Ellen Etheridge

Serial Killer

Ellen Etheridge: The Bosque County Poisoner

Ellen Etheridge, also identified in contemporary accounts as Ellen Walker West Etheridge, was a Texas murderer responsible for the deaths of four of her stepchildren in Bosque County in 1913. Her crimes occurred in two separate episodes several months apart, placing her among the early twentieth-century American women commonly classified as serial killers. Unlike killers who attacked strangers, Etheridge's victims were children living in her own household, and poisoning allowed the first deaths to initially appear to be the result of illness.

Marriage into the Etheridge Family

Before becoming Ellen Etheridge, she was known as Ellen Walker and had previously been married to a man named West. After being widowed, she eventually came to Bosque County, Texas, where she became acquainted with James D. "J.D." Etheridge, a widower and father of a large family. Contemporary newspaper reports described J.D. Etheridge as a Bosque County farmer. Ellen married him in early 1913 and assumed responsibility for a household containing numerous children. Accounts published during the investigation later said that Etheridge became intensely jealous of the affection her husband showed his children. Prosecutors would ultimately identify that jealousy as the motive for the killings. According to authorities, she believed the children received attention and affection that she wanted for herself. Her response was not a single impulsive act. The deaths were separated by months, and investigators concluded that she deliberately poisoned children on more than one occasion.

The First Deaths in June 1913

The first two deaths occurred in June 1913. Two of the Etheridge children, later identified in Bosque County historical accounts as Beulah and Harrison Etheridge, became seriously ill and died. At the time there was no murder investigation. Their illnesses were initially attributed to natural causes or acute illness, and the children were buried without the type of toxicological examination that would later become central to the case. After her later arrest, Etheridge confessed that the June deaths had not been natural. According to the confession reported by Bosque County authorities, she had administered concentrated lye to the children. Investigators considered exhuming the bodies after the later arsenic deaths, but contemporary reports indicate that officials ultimately decided not to disturb the June graves because they believed the evidence already developed in the October case was sufficient. As a result, the poisoning of the June victims rested heavily on Etheridge's confession and the subsequent criminal proceedings rather than a postmortem chemical analysis of their remains. ...

Confirmed Victims: (4)

Beulah Etheridge Age: (2), Date of Death: 1913-06

Survivors:

Pearl Etheridge Age: (7), Date of Attack: 1913-10-02

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