On May 28, 1955, in a motel court at 2133 East Monroe Street in Phoenix, Arizona, a domestic dispute turned deadly, ending the life of 23-year-old Marie Bartholomew. Her husband, Lester Edward Bartholomew, used a 22-caliber semi-automatic rifle to shoot and kill her. The violence of that day did not end with Marie. Lester also turned the weapon on their children, killing their three-year-old son, Rickie, and two-year-old daughter, Pamela.
Marie was shot in the front, just below her left
nipple. In what appears to have been a final act of maternal protection, it is believed that Marie managed to prevent her husband from shooting their third child, who was unharmed in the attack. The young boy, Rickie, was shot in the back, and Pamela was shot as she lay on a bed.
Following the murders, Lester Edward Bartholomew was arrested. On June 7, 1955, an Information was filed in the Superior Court of Maricopa County, charging him with three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his wife and two children. Two days later, on June 9, Bartholomew entered a plea of guilty to second-degree murder for the death of his wife, Marie, and guilty to first-degree murder for the deaths of his children, Rickie and Pamela.
Before his sentencing, the court appointed two psychiatrists, Dr. William B. McGrath and Dr. Bruce Hart, to evaluate Bartholomew's mental state. Both doctors concluded that he was legally sane and understood the difference between right and wrong. On June 22, 1955, Lester Edward Bartholomew was sentenced to death for the murders of his two children. His execution was scheduled for August 31, 1955, to be carried out within the walls of the Arizona State Prison at Florence.
