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Part Six: The Opening Statements

The trial opened on November 16, 1906, with Judge Kavannaugh presiding.  On day one of the trial opposing attorneys engaged in a contentious debate over the propriety of Lucille’s mother being present in the courtroom. Mrs. McLeod was scheduled to be a witness for the defense and, according to the Prosecution, should be sequestered. Judge Kavannaugh ruled in favor of the prosecution, ordering Mrs. McLeod to be removed from the room.  That was the first time Mrs. McLeod was not by Lucille’s side since she was wounded in the hotel room nearly a year earlier.

Not to be at a disadvantage or outdone, the defense countered by objecting to William’s brother, Walter Niemann, presence since he, too, was to testify as a witness. That objection was also sustained by Judge Kavannaugh and Walter Niemann was banished from the court room until it was time for him to testify.  After months-and-months of media speculation, Lucille McLeod was finally going to have the opportunity to tell the jury what took place on December 17, 1905 in the room of the Empire Hotel.

Each side made “sensational charges against the character of both the accused girl and the man she is charged with murdering . . . ” in their Opening Statement, according to The Lake County [Indiana] Times of November 16, 1906. Some of the accusations made against Lucille by the State were “she was a dancing girl, and had been involved in many escapades before she met Nieman [sic]” The State further contended “that she murdered Nieman [sic] after having hounded him for months. She followed him like a Nemesis for months before the Empire hotel tragedy.”  The last point made by the prosecution to impugn Lucille’s character was “she had written threatening letters to Nieman [sic] advising him to jump in the lake.”

Countering the charges made against Lucille’s character, Defense Attorney O’Donnell told the jury “that Lucille McLeod was a pure girl until she met Nieman [sic].”  He cast Niemann as “. . . a ‘masher,’ [who] forced his attentions on the girl at the Coliseum skating-ring, and finally gained permission to become her escort.” O’Donnell also explained that Lucille became Michael’s fiancee in June, 1904, “and that the girl’s mother consented to their marriage.”  O’Donnell pointed to the written promise of marriage and that he, Niemann, “insisted on postponing the marriage, and finally took the girl to Milwaukee, and posed as her husband after their return.”

“Her Testimony”

On November 18, 1906, The Minneapolis Journal reported, “Lucille McLeod Menhard” [sic] . . . . fainted twice on the witness stand today, while giving her version of the scenes preceding the finding of herself, suffering from a serious bullet wound, and of Neiman’s [sic] body in their room at the Empire hotel nearly a year ago.”  The paper chronicled that Lucille had married since her arrest nearly a year ago, seven years after she met William Niemann. Lucille attested to William’s request to court her, that was  initially denied because she was too young, only to later being granted by her mother.  In support her testimony that Niemann pledged to marry her, Lucile submitted the written document that stated the commitment.

Lucille testified, “Will and I went once to Milwaukee to be married, but couldn’t get a license. He said he had business which called him back to Chicago, and left me against my protest. Then I went to the stage, but Will persuaded me to leave it.”

The young woman replied when asked on cross examination, “No; it is not true that I once tried to stab one of the girls in the chorus with me, while playing at San Souci park.”

Testimony offered by Lucille was laid out in general terms by the papers, relating only the sequence of events that culminated in William Niemann’s death. Lucille said, “Will got me to meet him at the Empire and we registered as husband and wife. He shot me as I slept. I did not know what he had done until  I awoke and found myself partly paralyzed.  I raised my hand to my breast and found it bathed in blood. Will, you have killed me, I shrieked, only half conscious.  Then I had a sensation of falling — dying.  The next I knew I was in a hospital. Will Nieman [sic] shot me. He tried to murder me and then himself.”

Dramatic headlines

To portray Lucille as a woman who was no stranger to violence, she was again questioned about carrying a knife. She “ . . . admitted that it was her custom to carry a knife in her muffler, but said her work on the stage often compelled her to be out late and that she wanted a weapon for protection.”

Go to Part 7!