This post shares the research I did about a real crime scene photo.
Miss Alberta Thomas was murdered at her home at 69 W. 135th street on New York City Tuesday, April 14, 1914, between the hours of 9 and 10 a.m. Alberta lived on the second floor of the building and she had a roommate, a Mrs. Scott.
Unlike the crime scene we covered last week involving Barbara Cornelius, there was no mystery about who committed the murder and there was, at least, an idea of the motive. It was done by Albert Willword, who had been dating Alberta for a year. Albert lived at No. 29 Roosevelt Street. Willword was a railroad man.
On the morning of April 14, other tenants in Alberta’s building could hear the couple quarreling. Alberta was confronting Albert about his supposed interest in another girl. The fierce shrieking suddenly gave way after four rapid gunshots were heard.
From the Gothamist
Albert had fired his gun at his girlfriend, and hit her once in the breast and once in the neck. “After shooting her four times, a frenzied Albert took a razor which he used on his victim most industriously,” the Evening World stated. “When found, Alberta’s face and body were badly cut.”
When Willword ceased his cutting and had a look at his handiwork, he panicked. He threw the pistol under Alberta’s bed. Without stopping to dress, he ran through the second-floor apartment and leapt out the back window clad only in his underwear.
Albert landed on the concrete beneath the window, breaking his leg in the process. Alberta’s neighbors prevented Willword from escaping by holding him prisoner until Policeman Bruns came and arrested him.
Willword was taken to Harlem Hospital, and placed under arrest. When the police asked if he had killed Miss Thomas, he admitted he had, saying, “I shot and cut her.”
There was no follow up to this case in the newspapers.
The strangest thing about this case, in my opinion, is that every newspaper article said the motive for the crime was jealousy, meaning that Alberta was jealous of Albert and another girl.
This seems strange to me. How can the victim’s emotions be a motive for murder? Maybe Albert was angry about Alberta’s jealousy or fearful of what she might do. But from what we know, there’s no reason to think he was jealous of her. What do you make of it?
old spirituals 
Newspapers use wording that will draw attention and maybe shock the reader. The way these lines were written, the victim seems to be blamed for her own murder. Of course, we don’t know of abuse of Alberta by Albert over the year they dated, but the overkill by shooting and disfiguring with a razor is quite bizarre to have happened all at once. I think there is more to the story and Alberta’s roommate probably knew a lot.
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I bet you’re 100% right, Judy! I was so sure of it, I went back to check to see if the newspapers wrote anything about a Mrs. Scott living at that address, but no dice. There was a lot of crime in NYC around then and no space in the papers for following up on yesterday’s shocking news!
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I can’t tell if it’s the pillows or is Alberta wearing a 1920s style turban? What a sad story.
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Possibly a night cap to keep her hairstyle?
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Oh that’s possible!
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I wondered about that too but I think it’s the pillows… I don’t feel confident.
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Murderers don’t need any justification for their murder. He probably felt very entitled to have a couple of women at his beck and call and perhaps there was another one tucked away somewhere. I had a dear friend, Valerie, who was murdered by her husband because he was involved with another woman quite seriously who wanted him to divorce Val and marry her. That would make him look bad in the eyes of relatives and friends, so instead he murdered Val and set it up to look like a suicide. He was caught out within days and has spent the last 17 years in jail. HE was having the torrid affair (one among several other one-night stands over the years apparently that we knew nothing about), HE didn’t want to look bad for having one, so he killed HER. That is the way people with no conscience solve their problems.
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I’m so sorry you lost your friend like this! Heartbreaking.
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Wow, Jennie. How awful! Your poor friend. I’m sorry you lost her.
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This photo and the earlier one of the supposed murder-suicide are from an overhead perspective and both capture the leading leg of the camera’s tripod positioned on the bed. Just an observation.
It is difficult to understand the logic of a sane person who concludes murder is the best answer to resolving a problem or disagreement, especially one caused by a love triangle.
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I think you could guess a little at it. After all, he tossed the gun under the bed. (Was he thinking the police wouldn’t find it?) He would have had a better chance of escape if he took the gun with him, got dressed, and left the building normally. Not that we want him to escape but he wasn’t the sharpest criminal.
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“Smart criminal” is somewhat of an oxymoron. More often than not, murder is often an emotional reaction not an intellectual one.
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I think someone has to be psychotic to overkill, especially with a razor or knife. A sane person might kill in the heat of passion, but most sane people would probably just get dressed and leave. I think Alberta’s shrieking brought out the psycho in Albert. He seemed to cut her face, possibly to shut her up.
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Yes but you’re right about it being overkill too!
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