I came back from San Francisco on
Tuesday where Bouchercon was held. A great conference and a great
city, but as much as I liked to find links between Hammett and all
those masters of noir, I couldn't. San Francisco was a bright, and
cheery city; there was no way you could pick a fight with anyone
(perhaps some of the more pushy panhandlers).
Though,
I confess that the fog at times provided some inspiration and a
mysterious quality...
Tell
us about your new book.
It
is a detailed history of the Legs Murder Case, arguably
Mississippi's great crime story of the 1930s. Ouida Keeton, a
beautiful unmarried woman in her thirties was indicted for the
murder and mutilation of her wealthy mother. The legs, the only
body parts ever found, gave the case its name. Ouida had abandoned
them on a lonely trail north of her hometown. During her prolonged
grilling she implicated her lover and former boss. Both were tried
and convicted. For my research I was fortunate to find the trial
transcripts, the crime files, and vast newspaper
coverage.
Why
hasn't this case received the notoriety of cases like Lizzie Borden
and Leopold and Loeb?
In
1935, during the investigation and the trials, this case was
splashed on the front pages of newspapers across America. Coverage
by the Associated Press kept it in the headlines. Readers were wild
to know more about the pampered belle accused of this horrible
act. Every day for several weeks the Legs Case, along with ongoing
coverage of the Lindbergh kidnapping trial, was given timely
reports. Through the years, Ouida remained a favorite subject in
such tabloids as Master Detective,
Real Detective, Actual Detective, True Police Cases, True Crime
Detective, and others. Within a year of the trials, a
photograph of Ouida was published as the frontispiece of an English
book about macabre crimes. A decade after the murder, feature
stories were still appearing in national newspapers. After
that, although it deserved its special nook in America's murder
hall of fame, the case went into eclipse. Maybe The Legs Murder
Scandal will bring it out of the dark.
What
was it like to research this?
The
research was the most pleasurable part of the labors. I
was astonished at the bulk of materials that came to the surface. I
spent many days at a cramped table in the courthouse, reading by a
dim light, and as my files increased, the cast of personages
expanded. I had not intended to write a book, but I soon realized
that these materials were not for my eyes only. Mainly from the
public records I could recount the story, but I knew I must have
access to Ouida's medical records as well. These were a challenge
to obtain, but by court order these were opened to me. So I could
take the story of Ouida Keeton to end.
Did
you interview anyone who remembers the case?
Unfortunately
I began the research too late to interview any who were close to
the case. I did speak with two men who recalled the trials and the
scuttlebutt. Most of the reports were hearsay.
What
was the biggest surprise you had researching the
book?
Every
document revealed surprising details, and since the crime occurred
in a small community, many of the names were known to me. The
murderess's brother, unquestionably a drunken thug who had been
implicated in a murder and who was guilty of rape, was married to a
respectable girl who eventually divorced him. The surprise my
research exposed was that she was the aunt of Wyatt Cooper, the
husband of Gloria Vanderbilt and the father of Anderson Cooper of
CNN News.
Tell
us about what the town of Laurel was like then and
now.
Laurel,
established in 1882 by wealthy Northern lumbermen who came South
and bought up tracts of yellow pine forests, was supposedly the
home of Blanche du Bois of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named
Desire. However, Laurel was in no way antebellum, and
Blanche was a creation of the playwright's muse. Within twenty
years the town was touted as the center for the world's lumber
trade. It comprised a population of displaced Northern families who
became the core of Laurel. Besides their extensive lumber mills,
they created a scenic town with the advantages of brick
streets, streetcars, cultural institutions, good schools, thriving
businesses, churches, opportunities for varied professions,
Mississippi's first art museum, and a city park designed by
Frederick Law Olmstead. Laurel, a standout in the City Beautiful
movement, reached its heyday in the 1950s in the boom following
WWII. Masonite was invented there, and Laurel was the home of the
original Masonite plant. By the 1970s Laurel was, like many towns,
losing its population as old ways and old neighborhoods faced
change. Even after seventy-five years the people of Laurel still
whisper about Ouida Keeton.
What
happened to both of the culprits: Were they ever released from
prison?
Both
Ouida and W. M. Carter, her accused partner in crime, were
convicted and sentenced to life in the state penitentiary. Both
appealed to the state supreme court. Ouida's sentence was upheld.
Carter's was overturned but remanded for retrial. Ouida, so fragile
that she lasted only three days at the penitentiary, was
transferred to the state mental hospital at Whitfield, was declared
to be paranoid schizophrenic, and was treated by hydrotherapy and
electroshock. Since she was non compos mentis and therefore could
not testify as a star witness, Carter could never be retried. So
the case against him fizzled and fell apart. He was ruined,
nevertheless. Ouida remained in the asylum for the rest of her
life.
