To begin at the beginning of this story, click here to go to Part 1.

Part Four: Media Frenzy

Obviously, the marriage and honeymoon plans of William and Meta never came to fruition since William died on December 17, 1905.  Headlines like, “JEALOUSY CAUSES A TRACEDY [sic]” as appeared in The Providence News, on December 18, 1905, were intended to stir interest and attract readers. Accompanying those headlines the papers speculated the motive for Lucille’s murderous deed was the victim’s broken verbal and written commitment to marry her.

The physicians at the hospital reported, “Miss Neumann [sic] is by no means out of danger.”  Lucille was believed to be Mrs. Niemann because the couple registers as a husband-and-wife at check-in. Recovery from her wounds required hospitalization for a month; she was released from the hospital the evening of January, 17, 1906.  Before she was released from the hospital, police made a point of charging her with the “murder of William T. Niemann, Jr. and her father, P. R. McLeod, and a friend signed bonds of $20,000 for her appearance at the inquest scheduled for January 27, 1906.”  After the Corner’s Inquest, Lucille was remanded to the Court for a jury trial.

The prosecution’s case was going to be simple and straightforward. Lucille was a spurned woman who was out for revenge.  She planned to shoot her betrothed and then herself, and it almost worked but for being found by a maid in the hotel room near death. In its story, The Chickasha Star & Telegram described what happened in its  December 29, 1905 issue:

At first, Lucille thought that she would kill herself and thus leave her recreant lover free to carry out his plans. Then her proud, Spanish blood asserted itself and she made up her mind to make a target of William himself instead. She invited him, therefore, to a conference in the Empire hotel in Chicago on South Oakley boulevard. No one knows exactly what happened, but when entrance was effected into the room, William was found dying from a bullet wound in his head and Miss McLeod had a bullet hole in her breast.  This is the end of the crop of wild oats that every young man is supposed to sow, and which generally are reaped in the form of misery sorrow, trouble, affliction and devilment.

Why the Chickasha Star felt obliged to embellish the story by adding commentary on William sowing wild oats as every young man is supposed to do seems rather crass and judgmental.

Go to Part 5!