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1929 Kalamazoo, Michigan Witch killing...
1929 Kalamazoo, Michigan Witch killing...
Item # 718986
July 22, 1929
THE DETROIT FREE PRESS, July 22, 1929
* Etta L. Fairchild murder
* Witch's spell killing - wicca
* Eugene & Pearl Burgess
* Kalamazoo, Michigan
The top of the front page has a one column heading: "'HEX' DEATH HEARING IS SET TODAY" with subhead. (see images) Coverage on the killing of Etta Fairchild by Eugene and Pearl Burgess at Kalamazoo, Michigan. This would end up to be the last 'witch trial' in America.
Complete with 22 pages, light toning and minor wear at the margins, generally nice.
background: In July 1929, 76-year-old Etta L. Fairchild, a respected widow in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was murdered by her longtime neighbors, Eugene and Pearl Burgess, who believed she was a witch responsible for cursing their family. After inviting her to dinner under false pretenses, they viciously bludgeoned her with a pipe and hammer—breaking her skull, arms, and ribs—before wrapping her body in a rug and dumping it in a backyard cistern. Their delusion stemmed from a belief that Etta had placed a hex on their teenage daughter. The crime shocked the nation; Eugene later died by suicide in jail, while Pearl was convicted. The case became known as the "Michigan Hex Murder," symbolizing one of the last witchcraft-motivated killings in American history and a grim reminder of the dangers of superstition and paranoia.
Category: The 20th Century