FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 11): St. Louis, October 10. – A
verdict of justifiable homicide was returned to-day by a Coroner’s jury, which
investigated the death of Thomas Broderick, 51 years old, a plumber, who was
shot Friday morning by his daughter, Ursula, 10 years old, while she was
defending her mother.
The child testified that she shot her father while he was
threatening her mother with a heavy hammer. She said she slipped up behind her
father, took a revolver, took a revolver from his hip pocket and shot him
through the head.
“I would rather a million times that my father and everyone
else in the world would die than to see my mother killed,” the girl said.
Broderick was found unconscious when the police arrived at
his home. He lived until Saturday afternoon, but never regained
unconsciousness.
[“Court Clears Child – Of Murder Charges in Shooting of Her
Father.” The Cincinnati Enquirer (Oh.), Oct. 11, 1916, p. 1]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 11): St. Louis, April 14 – Ursula S. Broderick, aged 13 [sic; should be Broderick, aged 16], who murdered her own father two years ago, shot and killed Joseph Woodlock today. The child’s second murder followed an alleged attack on her by Woodlock, according to the story she told to police. The child murdered Thomas Broderick, aged 51, after he had beaten her mother and herself.
[“Child Kills Step Father Today,” Iowa City Daily Citizen
(Io.), Apr. 14, 1919, p. 2]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 3 of 11): St. Louis, April 15. – Ursula
Broderick, the 13 year old slayer of Joseph Woodlock, her stepfather, was
ordered held for the grand jury on a homicide charge by the coroner’s jury here
this morning. The girl’s mother was ordered held as an accessory.
[“Held For Stepfather’s Death.” The Chillicothe Constitution
(Mo.), Apr. 15, 1919, p. 5]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 4 of 11): St. Louis, March 29. –
Examination of prospective jurors to try Ursula Broderick, 16 years old,
confessed slayer of her father in 1916, on charges of having killed her
stepfather, Joseph F. Woodlock, April 14, 1919, was ordered to begin in
Juvenile court here today.
At the coroner’s inquest the girl testified she shot and
killed Woodlock when he attempted, to attack her. Fearing him, she said, she
had slept with a revolver concealed in the folds of her night dress for several
weeks, and when, on April 14, he came to her bedside and embraced her, she drew
the revolver and fired.
After the shooting she surrendered to the police and last
May was indicted for first degree murder, but has been at liberty under $5,000
bond.
Ursula Broderick was only twelve years old in 1916, when she
shot and killed her father Thomas B. Broderick. In that case a coroner’s jury
exonerated her after she had testified
that she shot him because he was beating her mother and was about to strike her
with a hammer. Mrs. Woodlock is charged jointly with her daughter in connection
with Woodlock’s death, but will be tried later. Both Woodlock and Broderick
were plumbers.
Under the Missouri laws, if the girl is convicted of first
or second degree murder her punishment may be the same as if she were an adult. The minimum is ten years in the
penitentiary. If, however, she is convicted of any degree of manslaughter, she
will be sent to an industrial school until she is 21, it was explained.
[“Ursula Broderick Goes To Trial For Death Stepfather –
Alleged Man Was Attacking Her When Fatal Shot Was Fired.” The Wilmington Star
(N. C.), Mar. 30, 1920, p. 10]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 5 of 11): St. Louis, Mo., March 31. –
Testimony tending to show Joseph F. Woodlock lived in constant fear of his wife
and step-daughter, Ursula Broderick, 16 years old, was brought out in the
juvenile court here today at the girl’s trial on a charge of first degree
murder for killing Woodlock April 14, last.
The girl, who four years ago killed her father, Thomas P.
Broderick, in defense of her mother, today again came to the mother’s
assistance.
During a recess Mrs. Woodlock was assaulted in a corridor of
the court building by Mrs. Bridget Corcoran, a sister to Broderick. Seeing the
attack the girl stepped between her mother and Mrs. Corcoran and defied the
latter to strike another blow.
Mrs. Woodlock is charged with second degree murder in
connection with her husband’s death but will be tried later. The girl maintains
she killed Woodlock to defend her honor.
[“Says Woodlock Lived In Fear of Daughter,” The Sun
(Pittsburg, Ka.), Apr. 1, 1920, p. 1]
***
FULL
TEXT (Article 6 of 11): St. Louis, Mo., May 6. – Ursula Broderick, 16, who
killed her stepfather, Joseph F. Woodlock, in their home here April 14, 1919,
was found guilty of murder in the second degree by a jury in juvenile court
here tonight and her punishment fixed at ten years in the Missouri
penitentiary.
The
jury deliberated only an hour and thirty-five minutes. The girl heard the
verdict without a trace of emotion.
~
Motion For New Trial. ~
She
was sent to the detention home, being unable to furnish bond for $10,000. Her
attorney, Charles P. Johnson, announced he would file motion for a new trial.
The
defendant, was charged with first degree murder but the charge was changed to
murder in the second degree by the jury, which in fixing her punishment at ten
years, gave the lightest sentence permitted for that charge.
~
Third Trial For Girl. ~
It
was the third time that the girl was tried for killing Woodlock, whom she shot
to death. A continuance was ordered at the first trial on account of an error
in the court’s instructions to the jury. The second hearing resulted in a
mistrial, the jury being unable to agree after twenty-six hours.
At
that time the foreman reported the vote stood ten to two for conviction, Ursula
took the stand in her own behalf today and reiterated her former testimony that
she killed Woodlock to protect her honor.
The
state contended that Woodlock was killed as the result of a plot between the
girl and her, mother, Mrs. Carrie Woodlock, and that he was shot while asleep.
The last witness for the state, an assistant from the coroner’s office, said
that in performing an autopsy on Woodlock. he discovered the bullets had
entered Woodlock’s head and ranged downward, indicating that he had been shot
from above.
~
Mrs. Woodlock to Be Tried. ~
Mrs.
Woodlock is also under indictment for her husband’s death. Her trial will be
held later.
In
1919 Ursula shot and killed her father, Thomas P. Broderick, but was exonerated
by a coroner’s jury when she testified that she fired in defense of her mother,
whom, she said, Broderick was beating.
[“Murderer of Stepfather to Pay For Crime.” The Ogden
Standard-Examiner (Ut.), May 7, 1920, p. 2]
***
FULL
TEXT (Article 7 of 11): St. Louis, July 22. – Florence McLaughlin, aged 16, who
testified at the trial of Ursula Broderick, also 16, convicted on a charge of
murder in connection with the shooting of her step father, Joseph Woodlock has
been missing from home since Saturday night, police were informed today.
Miss
McLaughlin had been summoned as a witness for the state in the trial of Mrs.
Woodlock, mother of Ursula, who is charged jointly with the latter in
connection with her husband’s death. Ursula was sentenced to ten years in
prison but is out on bail pending appeal.
Miss
McLaughlin testified that Ursula and Mrs. Woodlock had offered her a bribe to
say that she had seen Woodlock act improperly toward his step daughter and girl
who came to the Woodlock home to visit Ursula.
[“Girl
Witness In Murder Case Missing,” The Bridgeport Telegram (Ct.), Jul. 23, 1920,
p. 9]
***
FULL
TEXT (Article 8 of 11): St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 7.—Mrs. Lillian Woodlock, 36 years
old, under two first degree murder indictments for the deaths of Thos. P.
Broderick and Joseph F. Woodlock, her first and second husbands respectively,
went to trial in Circuit Court here today on the second charge. Both men were
shot and killed by Ursula Broderick, the defendant's daughter, who is now out
on $50,000 bond, pending an appeal to the supreme court from a ten year penitentiary
sentence for killing Woodlock.
Woodlock
was shot in April, 1919, the girl testifying she was defending her honor.
Broderick met his death October 6, 1919, and Ursula, then only fourteen years
old, was acquitted by a coroner’s jury on her testimony that she shot to
protect her mother whom she asserted Broderick was beating.
[“Woman Goes On Trial - For Murder of Her
Second Husband — Also Under Indictment for Murder of First Husband.”
Steubenville Herald-Star (Oh.), Dec. 6, 1920, p. 1]
***
FULL
TEXT (Article 9 of 11): St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 11.— A mistrial resulted tonight
in the case of Mrs. Lillian Woodlock, 36, charged with murder in the first
degree for the death of her first husband, Thomas P. Broderick, killed in the
home here October 6, 1916. The jury was discharged after nearly eight hours’
deliberation, when it reported a disagreement. It was said the vote stood 9 to
3 for conviction.
The
defendant was agreed released on bond pending a new trial, which it is expected
will be held in February.
Ursula
Broderick, 17 year old daughter of the
defendant, testified she killed Broderick in defending her mother from attack.
The
state, however, held Broderick was killed by his wife, introducing testimony to
show she had told of receiving $7,000 for which his life was insured.
Mrs.
Woodlock fainted during the prosecution's story of the circumstances
surrounding the killing.
[“Accused
Woman Faints As Story Of Crime Is Told,” The Ogden Standard-Examiner (Ut.),
Dec. 12, 1920, p. 10]
***
***
FULL TEXT (Article 10 of 11): Mrs. Lillian Woodlock, 31 years old, of 920 North
Taylor avenge, was convicted of murder in the second degree by a jury in
Circuit Judge Hartmann’s court last night for the killing of Thomas P.
Broderick, her first husband, on Oct. 6, 1916. at 6122 Wagner place, and her
punishment was fixed at 10 years in ihe penitentiary. She received the sentence
calmly.
She spent the night in jail, lacking bond. She had been at
liberty before and during the trial on a $25,000 bond, but conviction
automatically ended this. Her attorneys will file a formal motion for a new
trial and if that is denied, will appeal to the Supreme Court. Bond, while
these matters are pending, will be no more than the former bond, which was
signed by Chris Schawacker, a professional bondsman, and may be considerably
less. Schawacker’s wife, who died several days ago, is to be buried today, and
he was unable to arrange an appeal bond last night and prevent the necessity of
placing Mrs. Woodlock in jail.
~ Jury Only About Four Hours. ~
The jury received the case at 4:30 yesterday afternoon and
deliberated until after 8:30 p. m., with the exception of a supper period of 45
minutes. The jurors had been kept together and spent the night Wednesday at the
Municipal Courts Building. At 8:45 last night the verdict was read. There was a
brief moment of silence.
Then a woman relative of the defendant, seated on a
spectators’ bench, exclaimed: “Oh, my God” and the Judge ordered the arrest of
anyone else making a demonstration. Mrs. Woodlock, sitting with her counsel,
betrayed no signs of emotion. As the jurors filed out she raised her head to
scan their faces.
Her 17-year-old daughter, Mrs. Daniel E. Miller, who, before
her marriage to a printer last week, was Ursula Broderick, ran over to her. The
girl scowled and sighed as she threw her arms about her mother. In a few
minutes a Deputy Sheriff led Mrs. Woodlock to the nearby jail and Ursula went
home with her husband.
Mrs. Woodlock was charged with murder in the first degree,
for which the penalty may be a death or life sentence; the death penalty,
however, was waived. The Court’s instructions provided for acquittal or
conviction for first or second degree murder. The penalty for the lesser degree
may range from imprisonment for 10 years to life.
~ Girl Took Blame for Killing. ~
It will be remembered that Ursula took the blame for killing
Broderick and a Coroner’s verdict of justifiable homicide was returned. Joseph
Woodlock, second husband of Mrs. Lilian Broderick Woodlock, was killed under
peculiar circumstances at their home at 6042 Wells avenue, on April 14, 1919.
Ursula again took the blame when she and her mother were
questioned before a Coroner’s Jury. The Coroner’s verdict in this case was
homicide, and it was recommended that the mother and daughter both be held for
the grand Jury. Deputy Coroner Dever held that the grand jury should determine
if Mrs. Wood-dock was an accessory before the fact.
A grand jury indicted Ursula on May 8, 1919, for
first-degree murder in the Woodlock case. Her mother was indicted for
first-degree murder in the Woodlock case a short time previously and will be
tried on this charge on June 14, under an agreement of counsel reached today.
Ursula was tried to Juvenile Court for killing her
stepfather and two mistrials resulted before she was sentenced to 10 years’
imprisonment. She held throughout that she shot Mrs. Woodlock in defense of her
honor. She appealed to the Supreme Court and is at liberty on bond, awaiting a
decision.
~ Mistrial Declared Last December. ~
Mrs. Woodlock was tried last December for killing Broderick,
but the jury disagreed, and a mistrial was declared. She was indicted for
killing Broderick on May 28, 1920, after she and Ursula had been indicted for
Woodlock’s death.
In Mrs. Woodlock’s trial this week the State contended that
she quarreled with Broderick the night before he was shot, and that she had
threatened previously to kill him. Evidence was brought out that she denied
Ursula had shot her father, after the inquest. There was no evidence tending to
show directly that Mrs. Woodlock shot Briderick, but it was shown that the
defendant at first said she believed Broderick had shot himself.
Ursula testified in her mother’s defense that she, and not
her mother, shot Broderick. Mrs. Woodlock testified to the same effect. She did
not take the stand in her first trial, but yesterday related a long story of
mistreatment at the hands of her first husband, suffering due to his frequent
intoxication and the indignities offered her and her daughter on a sleepless
night before the shooting. The burden of the defense’s case was to show that
Ursula did the shooting, and that this was justifiable, in the light of
Broderick’s habitual treatment of his family.
In rebuttal, the State offered the testimony of two women to
the effect that, after Mrs. Woodlock was tried last December, Ursula told them
she did not shoot Broderick and intended to confess her perjury. This they
arranged for her to do, and officials of the Circuit Attorney’s office were
prepared to hear the girl’s new statement, but she never appeared.
[“Mrs. Woodlock Gets 10 Years For Husband’s Death –
Convicted of Second Degree Murder in Death of T. P. Broderick Whom Daughter
Claimed to Have Shot.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Mo.), Apr. 29, 1921, p. 3]
FULL
TEXT (Article 11 of 11): St. Louis, June 21. – Mrs. Daniel F. Miller, 17 years
old, before her recent marriage, Ursula Broaderick, confessed slayer of her
father and her stepfather did not kill the former, it was announced in juvenile
court today. Judge Hartman made this announcement in pardoning Mrs. Miller,
under ten-year sentence for the death in 1919 of her stepfather, Joseph
Woodlock. “The woman told me she did not kill her father, Thomas Broderick, in
1919, but confessed to the crime in defense of her mother,” the judge said.
Mrs.
Lillian Woodlock, the mother, is under ten-year sentence in connection with
Broderick’s death.
The
girl was exonerated of her father’s death on testimony that she shot in defense
of her mother. She said she shot Woodlock to defend her honor.
[“Girl
Now Says She Confessed Murder To Save Her Mother,” The Evening Herald
(Albuquerque, N.M.), Jun. 21, 1921, p. 1]
***
Chronology
Oct. 6, 1916 – Thomas B. Broderick killed.
April
14, 1919 – Joseph F. Woodlock, killed
Apr. 3, 1920 – Mistrial declared
May 7, 1920 – Found guilty on 3rd
trial
Dec. 8, 1920 – Lillian Woodlock tried for
murder
Jun. 17, 1921 – Ursula freed
***
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For similar cases, see Murder-Coaching Moms
***
For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.
***
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