The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-04-25
SHE WAS SHADY.
The Checkered Career of
Mrs. Laphame.
TRIED BLACKMAIL ONCE.
She Went to the Bad and Skipped
About Under Aliases-PoIice
Expect Conviction.


ing laudanum, The infant child of Lottie
Watson at 526 Geary street last week.
The woman herself sticks firmly to the
story she told when arrested and the weak
point in the case of the prosecution so far
is the utter failure to establish any motive
for the murder
Detective Rogers is in receipt daily of
anonymous letters giving scraps of the
Laphame woman's history and by pfecing
them out and investigation he has now Sc
cured an almost complete record of her life
in this city at least.
The record is as follows: The woman's
maiden name was Belinda Foley and she is
a native of Ireland. She married an Eng
lishman by the name of Godfrey Leonard,
a tailor by trade and with him emigrated TO
Australia. There she was known by Mrs.
Nolan, now living at 60 Fourth street, in
this city, but al that time she was a good
woman and true wife.
Just when she and her husband came to
this country Is not known, but they lived
together here and in San Jose. Finally the
couple separated and Leonard went back to
England. Mrs. Leonard then blossOmed
out first as Nine. Bell. fOrtune-teller at
33@ O'Farrel street, and later on in the
same line of business adopting the alias of
the GYPSY Queen. The fortune-telling bust
ness not paying. Mrs. Leonard. alias Bell,
allaS the gypsy queen, nluNtu IN Il mouse
on Suffer street, where she set up as mas
sage artist under the name OF Nine. Bell.
and while there lived for time with a car
penter named Warner, who came here from
Sacramento and who had considerable
money. The two disagreed and Warner
went home
Later Mrs. Leonard Bell followed him
and attempted TO blackmail him. He refus-
Ing TO pay her any money she then en-
ployed Lawrence KID the attorney, of this
city, to bring a suit against Warner. Kip
went TO Sacramento and after investigating
the matter declared it Matchmaking scheme
and refused TO have anything to do with it.
While in Sacramento Mrs. Leonard Bell
lived in house belonging to one Of the
women with whom she had lived here aud
piled her vocation as a fortune-teller and
massage artist
Failing to get any money out of Warner
the woman returned to this city and went
back 10 the house on Suffer street, but
during her absence il had changed hands,
and she soon left it to 60 to Is Eddy street
and from there she went TO $50 Geary street,
where, so far as is positively known now
she first called herself Mrs. DR.. LGphame.
The officers have also traced her for brief
residences in a house on Third street
and another house on Geary street. near
526. her present quarters, but for reasons
only known to themselves they refuse TO
disclose the exact localities.
a search has also been made through the
DOCKS OIL various undertaking companies
and those of the Health Office 10 ascertain
whether any burial of infants had been
made from the places where Mrs. Dr. Lap
hame praciced midwifery. and 1t is ru-
mored that the results are somewhat star
Ting. II is also known that Detective
Rogers has witness who, when visiting
Mrs. DR.. Laphame on business. was shown
by her five babies preserved in jars of alcO-
hol and kept, presumably, as tangible evil
dence OF her success in getting rid of
troublesome infants. At least that is what
the witness inferred from Mrs. Dr. Lap
names statements made on that occasion.
L9ttie Watson, the mother Of the babe
murdered last week, still sticks to the story
she told on Saturday, namely, that Mrs.
Laphame poisoned the baby in her
presence. The police doubt this, as they
consider the Laphame woman too shrewd
to have a witness present when she did the
killing, but it now develops that not only
was the woman suffering from an abscess in
her head, but that size drank TO excess in
order to kill The pam, and one theory is
that she did the killing while in a fit of
drunken rage.
While the motive, or at least the reason
for the killing is thus furnished, as we'll as
an explanation of the administering of the
poison In the presence of the mother, there
is at the same lime defense, that of tenn
pOrary insanity from pain ana the Influence
Of hQuOr, provided.
One of the peculiar things about the case
is exactly who is Mrs. Laphame's attorney.
Lawrence Kip has signed a contract for the
management of the case for the woman,
while it is said Attorney Robert FerraI is
working on the side of the defense as well,
but if so, he is working Independently of
Kip. A clash between attorneys would
thoroughly ventllate the rumored scandal in
connection with securing the services of a
lawyer by Mrs. Laphame. and night aid in
bringing the party guilty OF the murder to
justice. As the case now stands, Detective
Rogers feels reasonably certain Of being able
to convict Mrs. Laphame of the murder.
Mrs. Harry Maynard was recently n Wis
itor to Mrs. Laphame's hospital, and il was
reported that she and a Mrs. Burn eister
were assistants 10 Mrs. Laphamp
IT'S base lie" said Mrs Maynard in
dignantly yesterday, when asked about it.
Continuing, Mrs. Maynard said that she
had only seen Mrs. Laphame tour times in .
her life, and that she was therefore COM
paratiyely an utter stranger to her. She
first saw her week ago Sunday. then on
Monday. Wednesday and Friday afterward.
This was Friday, April q, the day ON which
she was arrested.
The story OF Mrs. Maynard's going to the
house at all Is quite an interesting one. She
said: About month or more ago | went
up to Newark, Alameda County. for change
of air and for my health, which is very
poor l stayed at the hotel there and the
servant who waited on US was woman
named Sarah Williams. She had a little
bog years old, but her husband had de-
serted her ard run away with her money.
l don't know when.
''She was soon to become mother again.
She is splendid woman, and the pro-
prietTess of the hotel, Mrs. Dugan, was as
much interested in her as | was and am.
We looked over the papers, and among the
advertisements was That of Mrs. Laphame
which seemed the best, Offering Il home dur
ing confinement and care for S25. If had
had accommodation l would have brought
Sarah here 10 my own house and given her
a room, liked her so much. She is a Door
woman in trouble, but noble hearted, aud l
would have gladly got her my own physi-
clan.
after she came down to Mrs Laphame's
went up TO see her. Sic had her little six
year-old boy with her. Mrs. Laphame had
received S25 from Mrs. Sarah Williams, but
she was not satisfied with that, for she stole
her poremonnaie with 81 in from under her
pillow after the baby WAS born.
Mrs. Burmeister is Mrs. Laphame's
neighboT. and their houses are only sep
arated by partition, yet she too Is
stranger TO me and almost, l believe, to
Mrs. Laphame. although her neighbor.
u went there on Monday morning after
the Watson baby was born. / saw the
child upstairs in the front room along with
Sarah Williams child. l saw the two
babies on the lounge in the front room.
Mrs. Laphame, on the occasion OF my
MOnub1 Fi5lly lUUh UOlIl UdUl6S uOWDsLalTE
into the kitchen while | went in and saw
my friend Sarah. After while | babe
her goOd-by and started to 20 out. Mrs.
Laphame asked me If l was in hurry |
said No. She was bathing Loitie Wat
sons child. and when looked at 1t l said,
That baby can never live 1t was cold,
and Its lips were blue. When undressed
the body was the same. While she was
bathing it l handed her some warm water
from the boiler and also some hot cloths
from the oven. l stayed there in all per-
haps three quarters of an hour.
MRS. Laphame claimed TO be graduate
Of the London hospitals and that is why,
when we were discussing and talking over
the lace where Sarah should go, we thought
her advertisement the incest.
1.-Two days after Sarah's baby was born
DR.. Stern was called in. Under Mrs.
Laphame's treatment there was danger of
blood poisoning setting in and DIR. Stern
prescribed medicine for Sarah. 1t was a
strong opiRte and the one administered TO
I,ottie WatsOu's btby Mrs Ianhama