RealChoice: July 13, 1926: Dismembered and Dumped

Thursday, July 13, 2023

July 13, 1926: Dismembered and Dumped

A Ghastly Discovery

Vittorio Gianini

On July 13, 1926, state hospital laborer Vittorio Gianini, walking to work along Walk Hill Street in the Mattapan district on the outskirts of Boston, spotted something unnerving.

The road passed between New Calvary Cemetery and Mount Hope Cemetery. Against the wall of New Calvary Cemetery were two cardboard boxes and a burlap bag.

Mr. Jenney notified a nearby patrolman, who lifted the lid of one of the boxes and spotted what appeared to be human remains. He called for other police officers to help him guard the scene while they waited for the medical examiner.

Parts of the woman's body were wrapped in Boston newspapers dated June 27. The vital organs had been wrapped in a cotton chemise, then placed under the head in the larger box.

Police believed that the remains had been dumped next to the cemetery by someone who had planned to toss them into a grave that had been dug in anticipation of a burial, cover them with some dirt, and allow the scheduled burial to hide all traces of the victim.

Identity a Mystery

Investigators described the young woman as "attractive and apparently refined."

Dr. Leary, the Boston medical examiner, said that the she was approximately 22 to 25 years of age, 5'6" tall, weighing 120 pounds, with bobbed black hair parted on the left and combed smooth, and dark brown eyes. Her eyebrows were carefully penciled. She had never needed dental work, and had a slight overbite. Her nails were very well-tended but not professionally manicured or pedicured.

The young woman's legs were still wearing Nile green stockings which had been pulled up over the tops of the severed limbs. The young woman's cotton night dress, with embroidery on the right shoulder and a pink ribbon running through the neckline, was still on her torso.

She had evidently been dismembered shortly after her death, Leary said. The dismemberment was expertly done, Leary said, indicating that the killer might be a skilled surgeon. Leary estimated that the young woman had been dead from 48 to 72 hours at the time of autopsy.

The medical examiner's office photographed the body and had a "microphotographer" alter the picture to try to recreate what the young woman had looked like when alive. The photo was published in newspapers

Around 23 families or other loved ones of missing women contacted the morgue in the first hours after the body was found. A procedure was established to prevent morbid gawking. Dr. Leary would ask the name, age, and description of their missing loved one. This was often sufficient to rule out a missing woman. One woman, for example, was told that the body was not that of her daughter, Eileen LeGrace, because Eileen had dental fillings while the woman in the morgue had completely health teeth.

If the description matched the body, the family would first be shown the photograph, which was usually enough to rule out the missing loved one as the "Mattapan Victim."

Two employees of the State Child Welfare Division came to the morgue with a photograph of Edith Greene, who had been a ward of the state. They had come forward after seeing the photo of the dead woman in the newspaper. However, they were uncertain as to the identity after viewing the body because, they said, Edith did not have an overbite or particular large central front teeth like those of the victim.

Other Clues Pursued

The boxes were dusted for fingerprints. The ropes used to tie them provided clues, since they had been tied using distinctive knots. A salesman at a store reported a man had purchased 50 feet of clothesline the morning of Monday the 12th, the day before the body was discovered. He was confident that he would be able to positively identify the purchaser.

William Reagan

William Reagan, superintendent of the Natick Box Company, went to the medical examiner's office to examine the boxes the body had been found in. He identified one of them, the smaller, 13 x 9.5 x 8 inch, as having been produced at his factory. It was their "green mahogany" box, manufactured exclusively for a Boston company, Collins & Fairbanks, for fur neckpieces. While this narrowed down the place the box was obtained, this did not much narrow down the specific box since Natick produced 3,000 a year. Nevertheless, police went to the Boston firm to request a list of customers who had purchased furs packaged in the green mahogany box.

Leary also did not at first release a definitive cause of death. He said that "blood poisoning" was likely and indicted that, as the New York Times said, "evidence pointed to illegal surgery."

"The only indication as to the identity of the murderer came from young men who saw a well-dressed, middle-aged man nervously driving an automobile in the vicinity" the previous night.

Possible Sightings

People came forward who thought they had seen the young woman or the person who had dumped her body.

A watchman at Grand Trunk Railroad station said that he had seen a woman matching the woman's description at the station about two weeks earlier. She was quarrelling with a man who appeared to be in his mid-30s and slapped his face. The argument was about plans for an abortion. About five minutes later they seemed to have calmed down, asked about the departure times for trains into Boston then getting into a taxi and leaving together.

A brakeman at the station said that the watchman had called his attention to the woman that day. He said he had seen her as a passenger a week before the quarrel, getting off the train at Berlin, New Hampshire.

The Victim Identified

By July 15, the young woman had been positively identified as 20-year-old Edith Louise Greene, the young ward of the state who had previously been ruled out as the victim. Information that the state officials hadn't known when they first went to the morgue led the medical examiner to take a closer look.

Edith had been raised as a ward of the state, along with her two siblings, at the behest of their mother after the death of their father.

Edith went to work at the home of Mrs. Arthur J. Buckley, taking care of her two children. The children, Mrs. Buckley said, were delighted with Edith, and she, herself, was fond of the girl. After working with the family for eleven months, Edith left to take a job at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital on April 26, 1926 in order to earn more money so she could marry her sweetheart. She was employed in the pathology department in a training position.

Edith she became friends with another worker at the hospital, Betty Landry.

Edith left her lodgings at the hospital the night of June 23, never to return.

Edith's Time at the Rooming House

Edith was next tracked to lodgings she took with Mrs. John R. MacDonald at 39 Stanley Street, Meetinghouse Hill in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston on June 26. Mrs. MacDonald became quickly very fond of her young lodger. "She seemed so refined and honest and good that no one could help caring for her."

Mrs. MacDonald said that Edith and the young woman's lover sat down together on July 3 and had a conversation about Edith's pregnancy. Mrs. MacDonald said that she encouraged the young couple to consult with a pastor and get married. Edith and her boyfriend expressed concern about the expenses of a young family, Mrs. MacDonald said, but she assured them that they would be able to manage.

The couple left, Mrs. MacDonald said, and returned with a marriage license, which they showed her much to her delight.

A few days later Edith slipped away, leaving her key on her dresser.

"I missed her very much," Mrs. MacDonald said. "You see, she seemed so well trained and quiet and ready to do anything one asked her. I did everything to make her comfortable and she appreciated even the smallest favor. She was so thoughtful about pulling up my chair for me or doing little deeds of kindness."

When she read about the body found by the cemetery and saw the photo of the dead girl, she convinced herself that it wasn't Edith. She became uneasy when the State Ward Department phoned her about Edith's whereabouts, and totally distraught when she learned the sad truth.

Edith's Final Movements

She was next tracked to lodgings at 233 Warren Street in Roxbury, where she took a room on July 8. She told Mrs. Ida Engel, who kept the lodging house, that she had just been hospitalized and was going to "loaf for a week." Mrs. Engle was surprised that Edith selected Room 7A, which was a large room. Edith explained that she was expecting a friend to come to visit and wanted to have plenty of space.

Edith had arrived at Mrs. Engel's house at around 6:30 in the evening and stayed just long enough to secure the room without leaving any belongings there. At about 9:00 that evening she returned with a young man and two suitcases. Edith struck Mrs. Engle as very refined and likely to be a desirable lodger.

Edith and the young man, whom she addressed as "Gene," merely dropped off the luggage and left. Edith never returned.

The young man, however, did return on Monday, July 12. He was accompanied by a young woman who matched the description of Betty Landry, Edith's friend from the State Psychiatric Hospital. The pair said that Edith was resting in the country and had sent them for her belongings. They didn't have Edith's room key, which Mrs. Engle took as a sign that they didn't have permission from Edith to take the bags, so she refused to let the couple take them.

Betty Had Been the Key

Betty Landry

The state officials responsible for Edith had not given up on tracking their young ward down just because they didn't think she was the woman in the morgue. They went back to the hospital asking questions. Of all of Edith's co-workers, Betty Landry clearly had been the one in her confidence. It was through information from Betty that officials had been able to trace Edith to the two boarding houses.

They then took Betty to the medical examiner's office. She knew of a pigmented mark on Edith's back that the medical examiner had missed, likely due to post-mortem discoloration of the skin. A microscopic examination of the skin found the mark.

The state officials also brought Edith's dental records. Tiny fillings had been placed in the backs of Edith's upper third molars in 1914. Using dental mirrors and strong lighting, the medical examiner spotted the fillings that had originally been missed.

Betty and the state workers had also brought two pairs of Edith's shoes -- a pair of shoes too big for her that she habitually wore around the house and a pair of dress shoes that fitted her properly. The shoes were tried on the feet of the corpse and, as expected, the dress shoes fitted properly but the house shoes were too big.

The Young Man

James Vincent Ford

Police began a search for the 21-year-old man, James Vincent Ford, the "sweetheart" responsible for Edith's pregnancy.

Police went to the home of James's brother, William J. Ford, in South Boston and took him, James, and their father to the morgue for questioning. Ford's mother, who had a history of heart ailments, collapsed when the police took her son into custody. The sad woman had lost a daughter of her own to death only a week earlier.

Ford told police that he had loved Edith and planned to marry her until she told him something that scared him off. At that point he decided that an abortion was the answer. A man named Thomas Tierney gave him the connection to Dr. Thomas Walsh. Ford paid $150 (c. $2,500 in 2022) for the fatal surgery, dropping Edith off for the abortion on Friday, July 9.

Ford said he went back to Walsh's home on Saturday night. Edith was lying on a cot and told him she was feeling well. Walsh assured the young man that everything was fine.

Arrow denotes Walsh's office

The next day, Ford said, Walsh called to say that Edith had died. Ford said that he fainted upon hearing the news. Ford said that Walsh had asked for his help in disposing of Edith's body, but that he had refused.

Ford said he hadn't known that Edith's body had been dismembered until he read the story in the newspaper and saw the photograph of the dead woman.

Ford told police, "I wish now, of course, that I had married her. I did wrong. I know it. I didn't think anything like this would happen. I will now try to make what amends I can by telling the whole truth about it. It does not matter how much I have to suffer now."

Ford also said that he wanted to "give Edith a decent burial" to make amends for arranging the lethal abortion. How earnest he was in his desire to "make amends" is dubious, since in his confession he indicated that though he believed he was the father of the aborted baby, Edith had been involved with other men. He also, of course, didn't come forward right away but let his sweetheart be cut up and tossed by the roadside in a pair of cardboard boxes and a burlap bag.

Ford ultimately pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to procure an illegal operation and testified against Dr. Walsh.

Catching the Abortionist

Dr. Thomas E. Walsh

Dr. Thomas Walsh was already known to the police. He had been indicted for abortion in 1920. In May of 1923 he was held as a suspicious person in connection with an abortion case. In September of that year, based on a complaint filed by the medical board, he was arrested for practicing medicine without a license and fined $200.

Police raided 48-year-old Walsh's office shortly after midnight. There was no sign of the disgraced doctor. However, they found one of Edith's organs in a garbage pail behind Walsh's apartment.

Murder warrants were issued for both Walsh and his 28-year-old wife, Marion.

The pair eventually surrendered themselves. Walsh was charged as a primary and his wife as an accessory before the fact, with their bail being set at $15,000 and $2,000 respectively. Mrs. Walsh posted bail first so that she could care for her ailing mother. Dr. Walsh then made bail.

The search for culprits in Edith's death also netted a thoroughly intoxicated Dr. John Leo Hanson, who admitted to having been in Boston when Edith vanished, but who denied having any part in her death or dismemberment. Hanson had been arrested while trying to get New York license plates for his car. They found a bag of surgical instruments in his room. Police believed that he had helped Walsh dismember and dispose of Edith's body. They sought an unnamed man whom they said had driven the car.

The judge directed the jury to find Mrs. Walsh not guilty of the two charges she faced: conspiracy to procure an illegal operation and accessory before the fact in an illegal operation. Walsh's defense hinged on the testimony of witnesses who said that they were present at Walsh's home the night of July 11 for "a family party" and saw no unfamiliar woman on the premises. Walsh's attorney also argued that Edith's baby might have been aborted by some means other than surgical, and that Dr. Walsh would not have been capable of dismembering Edith's body.

Walsh, an Irish immigrant who had come to the US in 1888, was found guilty of the abortion and having performed the abortion with an instrument, which carried a total maximum sentence of nine years. For some reason he was not charged with Edith's death; had he been convicted of that crime he would have faced 20 years.

When sentencing day came around, there was no sign of Walsh. Those who had paid his bail had to forfeit their money. Rumor was that Walsh had vanished only because he was trying to get one last Christmas as a free man before being sentenced.

He was eventually recaptured and incarcerated.

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