April 14, 1932: Third of Eight Deaths in only Two Months

Dr. Richard Thacker

On April 14, 1932, 21-year-old Isabelle Ferguson died of suspected abortion complications. Two physicians in the University of Oklahoma area, J. W. Eisiminger and Richard E. Thacker, were suspected in the case.

Though both doctors were suspected, only Thacker was charged with murder. Isabelle's widower, Samuel Ferguson, sued Thacker for $10,000. The couple's first wedding anniversary had been on April 6, between the abortion and Isabelle's death. 

Samuel held that Thacker, assisted by his wife, Ida, perpetrated the abortion in their office in the Terminal Building in Oklahoma City on March 25. Mr. Ferguson said that after the Thackers had injured Isabelle, they had taken her to their home and "refused her the right to go to a hospital when she became dangerously ill."

Isabelle left behind a six-month-old daughter.

Both Thackers, husband and wife, fled the city and were sought by police. They were eventually apprehended, but as far as I can tell there was no prosecution in Isabelle's death. This is likely because Thacker was already in hot legal water for another abortion deaths.

Thacker and Eisiminger were not ordinary doctors who just did abortions on a few patients. They were abortionists, and quack abortionists at that. Singly or as a pair they were implicated in a string of deaths:

• February 26, 1929: Marie Epperson
• March 19, 1932: Geraldine Easley (undetermined)
• April 3, 1932: Ethel Hestland
• April 14, 1932: Isabelle Ferguson (Thacker)
• April 15, 1932: Ruth Hall (Thacker)
• c. April 19, 1932: Robbie Lou Thompson (undetermined)
• April 24, 1932: Virginia Lee Wyckoff (Eisiminger) and Lennis May Roach (Thacker)
• April 25, 1932: Nancy Joe Lee (Thacker)

Thacker was sentenced to life in prison for Ruth Hall's death. His attorney announced an immediate motion for an appeal, on the grounds that Thacker's other abortions should not have been admitted as testimony. The appeal failed. Thacker died in prison on April 1, 1937 from a heart attack.

Watch A Sudden Rash of Abortion Deaths on YouTube.

Sources:

• "Probe 'Epidemic' of Illegal Operations in Oklahoma City," Elyria (OH) Chronicle Telegram, April 29, 1932
• "Dr. Thacker Defendant In $10,000 Damage Suit," Bartlesville Daily Enterprise, May 5, 1932
• "Mate of Dead Woman Sues Dr. Thacker," The Oklahoma News, May 5, 1932
• "Medicine: Abortion Ring," Time, May 9, 1932
• "Doctor Dies in Prison," Miami (OK) Daily News-Record, April 1, 1937