December 16, 1925: One of the Final Victims of Dr. Lucy Hagenow

Dr. Lucy Hagenow

On December 16, 1925, 22-year-old factory worker Bridget Masterson died in her Chicago home on Fullerton Avenue. The young Irish woman had only been in America six months. She died a painful death from abortion complications after refusing to implicate anybody.

Police somehow concluded that John Patrick O'Malley was the father of Bridget's baby. When they got no answer at his dwelling, they broke down the door and found O'Malley dead as gas wafted out of the room. He had pinned a note on his dresser saying:

Heloe (sic) brothers,

I am sorry to do this, but it is called for. Doctor Lady at 301 W. North avenue is a murderer, so it is up to ye to prosecute. She is the cause of me and Miss Masterson to be in our graves today. I request, I ask of ye, is bury me with miss (sic) Masterson. Go over & find our at 1106 Fullerton ave., where I was boarding.

Police went to 301 W. North Ave. and found the office of Dr. Lucy Hagenow. Hagenow, however, wasn't there. They eventually did catch her. She was arrested on December 15 and was indicted for felony murder by a grand jury on January 5, 1926, but the judge dismissed the charges for reasons I've been unable to determine. 

Hagenow, who had already been implicated of the abortion deaths of Louise Derchow, Annie Dorris, Abbia Richards, and Emma Dep in San Francisco, had relocated to Chicago, where she would find a more genial atmosphere for her criminal activities. Prior to Bridget's death she was implicated in the Chicago deaths of  Minnie Deering, Sophia Kuhn, Emily Anderson, Hannah Carlson, Marie Hecht, May Putnam, Lola Madison, Annie Horvatich, Lottie Lowy, Nina H. Pierce, Jean Cohen, and Elizabeth Welter. 

After the judge dismissed the charges against Hagenow for Bridget's death, she went on to perpetrate a fatal abortion on Mary Moorehead.  

Newly added sources:

• "Operation Fatal to Girl; Youth Takes Own Life," Chicago Tribune December 21, 1925
• Homicide case notes