Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-05
WOMAN BLUEBEARD
0UTW|TS OFFICERS
Mrs. Lydia Southland, Hus-
band Slayer, Still Free
After Prison Break.
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
BOISE, Idaho, September 5.-A
feminine Bluebeard who left headstones
over several husbands in Western States
as she journeyed about marrying new
ones is still at large
For the last tip to police, which had
Lydia Southland spotted" in Colorado,
appears to have gone the way Of the
rest.
Thus the wit of woman who had
way with men" and whose husbands
had way Of dying soon after they mar
ried her has had Western sleuthing out
guessed for nearly five months.
Mrs. Southland has been reported" in
many places since that night of May 4
last when she astonished Idaho peace
officers by climbing over the prison wall
and escaping from the State peniten-
tiary.
Capture Fails.
The confidently uttered I'VE expect
to have her within "a hours" that came
out Of Colorado recently predicted an
end to the long hunt to recapture the
woman convicted OF poisoning her
fourth husband for his insurance.
But raid on house where she was
supposed to have been living with q
former convict accused Of helping her
escape disclosed empty premises.
This victim of her latest conquest,
Warden r. f. Thomas says. was David
Minton, automobile mechanic and trap
drummer, who was paroled nearly a
month before her break.
It was he. declares the warden, who
helped her obtain a length of hose and
a metal flower trellis. on which she
climbed to the top Of the wall after
saving the cell bars with saw Minton
had provided
fugitive and her supposed companion
have a hideout in Colorado.
This man once lived there and has
relatives near Superior, Colo.
Waited in Car.
1t is the wardens theory that the
convict purchased an automobile short
ly before the break and was waiting in
it outside the walls.
He believes that Mrs. Southards ac-
complete drove her directly to a pre-
arranged retreat. where he provided her
with clothes to replace her prison garb
Mrs. Southland was originally arrested
in Honolulu, where she was residing as
the wife of a petty offlcer on the U.
S. S. Monterey.
Although tried only on the charge of
poisoning her fourth husband, the pros
ecuting officials accused her of Staying
in a similar fashion her first husband.
Robert C. Dooley; his brother. Ed C..
Dooley her second husband. William G.
McHafie; her third husband. Harland
C. Lewis: her fourth husband, Edward
F. Meyer and charge that her infant
child died under suspicious circum-
stances.
The first husband was the father of
the child. The former and his brother
carried a joint life insurance policy for
$4,000 in her favor.
Collects Less Than $4,000.
AS result of her operations. the
State alleged at the trial she collected
less than $4,000 in insurance. although
she probably caused the death Of six
persons.
Sentenced to 10 years to life. Mrs.
Southland had served slightly less than
the minimum sentence when she made
her break.
At the time Of her admission to prison
she was the picture of feminine dainti-
ness. Although short of stature, she
was slender, with brown hair and blue
eyes.
Prison life added two score pounds to
her figure.