Discussing Infanticide

On 23 December 1952 my fifth cousin once removed murdered his three children, ages 4, 2 and 4 months, attempted to kill his wife and himself. After he was paroled in 1968, he co-authored a book. In the epilogue he described killing his children and his life after. I blogged about it last year in a series of posts:

• Connett Family Tragedy
• Connett Family Tragedy Continued
• Archie Connett in His Own Words: The Crime
• Archie Connett in His Own Words: The Trial and Prison
• Archie Connett in His Own Words: Parole

This discovery really threw me for a loop. I had often said I inordinately fond of my black sheep, but this was beyond the pale. Yet, he wasn't the first murderer I discovered among my ancestors or even the first one who killed a family member. The previous fellow was actually a closer relative but the crime happened a long time ago. What made this so different?

After each post, I would send the link to my youngest brother, John. We're 10 years apart in age and have always been very close. I've felt for many years he was the really scary smart one in the family. What I most appreciate about his brain is his analytical ability and the way he explains his position. I typically operate by instinct so I usually find his point of view thought provoking. I asked him for his assessment of Archie because I found myself disliking him intensely, especially his excuses for why he killed his children which included, in my view, blaming his mother. Blame being the key word.

Published in the Oakland Tribune on 24 December 1952

My brother's take on the events:

Your wanted my evaluation on this. I assume I have a somewhat different take on it than you.

I think there is a difference between blame and reason that you may not be taking fully into account. I think in the epilogue of his book Connett is talking about the reason he committed the crime. The part about his mother, the need to feel accepted, etc., is the reasoning behind why he did what he did. I don't think he is blaming his mother. Of course, there is no rational explanation for killing your three children, so the logic of any reason for doing so will obviously be twisted.

Let's use another example which removes the absurdity of killing your children from the scenario. Let's examine the case of a general who lost an important battle. His memoirs will likely be filled with lots of reason why he lost the battle, including things that were both in his control and beyond his control Some readers will call these excuses, but I tend to see them as explanations of why the battle transpired the way it did. Imagine an After Action Report in which a general says simply, "I take full responsibility for the defeat. I screwed up." It's good that he takes responsibility, but it doesn't provide any lessons for future strategists to learn from.

The more interesting question to me is should Connett have been paroled, either earlier or at all? This comes down to the question of whether a criminal is incarcerated for rehabilitation, punishment or to protect the rest of society. Connett was not the typical criminal; he was well educated and a productive member of society who committed a heinous crime in one spasmodic episode. In his pleadings for parole he made much of the fact that he had been "rehabilitated," as evidenced by the work he did with therapy groups. I think he missed the point. Since he was not a habitual criminal, rehabilitation means nothing. You can't rehabilitate for a one-time spasm of anger. Connett's incarceration was for pure punishment. I think the judge understood this point and I tend to agree with the judge when he wrote, "...if ever a man in the State of California had committed first degree murder, he was the man; that if ever a man deserved to go to the gas chamber, he was the man; that he should never be released from prison."

The fact that Connett was up for parole after only 3 years and 4 months is the most amazing point of this whole series of blog posts. That's a little over one year for each child. Incredible! Thankfully, the judge was around for 15 years to ensure the denial of his parole.

Published in the Gastonia Gazette on 25 March 1971

I responded a few days later after thinking long and hard about my brother's email...as I said he is always thought-provoking:

I believe you have it right and I did not. Your analogy about the general is completely valid and really made your point. It doesn't come with so much associated anger as a child killer. I think your point about punishment motivating the judge is particularly on point.

I also agree that being eligible for parole after such a short time is totally unbelievable and I now understand why the "do the crime, do the time" movement got so popular.

My brother ended the exchange explaining his thoughts on parole:

I think about parole differently depending on the nature of the crime and criminal.  The guys who are running the prisons obviously want well behaved inmates, so I understand if good behavior is rewarded with a better chance at parole.  But it should only by 10 - 15% shorter sentence, not the incredible case below where a 10 - life term is eligible for parole in 3 years.  In cases where the primary point of the incarceration is punishment, then I don't think there should be any lessening of the sentence, except for the small reward for good behavior noted above.  In cases where rehabilitation is possible, such as someone whose crime was motivated by a drug addiction, then I think that inmate could be offered parole much sooner provided their addiction is overcome.

This is just one of the many reasons I love my baby brother so much. He keeps me on my toes. You can't have these types of conversations with just anyone. Plus he uses semicolons properly. What's not to love? I haven't got him totally interested in genealogy yet, but he is intrigued by DNA ethnicity results so I believe I've got a chance. What do you think?

52 Ancestors #13: How Much Tragedy Can a Woman Endure?

Ancestor Name: Lefa Marie (Amsberry) Connett Zeller Hall

Lefa Marie Amsberry was born on 19 April 1895 in Cass County, Kansas. At the age of 18 she married Vernon Andrew Connett, who was only 20 at the time of their marriage. Ten months later their son, Archie Vernon Connett was born. Lefa apparently suffered from what we now know as postpartum depression after Archie's birth. Her doctor suggested the young family take a trip so she could spend time in fresh air.

Lefa Marie Amsberry and her siblings; courtesy of Ancestory.com member cfm1151

Vernon, Lefa, and baby Archie left Kansas to visit relatives in Nebraska in an horse-drawn wagon. When they stopped in North Platte, they met Roy Roberts. The men stuck up a friendship and decided to look for work in North Platte and Vernon took Lefa and Archie to the train station to continue on to their relatives. He would join her later after making some extra money. Lefa never saw Vernon again. At 19 she was a widow, only she didn't know it right away. Roy Roberts, Vernon's new "friend" killed him so he could steal the team of horses and wagon. Eventually, Roy Roberts was brought to trial and convicted of murder.

As published in the Beatrice Daily Sun 6 Febuary 1917

Vernon Connett's body was eventually found along the banks of the South Platte River. Vernon's father and brother traveled to Nebraska to claim the body and take it back to Kansas for burial at the Sheridan Cemetery in Auburn. By that time Lefa had married again to John Victor Zeller. She had a daughter, Clara Mavis Zeller, in 1923 and by 1937 the family had moved to Denver, Colorado while her son Archie completed his post-graduate work.

Clara married early -- very early at the age of 14 -- to Ernest Clifton Manchester. By 1948 Clara and Ernest had three children and were living in Tekoa, Washington. In the early morning hours of 2 March 1948, their house became engulfed in flames. The house was destroyed and the parents burned trying to save their children. Unfortunately, only one, the infant was saved. Their sons, 8-year-old Jerry Ivan Manchester and 6-year-old Lyle Ernest Manchester, died in the fire. Lefa, their grandmother, had just lost two beloved grandchildren at the same time. But more tragedy was to follow four years later.

As published in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin on 2 March 1948

By 1952, her son, Archie, had married Wynona Gottlieb and had three children. He and his wife separated and he had threatened violence several times. On 23 December 1952, he became enraged and slashed his estranged wife's throat. She was able to escape. Archie then turned his rage on his children and held them by their feet and bashed their heads against the wall, killing 4-year-old Michael Stephen Connett, 2-year-old Theresa Anne Connett, and 4-month-old Carl Paul Connett. They were buried the day after Christmas at Mission City Memorial Park, Santa Clara, California. Their Gottlieb grandparents made the arrangements and attended the funeral as their mother, Wynona, was still hospitalized in serious condition. She was only told of their deaths on Christmas Day.

As published in the Oakland Tribune on 24 December 1952

Lefa attended every day of Archie's month-long trial and testified on his behalf. He was convicted of three counts of second degree murder and one count of attempted murder and served 15 years. He was released in 1968.  During the trial it was revealed that Archie and his step-father John Victor Zeller, had a very rocky relationship; their fights sometimes ending in fisticuffs. Lefa eventually divorced Zeller and married for the third time to Jack Huntington Hall. She died on 11 May 1969.

I hope she was eventually able to find happiness.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

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Lefa Marie Amsberry was born on 19 April 1895 at Cass County, Kansas, to Floyd Murton and Rosa Ella (Comer) Amsberry. Lefa was my fourth cousin twice removed. She married Vernon Andrew Connett on 20 May 1913 at St Francis, Kansas. She next married John Victor Zeller on 16 Jun 1917 at Bayard, Nebraska. They likely divorced sometime before 1940, although I am not sure. She then married John Huntington Hall sometime before 1953. She died on 11 May 1969 at Fresno, California. During her lifetime her first husband was murdered, two grandchildren died in a fire, and her son murdered three of her grandchildren and served 15 years in California prisons. He was released the year before her death.

NOTE: I told the story of Vernon Andrew Connett's murder in more detail in Week #11 of 52 Ancestors.

I blogged about Archie Vernon Connett several times and wrote an article about his committing infanticide for Your Family Tree magazine. If you are interesting in learning more about this terrible tragedy, links are provided below:

• Connett Family Tragedy
• Connett Family Tragedy Continued
• Wordless Wednesday: Archie Vernon Connett
• Archie Connett in His Own Words: The Crime
• Archie Connett in His Own Words:  The Trial and Prison
• Archie Connett in His Own Words:  Parole

52 Ancestors #11: A Tale of Murder

Ancestor Name: Vernon Andrew Connett

I've loved books before I even knew what genealogy was. I love having them on my bookshelves or in a pile beside my bed, but most of all I love reading them. I resisted using an e-reader until every shelf was full and my husband near rebellion. Now that I've become obsessed with genealogy and my family's history, I love old books about the counties in which my ancestors lived. You can discover the most wonderful little factoids and I've blogged about what I've discovered reading old history books before.

I use Google Play to search for old county history books. Recently, I found An Illustrated History of Lincoln County, Nebraska, and Her People, A Narrative of the Past with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History; Particular Attention Also Given to the Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development of the County from the Early Days to the Present Time, Volume I, edited by Ira L Bare and Will H McDonald, and published in 1920. It included a section entitled "A Platte Valley Tragedy" about the murder of Vernon Andrew Connett on August 2, 1914.

A Platte Valley Tragedy

A book of four hundred pages was published in 1915 entitled "A Tragedy of the Platte Valley."[1] This book refers to the most cold-blooded of Vernon Connett in the summer of 1914, by Roy Roberts, who paid the penalty June 4, 1915 by being legally electrocuted within the walls of the prison at Lincoln, Nebraska. There were several strange incidents connected with this murder -- others were charged with aiding in this awful crime -- but the courts found Roberts guilty. He was twenty-two years of age when he committed the crime…The man whose life he took was only twenty-one years old. He was riding with Vernon Connett in the latter's wagon and was supposed to be looking for a place to work. Connett was killed on this trip, his body secreted along the sands of the Platte River in this county, and found in piecemeals [sic] as the evidence showed. The man, Roy Roberts, changed his name and took the team of horses to Hershey where he finally sold them, including wagon and harness. The defendant was arrested on suspicion and finally brought to trial at North Platte before Judge Grimes in January 1915. It was a case of "circumstantial evidence," though quite clearly defined.

I guess like many modern true crime books rushed to print to take advantage of the headlines, this book contained many errors of fact. Roy Roberts was not electrocuted. He appealed the verdict and was granted another trial. At that trial he was sentenced to a 25-year prison term. The article below explains the reason for his second trial:

From an article published Feburary 6, 1917 in the Nemaha County Herald:

"..The trial attracted so much attention that the crowds became so large that it was necessary to conduct the trial in a theatre. When the case was appealed to the supreme court it was alleged that this had given a sensational setting which had prejudiced the jury. The case was sent back to the district court for a new trial and after witness had been summoned and the jury empaneled Roberts entered a plea of guilty to murder in the second degree and was sentenced to twenty-five years in the penitentiary."

This article appeared in a North Platte newspaper on February 9, 1917:

Body of Connett Buried at Auburn

Nearly two years after the murder of Vernon Connett his body is at its final resting place. After the sentencing of Roy Roberts to 25 years to life in the state penitentiary following his confession, through his plea of guilty to the slaying of Connett, the skull that had been held as the chief exhibit of the state, was released by the sheriff and the body was taken from the morgue where it had been taken from the South Platte River February 15, 1915, and was sent to Auburn, Nebraska for burial. Andrew J Connett and a brother  took charge of the body and placed it on an evening train that bore it eastward toward its resting place.

Vernon Connett's tombstone at Sheridan Cemetery, Auburn, Nebraska (The death date is incorrect)

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

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Vernon Andrew Connett was born on 1 April 1893 at Woodbury, Grant, Iowa, to Andrew Jackson and Marta Ellen (Gilbert) Connett. He married Lefa Marie Amsberry on 20 May 1913 at St Francis, Cheyenne, Kansas. They had one son, Archie Vernon Connett born on 13 Mar 1914 at Cheyenne County, Kanasas. Roy Roberts murdered Vernon Andrew Connett on 2 August 1914 near North Platte, Lincoln, Nebraska. Vernon's body was found on 15 Feb 1915 buried in the sands of the South Platte River. His body was interred in Sheridan Cemetery at Auburn, Nemaha, Nebraska.

NOTE: The death date on Vernon Connett's headstone is incorrect. He was killed on 2 August 1914.

[1] You bet I looked for A Tragedy of the Platte Valley. An electronic copy was not available online, but I found a used bookseller who had one.  I won't tell you how much I paid for it!

Archie Connett in His Own Words: Part III -- Parole

Archie Connett was released from prison on July 1, 1968 after serving 15 years for murdering his three children and attempting to murder his estranged wife. He was released from parole two years later and was a free man. After prison he founded Ex-Offenders Resources, Inc., to influence the ex-offender community to contribute to society. He co-authored at least two books, including "Paroled but Not Free: Ex-offenders Look at What They Need to Make It Outside," which was published in 1973. In the epilogue of this book, Connett describes what happened on December 23, 1952 and his life after that.

Book Archie Connett co-authored in 1973

This is Archie Connett in his own words and is a continuation of these  posts, which you may find here and here.

"I became the right-hand man of the therapist, something of an auxiliary therapist, and the lead man in the psychological testing section. I learned to administer, score, profile, and interpret psychological tests, including projective techniques. As lead man, I located and selected the men who worked in the section and trained and supervised them. Incarcerated military officers, teachers, businessmen, doctors, lawyers (even a judge) wound up in the section.

I had staff library privileges and I read and wrote four papers which I presented to therapy groups, AA groups, etc. People began to come to me for help. I was asked by the staff to take a therapy group. At one time, I had three groups.

Suddenly, there were not enough hours in the day to do all the exciting things to be done -- all the reading, writing, working with individuals and groups. I was on a new frontier -- learning and doing things that gave meaning and significance to my existences; but I never did an easy day of time in prison.

Copley News Service article that ran in several newspapers across the country when Archie was released from prison in 1968

In my fifteen years in prison, I refused to think of myself as a convict, an inmate, a number. I accepted responsibility for what I had done; but I fought tooth and toenail to maintain my identity as a person. Not all custodial personnel nor even treatment personnel were happy with this, and I never hit it off with certain higher staff people who were easily threatened by a competent person traveling with the benefit of portfolio.

With these exceptions, I got on quite well with most people in prison. I got on with most staff people because I lived within the rules, with inmates, even regulars, because it was known that I never "ran to the man" and that I would help where I could.

For fifteen years, I was between a rock and a hard spot from which there seemed no way out. I had been tried and found guilty by jury through due process of law of three counts of murder second and one count of assault with intent to commit murder and sentenced to consecutive terms. I was given the maximum sentence the judge could legally hand down. However, after I had served eighteen months and was to appear for a parole hearing before the California Adult Authority, the judge wrote saying that if ever a man in the state of California had committed first degree murder, I was the man; that if ever a man deserved to go to the gas chamber, I was the man; that I should never be released from prison.

Each year the judge and the office of the district attorney held to the above view and reaffirmed it in a letter to the Adult Authority before my parole hearing.

That I did not do a day of easy time in those years in prison may also be indicated by a few excerpts from a letter to the district attorney:

I feel the full impact, the enormity of my offense. It was bizarre, horrible. I think no one feels this more intensely than I; and I cannot tell you the remorse, the sorrow, I feel for having taken from my children their chance to live, for having failed them, my wife, myself, and others. I miss my family.

I loved my children dearly, and they loved me. But in a moment of emotional upheaval, of madness, I destroyed them. I must live with this and memories of tenderness with them as long as I live. I would do anything to undo what I did, to make up for what I did. But there is no way to undo what I did, to make up for what I did. I can only give now to others what I have to give, do my best with what I have from here on.

I have done my best to find a way to go on living, loving, and creating. I am going to continue to do my best. But the offender -- no matter how hard he tries to, no matter how worthy he becomes -- can only join with and feel he is a part of society to the extent other people are willing to identify with and accept him on a one-to-one basis.

The district attorney did not answer my letter. Instead, he again wrote the Adult Authoirty saying his view of my situation remained unchanged.

In my letter to the Adult Authority, I said:

I understand the feelings of the district attorney and the judge, why they have done what they have; but isn't what they have done and are doing, if not extra-legal, clearly beyond the intended spirit and responsibility of their office?

Next June, I shall have been in prison thirteen years -- three times my minimum parole possibility.

In the jury's verdict and the consecutive terms of the judge's sentence, in the reports you have on my conduct and rehabilitation, in the indication you have that I identify with our society's values and still feel I have a contribution to make, and in the knowledge that I am in the least parole risk category and have served three times my minimum parole possibility -- in these have you not full rational, moral, and legal basis for releasing me?

What sense does it make, what good purpose can it serve, to go on punishing me for what I did thirteen years ago in a terribly distrubed, irrational state of mind? What benefit can possibly accrue to those who insist that it be done, to those who do it, to me, to anyone?

But I was not released until two years later, until after the judge's death (the district attorney died of a heart attack three or four years after my trial) and some friends obtained a letter from the incumbent district attorney saying he would not oppose my release and that he thought the Adult Authority was in better position than he to determine it. After having been shot down, denied, thirteen times by the parole board -- in my fifteenth year in prison I was submitted en banc, that is, to the full board for parole consideration. After another six weeks, I received word I was to be paroled with a five-year tail.

Archie Connett in 1973

On June 30, 1968, after more than five thousand days and nights in prison, I was released on parole.

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NOTE: Part I (The Crime) may be found here and Part II (Trial and Prison) here.

NOTE: To read the front page story that was published in the Oakland Tribune the day after the murders on December 24, 1952, click here and here.

Archie Connett in His Own Words: Part II -- The Trial and Prison

Archie Connett was released from prison on July 1, 1968 after serving 15 years for murdering his three children and attempting to murder his estranged wife. He was released from parole two years later and was a free man. After prison he founded Ex-Offenders Resources, Inc., to influence the ex-offender community to contribute to society. He co-authored at least two books, including "Paroled but Not Free: Ex-offenders Look at What They Need to Make It Outside," which was published in 1973. In the epilogue of this book, Connett describes what happened on December 23, 1952 and his life after that.

This is Archie Connett in his own words and is a continuation of this earlier post.

"After five months, I went to trial. There, after a month-long trial, the jury found me guilty of three counts of murder in the second degree and one count of assault with intent to commit murder.

Archie Connett was convicted of second degree murder and attempted murder and declared sane. Article published on June 3, 1953 in the Oakland Tribune

The judge sentenced me to San Quentin Prison for the maximum sentence he could hand down: three 5-to-life sentences and one 1-to-14-year sentence to run consecutively. This meant 16 years to life. Later these sentences were aggregated by state law to 10-to-life, which meant I became eligible for parole in 3 years and 4 months.

In my first two years at San Quentin, I just put one foot in front of the other. The betting on the Big Yard was that I would commit suicide in the first year. Nights -- after a hard workout in the gym on the top floor of an old building down in the alley -- when I came out on the fire escape and looked five floors down to the pavement, it would have been very easy to have stepped off.

It was not until I was transferred to the California Medical Facility at Vacaville that I began to find myself. There I had five years of individual and group therapy. Therapy that was much like that at Synanon -- hard-driving, uncovering. For months I had diarrhea and difficulty sleeping. But I learned some things.

I learned that quite early my mother communicated to me an unstated proposal that had far-reaching effects on my life: "If you love me, you will do everything I want you to do because everything I want you to do is right and good and perfect; and if you do, I will love you above everyone."

She kept the promise -- as long as she lived. Even after my offense she treated me as though I were a god. In her eyes, I had been perfect: I accommodated to toilet and eating and language training earlier than children usually do. I measured up to her moral and social expectations. I became the all-American boy -- a scholar, an athlete, a school and campus leader. I became a naval officer, a teacher and coach, a devoted husband and father. For thirty-nine years I lived entirely within the law. I fulfilled her expectations and she kept the promise.

Archie Connett's mother, Lefa Marie (Amsberry) Connett/Zeller with her brothers and sisters. She is in the front row, far left.

With no father (my father was beaten to death with a hammer when I was six months old) to rescue me in my most vulnerable years, my obsession (to be loved by everyone as my mother loved me) and my compulsion (to qualify for that love by being perfect) took root.

To feel impelled to measure up to and to please others -- to be always "right and good and perfect" -- in order to feel right about yourself is a terrifying and precarious existence, and when you fail -- catastrophic.

My wife and children were my little world -- the principal people between me and the terrifying threat of isolation, failure and self-doubt. Confronted with this threat, having no real identity, ridden with anxiety, dependent on those close to me for constant assurance of love and affection that would stave off anxiety and give me at least some feeling of self and security, it was imperative that I maintain my little world. I could not let it go, accept an altered version of it, or create another. I had to have it. I wanted, desired it so much that I struggled to obtain it until I drove myself beyond the edge of sanity.

Archie Connett is upper right; his wife, Wynona (Gottlieb) Connett, lower right; his two oldest children Michael and Theresa are to the left

In therapy I learned what had happened to me and why, and what I must do about it. I learned I could not undo or make up for what I had done and that no matter what I had done, no matter what happened to me, I still had the potential to go on living, loving, and creating, and that it was up to me to do so.

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NOTE:  Part one may be found here.

NOTE: To read the front page story that was published in the Oakland Tribune the day after the murders on December 24, 1952, click here and here.

Archie Connett in His Own Words: Part I -- The Crime

Archie Connett was released from prison on July 1, 1968 after serving 15 years for murdering his three children and attempting to murder his estranged wife. He was released from parole two years later and was a free man.  After prison he founded Ex-Offenders Resources, Inc., to influence the ex-offender community to contribute to society. He co-authored at least two books, including "Paroled but Not Free: Ex-offenders Look at What They Need to Make It Outside,"  which was published in 1973. In the epilogue of this book, Connett describes what happened on December 23, 1952 and his life after that.

This is Archie Connett in his own words:

"On December 23, 1952, after a year of estrangement from my wife -- in a moment of madness -- I took the lives of my three small children and almost destroyed my wife and myself.

My wife and children were my little world. When my wife withdrew her love and affection, when she rejected me again and again, my mind and energy over the months, night and day, were bent on getting her back. When, after attempting to please her, waiting, arguing with her, when my wife said things to me I could not stand to hear, and struck me -- when this happened, I felt cut off with terrible finality, violated, betrayed, almost inundated with terror. I could no longer contain myself. It was as though something burst deep inside me. I felt impelled to destroy and did.

While I was attacking my wife, the children came screaming out of their bedroom, and my violence was transferred from her to them. It was all over in a few seconds. The explosion into violence, the manner and means of it, what I did to myself afterwards (cut both wrists to the bone and severed my esophagus with a razor blade) -- these were not the actions of a sane man.  Emotional upheaval had transported me beyond a focus of awareness that included rational decision.

If the ambulance had arrived a few minutes later, I would not be here. At the county hospital a team of surgeons worked hours to save my life and repair the damage done.

For five days, I was given private nursing care around the clock. I could do nothing for myself. My hands and forearms were bound on boards to protect my wounded wrists. A tracheotomy had been done to permit me to breathe. Only my mother was permitted to visit me. I felt strange and frightened. Every time I opened my eyes, a nurse was there looking at me, waiting to care for me. I began to mend, to want to live.

Archie Connett being fingerprinted. Photograph was published in the Oakland Tribune on January 13, 1953

After five days, I was arraigned in Municipal Court and taken by the sheriff and two of his deputies to San Quentin for safekeeping. The authorities at San Quentin, I was told, would be able to provide medical care and protection not available in the county jail.

My first night in San Quentin was spent in an observation room in the "psych" ward on the third floor of the hospital. A naked bulb above the bed burned brightly through the night. It was terribly hot. Frequently, screams shattered the stillness. Mutterings, ramblings and obscenities startled me from an uneasy sleep. Every few minutes an eye would appear at the peephole in the iron door.

San Quentin Prison circa 1935. Photograph courtesy of the Online Archives of California

The next morning, wearing only blue coveralls and felt slippers, shivering in the frosty January air, I was taken across the Big Yard, to the North Block, then up in the elevator to Death Row.

On the row, I was told I would receive the best care available in the prison. A doctor would see me daily. I would have privacy. I was placed in a cell -- a few doors down from Caryl Chessman.(1)

On Death Row, you are locked behind massive stone and steel walls, behind a steel cage that encloses the row, behind the steel-barred door of your cell. A naked 40-watt light globe burns 24 hours a day. The bull -- the armed guard -- on the gunrail looks down on you. The truth of your predicament hangs over you; fear crawls through you.

Article from the January 13, edition of the Oakland Tribune

For several weeks I was behind the bars of my cell until my mother retained a lawyer who had me transferred to the county jail, a 102-yeard-old structure in which a corridor ran around a small cell block.

Each day I was allowed to walk in the corridor, but at night I was locked in a small cell with three other men behind the solid iron door -- solid save for a peephole. In the cell was the usual naked 40-watt light globe, two double-decker beds, and a 5-gallon can (honey bucket). Outside, men lined the corridor floor, trying to sleep -- coughing, hacking, spitting. All day long and a good part of the night, music and announcements blared forth from a squawky overhead loudspeaker. During the day, the population moved restlessly around the tank, talked incessantly, gambled. There were fights and attempted suicides.

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(1) Carl Chesman was a convicted robber and rapist who gained fame on California's Death Row. He became a cause celebre for the movement to ban capital punishment. He was executed on May 2, 1960.

NOTE: To read the front page story that was published in the Oakland Tribune the day after the murders on December 24, 1952, click here and here.

Wordless Wednesday: Archie Vernon Connett

The toddler in this photograph is Archie Vernon Connett.  The man on the left is his step-father, John Victor Zeller.  The woman on the right is Archie's mother, Lefa Marie (Amsberry) Connett/Zeller.  She later divorced Archie's step-father.

Archie Connett as a small child

When Archie Connett was 38 years old he murdered his three small children and attempted to kill his estranged wife.

The idea for this post came from Geneabloggers.com.

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NOTE: To read the front page story that was published in the Oakland Tribune the day after the murders on December 24, 1952, click here and here.

Connett Family Tragedy Continued

Let's pick up the rest of the Connett family story from the Oakland Tribune, which reported the murder of Archie Connett's three children on December 24, 1952.

Current photo of the house where the murders took place in 1952

"continued from page one:

High School Teacher Kills 3 Children, Stabs Wife, Then Self

TAKEN TO HOSPITAL

Connett was placed in the same ambulance in which his wife lay wounded and both taken to the county hospital.

The slaying occurred about 3:35 p.m. A friend of the family, Gordon Simons, 19, a student at San Jose State College, who roomed at Mrs. Connett's home, said he had been with them until a little after 3 p.m.

When he left for work in the post office, Simons said, the Connett's appeared to be having a friendly visit.

But he said Connett had attempted to kill his wife in a rage last year and said he thought Mrs. Connett was "foolish" to let him in the house.

Mrs. Connett was not told that her children were dead and she was not questioned at length because of her condition.

UNDER GUARD

Connett regained consciousness during the night, but a deputy on guard in his hospital room said he was not rational.

Mrs. Connett's home in the new Garden Gate Village tract, had been furnished to serve as a day nursery, which Mrs. Connett had been operating for about a year.

Simons came to the home about Thanksgiving from Denver, Colo., where he had known Mrs. Connett previously. Mrs. Connett's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gottlieb, live in Denver. Mrs. Gottlieb is flying to the Bay area and is expected today, the Santa Clara County sheriff's office said today. 

Connett was a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor fraternity at the University of Colorado, where he received his BA degree. During the war he served as a Navy rehabilitation officer.

STANFORD DEGREE

Connett received his master's degree at Stanford University. He taught at Rolling Hills, Los Angeles County, from 1947 to 1948, and joined the James Lick High School Faculty in San Jose in 1950.

He came to San Lorenzo High School last September after resigning from the San Jose teaching post because of his domestic troubles, according to William Woodworth, principal of James Lick.

Principal Carl Ekoos of San Lorenzo High, said of Connett: "He was one of my best teachers."

Last Friday, just before going to his wife's home in Cupertino, Connett had taken part in a faculty Christmas play at the school.

Connett Family Tragedy

Archie Vernon Connett is my fifth cousin once removed. His father was murdered in 1914; but as hard as it may be to believe, that is a story for another day.  My cousin, Archie, is a murderer...of his own three children: Michael, aged 4, Theresa, 2 and baby Carl, only 4 months old.

The photo spread on the front page of the Oakland Tribune the day after the murders

I think I'll let the Oakland Tribune story, which was published on December 24, 1952, tell the initial story. In future posts, I'll fill in as many details as I've been able to discover.

Front page of the Oakland Tribune on December 24, 1952

High School Teacher Kills 3 Children, Stabs Wife, Then Self

One of San Lorenzo High School's "best teachers" killed his three children and critically wounded his estranged wife and himself late yesterday when he went beserk in an argument over Christmas.

The teacher, Archie V. Connett, 38, and his wife Wynona, 28, are in the Santa Clara County Hospital.

Dead are their three children: Michael, 4; Theresa, 2; and Carl Paul, 4 months.

Deputy Coroner Gilbert C. Sowers, of Santa Clara County, said the youngsters apparently were held by their feet and their heads bashed against the floor or walls of Mrs. Connett's home at 10345 Ann Arbor Avenue, Cupertino.

WIFE MAY RECOVER

Mrs. Connett was beaten and her throat slashed. Connett slashed his own throat and wrists and took poison. Reported near death last night, he is said to be "holding his own" today. Mrs. Connett is expected to recover.

Connett is an English and physical education teacher at San Lorenzo High School.

Connett has been living at 15057 Hesperian Boulevard, San Lorenzo. He and his wife had been separated since March.

Four days ago Connett went to Mrs. Connett's home. Mrs. Connett took the baby and went to the home of friends in Palo Alto, while Connett stayed with the other two children.

Mrs. Connett said she returned yesterday with the baby and asked her husband to leave, telling him he could come back Christmas morning for breakfast and the opening of gifts.

FLIES INTO A RAGE

But Connett flew into a rage and struck her with his fists. Michael, the oldest child, tried to intervene. Then Connett slashed her throat with a boning knife and she fled, crying: "Don't hurt the kids."

Mrs. Connett ran across the street to the home of Mrs. Alice Kean, who said at first she didn't recognize the woman because she was covered with blood, her lips and head bruised.

Mrs. Kean and other neighbors gave her first aid and called the sheriff's office and ambulance.

Deputy Ray Pantiga said Mrs. Connett was already in an ambulance outside when he arrived. Neighbors told him that the three children were still in the house with Connett.

Pantiga went to the front door and looked through the Venetian blinds. On the front room floor he saw one of the children in a pool of blood.

He went to the rear of the house and found the back door open. Entering the kitchen, he found the body of Theresa. She apparently had tried to escape and was caught.

In the living room were the bodies of both boys were on the floor.

Pantiga began a search of the house and found the door to one of the two bathrooms locked. He smashed it open and found Connett lying on the floor unconscious, bleeding from wounds in his throat and wrists.

Archie Connett did live and stood trial for the murders of his three children and the attempted murder of his wife.  Surprisingly, he was not given the death penalty or a life sentence and remarried in 1970. In 1978 he died at 64 years of age.

This story will be continued...