2211 Sutter Street

A Phantom Murderer in San Francisco Part 3

/ Kimberly / 6 Comments

The police investigation turned up some puzzling clues. The gas to heat and light had never been turned on. The only furnished room in the house was the one where Nora’s body was found. The police inventoried its contents: a bed, two new sheets, a blanket, a quilt, a towel, and an old chair. The butt of a cigar was on the floor and a nearly empty whisky bottle was on the mantle. The police found many advertisements for furniture and the like addressed to Mrs. Hawkins. One of the letters had been opened and was found in Nora’s jacket.

When she left her home on January 11, Nora had been carrying the postcard from Bennett but this item was not found with Nora’s belongings. It was never located. Mr. Severbrinik, the man whose card was found in Nora’s purse, was quickly eliminated as a suspect. He had sailed for China on January 11, several hours before Nora left home. Her family didn’t recognize his name. No one knew why his card was in Nora’s purse.

Investigators descended upon the Golden West Hotel in search of Hawkins but no one there had heard of him. The police went to the Chronicle to inquire about Bennett, the man who placed the ad. The newspaper handed over the written message they received from Bennet ordering the ad that Nora answered. When police compared this handwriting sample to Hawkins’ signature on the lease, they matched perfectly, confirming suspicions that Bennett and Hawkins were the same man.

The furniture in the room proved to be the best lead. It was traced to a nearby store called Cavanaugh’s.  A man named Hawkins had come in, probably directly from the real estate agency, and requested a cheap bed, a chair, and some second-hand bedding. The clerk remembered Hawkins well. He was well-dressed but he bought inexpensive items and was suspicious that the store would swindle him by delivering a mattress of lesser quality than the one he had chosen. The owner allowed him to initial the mattress. When the sheets were stripped from the bed Nora had been found in, the initials C.B.H. were plainly evident. Hawkins also stood out because he demanded the store deliver the items that very evening or the sale was off. The delivery boy met Hawkins at the Sutter Street house and recalled he wore a silk hat.

The cruel murder of Nora Fuller was meticulously planned. Bennett-Hawkins had carefully constructed a trap and Nora had fallen into it. But who was he and why did he commit this crime? People initially speculated the man was a stranger to Nora. But at the coroner’s inquest,  the victim’s friend, Madge Graham, testified that Nora was infatuated with an older man named Bennett. Nora liked him very much, her friend revealed, and often stayed out late with him. Madge said she covered for Nora on more than one occasion, telling others that they were together so her friend could meet up with Bennett. Madge advanced a theory that the advertisement was a trick Nora and Bennett concocted to deceive her mother.

Madge Graham

A grocer’s testimony potentially backed up Madge’s speculation.  He said Nora occasionally used his telephone to make phone calls, which was odd since her family had a telephone. The newspapers liked Madge’s theory, but the police and the Fullers rejected it. It didn’t fit with what they knew of Nora.

In the end, a single suspect was named. His name was Charles B. Hadley, and he had been an accountant for the San Francisco Examiner. A few days after Nora’s disappearance, Hadley vanished. Subsequently, the Examiner discovered his accounts were short. Just how much money Hadley had stolen is unknown. It is unlikely that Hadley would have been connected to Nora, if not for the efforts of his ex-girlfriend, Ollie Blasier.

Ollie explained that Charles was “greatly disturbed” by the newspaper accounts of Nora Fuller’s disappearance. On January 16, Ollie received a telephone call from Hadley, informing her that he was leaving for good. Most damning of all was Ollie’s claim that, while doing the laundry in mid-January, she found some blood-stained clothing that belonged to Hadley. She later burned the items. Ollie approached police in February with a picture of Charles and told them she suspected him of murdering Nora.

Charles B. Hadley – picture from https:// heathermonroe.medium. com/the-baffling-murder-of-nora-fuller-fc9b20534fad

Investigators were doubtful. Perhaps it occurred to them that Nora had been strangled so if Hadley had really left bloody clothes behind, it was unlikely to be related to the girl’s case . Upon looking at the photo Ollie put before them, they openly expressed doubt, pointing out that Hadley couldn’t be the right man since he was always clean-shaven and Bennett-Hawkins had a moustache. But Ollie said Hadley wore a false moustache at times.

Police weren’t sure whether Ollie’s account was a sincere attempt to help them or the machinations of a vengeful ex-girlfriend, but they took the photograph of Hadley she offered and showed it to various witnesses. Reactions were mixed. The delivery boy said Hadley looked exactly like Hawkins. Krone, the restaurant owner, was sure it was not Bennett.

Police learned the name Charles B. Hadley was an alias. Was it a coincidence that these initials were shared with C.B. Hawkins? The suspect’s real name was Charles Start and he had a record. Two years before Nora’s murder, he assaulted a girl in San Francisco. A warrant had also been issued for his arrest in Minneapolis for embezzling money 15 years earlier.

Hadley-Start was never found. A rumor floated around San Francisco that he had committed suicide, but this was never confirmed. Nor could anyone ascertain whether he was Bennett-Hawkins.

In any case, no one was ever charged with Nora’s murder. At 120 years old, the case is ice-cold and unlikely to ever be solved. The house on Sutter Street is still there, though. There is a little remodeling and the house number has changed to 2209, but it is unmistakably the same place.

The house where Nora’s body was found, as it looked in 1902 and in 2022.

I’m curious to hear what you all think of this unsolved case! Did Nora know her killer? Was Hadley-Start really the murderer? Was Nora targeted or was he seeking a random victim? What happened to her killer?

Note: I typically only reference contemporaneous newspapers and documentation, but in this case I supplemented those resources with several good write-ups other people have done.

Here are the links to those articles: