Notorious: Maine Crime in the Public Eye, 1690–1940

The Morrill Axe Murder (1935)

On June 8, 1935, authorities discovered the mutilated body of Herbert L. Morrill, 66, partially buried in the cellar of his West Falmouth home after his 10-year-old son, James B. Morrill, led them to the grave he allegedly helped his mother dig. The discovery ended a weeklong search for the victim.

Mary E. Morrill, 53, was charged with the murder of her husband and taken to the County Jail, where she reportedly admitted striking him with a club. An autopsy performed by Dr. Wilbur F. Leighton revealed far more brutal injuries, including a fractured skull, crushed larynx, three deep neck wounds—one severing the spine—a fractured jaw, a chin gash, and punctures in the left cheek. The Portland Press Herald described it as "Body Badly Battered."

During her trial, Mrs. Morrill pled self-defense, according to an Associated Press report, claiming she had suffered frequent abuse and deprivation at the hands of her husband for years. She alleged that she had been denied proper food and clothing and was a virtual prisoner in her own home. However, the jury was not swayed by this argument.

On October 16, a Superior Court jury found Mary Morrill guilty of murder after deliberating for just over two hours. The 52-year-old widow, described as gray-haired and emotionless, sat in silence as the verdict—carrying a mandatory life sentence—was read. The trial, spanning two days, detailed the brutal killing in their shack-like home off Underwitted Road in West Falmouth.

As jury foreman Fred E. Eastman, a retired Portland merchant, announced her fate, she leaned forward slightly but remained composed. Immediately after the verdict, she was taken back to the County Jail to await sentencing or appeal, with her attorney, Harry E. Nixon, vowing to take the case to the Maine Law Court.

The Mitchell Murder (1930)

On July 12, 1930, a gruesome murder took place in the Loring, Short & Harmon stationary store on Congress Street, Portland, Maine. James A. Mitchell, a shop clerk, struck Lillian McDonald, a stenographer, with a shaker bar twice, before leaving her body to incinerate in the basement’s furnace around 10 am. The attack took place in the aftermath of an exchange of letters of pay.

County attorney, Ralph Ingalls, spoke with night watchmen, Herbert L. Brown, who unknowingly disturbed the McDonald’s remains upon investigating the overstuffed, overheating furnace on the night of July 12. The next day, Ingalls took it upon himself to search the basement, immediately being overwhelmed by the smell of McDonald’s burning corpse. All that was recovered from the furnace were the skull and a Portland High School class of 1928 ring.

According to Ingalls, Mitchell confessed to the murder on July 14. During interrogation, Ingalls displayed evidence of the murder, the class ring and the iron grate shaker, and finally, the letter of pay broke Mitchell, forcing the confession. On the same day, Mitchell’s defense attorney, Joseph P. Connellan, announced their plan to plead insanity and petition the Superior Court to have Mitchell’s mental state examined. As word of the murder spread over the course of the day, 250 civilians swarmed the police headquarters in Portland, itching to hear more about the case.

MacDonald’s high school sweetheart and the family of both parties were interviewed. Frank Myatt told the Evening Express that he had hoped to marry Lillian. He last saw her two days before her murder. Alexander MacDonald had unknowingly brushed past his daughter’s killer on the night of July 13, while visiting the police station in search of answers about his missing child. He was questioned by an Evening Express reporter on July 14, expressing his regret in not seizing the moment to “[tear] him to pieces”. Mrs. Mitchell was also consulted, expressing her disbelief in her son’s crime.

On August 6, Mitchell traveled to the State Hospital for a mental examination. He was judged to be sane and returned to his Portland cell on September 25. That same day, his case opened. Only seven minutes into the trial, Mitchell pled guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Alphonso Cote Murder (1924)

On November 7, 1924, Alphonso Cote was murdered by Charles H. Fielding, under careful planning by Alphonso’s wife, Lottie. Fielding was aided in his crime by young Ralph Sanborn, Lottie’s child from her first marriage. Initially, Lottie played the innocent wife, posting a $50 reward for any information regarding her missing husband.

On November 15, Alphonso’s body was found in a secret grave on the Cote Property. All three suspected, Lottie, Fielding, and Sanborn were interrogated by County Attorney, Ralph Ingalls. Sanborn implicated his mother and Fielding, while Fielding himself admitted to the murder, out of love for Lottie. Lottie attempted to remove herself from the crime in an interview with the Evening Express. She stated that she knew nothing of the murder, putting full blame onto Fielding. She said Fielding threatened her if she revealed his plan.

On trial, Fielding’s counsel, Max Pinkley spun the story that Fielding was “a mere tool in the hands of a crafty woman” on November 18, 1924. Fielding pled guilty to the crime on February 16, 1925, explaining his crime to be one of passion. The man had been brought into the plot by Lottie, the woman whom he loved, six to eight months prior to the crime.

Fielding was sentenced to life on February 20, 1925, while Lottie Cote was originally exonerated of the charge of accessory before the fact on February 21. However, Cote did not escape the law, and was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact on March 2. Mrs. Lottie did not survive to see a verdict in her case. She caught pneumonia and died on December 17, 1925.

Benjamin Turner Murder Case (1927)

On September 8, 1927 Benjamin Turner of Mystic, Iowa, shot James Hallen, outside Hallen’s residence in Falmouth, Maine. Witnesses Alberto Starling, a painter working on the Hallen house, and Mrs. Maud Haskell, a neighbor rushed to contain Turner to the scene of the crime. The shooter responded “Get the police, I won’t run.” Police quickly escorted Turner to the Office of Sheriff King F. Graham, where he was questioned. Turner recalled his introduction to Hallen in 1921, and the financial ruin that followed.

According to the murderer, Hallen had approached him in a jail in Mexico City while he was being held for the murder of Ramon Argielles, a man Turner believed had swindled him. Hallen posed as a lawyer that could get Turner out of jail for a fee of $1,200. Turner paid Hallen as much as he possessed, around $850, trusting this father-like figure. When Hallen left town with his money, Turner dedicated the years after his release plotting his revenge.

After a stint in the State’s mental Hospital in Augusta from October 27, 1926 to February 2, 1927, Turner’s trial started on February 7, 1927. Mrs. Haskell was called to testify, recounting her perspective. On the day of the murder, Turner went to the Hallen residence and spoke at length with Hallen, even portions spent with Mrs. Hallen attending, in an attempt to sort out the financial disparity. Talk escalated to action, prompting Turner to pump five rounds from his .38 caliber revolver into Hallen. Additionally, Sheriff Graham hypothesized that a woman was involved in Turner’s motive, as the financial ruin brought upon him by Hallen caused an undisclosed woman from Mexico City to leave Turner. Turner was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment on February 12, 1927.

Oquossoc Murder (1922)

On a crisp, overcast October evening in the small settlement of Haines Landing—a summer vacation village along the shores of Rangeley Lake—beloved local fishing guide and letter carrier Otis A. Bean was shot dead outside his garage. The murder of Otis Bean, which initially led to the arrest of two itinerant lumberjacks and later Bean’s wife, Ethel, became one of the most intriguing and well-documented murder cases in Maine's history.
Around 6 p.m., famed hunting and fishing guide Bob Martin had finished his dinner and was in a car with Herb Welch, a local merchant, and Ethel Bean, heading to Oquossoc Station. While driving, they heard three gunshots in the distance. Normally, gunshots wouldn’t provoke much reaction from Haines Landing residents and visitors, but that night it piqued their interest because the Governor had banned hunting during an unusually dry spell to prevent forest fires.

According to a 1931 article by Sam E. Connor in the Lewiston Sun Journal Magazine, this unusual disobedience spurred further investigation into the origin of the shots. On his way to telephone another Haines Landing resident, Martin encountered two unknown men on the road near the Toothaker garage, which sat about 50 yards off the road. While speaking with the men, Martin noticed a light in the grass. Moving toward it, he stumbled upon Bean’s corpse.

When Martin returned to the road, the two men had vanished. He called local constable John Gendron, who quickly formed a posse to track down the suspects. The men were apprehended shortly after the search began on the road to Oquossoc. They were identified as Norman Mawson, 22, of Methuen, Massachusetts, and Jeremiah William Wheaton, 20, of Elmira, New York. They had been working odd jobs, including lumber clearing for a job agency near Oquossoc.

Mawson and Wheaton, who denied any wrongdoing, were placed in separate cells at Franklin County Jail in Farmington.

While incarcerated, they willingly posed for Evening Express photographers for newspaper coverage. On October 13, they were charged at Franklin County Courthouse before a large crowd, many of whom couldn’t fit inside. Despite their presence at the scene of the crime, the charges were eventually dropped, and they were released after several months due to lack of evidence.

The investigation then focused on Ethel Bean, Otis's wife. Prosecutors suggested jealousy as a motive, citing marital issues and Otis's alleged infidelity. Ethel was arrested and charged with murder, leading to a high-profile trial in Franklin County, notable for being one of the first in which a woman faced such charges.

Prosecutors presented witnesses who testified about the Beans' frequent arguments and Otis’s associations with other women. One headline even claimed she wanted a "fat man with a car." During the trial, nationally recognized forensic expert Albert H. Hamilton of Auburn, New York, testified that the bullet's slightly upward trajectory near Otis's ear indicated Ethel could not have been the shooter. Ethel stood 5 feet 5 inches tall, while Otis was nearly 6 feet tall. This trajectory, which suggested a killer of equal height to the victim, combined with blood pattern analysis and evidence that Otis's large body had been dragged 20 feet from the garage, cast significant doubt on the case against Ethel.

Despite the heavily circumstantial evidence initially presented by the state, the charges against Ethel were dropped. The case, which garnered widespread attention, remained unresolved with no conviction or acquittal ever achieved.

"Slayer Kelley" (1927)

James P. Kelley murdered Mrs. Lillian Grace Woodsum Casey in her Clark Street apartment in Portland on July 11, 1927. After a quarrel over a pawned Christmas gift, Kelley stabbed her in the heart.

"Slayer Kelley," as he was known in the newspapers, surrendered to the police shortly after and was held without bail following his arraignment on July 27. Despite expectations to the contrary, Kelley pled not guilty in a crowded court.

Kelley's defense argued that Lillian's death was an accident, but the jury only took 2 hours to deliberate and find him guilty. In October of 1927, the court sentenced him to life in prison. Stone-faced throughout the reading of the verdict, Kelley passed out when the guards placed him in handcuffs.

Kelley suffered from tuberculosis and pneumonia, and after a stint at Maine General Hospital, a group of doctors decided that he would be better suited in the Maine State Prison, with better facilities for treatment of his substantial illness. This decision forced him to give up his appeal and accept his sentence.

Eventually, he was sent to Central Maine Sanatorium in Fairfield. In July of 1929, Kelley escaped the sanitorium, which surprised many because of his deteriorating health.

After a short struggle, police captured him in East Deering the next day, near the house of his victim's family.

John Lewis Stickup (1927)

John L. Lewis, a taxi driver from New York accused of armed robbery, was photographed by "Evening Express" photographers at his arraignment in Portland on Monday, October 31, 1927.

Officer Thomas T. Conley's arm is draped around Lewis's neck, his hand making a fist on his cheek.

On Saturday, October 29, 1927, Lewis pointed a gun at a woman known as "Miss Elliott" at the Jefferson Theater ticket office, demanding the day's receipts.

The next morning at Temple Lunch, Lewis pulled a gun, but sixteen-year-old Lewis H. Emanuel leaped over the counter and chased him down Temple Street. Despite Lewis firing three shots, Emanuel tackled him. Another taxi driver helped subdue Lewis and take him to the police station.

Emanuel received widespread praise in the local press for his bravery.

Blake & Hendrickson Jewelry Store Robbery (1932)

On February 4, 1932, authorities investigated the broken window of the Blake & Hendrickson jewelry shop at 75 Oak Street in Portland. Someone threw a “No Parking” sign through the glass and an inventory check found one bracelet missing. It does not appear newspapers followed up on the story, nor did they publish this photograph taken by a Portland Press Herald photographer.

Alfred S. Cook Murder (1924)

In May 1926, authorities arrested William Gratz (1892-1978) and Herbert Willett (born circa 1905) for the 1924 murder of Alfred S. Cook (1884-1924). After intense interrogation, Willett claimed Gratz, who previously served jail time for promoting prostitution and assaulting a police officer, told him to kill Cook during the course of a robbery. The grand jury failed to indict, and the men were released. Alfred Cook’s murder remains unsolved.