs. Bluebeard’ Is Recaptured,” syndicated, Syracuse Herald (N.Y.), Aug. 4, 1932, p. 6]
***
~ Circa 1946: Another Possible Husband-Killing ~
On October 3, 1941, Lyda Southard was paroled from the prison. Two weeks later, Time Magazine ran an article about her release under the headline, "Flypaper Lyda". She reportedly went to live with her sister in Nyssa, Oregon for a few years, but returned to Twin Falls and married for the seventh time, this time to Hal Shaw. Some accounts report that two years later, Hal Shaw disappeared without a trace. Lyda later moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where she died on February 5, 1958 from a heart attack. Her body was transported back to Idaho and is today buried at Sunset Memorial Park in Twin Falls under the name "Anna E. Shaw."
***
***
~ Circa 1946: Another Possible Husband-Killing ~
On October 3, 1941, Lyda Southard was paroled from the prison. Two weeks later, Time Magazine ran an article about her release under the headline, "Flypaper Lyda". She reportedly went to live with her sister in Nyssa, Oregon for a few years, but returned to Twin Falls and married for the seventh time, this time to Hal Shaw. Some accounts report that two years later, Hal Shaw disappeared without a trace. Lyda later moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where she died on February 5, 1958 from a heart attack. Her body was transported back to Idaho and is today buried at Sunset Memorial Park in Twin Falls under the name "Anna E. Shaw."
[source for information: William C.
Anderson. Lady Bluebeard: The True Story of Love and Marriage, Death and Flypaper,
1994]
Chronology:
Oct. 16,
1892 – Lyda
Anna Mae Trueblood born, Keytsville, Missouri
1906 – The Trueblood family moved
to Twin Falls, Idaho
Mar. 19, 1912 – marries Dooley
1914 – Laura Marie Dooley, daughter, born
Aug. 1915 – Robert C. Dooley, husband No. 1, dies
Oct. 12, 1915 (1917?) – Laura Marie Dooley, daughter, dies
one source: “Lyda gave birth to a daughter, Lorraine Dooley, in 1914; she died
in 1917.”)
Jun. 1917 – married to William G
McHaffle,
Oct. 1, 1918 – William G McHaffle, husband No. 2, dies at
Hardin, Mont.
Mar. 1919 – marries Harlan C.
Lewis, Billings, Mont.
Jul. 1919 – Harlan C. Lewis,
husband, dies
Aug. 10, 1920 – married Edward F.
Meyer in Pocatello, Idaho
Sep. 7, 1920 – Edward F. Meyer,
husband, dies
May 13, 1921 – Arrested in Honolulu, Hawaii
June 11, 1921 – arraigned
Oct. 3, 1921 – She was placed on
trial for the murder of Meyer in Twin Falls.
Nov. 4, 1921 – the
jury, after 23 hours' deliberation, returned a verdict finding Lyda guilty of
second-degree murder, and the judge sentenced her to the state penitentiary at
Boise for a term of ten years to life.
May 4, 1931 – She escaped from prison
Mar. 1932 – marries Harry Whitlock
Jul. 2, 1932 – captured in Denver, Colorado
Jul. 31, 1932 – arrested in Topeka, Kansas
Aug. 1932 – She
returned to the penitentiary
Oct, 3, 1941 – She
was released on probation
1942 – received a final pardon
1942? – Marries Hal Shaw
Feb. 5, 1958 – Lyda dies in Salt
Lake City, Utah., by then known as Anna Shaw, died of a heart attack
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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.
***
[9183-1/3/21]
***
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