Serene Mary Baker, age 17, of Venice, Illinois, died February 7, 1929 at the home of Mary Adamson, 4501 West Main St., Belleville, IL. According to death records, Serene was an Illinois native who worked as a grocery clerk.
Rolla Carmack, aged 20, of East St. Louis, told police that he was the baby's father and that he'd paid Adamson $25 to perform an abortion. Rolla's older brother, Edward (Irving?) Carmack, told Police Chief Charles W. Arbogast that he and his younger brother accompanied Serene to the Adamson home for the abortion on February 2. Other sources indicate that the fatal abortion took place on February 1.
Adamson denied having performed the abortion and refused to say anything more.
Adamson was indicted by the Grand Jury in April of 1929 and the trial was set for May 2, but both parties agreed on a postponement. Then Mrs. Adamson's attorney approached the judge asking for her to be released on bond so that she could be hospitalized for "senility." She was released on a $52,000 bond and was instructed to return to jail as soon as she regained her health. In the mean time she was to remain under the supervision of her son, James Adamson, who was described in the Belleville Daily Advocate as "a pensioned former member of the East St. Louis police force."
Rolla Carmack was charged with murder but the charges were later dropped, likely in exchange for turning state's evidence against Adamson. Edward Carmack was also charged with murder. However, once the defense was ready to proceed -- not until December of 1930 -- he was nowhere to be found and the trial was delayed by the prosecution. He had moved from East St. Louis to Detroit then vanished from the prosecution's radar.
Watch Elderly Midwife Commits Fatal Abortion on YouTube.
Watch Elderly Midwife Commits Fatal Abortion on YouTube.
Sources:
- "Hold Woman, 80, In Girl's Death," Decatur (IL) Evening Herald, February 9, 1929
- "80 Year Old Woman, 2 Youths Held For Death," The (Murphysboro, IL) Daily Independent, February 9, 1929
- "Three Held In Jail Today On Death Charge," (DeKalb, IL) Daily Chronicle, February 9, 1929
- "Court Revokes $25,000 Bonds of Mrs. Adamson," Belleville (IL) Daily News-Democrat, October 9, 1929
- "Trial of Woman, 84, on Murder Charge is Delayed by Illness," Belleville (IL) Daily Advocate, October 9, 1929
- "Mrs. Adamson Murder Case is Continued," Belleville (IL) Daily News-Democrat, December 11, 1930
- "Carmack Held to Grand Jury for Murder of Girl," Belleville (IL) Daily News-Democrat December 18, 1930
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