It Might Be an Interesting Project

 to see how many other single women with children disappeared about this time.

Clarksburg, W.Va. (1931)

Before 8/29/1931: A married man confessed to the murder of a woman and her three children.  The woman and two of the daughters were strangled; the son was beaten to death with a hammer.  They had “not eaten for at least 48 hours before they were slain.”  Curiously, the bodies were found in a room equipped with gas vents, suggesting that this was carefully planned, perhaps for others.  “During the night he posed for a photographer.  He held a hammer while the picture was taken—and he smiled.”  He also attempted to empty out the dead woman’s bank account with a blank check.  He had posed as a wealthy civil engineer while attempting to women through “matrimonial agencies.”  While larceny might well explain his actions, his posing for a photographer suggests mental illness might have played a part.

Category: private

Suicide: no

Cause: mentally ill?   Greed?

Weapon: strangle, blunt[1]

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[1] "Person Admits Murder Of Widow And 3 Children," [Washington, D.C.] , Evening Star, Aug. 29, 1931, 1, 2.