FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 5): Globe, Ariz., Jan. 18 – Mattie
Turley, whose trembling hands sent charges from a double barreled shotgun into
her father’s back in Apache county’s strange “ouija board shooting,” today
expressed mingled remorse at her action and relief at being “out from under
mother’s influence.”
~ SIX YEAR TERM
The fifteen-year-old girl, in custody of Sheriff and Mrs.
Marlon O. Haws, was interviewed here en route to the State School for Girls at
Randolph where she is under sentence of a maximum of nearly six years on her
plea of guilty to a charge of attempted murder. Her father, Ernest J. Turley,
died in the naval base hospital at San Diego, December 26, of wounds received
at her hands. The girl told authorities her mother’s ouija board wrote out that
she was to kill her father “so mother could marry a handsome cowboy.”
“I killed daddy and I want to pay for it. That’s the only
way I can show the world and him how sorry I am,” she said.
~ HYPNOTIC INFLUENCE
Mattie declared that her story of the ouija board seances
which pre ceded the fatal shootine a story wnich her mother, Dorothea Irene
Turley, flatly denied was true. She said it seemed to her her mother had held
something of a hypnotic influence over her.
“That ouija board version of the tragedy is true,” the girl
asserted. “I agreed to kill my father but when I pointed the gun at his back I
lost my nerve and dropped the gun to the ground.”
Then, she said, she remembered her mother’s eyes and “picked
up the gun and shot both barrels.”
“I was horrified and panic stricken when he fell,” she said.
[“Girl Sentenced To Prison For Slaying Of Father,” Reno
Evening Gazette (Nv.), Jan. 18, 1934, p. 1]
***
***
FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 5) A Ouija board can get you into trouble, but, it cannot get you out. So don’t trust a ouija board. This was recently demonstrated in the courts of Arizona.
Because
a ouija board under her fingers assertedly “ordered” the death or her
husband, pretty Mrs. Dorothea Irene Turley, once voted the most
beautiful girl in America, has been convicted of intent to murder.
Thereby bringing one of the strangest cases of the year near its
conclusion.
The
woman’s husband was killed, so the testimony showed, in order that she
might be free to marry a handsome cowboy whom she had met a short, time
before. The husband, Ernest Turley, was shot twice in the back on the
afternoon of November 18, 1933, and died a few weeks later.
But the wife herself did not do the shooting – that’s what makes the case doubly weird and involved.
Mattie
Turley, 15-year-old daughter of the Turleys, raised her own shotgun
given to her by her dad and killed him as he carried a pail of milk from
the cowpen, she testified. Having no animosity toward him, she did this
tragic thing solely because the ouija board had commanded her to, and
because her mother had assured her that edicts of the ouija spirits must
be obeyed. Mattie understood, she declared, that “mother must be freed
in order to marry the handsome cowboy.”
The girl herself pleaded guilty in juvenile court and was sentenced to an Arizona reform school. The mother, after fighting long and futilely for dismissal, was tried in the county court at St. Johns and convicted. Penalty for intent to murder is five years to life.
During
the course of the investigation, which extended over six months, a
young fellow identified by the County Attorney as the “handsome cowboy”
in question also was brought up for lack of hearing. But he was released
for lack of evidence. His name was Kent Pearce, and he had all the
outward appearance of a movie-type cowpuncher, big hat, neckerchief,
tight pants, bow legs and all. A very frightened young man, he denied
any untoward associations with Mrs. Turley.
It
was at Crestwood, N. J., in the hectic war year of 1917 that a
newspaper chain concluded its national bathing-beauty contest. This
chain had set out to find the girl most deserving of the title,
“American Venus.”
More
than 50,000 entries came in – exquisitely beautiful maidens from every
corner of every State. The judging could not have been easy, but in the
end everybody was satisfied with the selection made. Dorothea Irene
Kelynack, of Astoria. N. Y., who had been singing on the stage after
studying music abroad, was as nearly perfect as a girl could be. She
tallied to the fraction of an inch with the proportional measurements of
the classic Venus de Milo.
The Nation was almost literally at Dorothea’s feet in worship of her surpassing beauty. Every sort of acclaim came to her, including many hundreds offers of marriage. She typified all that was desirable. But a young man of the United States Navy, Ernest Turley, wooed most ardently of all. His dash and brilliance won her; and America thrilled; then they eloped.
The
daughter, Mattie, was born to them in Boston in 1918. Next year a son,
David, was born, and in 1921 the family moved to California, settling at
Coronado. Everything seemed rosy for the next decade, but poor health
then began to claim its toll. Also, the adulation that Dorothea had
known was now denied her; Mr. Turley’s navy salary was not quite in
keeping with her “American Venus” style.
Sinus trouble caused Mrs. Turley so much suffering that the family began to cast about for a climatic change.
“Why not try Arizona?” a friend suggested.
“The air is high and dry and delightful there. Many persons are relieved from nasal pains by going there.”
It.
was true and, besides that. Arizona’s expansive mountains offered a
fine, vacation outing, anyway. Son David and daughter Mattie especially
were elated. They demanded of daddy if they would be allowed to go
fishing and hunting; David hinted that, with a real gun, he might even
bag a mountain lion.
THEY
chose a spot high in the White Mountains. They couldn’t possibly have
picked a more romantic one. The only people to be seen arc relatively
uncultured but fine-charactered cattle ranchers. One of them stalked up
the first city they arrived, knocked at their ugly rented cabin, and
said he understood they were newcomers and if possible he would like to
have a job.
“We will let you know,” smiled a very pretty woman in answer. “My husband is away from the house just now. What is your name?”
“Reckon it’s Kent Pearce.” he answered. Then his face, too, broke in a wide, appreciative cowboy smile.
Maybe
it was the isolation, maybe it was the illness, maybe it was the
longing for applause and admiration that girlhood days had known, but
something in Mrs. Dorothea Turley began to breed discontent.
They
had come to Arizona in August of 1933, and by September she was having
frequent seances with her ouija board, seeking whatever comfort its
alleged “spirits” could give. One day she found some odd picture rocks
nearby, designs scratched by some prehistoric Indians which even
archeologists could not fathom now. She consulted the ouija board about
them.
The
board informed her that the rocks were over buried gold! Therefore, she
prevailed upon a rather disgruntled husband to do extensive searching.
He dug and dug, even used dynamite, until his back was breaking.
Eventually she went to ouija again, and the board admitted so Mrs.
Turley said, that some mistake had been made. Mr. Turley never quite
forgave her for this “tomfoolery.”
Often
she and her husband had little spats and quarrels. Twice, it was
revealed later she even threatened his life. “Every time I look at you I
want to kill you!” she screamed at him in a rage one time.
On
another occasion, so the trial testimony later showed, she inquired of
her husband about his life insurance, learned that he had two policies
totaling $5000, and asked him how she could collect it if ever occasion
arose. On still another occasion, she and Mattie asked him one day how
far away Mattie’s gun would kill a deer. He told them about twenty
yards. They, of course, never mentioned to him about the ouija board
seances which pointed to his death.
ON
the night of November 17, 1933, a skunk got under the Turley cabin and
had a fight with their cat. The noise and odor so disturbed them that
they could sleep no more that night. They maintained a watch for Mr.
Skunk, but he wouldn’t come out.
They
kept the watch up all next morning. After lunch, however, Mrs. Turley
and David said they would go to the village store for groceries to have a
dinner that night in honor of David’s birthday.
“Stay with daddy, Mattie, and help him catch the skunk,” Mother suggested.
“I
won’t help catch him, but I might shoot,” Mattie replied. The two drove
away, leaving Mattie holding her loaded shotgun and eating an apple.
Before
they returned, Mr. Turley got his bucket and went out to the corral to
milk their new cow. Mattie followed him, still holding her gun. Soon he
came out through the gate and started toward the house. She still
remained behind.
With
no warning at all, two quick shots rang out. Mr. Turley, hit in the
back, tumbled down, and glanced around to see Mattie’s gun smoking, she
herself being on her knees.
“Oh-h-h-h,
Daddy, have I hurt, you?” Mattie screamed, and ran to him. He was in
great pain, but he sent her rushing for help. As she left he told her,
“You should be more careful. Let this be a lesson to you.” He assumed
that the shooting was accidental.
Mattie
met her mother and David returning and told them the news. In a few
hours the doctor and a number of neighbors had come in. Kent Pearce
himself held the lamp that night, while Mrs. Turley tended her husband.
Everybody was sympathetic for the hysterical Mattie, who said she had
stumbled and that her gun had gone off as she fell. But Mr. Turley was
expected to get well. Many people came in to offer sympathy, and, of
course, the officers of the county had to make some inquiries, as a
matter of customary form. One of these officers, though, developed a
curiosity.
HE
LEARNED that the bullets traveled downward, not upward, through Mr.
Turley’s hip. That was funny, reasoned he, when Mattie said the gun went
off as it struck the ground. It would seem more like he had been shot
while he was still standing, maybe with the gun at her shoulder! How
about it, Mattie?
That
blew up the story. Mattie did a complete about-face, and admitted she
had deliberately shot her dad in obedience to the ouija board. She said
she raised the gun first as he passed through the cowpen gate, but
lacked the nerve to pull the triggers.
“Then I remembered how important it was to Mother for her to marry her handsome cowboy,” testified Mattie, “so I raised the gun quickly again and shot both barrels.”
The
seance with the ouija board was described in detail. It had taken
place, she said, in a dim, almost dark room at their home. She and her
mother had had their fingers on it, sure enough. The board had spelled
out that she was to kill her daddy.
“I
asked Mother if I had to do what the ouija board said,” Mattie
explained, “and she told me there was no escaping its command.”
When
Mrs. Turley heard of this confession by her daughter, she became
enraged. She accused the officers of browbeating Mattie so much by third
degree methods that the girl would have confessed to anything.
Asked
about this “mistreatment,” Mattie said calmly that she hadn’t been
mistreated at all, but had only done what she felt she should. Mrs.
Turley however, stuck firmly to Mattie’s first story that, the shooting
was accidental. Mattie went before the Juvenile Judge and he sentenced
her to the reform school until she reaches maturity of 21, which means
six years.
Meantime,
Mr. Turley got no better at McNary, and a United States Marine Corps
plane from San Diego, Calif., flew over and carried him to the naval
base hospital there. There he died on December 26. That made it murder,
and Mrs. Turley then was jailed in default of bond, on a charge of
intent to murder.
[Donald
Rogers, “Fickle Ouija Board Deserts Its Victim - Former American Venus
Who Communed With “Spirits” Found Guilty of Murder Conspiracy by
Arizona Jury,” Oakland Tribune (Ca.), Jul. 22, 1934, Magazine Section,
p. 4?]
***
FULL TEXT: (Article 3 of 5):
FULL TEXT (Article 4 of 5): Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 30. – Arthur N. Kelley, secretary of the state board of public institutions, said today Mattie Turley, 18, convicted of the “Ouija Board” slaying of her father, Ernest Turley, three years ago, had [sic] been paroled.
FULL TEXT (Article 5 of 5): A New York beauty of World war days, Mrs. Dorothea Irene Turley, has filed suit in Phoenix, Ariz., for $75,000 against Mrs. Thelma Bradford Bailey, former superintendent of the Arizona State School for Girls. Mrs. Turley charges Mrs. Bailey with “poisoning the mind” of her daughter Mattie while she (Mrs. Turley) was serving a prison sentence for slaying of her husband.
For similar cases, see Murder-Coaching Moms
***
FULL TEXT: (Article 3 of 5):
HEADLINE:
When The Ouija Board Spelled ‘D-a-d-d-y M-u-s-t D-i-e – With the Acquittal and Release of the
Beautiful Woman Who Once Won National Fame as the “American Venus,” the
Epilogue Is Written to a Sensational Tragedy of the Arizona Mountains
***
FULL TEXT: Nervously, the girl closed her eyes. Her shoulders began to sway a
little.
The room was dim, and the two women were
alone in it. Mother and daughter, both strikingly beautiful, they faced each
other across a small table. Upon this lay a ouija board. Arms outstretched, the
two of them rested their fingers lightly upon the little planchette – that tiny table which slides on the
board’s polished surface, to stop and spell out “spirit messages.”
The girl was only fifteen – but in
her smooth oval face, tilted
upwards, and in the gracious
mood of her form, a precocious maturity was evident. Her eyes remained closed, but the eyes of her
striking mother were open. They rested sometimes on the board, sometimes on the
girl, with a sombre, inscrutable gaze.
The
little planchette moved, and the women’s shoulders swayed gently
together, as if they were dancing to slow music. It stopped. The girl opened
her eyes, and looked at the board.
“D,”
she said.
Again
the child-woman’s eyes closed, and the eerie game went on. And as the planchette
picked out letter after letter, a look of terror and misery grew upon her
smooth face.
“D-A-D-D-Y
M-U-S-T —” spelled the letters. And then: “D-I-E.”
“Oh!”
the girl gasped, looking at her mother. “Who – who must kill him, mummy?”
Such,
according to testimony later given in an Arizona court, was the sombre first
act in a tragedy which shocked the world – and which, universally came to be
known as the “Ouija Board Murder.” And just the other day, the epilogue of that
true-life drama was written, when the courts of Arizona freed a woman from
prison.
BACK
in the year 1917, Dorothea Irene Kelynack’s pretty little head contained no
thoughts of Ouija boards – nor, possibly, of much else. But that didn’t matter,
for Dorothea was only 22, and had just won, over 50,000 girls in a nation-wide
contest, the title of “The American Venus.” Her figure came closest, by actual
measurements, to that of
the classic statue the Venus de Milo.
For a
little hour, she was in the very centre of the fierce white spotlight of
national attention. Exploding flashlight powder illuminated her path.
Celebrities who to her had been only names beamed upon her. Every mail
avalanched this laughing, happy girl with proposals of marriage – proposals
from lumber-jacks, professional men, farmers, actors and even a cracked
millionaire or two. Men tried to force their way in to woo her – rich men and
poor men.
Among
the men who craved to win this perfection of physical womanhood was a spruce
young sailor – Ernest J. Turley, who appeared in the uniform of the U. S. Navy,
He was a handsome, two-fisted, go-getting sort of fellow, and he put up a
whirlwind wooing that made paunchy millionaires, in Dorothea’s eyes, seem just
funny. So she gave in. They eloped early in 1918 and were married. In December
of that year a baby girl was born, whom they named Mattie.
During
these months, Dorothea and her Ernie were excitedly happy. The lovely young
woman’s “public” had not deserted her, despite her disappearance from public
life. When her baby was born, thousands of letters and telegrams of
congratulation poured in. Who could blame the girl for getting the idea that
she had become a permanent national institution – a sort of Statue of Liberty
in the flesh?
And
then the years began to get in their wearing work. People no longer stopped to
point Dorothea out on the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, where the Turleys
had made their home. And who can blame Dorothea, now, if she felt bewildered,
hurt at no longer receiving the adulation which publicity had taught her to
regard as her due? But she had her baby girl Mattie, who was growing up to
adore her mother. And soon a son, David, was born. And a little later Ernie
Turley’s business – he had retired from the Navy – took them all to Coronado,
California. So with domestic concerns and a change of scene Dorothea was not
too unhappy for several years.
But
in time she began to brood. She became interested in the occult – bought a
ouija board. Since life was not fulfilling the dazzling promises it had made to
her, Dorothea was turning to the dark recesses of her own subconscious mind, to
seek consolation. Then she became ill – asthma – and the doctor advised a
change from the damp sea air to the dry and tangy ozone of Arizona.
Turley,
who loved his wife devotedly, gladly agreed that they should take a prolonged
vacation. They would go in the car and camp out. He immediately went to buy
supplies for their trip. That night he brought home two gleaming new shotguns –
and gave one each to Mattie and David.
“When
we get to Arizona you’ll be able to shoot,” he said, knowing nothing of the
ominous nature of his words.
The
family motored the 600 miles into the mountains of Arizona in August of 1933.
They drove right into the historic cattle land where romantic cowboys long have
roamed.
DOROTHEA
TURLEY thought that cowboys were very romantic indeed.
An
especially romantic one, named Kent Pearce, made himself very obliging when the
four Turleys finally stopped near the village of St. Johns. He was a rancher,
young, athletic and handsome – and he looked upon the two Turley women with
frank and open admiration. Mattie, the daughter, though only fifteen, was a lovely young creature, whose
figure already was revealing how much she had inherited of her mother’s beauty.
As for Dorothea, though now about 40, she had retained much of her beauty of
form and face.
Ernie
Turley didn’t object to the rancher’s obvious admiration of his wife. On the
contrary, it pleased him – for a man who marries a woman publicly acclaimed for
her beauty very quickly gets used to the adulation which other men’s glances
offer her, and in time comes to look upon it as his wife’s due. And besides,
Kent Pearce was such an obliging sort of fellow. He offered to show the Turleys
around, and he helped them find an inexpensive cabin so that they didn’t have
to live in tents.
“I
like this place,’ said Dorothea Turley to her husband. “Very pretty. Let’s
stay here.”
Of course, they stayed. And Dorothea proceeded to enjoy the
famous mountain scenery. She enjoyed it so much that she spent hours – days
even – examining it driving the Turley car. And for a guide she had the
handsome and accommodate [sic] and to keep her company, Pearce had gone along. Lovely
little Mattie went along – and to keep her company, Pearce had got a young
friend of his, a happy-go-lucky “apprentice” cowboy of 16 named Pollard
Wiltbank. A couple of times this foursome even stayed out overnight –with good
explanations each time.
THERE
wasn’t very much for Ernie J Turley to do –but Mrs. Turley’s ouija board fixed
that. She still consulted it faithfully, and it told her – she revealed to her
husband – that certain queer picture-writings on rocks nearby actually showed
the location of a vast, hidden treasure.
The
fact that scientists for decades have been striving in vain to decipher these
strange rock-writings meant nothing whatever to Dorothea Turley. Ouija had
spoken. Ouija never lied – and – ouija must be obeyed!
What
the little planchcite had commanded, Dorothea said, was that Ernie
should take a pick and shovel and go off into the bush to a certain spot, which
she would designate, and there and he would surely find a buried treasure.
Nothing
could more clearly reveal Ernest Turley’s profound love for this woman, and his
complete faith in her, than the fact that he not only borrowed a pick and
shovel, but actually bought several sticks of dynamite. Thus equipped, he
blasted a great hole at the spot Dorothea showed to him.
Of course,
there was no treasure – and for once, the doting husband got mad. He blew up
thoroughly and told his astonished wife just what he thought of her
blankety-blank ouija board, and of her, too, for fooling with such an idiotic
contraption.
A day
or so later, Turley took his two children – with their two nice new shotguns –
to hunt game. As they were leaving, Dorothea calmly said to her daughter:
“Don’t
forget your promise, Mattie.”
“Yes,
mother, I won’t forget,” the girl recited. And that night, when the three of
them returned, she again spoke enigmatically to her mother:
“I’m
sorry,” she apologized, “that I fell down on my promise.”
“No
matter,” her mother said gently, smiling. “You’ll have another chance.”
Young
David’s birthday came a few days later, and Dorothea took her son in the car
to the village to get supplies for a family party. Mattie was left with her
father.
Half
an hour passed.
Suddenly
the roar of a shotgun shook the still November air. And then screams – Mattie’s
hysterical screams, ringing the echoes.
“Oh –
I’ve killed him! My father! An accident – I tripped.”
Help
was brought and Turley, horribly torn with shot, but still living, was rushed
to a local hospital, then by airplane to the United States Naval Hospital at
San Diego, California. There he died – but first he said that he had caught
just a glimpse of his daughter behind him, her shotgun in her hands.
Everyone
was very tender and sympathetic with little Mattie – until an old time deputy
sheriff asked her how it was, if she had tripped firing into her father’s back
by accident, that the shot had traveled downward in his body instead of upward.
The
girl then became hysterical.
“It
was not an accident,’’ she confessed.
“I
did it on purpose, so mother could marry her handsome cowboy. I had to do it!
Ouija ordered me to—and when ouija commands, it must be obeyed.”
In a
seance with her mother, Mattie revealed, the board had spelled out: “Daddy must
die.” And when the girl had asked who should kill him, the obliging board seemed
to reply “M. T.” That meant, her mother said (as reported now by Mattie)
“Mattie Turley.”
MATTIE
was sent to reform school, to stay there till she turns 21 – but Mrs. Turley’s
trial was a world sensation. Mother and daughter faced each other across a
crowded courtroom, and Mattie stuck to her story. Young Pollard Wiltbank, the
“apprentice” cowboy, swore that Kent Pearce and Mrs. Turley spent most of their
time together, on outings, in each other’s arms. A neighbor woman testified
that the accused had said she loved Pearce and wanted to marry him. Pearce, on
the stand, denied hopes of marriage – but Mrs. Turley was sent to prison for 20
years.
That
was less than three years ago. But just the other day, granted a retrial, the
former American Venus almost broke down with joy when she was acquitted. Today
she is a free woman – but no mention has been made of freeing her daughter from
reform school.
What
will Dorothea Turley do with this unexpected gift of freedom? Will this
publicity-haunted woman, who has been posed by the press both as heroine and as
criminal, at last find the oblivion of obscurity? Or with her name again blaze in headlines of
romance or tragedy?
Only
time – and perhaps her Ouija board – will tell.
[“When The Ouija Board Spelled ‘D-a-d-d-y M-u-s-t
D-i-e,” Oakland Tribune (Ca.), Nov. 14,
1937, Magazine Section, p. ?]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 4 of 5): Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 30. – Arthur N. Kelley, secretary of the state board of public institutions, said today Mattie Turley, 18, convicted of the “Ouija Board” slaying of her father, Ernest Turley, three years ago, had [sic] been paroled.
Mattie, accused of shooting her father in the back with a
shotgun, was sentenced to a state school was abandoned a year ago, she was
removed to the convent of the Good Shepherd in Phoenix.
The girl’s mother, Mrs. Dorothea Irene Turley, whose
conviction of assault with intent to commit murder was intent to commit murder
was recently reversed by the state supreme court, was released in September.
The charges against her was dismissed.
Kelley said the girl had been paroled to Judge Levi S. Udall
of the Apache county superior court, where Mattie was tried.
“I have nothing to say regarding the matter,” Judge Udall
said from Holbrook where he was reached by telephone. “This girl has received
too much publicity already. She has her life to live, and I think she should be
left alone.”
The parole order was signed by Gov. B. B. Moeur, Mit Simms,
state treasurer, and Kelley.
Kelley said Judge Udall asked for the parole, expressing the
belief it was to the best interest of society.
Mrs. Turley, hailed by sculptors as the “American Venus”
during the world war, had tried twice to tree the girl. Mattie told her mother
at the time she thought they “should never see each other again.”
The state charged that Mrs. Turley, during a Ouija board
reading, directed her daughter to kill Turley.
[“Mattie Turley Out on Parole, Is Told,” syndicated (AP),
Prescott Evening Courier (Az.), Nov. 30, 1936, p. 2]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 5 of 5): A New York beauty of World war days, Mrs. Dorothea Irene Turley, has filed suit in Phoenix, Ariz., for $75,000 against Mrs. Thelma Bradford Bailey, former superintendent of the Arizona State School for Girls. Mrs. Turley charges Mrs. Bailey with “poisoning the mind” of her daughter Mattie while she (Mrs. Turley) was serving a prison sentence for slaying of her husband.
[“Seeks $75,000,” syndicated (Central Press), The Oelwein
Daily Register (Io.), Apr. 30, 1938, p. 2]
No follow-up news reports on the Turley vs. Bailey suit have been located so far. It is presumed this court action was not successful.
No follow-up news reports on the Turley vs. Bailey suit have been located so far. It is presumed this court action was not successful.
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CHRONOLOGY
Mar. 15, 1916 – New York’s Evening World newspaper
declared 21-year-old Dorothea Irene Kelynack “an exact flesh-and-blood replica
of the marble Venus of the Louvre.”
1918
– Married; Dorothea & Chief Petty Officer (“Lieut.”) Ernest J. Turley. Live
in Boston, Ma.
1921
– Turleys move to Coronado, Ca.
1933
– Dorothea diagnosed with asthma.
Aug.
1933 – Turleys move to Arizona, rent cabin in St. John, Apache County.
1933
– Dorothea meets handsome cowboy, Ken Pearce.
Nov.
18, 1933 – Mattie (15) shoots father “near Springfield.”
Dec.
22, 1933 – Mattie T. pleads guilty to shhoting her father.
Dec.
26, 1933 – Turley dies; San Diego Naval Base Hospital.
Jan.
18, 1934 – Mattie sentenced; State School for Girls, Randolph.
Jun.
1, 1934 – Mattie testifies in mother’s trial. Denies being offered inducements
to confess to the “ouija” story involving her mother.
Jun.
10, 1934 – Dorothea convicted.
Jul.
7, 1934 – Dorothea sentenced to 10-25 years; Judge P. A. Sawyer.
Nov.
30, 1934 – Mattie paroled (11/30/34, date of news report). “paroled to Judge
Levi S. Udell.
May
19, 1936 – Arizona Supreme Court; Atty. Greg Garcia argues religious prejudice.
Elmer Coker, Asst. Atty. Gen.
Jun.
29, 1936 – new trial for DT ordered by Arizona State Supreme Court.
July
17, 1936 – DT transferred from prison to Apache Cty. Jail by Sheriff A. H.
Greenwood to face trial (retrial).
Sep.
11, 1936 – Judge Levi S. Udell frees DT, stating insufficient evidence for a
new trial for “assault with intent to murder.” Due to death of former Sheriff
Haws who died in auto accident on Sep. 8, 1936.
Sep.
14, 1936 – Mattie refuses to see mother. A letter contains her refusal.
Sep.
19, 1936 – appeal, Judge Howard C. Speakman, Maricopa Cty. Superior Court.
Apr.
19, 1938 – DT alienation lawsuit against Thelma Bradford Bailey, $75,000.
Oct.
11, 1939 – lawsuit dismissed by Superior Judge Howard C. Speakman.
***
I’m Your Venus,” Hilobrow, Aug. 25, 2016
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For similar cases, see Murder-Coaching Moms
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[2341-2-13-19; 3034-11/7/21]
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[2341-2-13-19; 3034-11/7/21]
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I work for Time Inc Uk and we would like to use one of your Mattie Turley posters on our website, specifically this one: When The Ouija Board Spelled ‘D-a-d-d-y M-u-s-t D-i-e,” Oakland Tribune (Ca.), Nov. 14, 1937, Magazine Section, p. ?
ReplyDeletePlease let us know if there is a copywright, thank you. You can email me directly at glenda.richards@timeinc.com