The Butte inter mountain., 1902-03-10
MRS. LORETTA CIRCUIT HAD BEEN
MARRIED MANY TIMES.
WOMAN OF VIOLENT TEMPER
Who Killed Her Husband at
Billings, Montana, Last q.
Wednesday.

1
from Great Falls, Mrs. LaurettafOrcutt,
the Billings woman who killed her hus-
| band Wednesday morning, hassfan un-
| savory record. She lived in Great Falls
! as the wife of Julian Gendfeau.
If ii should be the same woman, says
| the Great Falls Tribune, and there APP
pears to be little doubt on the subject
| ut the present tme-she is an adven-
turess and probably has several hus-
! bands living in different parts OF the
| West from whom she has never been
| divorced.
| She was the wife of Gendreau from
September IA, 1901, to the latter part of
| November, when, after robbing his home
| of much of the furniture 1t contained,
she deserted him and week later 1t
| was learned she had gone to the south
ern part OF the state.
Since employed to bring the divorce
proceedings, Attorney W. f. O'Leary has
worked hard on the case and has learned
! that the woman has been married sew
eral times, each time using her first
| ame-Lauretta-but changing her last
one.
Three years ago Gendreau's first wife
died. following TO the grave her son, who
| was killed by sunstroke. There were
| two other children and when their father
was married by Father Cyril Pauwelyn
| on September IA, last, they We're th-
! witnesses.
On the license issued for the marriage
| the woman gave her name as Lauretta
! Bradshaw. aged 43 years. She stated
she was widow and a daughter of
Richard Shields of Missouri.
Gendreau met her through a marriage
paper in the East. She wrote him she
in, ,ira Taft
| Colo and real estate al Salt Lake. She
also claimed TO have 1G0 acres of land in
Flathead county. Just as Lauretta Pill
low said at Billings when she married
Orcutt, Lauretta Bradshaw told Cen
dreau that her home was in Pontiac, Ill.
Since working on the case Attorney
O'Leary has learned that her home Is a
storm Lake, Ia, instead of Pontiac, III.
After some correspondence the two
met and were shortly afterwards mar
ried. They moved into Gendreau's house
In Little Chicago, which Is one Of the
best In the settlement. Gendreau is a
hard working man and was liberal with
his wife, but he had not been married
many days before he found that his in
come was not enough for her wants. The
honeymoon was still on when she In
duced him TO put an incumbrance on his
| money was given to her.
| During the latter part of Novenibtf
she wanted more money, which Gendr'eau
refused to put up, and then there was
trouble. Mrs. Gendreau swore out
warrant for her husband, charging that
he had been guilty of beating her. How
| ever, she had no marks to show the
| court and there was no witness to the
assault When Gendreau appeared in
Justice Races court he told very diff
| ferent story. He stated that when re
had refused to give his wife all the
money she wanted, while he was at work
at the smelter she took the furniture
from the house and sold 1t. Gendreau
stated at that time that his wife had
| threatened 10 shoot him II she did not
| get the money.
The case never came to trial. the two
having come to an understanding. A
few days later Mrs. Gendreau left Great
Falls, between two days, and 1t was well
for her that she did, for the next day
| there would have been a warrant issued
/ for more serious crime.
The Investigations which have been
carried on show that at the time Lau-
retta Bradshaw was writing to Gendreau
and offering herself In marriage, she
In the southern part of the state who
was probably Orcutt. During her mar
ried life here she kept up this corre-
spondence, but never at any time AL
lowed him to know that she had been
married here. Therefore, when she left
here, I'm the latter part of November
after working Gendreau for all she cou'd
get Ii was to marry Orcutt In Decem-
ber, without pretense at securing a di.
vorce.
1t has also been learned, during the
tracing of the woman, that at one time,
before coming to Great Falls, she was
married to Frank Reed, a telegraph OPP
orator at Livingston. 1t was while there
she inserted the advertisement In the
marriage paper which attracted the at
tention OF Gendreau. However, when
he heard from her she was in the East
and told him she was coming to Kals-
pell to look after her property interests
and would see him at that time. She
did come to Kalispell and they met
shortly afterward 1t has turned out
that Lauretta Bradshaw does not own
any property in Flathead county. Neither
does she own mines at Telluride, Colo,
or a foot of real estate at Salt Lake.
AS an adventures she was a success
and probably her only vocation was to
marry men and live with them just long
enough to get what they had and then
| start over again.
Those who knew her during her short
residence in Great Falls bear, testimony
as to her violent temper. At the time
the marriage license was issued to Cen
dreau and herself he requested that the
matter be not published, as they were
both rather old and he did not want the
smelter men to know it. Even at this
date, before she was married, she grew
angry and plainly told Gendreau that
there was no reason to keep 1t quiet
There are those in Great Falls who
remember Charles II. Orcutt. About 1900
he resided at Bozeman, where he went
by the name of Frank G. Miller. He had
been in that city but a short time when