FULL TEXT: Bakersfield, Nov. 19. – Breaking into tears under
questioning, 13-year-old Joyce Christine Nichols admitted today, authorities
said, that she killed blonde Myretta Jones, 5, with a rock last Monday after
luring her to a children s cave.
The girl would give no reason for the slaying and apparently
could not recall what impulse led her to beat Myretta to death, according to
Sheriff John Loustalot
~ Taken From School ~
Joyce, a rather attractive brown-haired girl. was taken out
of a classroom at Emerson Junior High School this morning just 40 hours after
the body of her playmate was found in the cave by Dep. Sheriff Otto Olofson.
Myretta, blue-eyed daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Jones, was
last seen by relatives about 3:30 p.m., Monday when she left on an errand to a
grocery store in the Casa Loma district.
Her mother's frantic call to the Sheriff's office an hour
and a half later sent a posse of deputies and neighbors scouring the area until
Olofson peered into the blood-spattered cave dug by children as a
"pirate's den" in the 80-acre Kern County fair ground site.
~ Man First Hunted ~
Hampered by erroneous first reports that the child had been
criminally attacked before she was killed the investigation later swung from a
search for a man to a hunt for a girl on the basis of small footprints found in
the cave.
Joyce faced four criminal investigators calmly at the
Sheriff's office until her stepmother, Mrs. Cal Nichols, appeared and collapsed
at the girl's feet. The child broke into a flood of tears and told the
following story, according to Sheriff Loustalot.
She met Myretta on the wav to the store, accompanied her to
the Nichols' home, where Joyce finished up some house work.
~ Suggested Cave Visit ~
She then suggested Myretta go to the cave "to
play."
The 5-year-old walked to the cave and descended into its
narrow confines where Joyce shortly demanded that her small playmate take off
her clothes.
Myretta refused, the sobbing girl told investigators, but
several slaps across the face persuaded the younger girl to comply.
But no sooner was Myretta stripped, her clothes in a heap on
the earth floor of the cave, when Joyce snatched up the heavy rock and hit the
crying youngster over the head, Loustalot continued.
~ Left Body in Cave ~
After the killing, the 13-year-old left the body in the
cave, washed her hands in a near-by canal and returned home to tell her parents
what she had done, the Sheriff said.
"The father, an auto body mechanic, decided not to say
anything until he figured out just what to do," Loustalot continued.
"He ordered his wife to say nothing and also woke up the girl's brother
Jerry 14, told him the story and cautioned him to keep quiet."
~ Mother Washed Clothes ~
"Yesterday, Joyce went to school as usual while the
stepmother washed out the girls bloody clothing."
Once the deputies swung to the track of a girl as the
suspect the name of Joyce Nichols came to, light from several sources
particularly one schoolmate who had seen the two girls walking together toward
the cave.
Investigators talked to Mr. and Mrs. Nichols this morning
after Joyce had gone to school but could get nowhere. After she was taken into
custody, however, the parents admitted they had known of the crime "but
were so scared they didn't know what to do," Sheriff Loustalot said.
After making her statement. Joyce was sent to the County
Detention Home, where she was confined in a single room to await examination by
doctors and psychiatrists.
[“Girl, 13, Confesses Beating 5-Year-Old Child to Death,”
Los Angeles Times (Ca.), Nov. 20, 1947, P. 5]
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FULL TEXT: Bakersfield, Nov. 21. – 5-year-old Myretta Jones
met death last Monday as a result of blows on the head inflicted by Joyce
Christine Nichols, 13, it was decided today by Coroner Norman C. Houze after
the bobby-soxer admitted the crime on the inquest witness stand.
Joyce told of beating the kindergartner to death in a “children’s
“private cave” when the child threatened to tell her grandmother of being
mistreated by the junior high school girl. She said she hit Myretta with a rock
four times then dragged her body back into the cave.
~ Step-Mother Testifies ~
Mrs. Cal Nichols, step-mother of the bobby-soxer, also took
the stand to testify she learned of the crime the same evening upon questioning
Joyce after hearing on the radio of Myretta’s death and learning her daughter
had been seen with the younger girl.
“She told me she hit a little girl with a rock and that’s
all she could remember,” Mrs. Nichols said. “I guess she blanked out.”
Joyce, who is being held at the County Detention Home on a
murder complaint, will be arraigned Monday or Tuesday in Justice Court and
certified to the Juvenile Court.
County authorities said she may be returned to Superior Court
for trial, however.
Funeral services for the slain youngster will be conducted
tomorrow afternoon.
[“Coroner Funds Girl, 5, Killed By Bobby-Soxer,” Los Angeles
Times (Ca.), Nov. 22, 1947, P. 4]
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FULL TEXT: Bakersfield, Nov. 24. – Justice of the Peace
Stuart Magee today certified 13-year-old Joyce Christine Nichols to the
Juvenile Court after the bobby-soxer admitted at the hearing that she beat a
kindergarten playmate to death with a rock a week ago.
While her stepmother, Mrs. Calvin Nichols, sobbed, Joyce
declared she bludgeoned Myretta Jones in a children’s cave when the younger
girl rejected her improper advances.
Juvenile Judge Warren Stockton now will have charge of the
girl, with the option of disposing of the case under the laws pertaining to
juveniles or returning her to Superior Court for criminal prosecution.
[“Cave Death in Juvenile Court,” Los Angeles Times (Ca.), Nov.
25, 1947, P. 2]
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