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

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.