Murders: The Roaring Twenties

1920s Murders

The roaring twenties was a time of great happiness in the United States. It is characterized by the flourishing economy, the dancing flappers, and watching Disney. Although the 1920s were a time of great prosperity, the high number of murders during the time caused high amounts of fear in the American people.

In Queens New York during the year 1927 “Ruth Snyder claimed two “giant Italians” had broken into her house in Queens and knocked her unconscious.” (Little, 2018) She claimed that the men tied her up then proceeded to steal her jewelry and murder her husband. Turns out She was sleeping with a corset salesman named Henry Judd Gray who was also married, pinned the murder on him. Gray confessed and “accused Snyder of seducing him and planning the murder of her husband. Snyder [had] forged a double-indemnity insurance policy in his name for nearly $100,000 in the event of his accidental death.” “They killed Snyder’s husband by hitting him with weight from a window sash, stuffing chloroform-soaked cotton up his nose, and strangling him with picture frame wire. They tried to cover it up as a poorly staged “break-in,” and when that story fell through, the former lovebirds immediately turned on each other.” (Little, 2018)This story caused a blow-up of the tabloids. They called this the “dumbbell” murder because it was dumb. This murder really made no large effects on the community other than everyone being slightly more worried about new insurance policies. People also were a little more suspicious about their wives.

Mary and John Creighton were arrested for the death of Raymond Avery. He was Mary’s brother and had been poisoned by a large dose of arsenic. Before his death, Raymond made Mary the beneficiary of his insurance policy as well as his trust fund. The couple then become friends with another couple named Everett and Ada Applegate. This was during the height of the depression so the Creightons invited the Applegates to move in with them to save money. This was perfect because they both had teenaged daughters, Agnes Applegate and Ruth Creighton. Agne’s father soon started forcing himself upon both of the girls and both wives soon joined in. Soon after Ada complained of not feeling well and went to the doctor. They told her they were not sure of the issue, not soon after she died. The autopsy revealed that she had ingested a high dose of arsenic. Everett and Mary were taken in for questioning. They were both sentenced to first-degree murder and the death sentence. (Bovsun,2008) This had great effects on both families as well as everyone they were attached to. This led to discomfort in the city everyone questioning roommates and friends.

Nancy ‘Nannie Doss’ Hazle also known as the Giggling Granny. “Nannie was one of five children.” She had a very difficult and unpleasant childhood. Jim Hazle, whose true connection to Nannie was unclear, was extremely abusive and demanding of the child. He kept Nannie and he4r siblings away from school for many days at a time to finish chores around the house and work on daily farm tasks. At the age of seven Nannie “suffered a head injury when a train in which she was riding slowed suddenly and she hit her head on a metal train seat in front of her.” (Harvey, 2015) This was later thought to be the reason for Nannie’s destructive behavior. Nancy met up with Charles ‘Charley’ Braggs as a teenager when she was only 16 years old. Braggs started to pursue Doss and they later met after her father gave his seal of approval. Nannie and Braggs married within months of meeting. Nannie soon moved in with Braggs and his mother, whose temperament matched her father’s” “The marriage had disintegrated drastically by 1927, and this period seems to mark the start of Doss’s murderous habits. That year, two of the children died mysteriously after eating breakfast; their deaths were attributed to food poisoning.” Braggs then bounced out of there Doss moved and met frank “married in 1929, but the marriage soon became rocky, owing largely to Harrelson’s alcoholism and violent temper.” “It was during this period that Nannie most likely killed her own newborn granddaughter with a hairpin to the brain shortly after birth. A few months later, Nannie likely killed her two-year-old grandson, Robert, when he was left in her care. He died suddenly of asphyxia. Nannie collected on a $500 life insurance policy she had taken out on him.” She then murdered Frank with rat poison in is moonshine after he was really mean. Then there was Arie who was murdered with rat poison in a meal. She then murdered her mother and she left to move in with her new man Samuel Doss. He was a kind and sweet guy. Then talk about them and her. She mainly contacted men from the local lonely hearts column. This then changed the view of this column as well as made many much wearier about meeting up with people.

Frank Howard better known as Albert Fish responded to Edward Budd’s advertisement placed in the newspaper. He was a young adult that wanted to have a successful future and Frank was able to offer him a job. He told him that he need help on his farm and that his wife and children had left him. Edward was excited about the opportunity to support his family and obtain job experience. Frank also offered a career opportunity to Edward’s best friend WIllie. He told the men he would pick them up a couple of days later to begin work. A few days later the men received a written letter from Frank Howard explaining that he was unable to come that day but would be in touch. The next morning he came for a visit and the family asked him to stay for lunch. During lunch, Frank met Edwards’s younger sister, Gracie. Frank then explained he had a birthday party he had to attend before the men could leave for the farm. He invited his sister to go with him. Seeing that Frank was charismatic and kind they allowed Gracie to go with him. Later that night neither returned to the house and the Budds soon reported the missing child and the local police began an investigation. The police were unable to get any leads mostly because the man Frank Howard did not exist. Soon the Budd family got a letter describing the murder and dismemberment of Gracie. The handwriting matched perfectly with the note that the family had received earlier that month. However, before the Budds received that letter another child was reported missing. Billy Gaffney a four-year-old boy was playing with his neighbor when he was taken. The neighbor described to the police that “the boogeyman” took Billy. The police ignored the child’s statement. Soon after eight-year-old Francis McDonnell was playing with his mother in front of their house. His mother noticed an old creepy ass man walking down the street talking to himself. The judge pushed the awkward man to the back of her mind and did not report the situation. The next day Francis was playing at the park when he benched off with a random old man. When his family became suspicious of his whereabouts they started a search. They found the child in the woods under some branches and he had been visibly beaten and murdered with his own suspenders. A search began for the elderly man but he was gone. They took further efforts to analyze the handwriting and found that it contained an emblem of the New York Private Chauffeur’s Benevolent Association (NYPCBA). All members were then required to give a handwriting sample for comparison with Frank Howard. A janitor came admitted to taking some of the papers but stated that he left them in his old apartment. His old landlord confirmed that a man matching the grey man’s description had left there for a few months and had moved out a few days later. He was identified as Albert H. Fish. The landlord told the detectives that Fish was waiting for a letter from his son so they got it from the post office and caught that bitch. Later found in confessions and testimonies that Albert Fish wanted to get the men to the fish farm to murder them. However, when he saw Gracie he had a change of heart and felt that she should be his victim. Gracie and he went to the train station and traveled to the countryside. When they arrived that the house Gracie picked flowers and Albert went upstairs and stripped off his clothes. He called her upstairs and she was extremely scared and proceeded to yell out for her mom.

Murders and serial killers plagued the 1920s. They caused great amounts of fear in a time of great prosperity. The roaring twenties were then roaring for another reason.