cover of episode Episode 517: The Black Sisters and the Murder of Ocey Snead

Episode 517: The Black Sisters and the Murder of Ocey Snead

2023/12/4
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Ash 和 Melina 详细讲述了 Ocey Snead 的死亡以及随后对她的三名姑姑 Virginia Wardlaw、Mary Snead 和 Caroline Wardlaw 的审判。她们深入探讨了该案中涉及的各种可疑死亡事件、财务欺诈以及姐妹们令人不安的行为，例如深夜在墓地举行仪式和闯入学生宿舍。她们还分析了检察官的论点，即这三名女性合谋杀害了 Ocey Snead 以获得保险金，并讨论了审判中出现的各种延误和障碍，包括 Virginia Wardlaw 的死亡和 Caroline Wardlaw 的精神状态。她们还分析了该案中涉及的各种可疑死亡事件、财务欺诈以及姐妹们令人不安的行为，例如深夜在墓地举行仪式和闯入学生宿舍。她们还分析了检察官的论点，即这三名女性合谋杀害了 Ocey Snead 以获得保险金，并讨论了审判中出现的各种延误和障碍，包括 Virginia Wardlaw 的死亡和 Caroline Wardlaw 的精神状态。 Ash 和 Melina 详细描述了 Ocey Snead 的生活，包括她父亲 Robert Maxwell Martin 的有争议的过去和家庭的多次悲剧。她们探讨了姐妹们在圣母女子学院的经历，以及她们行为的转变，包括她们的穿着和怪异的夜间活动。她们还讨论了 John Snead 的可疑死亡以及姐妹们如何从他的死亡中获益。她们还分析了检察官的论点，即这三名女性合谋杀害了 Ocey Snead 以获得保险金，并讨论了审判中出现的各种延误和障碍，包括 Virginia Wardlaw 的死亡和 Caroline Wardlaw 的精神状态。她们还分析了该案中涉及的各种可疑死亡事件、财务欺诈以及姐妹们令人不安的行为，例如深夜在墓地举行仪式和闯入学生宿舍。

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Ocey Snead, nacida Oceana Wardlaw Martin, era hija de Caroline Wardlaw y el coronel Robert Maxwell Martin, un veterano confederado. La familia sufrió una serie de tragedias, incluida la muerte de su padre y un incendio sospechoso que destruyó su casa. Después de estas tragedias, la familia se mudó a la ciudad de Nueva York, donde la madre de Ocey dio a luz a Ocey en el otoño de 1885.
  • Ocey Snead nació en Nueva York en 1885.
  • Su padre, Robert Maxwell Martin, fue un veterano condecorado de la Confederación.
  • La familia sufrió múltiples tragedias, incluida la muerte del padre de Ocey y un incendio sospechoso que destruyó su casa.
  • Después de la muerte de su padre, la familia se mudó de regreso a Murfreesboro, Tennessee, donde vivía la familia de su madre.

Shownotes Transcript

When East Orange, New Jersey police were called to the home of Virginia Wardlaw in late November 1909, they knew only that there had been an accident involving Virginia’s niece, Ocey Snead. Once they’d arrived, however, officers discovered Ocey’s body in an upstairs bathtub, dead from what appeared to be suicide by drowning.

After just a few weeks of investigation, it became clear that Ocey’s death was no accident. Suspicion quickly fell on Virginia and her two sisters, who were soon charged with Ocey’s murder, which investigators believed was committed in order to collect on a large insurance policy.

The murder of Ocey Snead was an undeniable tragedy, but her death was only the beginning of what would become one of the early twentieth century’s most captivating crime stories. As detectives and the press dug deeper into the background of the three women accused of starving and drowning their niece, a bizarre story emerged that sounded as though it had been pulled directly from the pages of a classic southern gothic horror novel. And like any good gothic horror story, the trial of Virginia Wardlaw and her sisters was full of unbelievable twists and culminated in a shocking conclusion.

Thank you to the Wondrous Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for Research!

References

New York Times. 1910. "Alienists declare Mrs. Martin insane." New York Times, September 21: 6.

—. 1909. "Bathtub mystery no murder, she says." New York Times, December 2: 2.

—. 1909. "Bathtub principals are twice indicted ." New York Times, December 23: 4.

—. 1910. "Miss Wardlaw dies; starved herself." New York Times, August 12: 1.

—. 1911. "Mrs. Martin pleads to manslaughter ." New York Times, January 10: 2.

—. 1910. "Mrs. Martin's cries halt lunacy trial." New York Times, November 8: 7.

—. 1909. "Mrs. Snead's family full of fatalities." New York Times, December 9: 20.

—. 1910. "Ocey Snead was drugged ." New York Times, January 21: 1.

—. 1910. "Say Miss Wardlaw is dying." New York Times, August 11: 4.

—. 1909. "The Snead msytery." New York Times, December 18: 12.

Rife, Luanne. 2016. "The Black Sisters." Roanoke Times, December 1: 116.

Roanoke Times. 1909. "Christiansburg woman is held." Roanoke Times, December 3: 1.

West, Mike. 2009. "Fearless Confederate died mysteriously in NYC." Murfreesboro Post, February 15: 8.

—. 2009. "'Sisters in Black' sour Ocey's domestic bliss." Murfreesboro Post, February 22: 8.

Zierold, Norman. 1968. Three Sisters in Black. New York, NY: Little, Brown.

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