Execution Tales Chapters 45-47
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45: Nemesis Approaches
Two days later the four journalists met with Captain Murdoch & Lieutenant Tierney of the Chicago PD at police HQ & briefed them on everything that had happened since the disappearance of Penny Smithson
The officers sat in stunned silence after they had finished & Murdoch said, “If what you surmise is true this is going to be as big as the Holmes case”. H. H. Holmes had turned his hotel Chicago hotel into a human slaughterhouse a few years previously.
Tierney said, “With respect I know that you are naturally very concerned to find out what happened to your colleague Penny Smith but we have absolutely no evidence to support your conjectures. The question it seems to me is how do we set about trying to find evidence that either proves or disproves your theory?”
Henry replied, “I have been giving that a lot of thought Lieutenant & I think that somehow we need to be able to search the women’s house without the owners being there. What did for the Edwards was finding all those bodies under the cellar floor”
Murdoch said, “I’m afraid no judge is going to grant a search warrant on the basis of what you have told us. After all it is just speculation based on circumstantial evidence”.
Tierney thought for a moment & said, “You said that in the Edwards case the NYPD worked closely with the Pinkertons. Why don’t I talk to their Chicago office & see if they are willing to undertake some unofficial, hopefully undetectable , & entirely deniable, breaking & entering on our behalf ?”.
Seven days later Murdoch, Tierney, Henry, Jackie, Chalmers the man in charge of the Pinkerton’s Chicago office, Gerald McLeod, & his detective Ian Thomas who had “Burgled” Cheryl, April & Beth’s home when they were at the College met at Chicago Police HQ. McLeod said, “Tell the folks what you found Ian”.
Thomas said, “In the main part of the house the answer is nothing. There is a cellar which I managed to get into by picking the lock & I found a makeshift gallows, & two versions of what I believe is called a garrotte, which in Spain & Latin America is used to execute condemned prisoners. However if these women are killing the College girls the question is how are they disposing of the bodies. As far as I could tell the floor of the cellar is undisturbed”.
Jackie said, “The boat!. They must be using the boat”.
Murdoch said, “I’m afraid you have lost me Miss McKenzie, what boat?”
Jackie continued, “Cheryl, April & Beth go sailing every weekend on the Barnes woman’s boat on Lake Michigan. When they moved from New York they shipped it across”.
McEwan looked at Chalmers & asked, “When did the last girl leave the College Tom?”
Chalmers replied, “Three days ago Boss”.
Henry thought aloud, “Today is Friday. That means if what we suspect may be true Cheryl, April & Beth will be intending to dispose of their latest victim in Lake Michigan tomorrow”.
He looked at Murdoch & said, “We need to somehow search that boat before they have a chance to get rid of the body, assuming of course there is one. Captain may I suggest that you involve the navy. Ask them to put a small launch on the Lake tomorrow. Correct me if I am wrong but I am pretty sure that would have the right to board & search any vessel on the lake that they suspected may be involved in smuggling illicit goods the USA & Canada. We will stake out the girls house from first light to monitor the comings & goings”.
Murdoch & Tierney looked at each other & Tierney said, “I served in the navy during the Civil War & I know the officer in charge of the Chicago & Illinois area quite well. He is a good man. Let me to talk to him & set it up”.
46: Caught!
The next morning Jackie & Chalmers stood at the corner in the road beyond the entrance to the girls’ house. They watched Cheryl, April & Beth leave carrying a large wooden chest which they put in their carriage before setting off for Chicago. They then followed a hundred yards or so behind in their own carriage
When they arrived at the marina on the lakeside the girls parked the carriage, tied up the two horses, dragged the chest to the boat & then set off out into the lake
Waiting four hundred yards off shore was a US Navy Corvette with Murdoch, Tierney, four other police officers & Henry on board. Initially the girls weren’t concerned by the presence of the naval vessel but they became anxious as it approached & then pulled alongside them
A naval officer leaned across the rail & said “Good morning ladies. We are checking all vessels today for smuggled goods & so I’m afraid we must board & check your boat for contraband. Cheryl, April & Beth looked at each other their fear of discovery growing given the contents of the chest underneath the table in the main cabin of the boat. Cheryl muttered, “Keep calm & smile girls, there is nothing else we can do.”
On the advice of the State Attorney General’s office it was four armed US sailors who jumped aboard & began to search the boat. Having been briefed that they were looking for something that could hide a body they quickly came across the chest containing the remains of the girl’s latest victim & asked what was in it.
Cheryl said, “We have no idea. It was there when we bought the boat & we don’t have a key for it. We had been meaning to force it open but have never got round to it”
The sailor in charge took out a crow bar from the bag he was carrying & forced open the lid. He looked inside & quickly pulled back gagging at the smell of the decomposing body & quickly shut the lid.
He looked grimly at the girls. “Looks like you three are coming with us. “He turned to his men & said”. You stay here & keep an eye on them. If they try to escape shoot them. I will go back to the Corvette, report what we’ve found & throw you a line. We will then tow you back to Chicago”.
Murdoch, Tierney & Henry nodded in grim satisfaction as they listened to the sailor’s report. Harris sighed & said, “Well at least it looks as if we finally know where poor Penny is, at the bottom of Lake Michigan it looks like”.
At Chicago PD HQ apart from denying all knowledge of the body in the chest on the boat Cheryl, April & Beth refused to say anything else & demanded to see a lawyer
47: The Investigation
The investigation into the “College Girl Killers” was intensive & had taken three months involving the police departments of New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Albany, Chicago & the Pinkerton’s.
The Chicago PD had reached out initially to the NYPD to learn from their experience on the Edwards case & as soon as the NYPD learned that one of the accused was Cheryl Barnes they realised that she had been in a perfect position, because of her inside information, to change the locations of the murders, thus always staying one step ahead of the authorities. It was at that point that the Philadelphia, Washington DC & Albany forces were brought on board
As the girls had been arrested in Chicago Murdoch & Tierney headed up the investigation. Three months after the arrests Murdoch & Tierney held a meeting with senior officers from all the other forces involved including O’Hanlon & O’Rourke from New York.
Murdoch opened the meeting by saying, “Well gentleman in summary it appears that these three women may well have killed approximately 83 young women & girls, plus Doctor Harris & the journalist Penny Smithson. The problem is that the only concrete evidence we have got is the dead body found on the boat that initially they denied all knowledge of”.
“They have now changed their story to say that they found the girl hanging in her room having committed suicide, they panicked concerned about the bad publicity this would bring to the College, & knowing that the girl had no family decided that the best solution was just to dump her body in Lake Michigan. They admit that this was the wrong thing to do but that they had done it with the best interests of the College & their students in mind”.
“Their explanation as to why there is no record of former students employment or lodgings is that they aren’t very good at administration & these records seem to have been lost. As to why none of the former College girls had replied to the Tribune’s appeals they simply shrug their shoulders & say that many of their students came from backgrounds that had led them to be very wary of anything that may have resulted in people from the past resurfacing in their lives”.
“They explained the gallows & the garrottes in the basement of the house as things they used when playing out their sexual fantasies fuelled by “True Crime Monthly”, the library books & the “Penny Dreadfuls” we found in the house. While this is thoroughly distasteful to all right thinking folks it is hardly a capital crime”.
“Now everyone in this room knows that these three deserve to hang many times over for what they have done however I just can’t see a Chicago jury of twelve “Good men & true” condemning three young women, all highly attractive I may remind you, to death on what we have got. In fact the likely outcome, if they are believed which I think they may well be, given that the alternative version of events is so on the face of it horrendous & fantastical, is that they get suspended sentences on the “Obstruction of Justice” charge re the failing to report the “Suicide” of their student”.
O’Hanlon said, “The fact is gentlemen that we need more physical evidence & we simply don’t have it. The only other thing we have got is the body of the prostitute found in the Delaware months ago after the girls time in Philly & we will never be able to tie that to these three”
“That would also apply to any more corpses we may be able to find in New York Harbour, the Hudson, Potomac or Delaware rivers, assuming there is much left of them. It seems to me if we are going to obtain further presentable evidence it must be here in Chicago, where the most recent murders have taken place”.
Tierney said, “Through my friend in the navy who helped in the arrests I learned that they are testing something called a “Submarine” which apparently is a ship which operates underwater”.
Murdoch said, “What exactly are you proposing Lieutenant?”
Tierney replied, “Well my friend in conversation told me that they were carrying out these trials on Lake Michigan because of its relative shallowness which means that if something goes wrong they have a much better chance of rescuing their people. Apparently the average depth of the lake is about 300 feet, & it is round about 250 feet until you are twenty miles or so out of Chicago. I will ask if they can use this thing to search the bed of the Lake just outside the marina where the girls kept their boat. If we are right about fifteen bodies are down there”
Over the next two weeks the underwater naval vessel searched the bed of the Lake but found nothing. However just when the authorities were thinking about abandoning the search it came across the first body eerily standing on the bed of the lake held in position by the weights attached to the ankles. The submarine released a marker buoy to the surface indicating the location & moved on. Over the next two days ten more corpses were found within an area of approximately one hundred square yards, the location of each being signalled by marker buoys
The next challenge was how to retrieve the dead girls. The navy had been experimenting with lifting equipment which was operated from within the submarine & they now put it to good use. It took three days until all eleven bodies were brought to the surface, each dressed in the remains of the distinctive College Girl uniforms, black jackets, white blouses & black & yellow plaid tartan skirts
Two days later the four journalists met with Captain Murdoch & Lieutenant Tierney of the Chicago PD at police HQ & briefed them on everything that had happened since the disappearance of Penny Smithson
The officers sat in stunned silence after they had finished & Murdoch said, “If what you surmise is true this is going to be as big as the Holmes case”. H. H. Holmes had turned his hotel Chicago hotel into a human slaughterhouse a few years previously.
Tierney said, “With respect I know that you are naturally very concerned to find out what happened to your colleague Penny Smith but we have absolutely no evidence to support your conjectures. The question it seems to me is how do we set about trying to find evidence that either proves or disproves your theory?”
Henry replied, “I have been giving that a lot of thought Lieutenant & I think that somehow we need to be able to search the women’s house without the owners being there. What did for the Edwards was finding all those bodies under the cellar floor”
Murdoch said, “I’m afraid no judge is going to grant a search warrant on the basis of what you have told us. After all it is just speculation based on circumstantial evidence”.
Tierney thought for a moment & said, “You said that in the Edwards case the NYPD worked closely with the Pinkertons. Why don’t I talk to their Chicago office & see if they are willing to undertake some unofficial, hopefully undetectable , & entirely deniable, breaking & entering on our behalf ?”.
Seven days later Murdoch, Tierney, Henry, Jackie, Chalmers the man in charge of the Pinkerton’s Chicago office, Gerald McLeod, & his detective Ian Thomas who had “Burgled” Cheryl, April & Beth’s home when they were at the College met at Chicago Police HQ. McLeod said, “Tell the folks what you found Ian”.
Thomas said, “In the main part of the house the answer is nothing. There is a cellar which I managed to get into by picking the lock & I found a makeshift gallows, & two versions of what I believe is called a garrotte, which in Spain & Latin America is used to execute condemned prisoners. However if these women are killing the College girls the question is how are they disposing of the bodies. As far as I could tell the floor of the cellar is undisturbed”.
Jackie said, “The boat!. They must be using the boat”.
Murdoch said, “I’m afraid you have lost me Miss McKenzie, what boat?”
Jackie continued, “Cheryl, April & Beth go sailing every weekend on the Barnes woman’s boat on Lake Michigan. When they moved from New York they shipped it across”.
McEwan looked at Chalmers & asked, “When did the last girl leave the College Tom?”
Chalmers replied, “Three days ago Boss”.
Henry thought aloud, “Today is Friday. That means if what we suspect may be true Cheryl, April & Beth will be intending to dispose of their latest victim in Lake Michigan tomorrow”.
He looked at Murdoch & said, “We need to somehow search that boat before they have a chance to get rid of the body, assuming of course there is one. Captain may I suggest that you involve the navy. Ask them to put a small launch on the Lake tomorrow. Correct me if I am wrong but I am pretty sure that would have the right to board & search any vessel on the lake that they suspected may be involved in smuggling illicit goods the USA & Canada. We will stake out the girls house from first light to monitor the comings & goings”.
Murdoch & Tierney looked at each other & Tierney said, “I served in the navy during the Civil War & I know the officer in charge of the Chicago & Illinois area quite well. He is a good man. Let me to talk to him & set it up”.
46: Caught!
The next morning Jackie & Chalmers stood at the corner in the road beyond the entrance to the girls’ house. They watched Cheryl, April & Beth leave carrying a large wooden chest which they put in their carriage before setting off for Chicago. They then followed a hundred yards or so behind in their own carriage
When they arrived at the marina on the lakeside the girls parked the carriage, tied up the two horses, dragged the chest to the boat & then set off out into the lake
Waiting four hundred yards off shore was a US Navy Corvette with Murdoch, Tierney, four other police officers & Henry on board. Initially the girls weren’t concerned by the presence of the naval vessel but they became anxious as it approached & then pulled alongside them
A naval officer leaned across the rail & said “Good morning ladies. We are checking all vessels today for smuggled goods & so I’m afraid we must board & check your boat for contraband. Cheryl, April & Beth looked at each other their fear of discovery growing given the contents of the chest underneath the table in the main cabin of the boat. Cheryl muttered, “Keep calm & smile girls, there is nothing else we can do.”
On the advice of the State Attorney General’s office it was four armed US sailors who jumped aboard & began to search the boat. Having been briefed that they were looking for something that could hide a body they quickly came across the chest containing the remains of the girl’s latest victim & asked what was in it.
Cheryl said, “We have no idea. It was there when we bought the boat & we don’t have a key for it. We had been meaning to force it open but have never got round to it”
The sailor in charge took out a crow bar from the bag he was carrying & forced open the lid. He looked inside & quickly pulled back gagging at the smell of the decomposing body & quickly shut the lid.
He looked grimly at the girls. “Looks like you three are coming with us. “He turned to his men & said”. You stay here & keep an eye on them. If they try to escape shoot them. I will go back to the Corvette, report what we’ve found & throw you a line. We will then tow you back to Chicago”.
Murdoch, Tierney & Henry nodded in grim satisfaction as they listened to the sailor’s report. Harris sighed & said, “Well at least it looks as if we finally know where poor Penny is, at the bottom of Lake Michigan it looks like”.
At Chicago PD HQ apart from denying all knowledge of the body in the chest on the boat Cheryl, April & Beth refused to say anything else & demanded to see a lawyer
47: The Investigation
The investigation into the “College Girl Killers” was intensive & had taken three months involving the police departments of New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Albany, Chicago & the Pinkerton’s.
The Chicago PD had reached out initially to the NYPD to learn from their experience on the Edwards case & as soon as the NYPD learned that one of the accused was Cheryl Barnes they realised that she had been in a perfect position, because of her inside information, to change the locations of the murders, thus always staying one step ahead of the authorities. It was at that point that the Philadelphia, Washington DC & Albany forces were brought on board
As the girls had been arrested in Chicago Murdoch & Tierney headed up the investigation. Three months after the arrests Murdoch & Tierney held a meeting with senior officers from all the other forces involved including O’Hanlon & O’Rourke from New York.
Murdoch opened the meeting by saying, “Well gentleman in summary it appears that these three women may well have killed approximately 83 young women & girls, plus Doctor Harris & the journalist Penny Smithson. The problem is that the only concrete evidence we have got is the dead body found on the boat that initially they denied all knowledge of”.
“They have now changed their story to say that they found the girl hanging in her room having committed suicide, they panicked concerned about the bad publicity this would bring to the College, & knowing that the girl had no family decided that the best solution was just to dump her body in Lake Michigan. They admit that this was the wrong thing to do but that they had done it with the best interests of the College & their students in mind”.
“Their explanation as to why there is no record of former students employment or lodgings is that they aren’t very good at administration & these records seem to have been lost. As to why none of the former College girls had replied to the Tribune’s appeals they simply shrug their shoulders & say that many of their students came from backgrounds that had led them to be very wary of anything that may have resulted in people from the past resurfacing in their lives”.
“They explained the gallows & the garrottes in the basement of the house as things they used when playing out their sexual fantasies fuelled by “True Crime Monthly”, the library books & the “Penny Dreadfuls” we found in the house. While this is thoroughly distasteful to all right thinking folks it is hardly a capital crime”.
“Now everyone in this room knows that these three deserve to hang many times over for what they have done however I just can’t see a Chicago jury of twelve “Good men & true” condemning three young women, all highly attractive I may remind you, to death on what we have got. In fact the likely outcome, if they are believed which I think they may well be, given that the alternative version of events is so on the face of it horrendous & fantastical, is that they get suspended sentences on the “Obstruction of Justice” charge re the failing to report the “Suicide” of their student”.
O’Hanlon said, “The fact is gentlemen that we need more physical evidence & we simply don’t have it. The only other thing we have got is the body of the prostitute found in the Delaware months ago after the girls time in Philly & we will never be able to tie that to these three”
“That would also apply to any more corpses we may be able to find in New York Harbour, the Hudson, Potomac or Delaware rivers, assuming there is much left of them. It seems to me if we are going to obtain further presentable evidence it must be here in Chicago, where the most recent murders have taken place”.
Tierney said, “Through my friend in the navy who helped in the arrests I learned that they are testing something called a “Submarine” which apparently is a ship which operates underwater”.
Murdoch said, “What exactly are you proposing Lieutenant?”
Tierney replied, “Well my friend in conversation told me that they were carrying out these trials on Lake Michigan because of its relative shallowness which means that if something goes wrong they have a much better chance of rescuing their people. Apparently the average depth of the lake is about 300 feet, & it is round about 250 feet until you are twenty miles or so out of Chicago. I will ask if they can use this thing to search the bed of the Lake just outside the marina where the girls kept their boat. If we are right about fifteen bodies are down there”
Over the next two weeks the underwater naval vessel searched the bed of the Lake but found nothing. However just when the authorities were thinking about abandoning the search it came across the first body eerily standing on the bed of the lake held in position by the weights attached to the ankles. The submarine released a marker buoy to the surface indicating the location & moved on. Over the next two days ten more corpses were found within an area of approximately one hundred square yards, the location of each being signalled by marker buoys
The next challenge was how to retrieve the dead girls. The navy had been experimenting with lifting equipment which was operated from within the submarine & they now put it to good use. It took three days until all eleven bodies were brought to the surface, each dressed in the remains of the distinctive College Girl uniforms, black jackets, white blouses & black & yellow plaid tartan skirts
>each dressed in the remains of the distinctive College Girl uniforms
Oh my. Now that's going to be hard to explain away ;)
Oh my. Now that's going to be hard to explain away ;)
Being from Chicago I wondered if you would comment on the depth of Lake Michigan close to the city. I googled the information detailed in this Chapter on this topic & what I found is what that part of the Chapter says. The fact is I couldn't think of another half plausible way of allowing the authorities to collect the evidence to convict the girls. My knowledge of post US Civil War submarine technology is sketchy but I do know that the British Royal Navy, which was by far the largest & most developed in the world at the time [Ah the good old days!] were actively researching the use of underwater boats at this time
Chicago is about 600 feet above sea level.
The deepest part of Lake Michigan, near the south end, is 900 feet deep, meaning it's 300 feet below sea level. The girls would have easy access to that part, even with their small boat.
I'm pretty sure that's well beyond the limits of 19th Century technology.
But artistic license allows an author to overlook such minor quibbles...
The deepest part of Lake Michigan, near the south end, is 900 feet deep, meaning it's 300 feet below sea level. The girls would have easy access to that part, even with their small boat.
I'm pretty sure that's well beyond the limits of 19th Century technology.
But artistic license allows an author to overlook such minor quibbles...
Submarines apart I must admit the uniforms of the college girls in the story are attractive but second to the ones worn by the Edwards refuge. Cheryl disappointed me somehow, I thought she was a real master mind but now it seems she's on the way to the gallows.
and the picture? I miss it
and the picture? I miss it
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Forum > Public / Stories > Execution Tales Chapters 45-47