FULL TEXT: Dallas, Tex., Dec. 23. – When Mrs. Bertha Lankford killed Dr. George A. Lankford in their home in Harrisburg he was the third husband of the woman accused of unfaithfulness and the second whose life was forfeited because of the charge.
The first husband, William Howard of Houston, escaped, so
far as physical harm was concerned. He was simply divorced. The second husband
was William Smith, also of Houston. His wife tried to kill him, but the bullet
went wide and only shattered his arm.
But her brother took up the quarrel, and shot Smith dead. Boyce was
acquitted on the ground of justifiable homicide.
In her second attempt to murder a husband Mrs. Lankford took
no chances.
She says boldly that she had the right, to kill Mr. Lankford
because she was satisfied he had deceived her. But she need have no fear of
the law, because death will claim her before an executioner could, even if she
were found guilty of murder in tho first degree. She is in the last stages of
consumption.
She knows neither remorse or regret. She says her own life
has been wrecked by the perfidy of men, and that the least she could do was to
make an example of men who betray.
There was no young woman in Texas whose career was brighter
in promise than hers. She is now little more than thirty and in ten years has
been crowded much misery and desperation.
She was the only daughter, of Captain Robert Boyce, known
all over Texas, in business, political and military circles. Bertha Boyce was
carefully educated. She had a brilliant mind, was pretty had wealth and
position. When her father died he left her $100,000. Then her misery began.
Miss Boyce soon afterward married William Howard of Houston.
After two children were born to them Mrs. Howard learned that about her husband
which made her secure a divorce.
There was no lack of suitors for the rich Texan woman. William
Smith won her affections and they were married.
One day she saw him enter the Casino in Houston with two
women companions. Mrs. Smith had long been prepared. She reached into her
pocket, grasped a revolver, walked into the Casino and stood before her
husband and his companions. Without a word she fired three shots at him. Only
one took effect. It shattered an arm.
There was no divorce from William Smith, ltobort Boyce said
that Smith and his sister could not both live and he shot Smith dead. He was tried
for murder and the jury acquitted him.
Mrs. Smith went to live in her beautiful home in Harrisburg.
Dr. George A. Lankford came to Houston twelve years ago from
Maryland. He practiced both in Houston anf Harrisburg, and met with much
success.
He knew all about her previous matrimonial experiences of
the daughter of Robert Boyce. He and she were married.Trouble began almost
immediately. There is no denying that Mrs. Lankford is extremely jealous. She
mistook the congratulations showered upon him for attentions which a husband
should not receive.
It is not likely that the details of the murder of Dr.
Lankford will ever be known. Long before Mrs. Lankford will ever be known. Long
before Mrs. Lankford had made up her mind to slay him she discovered proofs of
his wrong doing.
She has said repeatedly that she does not know the
circumstances surrounding the shooting, that her mind is a blank. But she
makes no denial of the murder itself.
As nearly can be learned, she went to the library, where her
husband was writing, on Thanksgiving evening. A quarrel was ended by Mrs.
Lankford shooting her husband three times. The second shot would have proved
fatal had not the first already killed.
She was waiting in the library when a deputy sheriff
arrived, waiting there with tho husband she had murdered.
“Dr. Lankford violated his vows and obligations of a husband
and I killed him,” she said, “There was nothing else for me to do. I am
justified in avenging my wrongs. Look for yourself.”
She pointed to two letters lying on the desk where Dr.
Lankford had been writing. They were addressed to a woman in Houston.
After the murder Mrs. Lankford collapsed utterly. It was no
plain that she can live but a little time that she was released on $3,000 bail.
She was taken to the house of friends, where she is waiting for the end.
[“The Strange Case of Mrs. Lankford.” Oakland Tribune (Ca.),
Dec. 23, 1899, p. 5]
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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.
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