One woman, four dead husbands and a whole lot of arsenic-laced fly paper.
This is the premise of Episode 6.
Lyda TrueBlood was Idaho's first-known female serial killer and one of America's earliest "black widows." We’ll untangle her web of deceit and tell you about the lovers she left dead in her wake, those that escaped, and the one who is still missing. That along with the steadfast investigator who tracked her trail through out the early 1900s.
Lyda Trueblood
Source: South Idaho Press
But the story doesn't end there, as 10 years into her prison sentence Lyda used her wiles to engineer a daring escape from prison and was on the lam for more than a year.
Source: Daily News
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
Lyda's wanted poster...note the "has a very shifty look" description
Source: William C Anderson's book: Lady Bluebeard
Born in 1892, her family moved from Keytesville, Missouri, to Twin Falls, Idaho, at the turn of the 20th century in search of fertile farm lands and the American Dream. However, the Truebloods struggled when they arrived and found the life they were promised was nothing more than a pipe dream.
Lyda in particular was said to have had a hard time adjusting to life in the lower class. She struggled until a man from her past arrived in town. Robert "Bob" Dooley, who knew Lyda growing up in Missouri, had always been in love with her and did not wait long to ask for her hand.
The couple was married and welcomed a baby girl, Lorraine, in 1913. A couple of years later, Bob's brother Ed joined them on their Idaho ranch to help work the land. The decision would prove to be one of his last.
Not long after he arrived, Ed died suddenly. Lyda told the doctor it was food poisoning. She and Bob collected on a $2,500 life insurance policy. It was a novel idea that was not common in the early 1900s and Lyda soon convinced her groom to take out a policy of his own. He died shortly afterward.
Bob Dooley
Source: Daily News
Tragedy continued to follow Lyda. Not long after the men of the house passed away, little Lorainne died as well.
Lorainne Dooley
Source: Find a Grave
Lyda didn't spend long grieving. She met a man named Bill Mchaffie and they were married very quickly. They moved north to Montana. But, soon Lyda was calling a doctor because Bill fell sick. He died a short time later.
Bill Mchaffie - Husband #2
Source: Daily News
But Lyda wasn't left alone. She had met a traveling salesman named Harlan Lewis and left Montana right away. They traveled to Colorado together before Harlan died suddenly. Lyda was once again the beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
Harlin Lewis - Husband #3
source: unknownmisandry.com
Lyda then returned to Twin Falls, where she set her eyes on her fourth husband- a strapping ranch worker named Ed Meyer. The couple married in secret almost immediately. Hours after they tied the knot, Lyda made sure Ed took out a life insurance policy.
A few weeks later, Lyda spent her first night at the ranch with Ed Meyer and offered to cook a meal for him and the other workers. Ed instantly fell sick and ended up in the hospital. Doctors expected he would recover, but then Lyda showed up.
Edward Meyer - Husband #4
source: Unknownmisandry.com
Lyda had been married four times in the span of 5 years. All four husbands were dead, as well as her brother-in-law. Lyda collected life insurance money on every single death.
Eventually, she caught the attention of a Twin Falls Deputy named Virgil Ormsby.
Deputy Virgil Ormsby
Source: William C Andersons book: Lady Bluebeard
The body of Ed Meyer was eventually exhumed and what was discovered in his system would crack the case wide open. Deputy Ormsby then dove deep into Lyda's past and started turning up evidence, including a large cache of fly paper.
Lyda and 5th husband Paul Southard
Source: William C Andersons book: Lady Bluebeard
To learn more about how Lyda baited and killed her victims, listen to this episode on the 'Two sleuths Podcast.'
We'll dive into each marriage, tell you about the impressive investigative work and multi-country manhunt that eventually led to her trial and conviction. Plus, you can hear how she escaped from jail and learn more about what happened to her final husband... who is still missing.
Lyda with her captor, Deputy Virgil Ormsby and Sheriff E.R. Sherman (right)
Source: William C Andersons book: Lady Bluebeard
David Minton - Lyda's jailhouse boyfriend
Source:The Times
Harry Whitlock - Husband #6
Source: Daily News
Sources:
Anderson, William C: Lady Bluebeard
https://www.newspapers.com/image/450874654/?terms=lyda%20trueblood&match=2
https://www.newspapers.com/image/567424506/?terms=lyda%20trueblood&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/566092840/?terms=lyda%20southard&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/722816514/?terms=lyda%20southard&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/259214547/?terms=Lyda&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/274890301/?terms=Lyda&match=1
Episode Transcript:
Katie KaplanHost00:00 Hey there, fellow sleuths, we are your True Crime hosts. I'm Katie Kaplan, an investigative journalist. EmHost00:06 And I'm M a former special agent and you're listening to Two Sleuths. Speaker 3Host00:31 Warning this podcast contains graphic content that may not be suitable for all listeners. All suspects or persons of interest discussed on this podcast are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Listener discretion advised. EmHost00:47 One woman, four dead husbands and a whole lot of flypaper. This is the premise for our case today about Idaho's first female serial killer. We'll tell you about the lovers she left dead in her wake and those that escaped, and one who is still missing, that along with the steadfast investigator who tracked her trail throughout the early 1900s. Today we're talking about the case of Lida Trueblood, as she is believed to be one of the first Black widows in America, born 1892, to William and Laura Trueblood. As one of seven children, lida spent her early years growing up in Kittsville, missouri, and, like a lot of American towns back then, it was up and coming. Census records show that there were just over 800 residents in that town. Her father, william, who worked as a farmer, had grown sick of the Missouri weather and he was ready for a change. Katie KaplanHost01:35 And that is where a big time businessman named Ira Perine enters the picture and plays a big role in the future of the Trueblood family. With the backing of wealthy bankers, ira was working on a plan to build dams throughout central Idaho, which he would then use to create canals that could support abundant farms. He was peddling this idea in advertisements and flyers posted across the US to persuade farmers to flock to the Twin Falls area of Idaho and take advantage of this abundant farmland. Now, as a result, countless farmers came to cities across central Idaho in droves, and one of those families was the Truebloods. However, ira's plan fell through when he lost the backing of his investors and the dams were never built. This meant the fertile farmland he had promised to aspiring farmers was nothing more than a pipe dream. 02:27 Countless families who had uprooted their entire lives to chase a dream of wealth and prosperity were left without any way to generate a living and fell into poverty. The Truebloods were among these families, and they struggled to feed their seven children. They couldn't afford to even wash their clothes, and the kids would often go to school dirty in the same outfit day after day. This was particularly hard on their 14-year-old daughter, lida, who was their third oldest. Lida and a May Trueblood had been extremely outgoing as a child and loved animals. But after her family fell into crisis, lida became intensely discontent and began to resent her place among the lower class of society. EmHost03:10 But Lida had one shining light amid her turmoil Bob Dooley. He had grown up in the same Missouri town as Lida, and after a few years he followed her out there. They had been friends when they were young and he had always loved her. So in 1912, when Lida turned 20, they were married Together. They decided to return to their hometown of Kitasville, missouri, where Bob's family was still living. They began working on a ranch, but it wasn't long before they changed their minds and decided to head back to Twin Falls, idaho. Once they returned, lida's father helped them buy a small ranch no easy feat, as her father himself didn't have a ton of money. Katie KaplanHost03:46 Once Lida and Bob had begun establishing a life for themselves on the ranch, they soon welcomed a little girl. Lorraine Marie Dooley was born in 1913. A couple of years later, in 1915, bob wrote to his brother, ed, and invited him to come out and live and work the ranch with them, and he accepted. But soon after he arrived, ed died suddenly. His cause of death was ruled tomein poisoning. Tomein is actually just a French word for food poisoning that was used in the early 1900s. Lida told the doctors that he had eaten sardines and milk before he fell ill, and that was it. Ed's body was returned to his parents in Missouri for burial. 04:24 After Ed died, a life insurance policy which had been obtained by Lida and Bob just three days before Ed died, was paid out. It was about $2,000, which would be $60,000 today. After receiving the payout, lida used half of the money to repay her father for his investment in the ranch. Ed was pretty young, but back then, in the early 1900s, medical advancements weren't what they are today, so it wasn't totally uncommon to die from something simple like this. Nonetheless, the experience seemed to be jarring to Lida, because she quickly became consumed by an overwhelming concern that her husband might also just drop dead someday. So Lida begged Bob to take out a life insurance policy. That way she and Lorraine would be financially secure. Bob agreed and within days of Ed's death he secured his own policy for $2,500. And it was a good thing he did, because eight weeks later Bob also fell sick and instantly died. The record surrounding the circumstances of Bob's death aren't completely clear, but it was stated that Bob's death certificate showed he died of typhoid fever, which is caused by salmonella bacteria. EmHost05:31 So in one fell swoop, both brothers passed away, leaving Lida left behind as the sole owner of the ranch and what would be today's value of $105,000 in cash. So the sources for this case were numerous old newspapers throughout the 1920s 1930s, as well as a book called Lady Bluebeard by William Anderson, and in reading through everything, there were never any accounts of Lida's behavior during this time. Was she distraught over the loss of her childhood sweetheart and brother-in-law in such quick succession? We don't know, but still there was nothing stated about how Lida responded when tragedy struck yet again Just eight weeks after her husband died. This time it was her young daughter, lorraine. 06:14 Lida told people that Lorraine had drank in from tainted well water and succumbed to the illness that followed. She was just a few weeks shy of her second birthday. So how does a child this young access well water by herself? This gives rise to numerous other questions, but questions that seemingly went unasked by those around Lida at the time. Regardless of the specifics, the reality remains unchanged. Three people within the confines of a single household died in rapid secession, leaving Lida the sole survivor. Such a devastating sequence of events would cast what we'll see as an ever-deepening shadow of doubt over the tragic circumstances that would befall anyone who got too close to Lida. Katie KaplanHost06:54 Widowed and alone in the world. Lida was ready for a fresh start, and it wasn't long before her path crossed with a new man. She met Billy McCaffey, who owned a cafe in town, and they quickly fell into a whirlwind romance. They married almost immediately and soon after Lida declared that she was so haunted by the tragic loss of her loved ones she wanted a fresh start. She asked Billy to move from Southern Idaho to about 500 miles north up to the town of Hardin in Southern Montana. Given her experience, she also explained to Billy about how important it was for spouses to have life insurance policies set up on each other. Eager to please, billy was happy to oblige and he took out a $5,000 policy on himself. 07:38 You probably won't be surprised to learn there was never any documentation that a policy was taken out on Lida. As Lida had come into a windfall of cash following her husband and brother-in-law's death, she bought a ranch for her and Billy in Hardin. But it wasn't long before poor Billy came down with influenza, the flu, and he died. Lida reached out to the insurance company and tried to collect, but apparently Billy had missed a payment, so the policy had lapsed. Sources state that Lida frantically tried to pay the lapse bill so as to reinstate the policy and receive the $5,000 in wake of her husband's death. Sources vary, but the majority of them state that the insurance company refused to give Lida the payout. However, she didn't end up with nothing. His will had left her the cafe it was 1918, and Lida was once again left widowed. EmHost08:28 She left Montana but didn't immediately return to Twin Falls. She went on to marry again, and we'll get to that in just a moment. But she ultimately made her way back to Twin Falls, Idaho, in 1919, and when she came back she still had the last name McCaffey, so as not to tip anyone off that there was another husband. After Billy, Lida took up a job, working as a cashier at the restaurant called the Gro-Cafe, and it was said that once she began working there was a major uptick in male patrons of this cafe, all seemingly entranced with Lida. One such man was a rugged and strong German-American named Ed Meier. He was working as a ranch foreman at Ira Perine's Blue Lakes Ranch and he was beloved by everyone in town. People describe him as a strapping young man who was strong enough to lift a horse. 09:14 By this time Lida was 27 years old. As far as the town knew, she had already been married and widowed twice, so she clearly knew how to captivate a man and charm him into marriage, which is evident yet again when she and Ed were wed immediately after meeting in August of 1920. But this time the wedding was kept a secret. And to help keep that secret, the two kept separate residences. As an experienced widow, Lida knew how quickly one could succumb to an abrupt illness and, not willing to chance it, she made Ed take out a $2,000 life insurance policy within two hours after their wedding, Lida of course being the beneficiary. Ed also drew up a will that would leave her a 20-acre plot of land that he owned, valued at $10,000. 09:56 A few weeks after the wedding, Lida visited Ed at the ranch where he lived and offered to cook a meal for him and his crew. Almost immediately after the meal, Ed and one of his co-workers, Ben Squire, fell sick. Lida also claimed that she too had fallen ill. However, she almost instantly recovered. Ben also started feeling better the next day, but, unfortunately for Ed, his condition worsened to the point where he had to be hospitalized. Katie KaplanHost10:22 Now that he was receiving professional medical care, ed started to get better and doctors were confident he would make a full recovery. But then Lida showed up to help take care of her husband. The nurses watched as she gingerly coaxed him to drink water and tea. She even brought toast from home and hand-fed it to him After his improvement at the hospital. Physicians were shocked when suddenly he took a turn for the worse and Ed, this young, strong and healthy man, succumbed to his illness. The attending physician declared his cause of death was from tommy Again that fancy word for food poisoning. However, another doctor, who was a chemist and a pathologist, had a differing opinion. He examined Ed's body and believed Ed had fallen victim to typhoid fever. EmHost11:07 This was Lida's shortest marriage, at only 27 days, and you can be sure that Lida wasted no time filing her claim for the life insurance policy, but, unbeknownst to her, an autopsy had been ordered after Ed passed away. Now, autopsies weren't as commonplace as they are now, but, giving the conflicting medical viewpoints, authorities opted for one in hopes of finding out what exactly caused Ed's death. So I can only imagine Lida's surprise when the insurance company refused to issue her the life insurance payout until after the autopsy was conducted and the findings were presented to them. Meanwhile, whispers began to circulate within the community of Twin Falls. Some were swirled about Ed's sudden death and Ed and Lida's secret marriage. At this point it had become public knowledge. This only added fuel to the fire. Lida refused to make any comment in the press, which apparently was pretty unusual at the time and also created a lot of suspicion. And then, immediately after Ed's funeral, Lida vanished. Katie KaplanHost12:07 Ultimately, the autopsy results revealed the presence of typhoid germs in Ed's system. However, doubts still lingered. The doctor who treated Ed at the hospital vehemently disputed the diagnosis, arguing that his patient did not have a fever before he died. This contradiction raised some eyebrows, as a common symptom of typhoid fever is a noticeable rise in body temperature. EmHost12:31 After the autopsy findings were sent to the insurance company, they had no reason not to issue the payout to Lida, who had already skipped town and while rumors were flying in Twin Falls, to the casual observer there seemed to be a perfectly reasonable medical explanation for the deaths of her husband. Lida most likely felt safe that no one was the wiser to her nefarious schemes. And that might be the end of the story if it weren't for Deputy Sheriff Virgil Ormsby. He would prove to be a tenacious and determined investigator whose role is central to this case. As I read throughout the copious news coverage from the 1920s and other books published on this case, my admiration for Ormsby only grew, as it was obvious that his pursuit of justice was unwavering. Katie KaplanHost13:12 Even the circumstances surrounding Ed's unexpected death, the fact that he was young, healthy and strong before his sudden illness and that he was held in high regard within the community pressure began mounting on the Sheriff's office to conduct a thorough investigation. 13:27 The case was assigned to Deputy Ormsby and he wasted no time. His first order of business was to head to the ranch where Ed had worked. The deputy met with one of Ed's closest friends who also worked on the ranch. Bud Taylor had a valuable glimpse into Ed and Lida's relationship that no one else had since their marriage was kept a secret. Bud told the deputy that Ed had confided in him about their relationship and told him that Lida was a wealthy woman who owned property in Montana, which is where the couple was planning to relocate to. Bud recalled how Ed was impressed with Lida's financial savviness and her insistence on him securing a life insurance policy. This tiny little detail stood out to the deputy, who had already started looking into Lida's past. He knew that her first husband and his brother had died within weeks of each other, both leaving life insurance policies to Lida. EmHost14:20 But Bud had even more information for Deputy Ormsby. He told him how Ed and Lida had secretly wed in the middle of August. Then on September 7th, lida came to the ranch for the first time and stayed the night. The next morning she took charge of the kitchen and prepared a meal for the entire crew. This was when Ed and another worker became sick. The detail about Lida cooking the meal that landed Ed in the hospital was new information to Deputy Ormsby. And Bud also told Ormsby that right after Ed's funeral he had walked in on Lida at the ranch, rifling through Ed's personal documents. He said that she took some paperwork with her when she left, and this was the last time Bud or anyone else in town had seen her. Katie KaplanHost15:01 Thanks to Bud. Deputy Ormsby had some valuable insight and likely a gut instinct about Lida, and that turned into real suspicion when he learned that the day before Ed Meier fell sick, lida had increased his life insurance policy from $2,000 to $10,000. Deputy Ormsby had already been aware of the circumstances surrounding brother Bob and Ed Dooley's deaths, so he decided to look into Lida's daughter's death. Sadly he found she had also died tragically. And he also discovered Lida had another husband. He hadn't been aware of Billy McCaffey, who Lida moved to Montana with but then returned to Twin Falls without. He decided to trace this lead and actually made the trek to Hardin Montana where Lida and Billy had lived. He showed up at the address where the couple had lived and found the current tenants, a Mr and Mrs Hannafin were well acquainted with Lida and her second husband, billy. They told Deputy Ormsby some troubling information. 15:58 Apparently, while Lida and Billy were living there, a man named Harlan Lewis had arrived in town. He was a traveling salesman, but the Hannafin said it was obvious there was a romantic spark between Lida and this man. Lida's husband, bill, was not happy about the chemistry and made it known that he didn't like Harlan, but this didn't stop Harlan, the traveling salesman from announcing that he was extending his trip and staying in town. According to the Hannafin's, this was the catalyst to tension and many arguments between Lida and Billy. It was clearly a strained marriage. That was until Billy suddenly dropped dead. Lida didn't hang around. She left town right away, and so did Harlan. EmHost16:39 After learning this information, deputy Ormsby located the physician who treated Billy. The doctor said he had been called to the McCaffey household and while there he noticed that Lida and Billy slept in different beds. He thought this was a bit odd for a married couple. While there, lida and her husband claimed that they were both suffering from flu-like symptoms. However, the doctor said that when he examined Lida, she did not appear to be sick at all. On the other hand, billy was displaying all the telltale signs of a severe bout of influenza. The doctor treated Billy and gave him medicine to help alleviate his symptoms. He left with hopes that Billy would recover, but when he returned a few days later he was shocked to see how rapidly Billy's health had deteriorated. Lida also continued to maintain she was sick without having any detectable symptoms. Sadly, it was clear to the doctor that Billy was hanging on by a thread and eventually he succumbed to his illness. Katie KaplanHost17:35 As the investigation continued in Hardin, Deputy Ormsby found out that Lida held a $5,000 life insurance policy on Billy Before leaving Montana. He went back to the Hannahfins' house and asked if he could look around. The couple invited him inside and mentioned that Lida had left some of her things behind and that the couple had stored them down in the basement. Deputy Ormsby went to look through the items and quickly noticed a barrel full of something called flypaper. Essentially, it's a 1920s flytrap, basically sticky paper that flies get stuck to. Some people even still use it today. I imagine this was a pretty popular thing back then. However, Deputy Ormsby couldn't help but notice there was way more than any household would normally need, and that's when it clicked. Deputy Ormsby remembered that flypaper contained an ingredient that is very toxic and even deadly. EmHost18:28 While down in that basement, deputy Ormsby noticed another item among Lida's left behind belongings a very large cooking pot. Recognizing its potential significance, he carefully collected the pot to preserve it for evidence. Deputy Ormsby began to form a hypothesis Could it be that LIDA had devised a method to extract toxic arsenic from flypaper, transforming it into lethal liquid that could be used as a deadly poison? It certainly seemed possible. The trip to Montana had been fruitful, and so he set off to uncover what happened after LIDA left Montana in the years before she returned to Twin Falls. Katie KaplanHost19:04 Idaho, and his investigation led him to yet another discovery. In March of 1919, after her second husband, billy, had died, lida and Harlan were married in Denver, colorado. They spent some time there in the Centennial State but eventually returned to Montana, and this time they made their home in Billings, about 50 miles east of where they met in Hardin. As we know, history as a way of repeating itself, especially when you have a serial killer on your hands. So, as you might be anticipating, it was only four months after exchanging vows that Harlan suddenly fell ill. He passed within days. 19:43 Deputy Ormsby headed to Billings and learned that before his death Harlan had confided in a friend that LIDA had coerced him into getting a life insurance policy valued at $10,000. The deputy was also able to track down the doctor who had treated Harlan in his final days. The doctor said that it was Harlan's wife who told him that Harlan was suffering from severe indigestion. Despite treatment, he died pretty quickly, and LIDA told the doctor she believed he got sick from something he ate but had a compromised immune system because of the indigestion and therefore it was more susceptible to catching the flu. Deputy Ormsby was able to confirm that LIDA was able to collect on the $10,000 insurance policy. He was now completely convinced it was beyond coincidence that all of LIDA's young and relatively healthy husbands had met untimely deaths. EmHost20:36 So Deputy Ormsby made his way back to the beginning and returned to Twin Falls. There he interviewed LIDA's neighbors during her time on the ranch with her first husband and their daughter. According to their accounts, a disturbing picture emerged of neglect and mistreatment. Neighbors claimed to have witnessed the little girl enduring a life of starvation and malnourishment under her mother's care. Ormsby asked himself, as others have over the years, how could she have killed her own daughter? 21:03 Most speculate that LIDA believed her daughter was in the way. Once she learned how to kill a man without raising suspicions of doctors or law enforcement, she realized it netted her a pretty profit. If she was going to continue doing this, she'd have a harder time finding more suitors that were willing to take her along with another man's child. During his investigation, deputy Ormsby hadn't learned much about LIDA's relationship with her first husband, bob, so he went out to Missouri, where they had grown up and then moved back to as newlyweds, to see what he could uncover there. He tracked down Bob's father and sister, and their account shed light onto LIDA's volatile personality and vicious temper, which left the couple constantly embroiled in fiery altercations. Katie KaplanHost21:45 Believing he had enough at this point, deputy Ormsby returned to Twin Falls, compiled his findings and presented the case to the town prosecutor. Lida had been married four times in the span of five years. All four husbands were dead, plus a brother-in-law. She collected the life insurance money on every single one. The prosecutor took a look at the case and agreed that they had enough to exhume the body of LIDA's fourth husband, the ranch hand Ed Meyer. In an effort to thwart the press and the small town rumor mill, they did it under the cover of darkness, digging up the body in the middle of the night. EmHost22:21 The Idaho State chemist was entrusted with conducting tests and analyzing the toxicology results taken from Ed's remains. His findings confirmed the hypothesis that Deputy Ormsby had formed back in Montana. The presence of arsenic was unmistakable and the levels detected in Ed's remains were consistent with a lethal dose. The toxicology report noted that arsenic can be found in various forms, such as sprays and solutions, as well as one other source documented on that autopsy report Flypaper. Katie KaplanHost22:51 Deputy Ormsby then submitted LIDA's cooking pot that he had found in the basement of the Montana home for testing, and the results were damning. Traces of the poison were found in the pot's residue. This evidence was enough to warrant exhumations of the bodies of second husband Billy McAfee, third husband Harlan Lewis and brothers Bob and Ed Dooley, as well as little Lorraine, and by this point I don't think anyone was surprised to find that all four men were all found to have a lethal level of arsenic in their bodies at the time of death, confirming the suspicions that they had all fallen victim to LIDA's flypaper concocted poison. Lorraine, however, did not have any traces of arsenic in her system, but she was found to be substantially underdeveloped for her age, which can be a sign of being underfed. Investigators began to believe that she had suffered a different fate, but still at the hands of LIDA. Coupled with the statements from LIDA's neighbors about how Lorraine appeared malnourished, they believe that Lorraine died of starvation. EmHost23:52 With the investigation conducted by Deputy Ormsby, he had provided enough evidence for the prosecutor to move forward and on April 22, 1921, the prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for LIDA True Blood. Deputy Ormsby was now in full pursuit, but where had she fled after Ed was murdered? Ormsby caught a lucky break when LIDA sent a friend a postcard, and it was stamped from San Francisco. Further questioning around town led him to one of the True Blood's family friends, a woman named Delaine Risley, who was living out in San Francisco. Armed with this information, ormsby wasted no time in finding Delaine's address and making his way out to the Bay City. However, when he arrived at the residence he was too late. Delaine had already moved. 24:37 Luckily, the landlord was helpful in providing another thread for Ormsby to follow. They told him they had heard Delaine mentioning she wanted to move out to LA. So Ormsby reached out to the LA County Sheriff's Office and together they contacted the United States Postal Service to check for any current addresses associated with the name Delaine Risley. Sure enough, they found her living in La Cienega neighborhood and to their surprise, the United States Postal Service also said there was another individual collecting mail at the same address. It was LIDA. Deputy Ormsby was elated with this discovery, so he headed out to the address with the LA Sheriff's ready to take her into custody. However, when they arrived, delaine answered the door and told them that LIDA had recently met a man and moved out to be with him. When pressed for the boyfriend's name and information, delaine said that she only knew his nickname, zorro, and that he was either from Spain or Mexico. Katie KaplanHost25:32 Through a network of sources and investigators, la County Sheriff's deputies were able to find someone who knew Zorro. This guy confirmed that just two weeks prior he had seen Zorro in the company of a woman who looked like LIDA. The pair were headed for Tijuana, which is just south of the California-Mexico border. This is where Deputy Ormsby's manhunt for LIDA really turned into a wild goose chase. Remember this is back in the first quarter of the 20th century. Cell phones did not exist. People were traveling by car, train or boat, paper mail took time to arrive and investigators could often be chasing cold fleets. 26:09 Deputy Ormsby followed her trail to Tijuana, then over to another border town called Mexicali, then back up to San Pedro, california, in Los Angeles County. Along the way he had found out that she was no longer with Zorro, but he always seemed to be one step behind. Once in San Pedro, the deputy found himself at a restaurant where he had learned LIDA had briefly worked as a server, finding himself lucky once again, he found a woman who had actually worked along with LIDA and she said LIDA had recently married a naval officer and they had moved to Honolulu, hawaii, where he was stationed in Pearl Harbor. A marriage certificate shows that LIDA and Petty Officer Vincent Paul Southered, who went by. Paul had married in LA on November 28th 1920. EmHost26:55 At this point. Deputy Ormsby was quoted in the Daily News as saying If LIDA isn't nabbed quick, the Navy will soon have one less Petty Officer. Now Detective Ormsby was tired of chasing LIDA and always being too late, so before traveling to Honolulu, he forwarded the locals a copy of her arrest warrant outlining the charges of murder she was facing. Back in Idaho, Ormsby was determined to get her into custody, even if it meant that he wasn't the one to do it. With his authorization, Honolulu Police Department swung into action and dispatched a team of officers to Paul and Lida's apartment. They had a photograph of Lida in hand, and so they recognized her. The second she opened the door, they asked if she was Miss Paul Souther, to which she confirmed. They then told her she was under arrest for murder. She was shocked and told them there must be some mistake. But she quickly realized that, with warrant in hand, she had no choice. So she went with them willingly back to the station. Katie KaplanHost27:52 Now Deputy Ormsby and the Twin Falls Sheriff's Office were faced with a unique challenge. The first commercial flight between the West Coast and Hawaii wouldn't be offered for another 15 years. That was Pan Am in 1935. So Lida would have to be transported back via ship. This meant six days at sea with a female suspect in custody, one who was going to need to use the shower and bathroom under relatively close supervision. The Twin Falls Sheriff's Office didn't have any female deputies at this time, but Determined Deputy Ormsby came up with a solution. According to the book Lady Bluebeard by William Anderson, the deputy's wife, nelly, was up for the task. She had been putting up with her husband's dogged pursuit of Lida, which had taken him on so many trips to Montana, to Missouri, to California. Their marriage had hit a rough patch, so he was happy to be able to spend some time with his wife and she was getting an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. Nelly Ormsby became the second Deputy Ormsby after she was deputized by the Twin Falls Sheriff's Office. EmHost28:57 And with Nelly, freshly deputized, they embarked to Hawaii on an ocean liner called the Matsonia. This was May 18, 1921, and they would arrive six days later. While Deputy Ormsby and Nelly were crossing the ocean, the Honolulu police were working on the case. One of the officers found out that Paul, husband number five, had submitted an application for a $10,000 life insurance policy with the Navy. The policy, however, had been denied because a certain time period had lapsed. Basically just a paperwork issue. So police kept investigating and found another application was in with a local insurance company, but this application was still in progress. It was a $5,000 life insurance policy on Paul with Lida as the beneficiary. Deputy Ormsby learned this. He suspected the only reason Paul was still alive was because the Navy policy had fallen through and the other one was still pending. 29:54 While Ormsby was making his trip across the Pacific, honolulu PD had kind of run into an issue Due to territorial law. They could only hold Lida for 48 hours unless they brought charges against her. Officers said that while she was in custody she was acting very aloof about the charges that she had been arrested for. However, honolulu PD had an issue Due to some territorial law out there. They couldn't hold Lida for 48 hours. Unless they had their own local charges against her. The fact that she had an outstanding warrant for homicide didn't do anything to help them keep her in jail. 30:28 However, she was said to be very happy to stay in custody so that she could return to Idaho and prove her innocence. So she made a statement to the press and it was printed in the Honolulu Advertiser. It's a bit repetitive. So to sum it up, she stated I waive my rights to an attorney and I understand that I'm free to go unless local charges are brought against me. She also went on to say that she didn't want to be charged for something silly just for the sake of keeping her in custody. So she would volunteer to stay in jail until the officials from the mainland sent for her. Katie KaplanHost31:01 The following day, a news article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin said that Lida's parents would not be contributing financially to their daughter's defense. Her mother was quoted as saying they had hoped and believed all along that Lida was innocent, but if she is guilty as charged she should be punished. The same article stated that her husband, paul, was working to raise money for Lida's defense. And there was also another interesting tidbit in this paper about a source who told the reporter that several months prior Paul had mentioned how his new wife was a very wealthy woman. EmHost31:35 On May 24, 1921, deputy Virgil Ormsby and his wife Nelly arrived in Honolulu. 31:42 They were greeted by the press, as there were already rumors flying around about the defense that Lida was going to mount at trial. 31:50 A reporter had heard that Lida was claiming that she was a typhoid carrier. The Honolulu Star Bulletin posted Deputy Ormsby's response, in which he vehemently disputed the idea, saying that Any theory advanced by Ms Paul Vincent Southerd that she is a typhoid carrier and that several of her husbands came to their deaths by contracting typhoid fever from her is ridiculous. On the fact of the evidence which the authorities and Twin Falls have in hand, if Ms Southerd was a typhoid carrier, it is strange that there is no record of any typhoid epidemic in the various places she has lived. So Ormsby was already calling her out, according to that book by Anderson. During the trip, deputy Ormsby and Nelly both grew to really like Lida as a person and supposedly Ormsby even allowed her to enjoy the formal dinners as more of a social engagement than just bringing her food in her room, further demonstrating the charming spells she seemed to be able to cast over all that she encountered. By June 7th they docked in San Francisco and began to make their way back to Idaho. Katie KaplanHost32:55 Now, once she arrived back in Twin Falls, Lida was detained in the courthouse jail. The preliminary hearing, which is like a mini trial where profs scooters must show that enough evidence exists to charge the defendant, lasted two days. Ultimately, the judge found there was sufficient probable cause to move ahead with the case and the trial was scheduled for three months. Down the road, On September 26th 1921, it started, and it was a circus. The manhunt for Lida had been chronicled in newspapers at the time, with updates splashed across the front pages. Her trial offered nothing less. Locals came in droves to catch a glimpse of Lida and her team of four attorneys. The courtroom doors had to be locked to maintain order. At one point, the crowd outside grew restless and tried to force their way inside. Several windows on the doors were left broken. The trial went down in history for being the longest on record at the time, lasting six weeks. EmHost33:53 So much was revealed during the trial, but one piece in particular was quite shocking to the public, as most people thought they knew everything there was about Lida's case and her victims. However, prosecutors had uncovered an almost victim. In the weeks before she met and married her fourth husband, ed the ranch hand, she had met a guy named Buddy Thornburg, a former service man who was adjusting to life after the military. He had just arrived in Twin Falls and found work as a reporter for the local paper, along with one of his military friends named Harold McGrath. Almost immediately after arriving, buddy had met a friendly employee at the Grill restaurant, a woman named Lida McAfee. Their story started much like the others a whirlwind romance and a quick wedding date. 34:38 Buddy was aware that Lida was a widow, but he'd only known about one dead husband. He raved to his friend at the paper that his fiance had a lot of business sense and that she was very wealthy, with money coming in from Montana. Buddy also mentioned his $10,000 military life insurance policy and how Lida encouraged him to keep it, as well as a second policy she suggested he take out from a different company. Luckily for Buddy, harold got nothing but red flags from this information. He was apparently able to talk some sense into him because Buddy broke off the engagement with Lida and left town, moving to Washington State. It would be only a few weeks later that Lida would meet and marry Ed Meier, her husband of three weeks. Buddy was fortunate to find that he had escaped the fate of Lida's previous husbands. Katie KaplanHost35:26 The sole focus of the state's case against LIDA was the murder of Ed Meier. However, the judge allowed evidence in the murder of her other husbands to be presented as well. Deputy Ormsby was the first person to take the stand. He recounted his tireless investigation traveling from one city to another, the discovery in the basement of the cache of flypaper which, it turns out, was found not just there but also in the farmhouse she shared with her first husband and his brother. He talked about the testing on the cooking pot that confirmed arsenic residue was there and the multi-country manhunt Following. EmHost36:02 Ormsby's compelling testimony. The chemist who had exhumed the bodies of LIDA's deceased husbands took the stand and presented the findings of lethal levels of arsenic in each of the victims. During the cross-examination, lida's attorneys attempted to introduce doubt, suggesting that the arsenic levels could have been a result of an accidental contamination before or after death. They specifically said that arsenic was used as a pesticide and Ed had just simply eaten an apple with too much arsenic on it and that was the cause of his death. The chemist's testimony went on to dispute these claims as they attempted to dismantle the potential defense LIDA was trying to mount. Further testimony came from chemist Earl Dooley, who had told the jury that he was at the Blue Lake Ranch only two days after Ed died. While he was there, someone had pointed out to where Ed had been vomiting immediately after the meal LIDA had served him. He was able to collect this vomit and after analyzing it he found it contained arsenic. Katie KaplanHost37:02 Another witness, a woman who worked as a drugist in the Twin Falls Pharmacy, testified that in August, just before Ed died, LIDA came into the store and purchased flypaper, and the cook at the ranch where Ed and his staff ate their meals was Ms Howe. She testified that the day LIDA came by to help with the meal she saw many plates that had flypaper sitting on them in the kitchen. Then came the defense's turn to present their case and they used Ed Meyers death certificate as the cornerstone of it. They argued that the official cause of death was listed as typhoid fever, which contradicted the prosecution's claim that it was arsenic poisoning. Lida took the stand in her own defense, where she emphatically denied all of the claims that had been made by the previous witnesses. Lida explained that she was an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid and she had unknowingly passed the illnesses to each of her husbands. EmHost37:55 As they suspected this might be her defense. The prosecution was ready to counter. They produced records showing that while she was in custody in Honolulu, a doctor had tested her specifically for typhoid and the results were 100% conclusive that she was not a typhoid carrier. The prosecution then asked her about all the flypaper, to which she simply responded that she had an extreme disgust of flies and that is why she bought so much paper. 38:22 Finally, on November 3rd 1921, the trial concluded and the jury went into deliberation. In the discussions amongst themselves, they were having a hard time not seeing the logic in the defense's statement that Ed could have eaten an apple with arsenic-laced pesticide. It took 23 hours of deliberation before they returned their verdict. Fortunately, justice prevailed and they informed the judge that they found LIDA guilty of second-degree murder for Ed Meyers death. A few days later, Judge Babcock sentenced LIDA to a prison sentence of 10 years to life. Throughout the trial, LIDA's husband, Paul Souther, had been on leave from military so he could stand beside his wife, whom he believed was innocent. However, after the verdict, he immediately filed for divorce and he cited the date as the day she had been arrested. Katie KaplanHost39:11 And that should be where this case ends, but alas, it's not. A few days later, lida reported to the Idaho State Penitentiary and was assigned prisoner ID number 3052. During her time at the prison, she settled into life in the women's ward, taking on various tasks like cooking and sewing, and she even grew to develop a love for gardening. There are also claims that she became a trusted inmate and formed a close relationship with the warden. EmHost39:39 While LIDA was confined to the woman's section of the penitentiary, it was connected by a pseudo wall where the male and female prisoners could talk with one another, and we all know LIDA certainly took any opportunity to charm a man. So, coming up on her 10-year anniversary in prison, she struck up a relationship with a man named David Minton, one of the male inmates. Minton was a car thief and a forager. Maybe LIDA was genuinely attracted to him, or maybe she started showing him interest because he was coming up on parole. Beyond Minton, lida also made sure to keep the charm turned on, so she was in the good graces of the male guards. As Minton was nearing his release date, lida asked her friend the warden if she could expand her gardening hobby by being allowed to have a trellis made for the garden to grow roses. Katie KaplanHost40:29 Well, the warden agreed, and none other than David Minton designed and created the iron trellis, which he completed about two weeks before he was released. Around 10.30 pm on May 4, 1931, lida sawed through a single barn, her cell window, which she was then able to crawl out of. After removing it, bringing the sheets from her cell, she made her way down to the garden, where she took the trellis that had been made for her and assembled them together, revealing its real use a ladder tall enough to scale the 12-foot wall. Lida then tied the braided sheets to the top of the trellis and lowered herself over the other side of the wall, where Minton was waiting in a car, and the two made their getaway. The escape made national news. The warden assumed that a prison guard by the name of Jack Watkins, who had been fond of LIDA, had snuck in the hand saw, which allowed her to escape. EmHost41:22 And now for the second time, the hunt for LIDA was on Immediately. The warden sent men out to search the ground on foot, including the nearby fields. He also sent men out to put up blockades stopping all motorists, and they even checked the nearby train stations, but LIDA was nowhere to be found. A wanted poster was sent out nationwide with a picture of LIDA in a $50 reward for information leading to her capture. In this poster, lida was described as a 39-year-old woman, 5'2", with blue eyes and light brown hair that she wore in a bob cut. Now, under this section, where they list any marks or peculiarities, they wrote has a shifty look, and I can't help but to laugh at how this was given as a helpful description to find LIDA. 42:10 But eventually tips started coming in. Some of them, however, were ridiculous, such as one where a map was sent in with one of those X marks, the spot showing LIDA's hiding location. But one tip finally came in that proved promising. It was a witness that said he had encountered a man who resembled David Minton. This man had offered him a ride and during their conversation in the car, this witness said that Minton told him he was planning to meet up with a woman later that night and that the two of them were going to travel to Colorado. The witness then said Minton drove to the post office where he picked up some mail and when Minton returned to the car he saw that there was a letter addressed to HO Mills. When Minton opened it, the man saw that there were two money orders inside. Katie KaplanHost42:54 The warden, who was desperate to capture the only inmate who had ever escaped under his watch, ran with this lead and started digging into her jail activities. He discovered that she had sent two money orders addressed to her listed attorney, HO Mills. The warden was surprised to find there was such an attorney, but when he got in contact with him the attorney said he had never received money orders from LIDA. The warden then decided the next move was just to wait for one of the money orders to be cashed and then he'd follow it to LIDA's whereabouts. Eventually, one of the checks was cashed in Rollins, Wyoming. The warden reached out to the police there to see if they could quickly find and arrest LIDA. However, they learned that she had only spent one night in town before leaving. EmHost43:40 So they went back to that original tip, the one where the witness said Minton mentioned going to Colorado with a woman. They also looked at Minton's arrest record, which showed car theft out of Colorado. So the warden decided to focus his efforts there. He was able to get every police agency in Colorado to be on the lookout for LIDA, and it would be one day before the anniversary of LIDA's prison escape on May 3rd, that another tip would come in from Denver, colorado. A reporter approached the police station and claimed to have sources confirming David Minton was currently residing with his family in Erie, colorado. Obtaining the address, they waited until nightfall before approaching the house. They made their approach and when they got close enough they looked through the windows of the house and found that it was unoccupied. They set out to talk to the neighbors and they learned that Minton had been living there with a woman but that they had left several weeks ago. Katie KaplanHost44:34 The local law enforcement spent weeks staking out the house in hopes that they would return, and their luck paid off. In July they saw Minton return and took him into custody. But he wasn't talking. The warden made his way to Denver to take a run at him himself. He was able to get Minton to admit that he had helped Lida escape the prison. He said, however, that he had no idea where she was, as she had abandoned him at the train station in Wyoming. Knowing that was a lie, Minton was charged with abetting Lida's escape and returned to the Idaho Penitentiary. Once there, he fully confessed and told the warden that Lida was staying at 731 Elati Street in Denver with her new husband. EmHost45:15 Denver. Police were dispatched to the address to find that no one was home. But this time they thought they had the drop on Lida, so they maintained surveillance on the residence. Soon they saw a man walking down the street and make his way up to the front door. The cops approached him cautiously and he identified himself as Harry Whitlock. They told Harry that they were looking for Lida's Southered, but he didn't know anybody by that name. 45:40 As they continued to question him, harry told them that he had recently married a woman, but her name was Fern Zellers. He told law enforcement that he had hired Fern to work as a housekeeper only a few months prior when he fell in love with her and the two got married. Now Harry was a fairly wealthy man, and they went on to ask him if his wife had ever asked him to take out a life insurance policy after they got married, and Harry was shocked how could the police know such a thing? We haven't really mentioned this before, but apparently it wasn't very common practice back in this day to obtain life insurance policies on spouses. They felt confident that they had found Lida's new husband, and so they showed him a picture of her. He went on to confirm that? Yeah, that was a picture of his new wife, but her name was Fern, not Lida. Katie KaplanHost46:26 They quickly informed him about his wife's true identity and status as a fugitive and a murderer. They also let him know about her pattern of marriage, life insurance policy and then death. Police asked when Lida would return home, but Harry said she had recently left for a trip to Ohio to visit her sick mother. He didn't know exactly where because she hadn't left a forwarding address and he hadn't seen or heard from her since she had left. The timing of Lida's sudden departure from her husband seemed too coincidental. Continuing their investigation, they spoke to Minton's sister, who admitted that her brother had told her, if he was ever arrested, that she needed to alert Lida that he had been taken into custody, and in fact she had done just that. So Lida decided it was best to skip town, while her sixth husband was none the wiser. EmHost47:16 Weeks went by and APBs were sent out to Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma with Lida's information. Then, on July 29th, Denver Chief Clark received a phone call from Harry Whitlock saying he had information about Lida. They rushed back to Harry's house and he told them that he had just received a letter from her it had been postmarked just two days before from Topeka, Kansas. In the letter, Lida wrote that her mother's health had improved and so the two had traveled together to Kansas to visit family. She asked Harry if he could wire her some money so that she could return in a few weeks. Katie KaplanHost47:54 Finally they felt like they were going to catch her, and so they looped in Topeka's police chief, who then put his squad on high alert, Assuming she would be checking the mail frequently, looking for a response or money from Harry. They kept the post office delivery window under constant surveillance and it finally paid off. A few days later, a woman walked in and asked the postal worker if they had a letter for a Miss Harry Whitlock. Police surrounded her and 15 months after her escape, Miss Lida True Blood, Duly McAfee, Lewis Meyer, Southerd Whitlock, was finally captured and returned to the Idaho State Penitentiary. It was noted that she told the arresting officer she was glad it was finally over. EmHost48:36 And then, shockingly, Lida had her first shot at parole less than two years after she had returned to prison. Now, I never saw anything about new charges for her escape, and that would have been unusual if she didn't receive any added time. It also should have at least pushed back her eligibility for parole Either way. When her first hearing rolled around, she found that many members of the Twin Falls community had written in pleading for her request to be denied, and luckily it was. Her second attempt at parole was on November 6, 1935, in which Lida continued to claim that her trial was unjust and that she faced bias and prejudice from the Twin Falls community which prevented her from having a fair trial. Katie KaplanHost49:20 Again, her request was denied Five years later, the Twin Falls police chief and two of Lida's sisters wrote a letter to Idaho's governor asking for a 10-day reprieve for Lida so that she could say goodbye to her dying mother. However, the governor wouldn't have it. It was 10 years after Lida was recaptured and almost 20 served in total that the board finally decided she had been such a model prisoner that she could be released on a temporary six-month parole under the condition that she reside with her sister in Oregon. EmHost49:51 During that six-month period, she was routinely checked up on by her parole officer and after successfully completing this parole at the age of 49, lida was granted a full pardon for her crimes by Idaho's governor. Yes, a pardon. No idea why she was pardoned, especially after the governor denied a 10-day reprieve to visit her dying mother. It doesn't seem to make much sense, because pardons usually come after criminal shows that they've accepted responsibility for their crimes, and even then they're very rare. But Lida, as we know, never did. She claimed innocence until the day she died. Now this seems unfair, considering the families of the victims, for them to know that she had been publicly forgiven by the governor for the crime she'd committed. Katie KaplanHost50:38 After she was pardoned, lida wanted to return to Twin Falls and live with her father on their family farm. But Lida quickly learned that the town had not forgotten her and she was treated like an outcast by the residents. She was also shunned by her two sisters who still lived there. So she packed up and moved to Provo, utah, where she met and married a man named Hal Shaw, her seventh husband. They were married for a few years and even took a trip across the country to visit Lida's sister in Oregon. While visiting she confided in her. 51:08 That house children learned about her past and didn't want her cooking for their father. So it may or may not be shocking to hear that soon Hal disappeared under mysterious circumstances and he is still missing today. And as far as we know, that really is the end, because on February 5, 1958, lida was walking home with a bag of groceries when she dropped dead from a heart attack. It's been said that Lida was completely hairless at this point in her life, a symptom of prolonged exposure to arsenic. She was buried in Twin Falls, but her family, trying to distance themselves from her, put the name Anna Shaw on her tombstone. EmHost51:47 All in all, lida collected $26,000 in life insurance policies from her husbands slash victims, which today equates to about $786,000. Plus the ranch and other estates that she inherited. And an interesting note about how invested Deputy Ormsby became in Lida and her case over the years. He and his wife were known to visit Lida during her time in the state penitentiary. Nellie, specifically, had grown very fond of Lida during their travel together from Hawaii to the mainland. It was eight years after Lida was first incarcerated that Virgil Ormsby passed away due to a cerebral hemorrhage, and a source stated that Lida sent flowers to his funeral. All right, sleuth. That is going to do it for this week's episode. We will be back next week with another case, so we hope you keep listening. Katie KaplanHost52:40 And don't forget. You can check out pictures from today's episode on our social media pages and, while you're there, we hope you'll say hi. We would love to hear from you and don't forget to support our show by sharing and leaving a review in your podcast player. Until next time, stay vigilant and stay curious, fellow Sleuths.
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