The Enigma Woman: The Death Sentence of Nellie May Madison (Women in the West)

327 Pages·2007·2.14 MB·English

by  Kathleen A. Cairns

Th e Enigma Woman
i
women in the west
Series Editors
Sarah J. Deutsch
Duke University
Margaret D. Jacobs
New Mexico State University
Charlene L. Porsild
Montana Historical Society
Vicki L. Ruiz
University of California, Irvine
Elliott West
University of Arkansas
Th e Enigma Woman
Th e Death Sentence of
Nellie May Madison
Kathleen A. Cairns
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln and London
A portion of this manuscript was originally
published as “Enigma Woman Nellie Madi-
son: Femme Fatales and Noir Fiction,” Mon-
tana: Th e Magazine of Western History 54, no.
1 (Spring 2004). ¶ © 2007 by the Board of
Regents of the University of Nebraska ¶ All
rights reserved ¶ Manufactured in the Unit-
ed States of America ¶ ∞ ¶ Library of Con-
gress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ¶ Cairns,
Kathleen A., 1946– ¶ Th e Enigma Woman : the
death sentence of Nellie May Madison / Kath-
leen A. Cairns. ¶ p. cm. ¶ — (Women
in the west) ¶ Includes bibliographical refer-
ences and index. ¶ isbn-13: 978-0-8032-1141-4
(hardcover : alk. paper) ¶ isbn-10: 0-8032-1141-4
(hardcover : alk. paper) ¶ 1. Madison, Nellie
May, 1895-1953. 2. Women murderers—Califor-
nia—Biography. 3. Abused women—California—
Biography. 4. Sex role—United States—History.
I. Title. ¶ hv6248.m257c35 2007 ¶ 364.152(cid:2)3092—
dc22 ¶ [B] ¶ 2006028848 ¶ Set in Adobe Caslon
by Bob Reitz]. ¶ Designed by R. W. Boeche.
In memory of my grandmothers
Faith Dorothy Garnsey and Grace Jane Terry

Contents
List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. A Girl from Montana . . . . . . . . . . .11
2. Midnight Alibi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3. Outlaw Woman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4. Enigma Woman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5. Th e Ultimate Penalty . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6. Th e People v. Nellie Madison. . . . . 95
7. Th e Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
8. Lady Macbeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
9. Th e Verdict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
10. A Condemned Woman . . . . . . . . .159
11. An Abused Woman . . . . . . . . . . . .179
12. Th e Reprieve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
13. Life in Prison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
14. A Traditional Woman . . . . . . . . . 241
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Bibliographic Essay . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Illustrations
Following Page 10
1. A young Nellie Mooney
2. Th e Mooney family ranch near Dillon, Montana
3. Poindexter’s Grocery, Dillon, Montana
4. Beaverhead County High School girls’ basketball team
5. Portrait of Eric Madison
6. Eric Madison lies dead in his Burbank apartment
7. Nellie Madison on the fi rst day of her murder trial
8. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles Fricke
9. Agness Underwood with a female inmate
10. Downtown Los Angeles circa the 1930s
11. Joseph and Frank Ryan, Nellie’s defense attorneys
12. Nellie Madison following her murder conviction
13. Nellie Madison on her arrival at the
California Institution for Women in Tehachapi
14. Nellie Madison after her September 1935 reprieve
15. Nellie Madison in 1941, California Institution
for Women, Tehachapi
Acknowledgments
Ifi rst learned about the Nellie Madison case during research
for an earlier project involving front-page women journal-
ists in the interwar period. One of my main subjects, Agness
Underwood, played a prominent role in Nellie’s life. I promised
myself then that one day I would spend some time looking into
the case, which seemed almost too bizarre to believe and too fas-
cinating to pass up. Th at day came in March 2002, when I walked
into the California State Archives research room and opened the
fi rst dusty box containing the massive, but amazingly untouched,
appellate records of Th e People of California v. Nellie May Madison.
My fi rst instinct was right—the case was utterly fascinating and
the project has been a labor of love ever since.
As I strove to uncover the real Nellie Madison, and the time
period in which her life, crime, and punishment unfolded, I had
the great pleasure of meeting many people who off ered encourage-
ment, ideas, and crucial assistance in the unfolding journey.
State archivists lugged boxes from the cavernous fi le rooms, pa-
tiently explained how I could fi nd related material enmeshed in
a variety of diff erent collections, and laboriously copied reams of
material. I wish particularly to thank Linda Johnson and Genevieve
Troka. In addition, Annelise Golden, formerly at the state archives,
thoughtfully photocopied information, including copies of the
Stockton Record, on the Emma LeDoux murder case. I also am most
appreciative of the entire staff of the California State Library, none
of whom ever, not even once, rolled their eyes when I asked for
help—yet again—in making the microfi lm machines work.
ix