Mary Newlin was murdered on June 16, 1907. That day, Mary and her little sister Fannie were walking home from their grandfather's farm. The sisters came to a fork in the road and split up. Mary was carrying a loaf of freshly-baked bread in one hand, and her favorite toy harmonica in the other. She was never seen alive again. District Attorney MacElree interviewed members of the Newlin family and concluded that Mary had either been kidnapped or murdered. However, because there were no ransom demands, MacElree and his assistant, H.L. Sproat, began to fear the worst. MacElree and Sproat also met with Mary's stepfather, Irwin Lewis. It was to Lewis' home where Mary had been heading when she disappeared. Lewis called for a search of the countryside, adamant that Mary had been killed and her body hidden near the scene of her disappearance. Citizens formed a search party and searched through the night, guided by Irwin Lewis holding a lantern. Meanwhile, Constable George Timanus led his own search party, but no sign of Mary could be found. DA MacElree grew suspicious about Lewis, but could not pinpoint the reason. The next morning, MacElree assembled his team on the Lewis farm. However, when MacElree split his party into two groups and instructed one to search the Lewis property, Lewis protested. MacElree ordered Lewis to accompany the other party, leaving John Shelley and John O'Brien in charge of the party searching the Lewis farm. Shelley and O'Brien suspected Lewis of Mary's murder. They began searching a part of the property where they believed Mary's body had been buried. Near the barn, they found a spot where the soil looked to have been recently disturbed. Shelley and O'Brien started digging, and found Mary's body. Mary had been strangled with a piece of tarred rope, which was knotted twice. It was embedded into her neck. A burlap sack had been placed over her head. Clutched firmly in her hand was the toy harmonica. Shelley and O'Brien told Constable Timanus, who relayed the message to DA MacElree. MacElree convinced Lewis to follow the men back to the farm, where he said, "Lewis, the body of the child has been found buried near the barn on your farm." Lewis turned pale. MacElree pressed him for a confession, but Lewis continued to deny involvement. Shortly after 2pm, Deputy Coroner Dickson arrived, immediately assembled a jury of neighboring farmers, and began the inquest. After viewing Mary's body and listening to the statements of the men who found her, the jury declared that Mary had been murdered by Irwin Lewis. Physicians who examined Mary found that she had been covered from head to toe in bruises, injuries which had been caused by vicious blows from a closed fist. Mary had also been struck on the head with enough force to cause a cerebral hemorrhage. Based on the evidence, MacElree believed that Mary had been sitting by the barn playing her harmonica when she was attacked. The most heinous conclusion, however, was that Lewis had buried Mary alive. Under the cover of darkness to avoid vigilante justice, Lewis was taken to jail. Lewis began begging the guard to protect him from the mob that had made its way to the jail. He reportedly broke into fits of hysterical laughter, mixed with tears. Lewis was put on a trolley car to be transferred to another jail. The tracks passed right by the cemetery where Mary had recently been buried. As the trolley slowly crawled past the freshly-filled grave, Lewis grew inconsolable and attempted to shield his face. The trial ended on January 31, 1909. Lewis was found guilty of Mary's murder and sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out at 10:07am on February 25, 1909. Mary was 6 years old.
#grave #cemetery #mausoleum #graves #cemeteries #cemeteryexplorer #cemeteryexplorers #famous #famouspeople #famousgraves #famousgrave #graveyard #gravephotographer #gravestone #murder #murdervictim #murdervictims #murdervictimsawareness #truecrimetiktok #truecrime #truecrimecommunity