WEBVTT
1
00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:04.120
Are you into strange and spooky, then you need to
2
00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.200
check out Shadow Market on June twenty seventh, from ten
3
00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:10.359
am to five pm at the Manchester Event and Visitor
4
00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:14.240
Center in Manchester, Tennessee. It's just a short drive from Nashville.
5
00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:19.359
Shadow Market's a living tapestry of Gothic goods, high fantasy, horror,
6
00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:24.879
dark art, oddities, and all things wonderfully weird. Pre purchase
7
00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:28.480
tickets are just eleven dollars or fifteen dollars at the door.
8
00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:29.280
On the day of the event.
9
00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:32.159
You can purchase tickets and vendor boost now at shadow
10
00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.719
Market US dot com. Again that shadow Market US dot com,
11
00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:39.640
and be sure to follow shadow Market on Facebook at
12
00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:40.600
Facebook dot.
13
00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:42.479
Com slash shadow Market US.
14
00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:47.000
Stay spooky, We'll see you at the Shadow Market. Monster
15
00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:51.439
Citymathhouse a year round online store full of halloween and
16
00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:54.640
classic horror shirts with an emphasis on the vintage look.
17
00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:58.039
Use code save ten for ten percent off your order.
18
00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:11.079
Monstercitymathhouse dot com. Free shipping and financings available. Welcome back
19
00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:15.200
to Southern ghost Stories. I'm the American Hastorian Alan cercy
20
00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:18.920
Tonight's episode takes us far away from the human graveyards
21
00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:21.719
to the south and deep into the deserts of Arizona.
22
00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:25.400
We're one of the most gruesome executions in American history,
23
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:30.159
and folded before horrified witnesses in nineteen thirty. It's a
24
00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:37.480
story involving greed, murder, missing bodies, mysterious confessions, and executions
25
00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:42.840
so violent that it changed Arizona's death penalty forever. By
26
00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:45.719
the time the sun rose over Florence Prison on February
27
00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:49.079
twenty first, nineteen thirty, a woman named Eva Dugan would
28
00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.400
become the first woman ever ever executed by the state
29
00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:58.560
of Arizona. But that isn't what people remembered. Before the gallows,
30
00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:02.640
before the hood of the noose, before the blood pooling
31
00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:07.840
beneath the scaffold. There's a lonely ranch outside Tucson and
32
00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:12.360
an old man named Andrew Mathis who simply vanished. By
33
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.280
the nineteen twenties, Eva Dugan had already lived a hard
34
00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:19.879
and unpredictable life. Born in Missouri in the late nineteenth century,
35
00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:23.520
she grew up during the rough expansion of the American West.
36
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:28.080
Mining towns. Railroad camps and isolated desert settlements shaped much
37
00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:32.639
of her dull life. She married young, had five children,
38
00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.719
and drifted through different States, working as a cook, a housekeeper,
39
00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:41.360
and even a prostitute. Some people described her as intelligent
40
00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:45.599
and charming. Others described to her as manipulative and dangerous.
41
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.319
What nobody argued about was that even knew how to survive.
42
00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:53.520
She had spent years moving from place to place, adapting
43
00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.000
however she could, and by the time she reached Arizona,
44
00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.599
she had developed a reputation as a woman who lived
45
00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:05.280
outside society's expectations. In that reputation, it would later haunt
46
00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:11.599
her in court. Newspapers constantly emphasized her behavior. Her reporters
47
00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:16.039
described her as smoking cigars, gambling, playing cards, and speaking bluntly.
48
00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:19.680
In nineteen twenties, that mattered a lot.
49
00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:24.919
Society expected women to behave quietly and modestly. Eva Dugan
50
00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:29.680
did not long before she was convicted of murder. Newspapers
51
00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:33.800
already betraying her as morally suspect, simply because she refused
52
00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:37.719
to act the way people thought women should act back then. Eventually,
53
00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:41.039
Eva found work working near Tucson, working for Andrew J.
54
00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:41.759
Mathis.
55
00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.800
Mathis was an elderly rancher who lived alone on her
56
00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:50.879
remote property outside town. He was aging isolated and reportedly
57
00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.840
and pretty bad declining health, he needed help maintaining the
58
00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.319
house and the ranch, and Eva became his housekeeper. First,
59
00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:05.199
nothing appeared unusual, but over time neighbors began hearing arguments
60
00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:09.719
between the two. Some later claimed Matthis distrusted Eva and
61
00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:13.960
believed she was dishonest. Others say Eva complain that Mathis
62
00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:18.319
he treated her bad. Hovering around the situation was another
63
00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:24.319
mysterious figure, a younger man known only as Jack. Nobody
64
00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:27.240
seemed to know much about Jack. Some said he was
65
00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:30.519
Eva's boyfriend, others said he was simply a drifter who
66
00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.560
had fallen in with her whenness Is later claimed he
67
00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:35.680
had spent time around the ranch during the period leading
68
00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:40.079
up to Matthew's disappearance, and then in January nineteen twenty seven,
69
00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:45.439
Matthew did that he vanished without explanation. At first, people
70
00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:48.680
didn't immediately panic min disappeared all the time in the
71
00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:53.360
American Western that era. Some drifted into California, others hop
72
00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:57.800
trains looking for work. But suspicions quickly began growing because
73
00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:02.480
Eva Dugan suddenly possessed Mathus's car. She had also begin
74
00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:07.279
selling his belongings. Furniture vanished from the ranch, household items
75
00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:11.160
were sold off, and whenever people ask where Mathis had gone,
76
00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:16.680
even stories they changed. Somehow she said he went to California,
77
00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:20.600
the other times she implied he had simply left unexpectedly.
78
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:27.600
Authorities became suspicious almost immediately one question about police, Eva
79
00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.480
denied any wrongdoing. She insisted Mathis had left voluntarily and
80
00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.199
claimed she had only taken possession of his belongings afterwards,
81
00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:40.839
but investigators noticed inconsistencies in her statements. Eventually they arrested
82
00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:45.120
her for theft involving Matthews's car and property. At that point, however,
83
00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:50.040
they still had one major problem. They had no body
84
00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:54.639
without a corpse. Proving murder was difficult. Everything changed when
85
00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.360
investigators descript discovered a shallow grave.
86
00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:58.560
Near the abandoned ranch house.
87
00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:03.079
Here, beneath the desert soul was a decomposed skeleton, later
88
00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:06.959
identified as Andrew Mathis. Lime had been poured into the grave,
89
00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:11.600
an apparent attempt to accelerate decomposition and trying to destroy
90
00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:18.000
the evidence. Even so, investigators identified the remains through clothing fragments,
91
00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:22.560
personal belongings, and physical evidence recovered near the body. The
92
00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:26.759
discovery electrified airs on the newspapers. Suddenly, this was no
93
00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:33.240
longer a missing person's investigation. It was murder. Almost immediately,
94
00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:37.360
Eva Dugan became the focus of national attention. Newspapers betrayed
95
00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:40.079
her as a calculating killer who murdered an old man
96
00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:45.759
for his money. Headlines sessationalized every detail. Reporters described the
97
00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:49.800
lonely desert grave and graphic detail, and they painted Eva
98
00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:53.839
as a greedy drifter who preyed on vulnerable men. But
99
00:06:53.920 --> 00:07:00.680
beneath the sensational headlines, serious questions surrounded the case. Prosecution's
100
00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:07.360
evidence was largely circumstantial. No witnesses actually saw Andrew Mathis murdered.
101
00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:10.199
No one could place Eba at the scene during the
102
00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:14.800
killing itself. There was evidence she possessed Matthis's belongings a
103
00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:18.759
lot about his disappearance, but there was remarkably little direct
104
00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:23.319
evidence proving she committed the murder herself. And then there
105
00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:28.560
was Jack. The mysterious tripture remained central part of the story.
106
00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.399
Several witnesses claimed Jack had accompanied Eva around the time
107
00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:38.279
Matthis vanished. Some described her as violent, unstable, yet somehow
108
00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:42.040
investigators never fully identified him or brought him into custody.
109
00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:44.439
The father of the child progressed the more, Jack began
110
00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:49.279
feeling like a shadow, drifting to the edges of the case. Still,
111
00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:53.199
prosecutors supposed to a compelling narrative for the jury. According
112
00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:56.000
to the state, Eva Duken and Jack murdered Andrew Mathis
113
00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:59.879
together for his property, for his automobile, and of course,
114
00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:05.040
his money. Prosecutors portrayed Eve as a manipulative and greedy
115
00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.800
woman who used charm and deception delire vernable men into
116
00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:13.800
bad situations. The image resonated strongly with jurors and the public,
117
00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:18.959
and Eva's own courtorate behavior it didn't help her very much.
118
00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:24.600
Reporters described her smoking, joking occasionally, and displaying a little
119
00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:29.680
visible emotion during portions of the trial. To many observers,
120
00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:35.639
she simply looked guilty. In reality, people almost didn't misunderstood
121
00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.480
how defendants behave undermmntse stress. But in the nineteen twenties,
122
00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:43.080
appearances mattered enormously, especially in your own triald for murder
123
00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:48.120
and Eva's Dugan's reputation. It worked against her at every
124
00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:53.519
single stage. The jury convicted her of murder and she
125
00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:58.120
was sentenced to death by hanging. With that verdict, Eva
126
00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:01.080
Dugan became the first woman condemned to execution by the
127
00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:05.840
state of Arizona, and once she in her prison, Eva
128
00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:10.879
transformed into im media obsession. Newspapers across America published stories
129
00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:14.840
about her daily life on death row the public. They
130
00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.159
became fascinated by her apparent calmness, how cool she was.
131
00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:22.639
Guards described her as playing cards with the prisoners, smoking cigars,
132
00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:25.559
and she chatted casually with reporters who came to visit.
133
00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:29.360
One newspaper described her sitting calmly at a card table
134
00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:33.279
while journalists crowded around the women's death ward. Other supporter
135
00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:36.960
that she cooked meals for herself and even confided fellow inmates.
136
00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:42.600
At the same time, support for Eva began growing outside
137
00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:48.240
prison walls. Ministers, activists, and anti death penalty advocates argued
138
00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:52.000
Arizona intended to execute a woman based almost entirely on
139
00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:56.879
circumstantial evidence. Even some people who believe Eva participated in
140
00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.919
the crime questioned whether the state had truly proven she deserved.
141
00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:03.799
To be put to death. Then came one of the
142
00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:05.879
strangest twists in the entire case.
143
00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:10.480
A mysterious letter is supposedly written by Jack surfaced.
144
00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:13.159
According to one newspaper.
145
00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:16.080
The letter claimed Jack, not Eva, had murdered Andrew Mathis.
146
00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:19.720
The writer allegedly described details of the killing in barrel
147
00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:25.440
with unsettling accuracy. According to some accounts, Jack claimed Eva
148
00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:28.600
only helped cover up the crime because she was afraid
149
00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:34.519
of him. The confession reignited debate nationwide. Was the letter genuine,
150
00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:39.200
had Arizona convicted the wrong person, or was the confession
151
00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:40.919
of elaborate hoax designed.
152
00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:41.639
To delay the execution.
153
00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:47.720
I thought he was investigated, but never conclusively identified the writer.
154
00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:52.240
Without definitive proof, the court refused to halt the execution.
155
00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:56.840
Governor John C. Phillips declined to intervene despite mounting pressure
156
00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:02.600
from activists and clergy. Eva Dugan was gonna hang, and
157
00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.960
as the execution date approached, Florence's Prison became crowd of
158
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.879
the reporters and officials preparing to witness the state's first
159
00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:12.519
execution of a woman. Executions here in the Air were
160
00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:17.559
treated almost like public spectacles for the press. Journalists received invitations,
161
00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:24.799
witnesses gathered before dawn. Newspapers prepared front page layouts in advance. Meanwhile,
162
00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:29.720
prison staff prepared the gallows behind the prison walls. Rumor
163
00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:32.639
had already begun circulating that Eva Dugan intended to cheat
164
00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:37.960
the executioner entirely. It was believed that she was going
165
00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:43.559
to kill herself. Prison officials receiving information suggesting Eva she
166
00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.039
was going to do something before she got to the scaffold.
167
00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:51.559
At first, guards dismissed the rumors just prison gossip. Eba
168
00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.279
spent much of her time on death row checking confidence
169
00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:57.240
and seemed to be in control of her motions. She
170
00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:00.960
played cards with inmates, joked with guards, smoked cigars, and
171
00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:04.200
she even sold embroidered handkerchiefs to raise money for own coughing.
172
00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.000
Newspapers Thick named her Cheerful Eva because how calm and
173
00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:14.360
oddly sociable she appeared while awaiting her execution, but prison
174
00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:18.039
officials became increasingly uneasy during the final twenty four hours.
175
00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:24.320
Even reportedly behaved differently as midnight approached. Authorities eventually decided
176
00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:26.399
to search herself to hearing that she was going to
177
00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:31.080
do something before dawn, and what they discovered alarmed everyone.
178
00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:34.279
Hidden inside the cell was a bottle containing raw ammonia,
179
00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.559
which officials described as a deadly poison. Some accounts claimed
180
00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:41.840
the bottle had been concealed under her mattress and hidden
181
00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:48.240
behind her belongings. Then guard searched Eva herself. During that
182
00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:50.320
search the night before she was going to be hanged,
183
00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:53.679
they discovered three razor blades hidden inside the collar or
184
00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:58.360
folds of her dress. The discovery created an immediate panic
185
00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:02.559
among the prison staff. A man of authorities believed Diva
186
00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:06.840
intended to use ammonia and razors to commit suicide. Hours
187
00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:11.759
were the execution, and that was iprop Arizona of their
188
00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.600
highly publicized hanging warden.
189
00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:16.440
Lauren Wright reportedly ordered.
190
00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:19.639
To increase surveillance immediately after the items are confiscated, and
191
00:13:19.720 --> 00:13:22.440
Eva was transferred under tighter guard to the condemned cell
192
00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:25.480
area so she could be watched continuously throughout the night.
193
00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:30.879
Despite the discovery, even quickly returned to the strange calmness
194
00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:34.320
that fascinated reporters throughout her confinement there in the jail,
195
00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:38.480
whenst described her spending the remainder of her evening playing
196
00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:42.200
with her friends and fellow inmates while guards maintained constant
197
00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:46.120
watch outside her cell. At one point, she requested orange
198
00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.000
for everyone at the card table and jokingly called out
199
00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.320
to a guard, please bring on the orange, aide, I
200
00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:52.000
want it now.
201
00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:53.639
Tomorrow will be too late.
202
00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:57.240
In Later that night, she cooked herself a final meal
203
00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:01.399
on a small prison stove, reportedly preparing oyster stew while
204
00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:04.480
reporters waited outside the prison walls for dawn to arrive,
205
00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:10.960
and beyond the prison walls, Arizona prepared for history, and
206
00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:17.440
beneath the surface, disaster was waiting. Hanging required precise calculations.
207
00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:22.240
Executioners had to determine the prisoner's wait, the rope length,
208
00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:26.799
and the drop distanced carefully. Too little force resulted in
209
00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:32.480
slow strangulation. Too much force it could sever the head entirely.
210
00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:39.519
Prison officials badly miscalculated Eva Dugan's execution. In the early
211
00:14:39.559 --> 00:14:44.000
morning darkness of February twenty first, nineteen thirty, guards escorted
212
00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:47.080
Eva toward the scaffold inside Arizona State Prison at Florence.
213
00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:51.440
When this has later described her as remarkably calm.
214
00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:54.120
She wore a black dress and showed little panic.
215
00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:59.720
Some observers noted only a slight tremble in her voice.
216
00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.879
She climbed the gallows steps one by one steadily, and
217
00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:09.279
the hood was placed over her neck. The noose it
218
00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:13.200
was tightened At five oh one. The trap door opened
219
00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:18.519
beneath her feet. But what happened next horrified everyone who
220
00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:23.600
was present. Instead of breaking her neck cleanly, the force
221
00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:27.960
of the drop decapitated her instantly. As her body plunged
222
00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:31.399
to the scaffold, her head was ripped inside the hood.
223
00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:37.440
Witnesses frozen shock, some screamed, others.
224
00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:38.360
Just turned away in horror.
225
00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.519
Blood poured beneath the gallows while Eva's headless body dangled
226
00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:49.039
blow the platform. The execution chamber descended into chaos. Reports
227
00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:53.200
described guards as being visibly shaken, and some witnesses reportedly
228
00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:54.600
became physically ill.
229
00:15:55.799 --> 00:15:57.519
Newspapers across the country.
230
00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:03.080
Exploded with sensational amazing headlines describing the gruesome spectacle, and
231
00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.360
one article described how he was body dropped by the
232
00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:08.559
scaffold while our severed heads remained trapped in the hood above.
233
00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:13.679
And as you would expect, the public reaction was enormous.
234
00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.440
Anti death penalty advocates seized upon the execution, calling it
235
00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:24.639
barbaric and inhumane. Arizona officials faced national embarrassment. The execution
236
00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.519
became one of the most infamous botched hangings in American
237
00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:31.080
history and played a major role in Arizona eventually abandoned
238
00:16:31.080 --> 00:16:34.879
hanging all together in favor of the gas chamber, but.
239
00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:35.840
The story wasn't over.
240
00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:41.960
Decades later, another shocking discovery opened questions surrounding the Mathis murder.
241
00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:45.639
In nineteen seventy seven, construction.
242
00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:49.639
Workers near the Old Ranch reportedly uncovered human remains believed
243
00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:54.360
to belong to the mysterious Jack, and if true discovery
244
00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:59.039
changed in case, the entirecase dramatically. Suddenly it appeared possible
245
00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:02.840
that Jack himself had been murdered long ago. Theories exploded.
246
00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:06.839
Some believed Eva and Jack killed Mathis together before eventually
247
00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.680
turning on each other. Others argued Jack murdered Mathis and
248
00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:15.200
later disappeared permanently, and some insisted Arizona may have executed
249
00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:19.160
Eva Dugan without ever fully understanding the truth. No final
250
00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:23.880
answers ever came, they never will. Today, Eva Dugan remains
251
00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:27.200
one of the most countural figures in Arizona history. To some,
252
00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:30.559
she was a manipultive killer who got exactly what she deserved.
253
00:17:31.160 --> 00:17:34.240
To others, she represents the danger of sensational trials built
254
00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:35.200
more on public.
255
00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:36.279
Outrage than hard evidence.
256
00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:41.519
But regardless of guilt her innocence, her death became unforgettable.
257
00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:46.400
Nearly a century later, people still remember the horrifying moment
258
00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:50.319
as Arizona's first executed woman stepped through the galaxy trapdoor
259
00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:55.839
and lost her head before horrified witnesses and naturally, there
260
00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:59.480
are some ghost stories that followed visitors to the old
261
00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:03.839
Arizona State They reported strange occurrences near the execution area.
262
00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:07.640
Some claim they hear footsteps echoing through the corridors at night.
263
00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:12.400
Others describe shadowy figures moving near the old gallows site.
264
00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:15.799
A few insists they've heard a woman crying softly in
265
00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:20.920
the darkness. And whether those stories are supernatural or simply
266
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:22.960
the lingering weight of history, it's.
267
00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.960
Impossible to say.
268
00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:27.920
The places touched by violent death often seemed to absorb
269
00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:31.480
tragedy in their walls, and few deaths in American history
270
00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:35.000
were more violent or more horrifying than Eva Dugan's.
271
00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:39.240
So don't forget. My new book is Dropped Pistols A
272
00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:41.000
Red River. It's available now.
273
00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:43.720
He can grab a copy over Amazon. It's the Andrew
274
00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:47.079
Jackson Dowling story. And coming up this weekend, I'll be
275
00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:50.240
it Spawn of scarefesting fifth of the seventh Friday through Sunday,
276
00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:52.960
I'll be signing books in the Southern Ghost Stories booth.
277
00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:56.000
Come and find me, say hello. If you want to
278
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.079
stay for the weekend, you can watch Jaws late. I
279
00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:00.359
think it's Friday night in a swimming pool with a
280
00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:02.559
big screen. I'm not sure if I can watch Jaws
281
00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:05.319
in the pool at night, but hey, more power to
282
00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:07.720
you if you can. Also one more thing, if you
283
00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:11.039
guys have been to Monster Citymathhouse dot com yet Monster
284
00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:13.720
City Mathhouse, they're a new creature from the Black Lagoon
285
00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.440
shirt man, it's a lot of fun. Who says monsters
286
00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:19.480
can have a work life balance? The unisex Lagoon Life
287
00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:23.319
shirt celebrates everyone's favorite Gilman living his best swamp life
288
00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:25.880
with his family, whether he's teaching the kids to do
289
00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:29.279
the backstroke or just iben by the lagoon. This vintage
290
00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:32.440
cotton polystrip Blendee proves that even creatures from the deep
291
00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:36.000
deserve a tropical vacation, as do we all. It's perfect
292
00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:40.279
for horror fans who appreciate a little domestic bliss monstrous style,
293
00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:43.160
and don't forget to use promo code save ten to
294
00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:45.559
get ten percent off your order. That's right, save ten
295
00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.319
to get ten percent off your order, and that co
296
00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:48.480
works for any shirt.
297
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.359
On the site. It's not just for the New Lagoon Life.
298
00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:52.880
He has the new Gravestone shirt which has like the
299
00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.039
old Tombstone, the White Herbits monsters.
300
00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:56.759
It's really cool.
301
00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.480
So if you haven't already, make sure you're following or
302
00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:01.960
subscribe whether if you listen, leave a rating if you can,
303
00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:04.440
and share the show with somebody who's into true crime,
304
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.839
ghost stories or just weird wild history and that stuff
305
00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:09.960
matters more than you people think. And to those who've
306
00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:13.160
done the reviews for lately, I really appreciate you. Be
307
00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:15.759
sure to follow Something ghost Stories on Facebook and Instagram.
308
00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:17.880
You can send me comments and questions if you want
309
00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:19.279
to hear them answer it on a future Q and
310
00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:21.680
a show. Just go to Something ghost Stories on Facebook and.
311
00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:22.519
Drop me a line.
312
00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:25.279
All right, So, guys, thank you for listening to Something
313
00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:28.720
ghost Stories. I'm Alan Serci, the American haut Storian and
314
00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:44.000
until next time. Monster City Madhouse a year round online
315
00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:47.480
store full of halloween and classic horror shirts with an
316
00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:50.920
emphasis on the vintage look. Use code save ten for
317
00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:55.279
ten percent off your order. Monstercitymathhouse dot com. Free shipping
318
00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:56.599
and financing is available
1
00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:04.120
Are you into strange and spooky, then you need to
2
00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.200
check out Shadow Market on June twenty seventh, from ten
3
00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:10.359
am to five pm at the Manchester Event and Visitor
4
00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:14.240
Center in Manchester, Tennessee. It's just a short drive from Nashville.
5
00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:19.359
Shadow Market's a living tapestry of Gothic goods, high fantasy, horror,
6
00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:24.879
dark art, oddities, and all things wonderfully weird. Pre purchase
7
00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:28.480
tickets are just eleven dollars or fifteen dollars at the door.
8
00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:29.280
On the day of the event.
9
00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:32.159
You can purchase tickets and vendor boost now at shadow
10
00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.719
Market US dot com. Again that shadow Market US dot com,
11
00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:39.640
and be sure to follow shadow Market on Facebook at
12
00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:40.600
Facebook dot.
13
00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:42.479
Com slash shadow Market US.
14
00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:47.000
Stay spooky, We'll see you at the Shadow Market. Monster
15
00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:51.439
Citymathhouse a year round online store full of halloween and
16
00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:54.640
classic horror shirts with an emphasis on the vintage look.
17
00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:58.039
Use code save ten for ten percent off your order.
18
00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:11.079
Monstercitymathhouse dot com. Free shipping and financings available. Welcome back
19
00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:15.200
to Southern ghost Stories. I'm the American Hastorian Alan cercy
20
00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:18.920
Tonight's episode takes us far away from the human graveyards
21
00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:21.719
to the south and deep into the deserts of Arizona.
22
00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:25.400
We're one of the most gruesome executions in American history,
23
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:30.159
and folded before horrified witnesses in nineteen thirty. It's a
24
00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:37.480
story involving greed, murder, missing bodies, mysterious confessions, and executions
25
00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:42.840
so violent that it changed Arizona's death penalty forever. By
26
00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:45.719
the time the sun rose over Florence Prison on February
27
00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:49.079
twenty first, nineteen thirty, a woman named Eva Dugan would
28
00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.400
become the first woman ever ever executed by the state
29
00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:58.560
of Arizona. But that isn't what people remembered. Before the gallows,
30
00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:02.640
before the hood of the noose, before the blood pooling
31
00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:07.840
beneath the scaffold. There's a lonely ranch outside Tucson and
32
00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:12.360
an old man named Andrew Mathis who simply vanished. By
33
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.280
the nineteen twenties, Eva Dugan had already lived a hard
34
00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:19.879
and unpredictable life. Born in Missouri in the late nineteenth century,
35
00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:23.520
she grew up during the rough expansion of the American West.
36
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:28.080
Mining towns. Railroad camps and isolated desert settlements shaped much
37
00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:32.639
of her dull life. She married young, had five children,
38
00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.719
and drifted through different States, working as a cook, a housekeeper,
39
00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:41.360
and even a prostitute. Some people described her as intelligent
40
00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:45.599
and charming. Others described to her as manipulative and dangerous.
41
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.319
What nobody argued about was that even knew how to survive.
42
00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:53.520
She had spent years moving from place to place, adapting
43
00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.000
however she could, and by the time she reached Arizona,
44
00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.599
she had developed a reputation as a woman who lived
45
00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:05.280
outside society's expectations. In that reputation, it would later haunt
46
00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:11.599
her in court. Newspapers constantly emphasized her behavior. Her reporters
47
00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:16.039
described her as smoking cigars, gambling, playing cards, and speaking bluntly.
48
00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:19.680
In nineteen twenties, that mattered a lot.
49
00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:24.919
Society expected women to behave quietly and modestly. Eva Dugan
50
00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:29.680
did not long before she was convicted of murder. Newspapers
51
00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:33.800
already betraying her as morally suspect, simply because she refused
52
00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:37.719
to act the way people thought women should act back then. Eventually,
53
00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:41.039
Eva found work working near Tucson, working for Andrew J.
54
00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:41.759
Mathis.
55
00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.800
Mathis was an elderly rancher who lived alone on her
56
00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:50.879
remote property outside town. He was aging isolated and reportedly
57
00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.840
and pretty bad declining health, he needed help maintaining the
58
00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.319
house and the ranch, and Eva became his housekeeper. First,
59
00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:05.199
nothing appeared unusual, but over time neighbors began hearing arguments
60
00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:09.719
between the two. Some later claimed Matthis distrusted Eva and
61
00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:13.960
believed she was dishonest. Others say Eva complain that Mathis
62
00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:18.319
he treated her bad. Hovering around the situation was another
63
00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:24.319
mysterious figure, a younger man known only as Jack. Nobody
64
00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:27.240
seemed to know much about Jack. Some said he was
65
00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:30.519
Eva's boyfriend, others said he was simply a drifter who
66
00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.560
had fallen in with her whenness Is later claimed he
67
00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:35.680
had spent time around the ranch during the period leading
68
00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:40.079
up to Matthew's disappearance, and then in January nineteen twenty seven,
69
00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:45.439
Matthew did that he vanished without explanation. At first, people
70
00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:48.680
didn't immediately panic min disappeared all the time in the
71
00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:53.360
American Western that era. Some drifted into California, others hop
72
00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:57.800
trains looking for work. But suspicions quickly began growing because
73
00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:02.480
Eva Dugan suddenly possessed Mathus's car. She had also begin
74
00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:07.279
selling his belongings. Furniture vanished from the ranch, household items
75
00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:11.160
were sold off, and whenever people ask where Mathis had gone,
76
00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:16.680
even stories they changed. Somehow she said he went to California,
77
00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:20.600
the other times she implied he had simply left unexpectedly.
78
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:27.600
Authorities became suspicious almost immediately one question about police, Eva
79
00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.480
denied any wrongdoing. She insisted Mathis had left voluntarily and
80
00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.199
claimed she had only taken possession of his belongings afterwards,
81
00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:40.839
but investigators noticed inconsistencies in her statements. Eventually they arrested
82
00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:45.120
her for theft involving Matthews's car and property. At that point, however,
83
00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:50.040
they still had one major problem. They had no body
84
00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:54.639
without a corpse. Proving murder was difficult. Everything changed when
85
00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.360
investigators descript discovered a shallow grave.
86
00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:58.560
Near the abandoned ranch house.
87
00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:03.079
Here, beneath the desert soul was a decomposed skeleton, later
88
00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:06.959
identified as Andrew Mathis. Lime had been poured into the grave,
89
00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:11.600
an apparent attempt to accelerate decomposition and trying to destroy
90
00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:18.000
the evidence. Even so, investigators identified the remains through clothing fragments,
91
00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:22.560
personal belongings, and physical evidence recovered near the body. The
92
00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:26.759
discovery electrified airs on the newspapers. Suddenly, this was no
93
00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:33.240
longer a missing person's investigation. It was murder. Almost immediately,
94
00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:37.360
Eva Dugan became the focus of national attention. Newspapers betrayed
95
00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:40.079
her as a calculating killer who murdered an old man
96
00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:45.759
for his money. Headlines sessationalized every detail. Reporters described the
97
00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:49.800
lonely desert grave and graphic detail, and they painted Eva
98
00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:53.839
as a greedy drifter who preyed on vulnerable men. But
99
00:06:53.920 --> 00:07:00.680
beneath the sensational headlines, serious questions surrounded the case. Prosecution's
100
00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:07.360
evidence was largely circumstantial. No witnesses actually saw Andrew Mathis murdered.
101
00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:10.199
No one could place Eba at the scene during the
102
00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:14.800
killing itself. There was evidence she possessed Matthis's belongings a
103
00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:18.759
lot about his disappearance, but there was remarkably little direct
104
00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:23.319
evidence proving she committed the murder herself. And then there
105
00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:28.560
was Jack. The mysterious tripture remained central part of the story.
106
00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.399
Several witnesses claimed Jack had accompanied Eva around the time
107
00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:38.279
Matthis vanished. Some described her as violent, unstable, yet somehow
108
00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:42.040
investigators never fully identified him or brought him into custody.
109
00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:44.439
The father of the child progressed the more, Jack began
110
00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:49.279
feeling like a shadow, drifting to the edges of the case. Still,
111
00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:53.199
prosecutors supposed to a compelling narrative for the jury. According
112
00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:56.000
to the state, Eva Duken and Jack murdered Andrew Mathis
113
00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:59.879
together for his property, for his automobile, and of course,
114
00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:05.040
his money. Prosecutors portrayed Eve as a manipulative and greedy
115
00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.800
woman who used charm and deception delire vernable men into
116
00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:13.800
bad situations. The image resonated strongly with jurors and the public,
117
00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:18.959
and Eva's own courtorate behavior it didn't help her very much.
118
00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:24.600
Reporters described her smoking, joking occasionally, and displaying a little
119
00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:29.680
visible emotion during portions of the trial. To many observers,
120
00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:35.639
she simply looked guilty. In reality, people almost didn't misunderstood
121
00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.480
how defendants behave undermmntse stress. But in the nineteen twenties,
122
00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:43.080
appearances mattered enormously, especially in your own triald for murder
123
00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:48.120
and Eva's Dugan's reputation. It worked against her at every
124
00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:53.519
single stage. The jury convicted her of murder and she
125
00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:58.120
was sentenced to death by hanging. With that verdict, Eva
126
00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:01.080
Dugan became the first woman condemned to execution by the
127
00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:05.840
state of Arizona, and once she in her prison, Eva
128
00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:10.879
transformed into im media obsession. Newspapers across America published stories
129
00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:14.840
about her daily life on death row the public. They
130
00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.159
became fascinated by her apparent calmness, how cool she was.
131
00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:22.639
Guards described her as playing cards with the prisoners, smoking cigars,
132
00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:25.559
and she chatted casually with reporters who came to visit.
133
00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:29.360
One newspaper described her sitting calmly at a card table
134
00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:33.279
while journalists crowded around the women's death ward. Other supporter
135
00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:36.960
that she cooked meals for herself and even confided fellow inmates.
136
00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:42.600
At the same time, support for Eva began growing outside
137
00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:48.240
prison walls. Ministers, activists, and anti death penalty advocates argued
138
00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:52.000
Arizona intended to execute a woman based almost entirely on
139
00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:56.879
circumstantial evidence. Even some people who believe Eva participated in
140
00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.919
the crime questioned whether the state had truly proven she deserved.
141
00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:03.799
To be put to death. Then came one of the
142
00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:05.879
strangest twists in the entire case.
143
00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:10.480
A mysterious letter is supposedly written by Jack surfaced.
144
00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:13.159
According to one newspaper.
145
00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:16.080
The letter claimed Jack, not Eva, had murdered Andrew Mathis.
146
00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:19.720
The writer allegedly described details of the killing in barrel
147
00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:25.440
with unsettling accuracy. According to some accounts, Jack claimed Eva
148
00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:28.600
only helped cover up the crime because she was afraid
149
00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:34.519
of him. The confession reignited debate nationwide. Was the letter genuine,
150
00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:39.200
had Arizona convicted the wrong person, or was the confession
151
00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:40.919
of elaborate hoax designed.
152
00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:41.639
To delay the execution.
153
00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:47.720
I thought he was investigated, but never conclusively identified the writer.
154
00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:52.240
Without definitive proof, the court refused to halt the execution.
155
00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:56.840
Governor John C. Phillips declined to intervene despite mounting pressure
156
00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:02.600
from activists and clergy. Eva Dugan was gonna hang, and
157
00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.960
as the execution date approached, Florence's Prison became crowd of
158
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.879
the reporters and officials preparing to witness the state's first
159
00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:12.519
execution of a woman. Executions here in the Air were
160
00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:17.559
treated almost like public spectacles for the press. Journalists received invitations,
161
00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:24.799
witnesses gathered before dawn. Newspapers prepared front page layouts in advance. Meanwhile,
162
00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:29.720
prison staff prepared the gallows behind the prison walls. Rumor
163
00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:32.639
had already begun circulating that Eva Dugan intended to cheat
164
00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:37.960
the executioner entirely. It was believed that she was going
165
00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:43.559
to kill herself. Prison officials receiving information suggesting Eva she
166
00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.039
was going to do something before she got to the scaffold.
167
00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:51.559
At first, guards dismissed the rumors just prison gossip. Eba
168
00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.279
spent much of her time on death row checking confidence
169
00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:57.240
and seemed to be in control of her motions. She
170
00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:00.960
played cards with inmates, joked with guards, smoked cigars, and
171
00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:04.200
she even sold embroidered handkerchiefs to raise money for own coughing.
172
00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.000
Newspapers Thick named her Cheerful Eva because how calm and
173
00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:14.360
oddly sociable she appeared while awaiting her execution, but prison
174
00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:18.039
officials became increasingly uneasy during the final twenty four hours.
175
00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:24.320
Even reportedly behaved differently as midnight approached. Authorities eventually decided
176
00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:26.399
to search herself to hearing that she was going to
177
00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:31.080
do something before dawn, and what they discovered alarmed everyone.
178
00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:34.279
Hidden inside the cell was a bottle containing raw ammonia,
179
00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.559
which officials described as a deadly poison. Some accounts claimed
180
00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:41.840
the bottle had been concealed under her mattress and hidden
181
00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:48.240
behind her belongings. Then guard searched Eva herself. During that
182
00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:50.320
search the night before she was going to be hanged,
183
00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:53.679
they discovered three razor blades hidden inside the collar or
184
00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:58.360
folds of her dress. The discovery created an immediate panic
185
00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:02.559
among the prison staff. A man of authorities believed Diva
186
00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:06.840
intended to use ammonia and razors to commit suicide. Hours
187
00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:11.759
were the execution, and that was iprop Arizona of their
188
00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.600
highly publicized hanging warden.
189
00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:16.440
Lauren Wright reportedly ordered.
190
00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:19.639
To increase surveillance immediately after the items are confiscated, and
191
00:13:19.720 --> 00:13:22.440
Eva was transferred under tighter guard to the condemned cell
192
00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:25.480
area so she could be watched continuously throughout the night.
193
00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:30.879
Despite the discovery, even quickly returned to the strange calmness
194
00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:34.320
that fascinated reporters throughout her confinement there in the jail,
195
00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:38.480
whenst described her spending the remainder of her evening playing
196
00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:42.200
with her friends and fellow inmates while guards maintained constant
197
00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:46.120
watch outside her cell. At one point, she requested orange
198
00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.000
for everyone at the card table and jokingly called out
199
00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.320
to a guard, please bring on the orange, aide, I
200
00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:52.000
want it now.
201
00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:53.639
Tomorrow will be too late.
202
00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:57.240
In Later that night, she cooked herself a final meal
203
00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:01.399
on a small prison stove, reportedly preparing oyster stew while
204
00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:04.480
reporters waited outside the prison walls for dawn to arrive,
205
00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:10.960
and beyond the prison walls, Arizona prepared for history, and
206
00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:17.440
beneath the surface, disaster was waiting. Hanging required precise calculations.
207
00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:22.240
Executioners had to determine the prisoner's wait, the rope length,
208
00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:26.799
and the drop distanced carefully. Too little force resulted in
209
00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:32.480
slow strangulation. Too much force it could sever the head entirely.
210
00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:39.519
Prison officials badly miscalculated Eva Dugan's execution. In the early
211
00:14:39.559 --> 00:14:44.000
morning darkness of February twenty first, nineteen thirty, guards escorted
212
00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:47.080
Eva toward the scaffold inside Arizona State Prison at Florence.
213
00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:51.440
When this has later described her as remarkably calm.
214
00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:54.120
She wore a black dress and showed little panic.
215
00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:59.720
Some observers noted only a slight tremble in her voice.
216
00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.879
She climbed the gallows steps one by one steadily, and
217
00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:09.279
the hood was placed over her neck. The noose it
218
00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:13.200
was tightened At five oh one. The trap door opened
219
00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:18.519
beneath her feet. But what happened next horrified everyone who
220
00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:23.600
was present. Instead of breaking her neck cleanly, the force
221
00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:27.960
of the drop decapitated her instantly. As her body plunged
222
00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:31.399
to the scaffold, her head was ripped inside the hood.
223
00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:37.440
Witnesses frozen shock, some screamed, others.
224
00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:38.360
Just turned away in horror.
225
00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.519
Blood poured beneath the gallows while Eva's headless body dangled
226
00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:49.039
blow the platform. The execution chamber descended into chaos. Reports
227
00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:53.200
described guards as being visibly shaken, and some witnesses reportedly
228
00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:54.600
became physically ill.
229
00:15:55.799 --> 00:15:57.519
Newspapers across the country.
230
00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:03.080
Exploded with sensational amazing headlines describing the gruesome spectacle, and
231
00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.360
one article described how he was body dropped by the
232
00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:08.559
scaffold while our severed heads remained trapped in the hood above.
233
00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:13.679
And as you would expect, the public reaction was enormous.
234
00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.440
Anti death penalty advocates seized upon the execution, calling it
235
00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:24.639
barbaric and inhumane. Arizona officials faced national embarrassment. The execution
236
00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.519
became one of the most infamous botched hangings in American
237
00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:31.080
history and played a major role in Arizona eventually abandoned
238
00:16:31.080 --> 00:16:34.879
hanging all together in favor of the gas chamber, but.
239
00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:35.840
The story wasn't over.
240
00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:41.960
Decades later, another shocking discovery opened questions surrounding the Mathis murder.
241
00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:45.639
In nineteen seventy seven, construction.
242
00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:49.639
Workers near the Old Ranch reportedly uncovered human remains believed
243
00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:54.360
to belong to the mysterious Jack, and if true discovery
244
00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:59.039
changed in case, the entirecase dramatically. Suddenly it appeared possible
245
00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:02.840
that Jack himself had been murdered long ago. Theories exploded.
246
00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:06.839
Some believed Eva and Jack killed Mathis together before eventually
247
00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.680
turning on each other. Others argued Jack murdered Mathis and
248
00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:15.200
later disappeared permanently, and some insisted Arizona may have executed
249
00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:19.160
Eva Dugan without ever fully understanding the truth. No final
250
00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:23.880
answers ever came, they never will. Today, Eva Dugan remains
251
00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:27.200
one of the most countural figures in Arizona history. To some,
252
00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:30.559
she was a manipultive killer who got exactly what she deserved.
253
00:17:31.160 --> 00:17:34.240
To others, she represents the danger of sensational trials built
254
00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:35.200
more on public.
255
00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:36.279
Outrage than hard evidence.
256
00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:41.519
But regardless of guilt her innocence, her death became unforgettable.
257
00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:46.400
Nearly a century later, people still remember the horrifying moment
258
00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:50.319
as Arizona's first executed woman stepped through the galaxy trapdoor
259
00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:55.839
and lost her head before horrified witnesses and naturally, there
260
00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:59.480
are some ghost stories that followed visitors to the old
261
00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:03.839
Arizona State They reported strange occurrences near the execution area.
262
00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:07.640
Some claim they hear footsteps echoing through the corridors at night.
263
00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:12.400
Others describe shadowy figures moving near the old gallows site.
264
00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:15.799
A few insists they've heard a woman crying softly in
265
00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:20.920
the darkness. And whether those stories are supernatural or simply
266
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:22.960
the lingering weight of history, it's.
267
00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.960
Impossible to say.
268
00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:27.920
The places touched by violent death often seemed to absorb
269
00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:31.480
tragedy in their walls, and few deaths in American history
270
00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:35.000
were more violent or more horrifying than Eva Dugan's.
271
00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:39.240
So don't forget. My new book is Dropped Pistols A
272
00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:41.000
Red River. It's available now.
273
00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:43.720
He can grab a copy over Amazon. It's the Andrew
274
00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:47.079
Jackson Dowling story. And coming up this weekend, I'll be
275
00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:50.240
it Spawn of scarefesting fifth of the seventh Friday through Sunday,
276
00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:52.960
I'll be signing books in the Southern Ghost Stories booth.
277
00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:56.000
Come and find me, say hello. If you want to
278
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.079
stay for the weekend, you can watch Jaws late. I
279
00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:00.359
think it's Friday night in a swimming pool with a
280
00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:02.559
big screen. I'm not sure if I can watch Jaws
281
00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:05.319
in the pool at night, but hey, more power to
282
00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:07.720
you if you can. Also one more thing, if you
283
00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:11.039
guys have been to Monster Citymathhouse dot com yet Monster
284
00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:13.720
City Mathhouse, they're a new creature from the Black Lagoon
285
00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.440
shirt man, it's a lot of fun. Who says monsters
286
00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:19.480
can have a work life balance? The unisex Lagoon Life
287
00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:23.319
shirt celebrates everyone's favorite Gilman living his best swamp life
288
00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:25.880
with his family, whether he's teaching the kids to do
289
00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:29.279
the backstroke or just iben by the lagoon. This vintage
290
00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:32.440
cotton polystrip Blendee proves that even creatures from the deep
291
00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:36.000
deserve a tropical vacation, as do we all. It's perfect
292
00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:40.279
for horror fans who appreciate a little domestic bliss monstrous style,
293
00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:43.160
and don't forget to use promo code save ten to
294
00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:45.559
get ten percent off your order. That's right, save ten
295
00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.319
to get ten percent off your order, and that co
296
00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:48.480
works for any shirt.
297
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.359
On the site. It's not just for the New Lagoon Life.
298
00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:52.880
He has the new Gravestone shirt which has like the
299
00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.039
old Tombstone, the White Herbits monsters.
300
00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:56.759
It's really cool.
301
00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.480
So if you haven't already, make sure you're following or
302
00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:01.960
subscribe whether if you listen, leave a rating if you can,
303
00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:04.440
and share the show with somebody who's into true crime,
304
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.839
ghost stories or just weird wild history and that stuff
305
00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:09.960
matters more than you people think. And to those who've
306
00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:13.160
done the reviews for lately, I really appreciate you. Be
307
00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:15.759
sure to follow Something ghost Stories on Facebook and Instagram.
308
00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:17.880
You can send me comments and questions if you want
309
00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:19.279
to hear them answer it on a future Q and
310
00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:21.680
a show. Just go to Something ghost Stories on Facebook and.
311
00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:22.519
Drop me a line.
312
00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:25.279
All right, So, guys, thank you for listening to Something
313
00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:28.720
ghost Stories. I'm Alan Serci, the American haut Storian and
314
00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:44.000
until next time. Monster City Madhouse a year round online
315
00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:47.480
store full of halloween and classic horror shirts with an
316
00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:50.920
emphasis on the vintage look. Use code save ten for
317
00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:55.279
ten percent off your order. Monstercitymathhouse dot com. Free shipping
318
00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:56.599
and financing is available
