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

Part Eight: “Who Was Fred Memhard?”

The hometown newspaper of Lucille McLeod was also the hometown paper of Fred Memhard.  On the front page of its December 4, 1906, issue, The Lake County Times boldly printed:

A rather belittling description of Lucille’s husband was in the opening sentence of the story.

“Fred Memhard, tailor’s model and thoughtless kid, is strictly in the hands of his relatives and they are trying to rescue him from the clutches of Lucille McLeod. Fred Memhard is a good looking, well-bred boy, who had more of the romantic turn than agreed with him. In his sober senses he might not have thought of acting as a ‘fall guy’ for Miss Lucille McLeod on the eve of her trial. . .”

The Lake County Times also disclosed Memhard “did not consult his friends before he espoused . . .” and disclosed that Fred recently divorced “Miss Blackman with whom he had a disagreement that “grew out of childish pique.”  The grounds for Fred Memhard’s divorce allegedly had nothing to do with his relationship with Lucille McLeod.  Because of the Memhard family’s belief that Fred was used as an instrument to influence the outcome of the murder trial, many steps were taken to get the marriage annulled. The Washington Times, Last Edition, on December 5, 1906, disclosed “an uncle and a sister of Memhard talked with the justice of the peace who performed the ceremony and say that the bridegroom was not Memhard, but some one [sic] posing as Memhard.” However, Lucille, some point, presented exhibits from her husband signed “Memhard” that were dated when he was in Memphis. The paper closed by stating, “The police are trying to unravel the mystery.”

Whatever may have instigated the marriage of Lucile McLeod to Fred Memhard, once the jury acquitted Lucille of the murder of William Niemann the answer to the query was a moot point. Lucille was found innocent and could not again be prosecuted for the murder of William Niemann.

Go to Part 9 (the final chapter)!