That’s where they buried Bessie Little. Little’s life was challenging. Abandoned as an infant, then adopted by a Dayton couple, she still lived with her step-parents when she began seeing Albert Frantz. He came from an affluent family and was younger than she was.
It was 1896-they were violating the prim standards of the era. He would sneak over at night and cavort with her in the barn. Their scandalous behavior got her thrown out of the house. After her banishment she moved into a hotel and later, a boarding house.
As this sad, gruesome true story begins she is desperate and so is he. She thinks she’s pregnant. She knows her beau obtained a gun-she’s terrified he’s going to use it. On her. One evening in August he picked her up for a carriage ride. He produced the pistol, shot her twice in the head, then flung her into the river.
After he killed her he went home and calmly wrote a long letter to another woman he had been seeing. Ladies loved him. This is the story of his murder trial.
A swimmer found her body in the river. An autopsy ruled her death a suicide. They determined she had not been pregnant. They buried her, neglecting to notice bullet holes in her skull.
They had to exhume her then realized, heck, she was shot. Twice. Frantz went on trial for her murder. He denied killing her. He claimed she shot herself-he then freaked out-tossing her corpse in the water. Afterwards he headed home to write that love letter.
Oh, and the barn caught on fire that night and burned up the carriage, the horse, and his blood soaked clothing. Neighbors who attempted to rescue the horse were prevented from doing so by Frantz. Inside his jail cell Frantz read his Bible and sang hymns.
He didn’t want to marry her. He was getting an inheritance and did not want to share the money. The all male jury listened as his fancy lawyers claimed she was suicidal. Perhaps he was even temporarily insane? They considered all the crazy relatives he had on his mother’s side of the family. All for naught.
The electric chair awaited him. They had just switched to that form of execution and frankly, were not very accomplished at it. During the trial the court was packed with women swooning over Frantz. At his execution, the men swarmed, enthusiastically gaping during his final electrifying moments.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
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