The Enigma Woman: The Death Sentence of Nellie May Madison

"Crack shot." "Enigma woman." "Good with ponies and pistols." "A much-married woman." What if such an unconventional woman-and the press unanimously agreed that Nellie May Madison was indeed unconventional-were to get away with murder? Shortly after her husband's bullet-riddled body was found in the couple's Burbank apartment, police issued an all-points bulletin for the "beautiful, dark-haired widow." The ensuing drama unfolded with all the twists and turns of a noir crime novel. In this intriguing cultural history, Kathleen A. Cairns tells the tale of Nellie May Madison, the first woman on Death Row in California. Her story offers a glimpse into law and disorder in 1930s Los Angeles while bringing to life a remarkable character whose plight reflects on the status of women, the workings of the media and the judiciary system, and the stratification of society in her time. Cairns's re-creation of the case from murder to trial to aftermath also casts an eye forward to our own love-hate affair with celebrity crimes and our abiding ambivalence about domestic violence as a defense for murder. Kathleen A. Cairns is a lecturer in the Department of History at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is the author of Front-Page Women Journalists, 1920-1950 (Nebraska 2003).

Author: Kathleen a. Cairns
Publisher: Bison
Published: 04/01/2009
Pages: 328
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 8.54h x 6.44w x 0.65d
ISBN13: 9780803224506
ISBN10: 0803224508
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Women
- True Crime | Murder | General
- Social Science | Women's Studies

About the Author
Kathleen A. Cairns is a lecturer in the Department of History at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is the author of Front-Page Women Journalists, 1920-1950 (Nebraska 2003).