{"id":102152,"date":"2025-03-10T11:24:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T15:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=102152"},"modified":"2025-03-10T11:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T15:25:27","slug":"massachusetts-mayhem-mystery-mabel-page-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/massachusetts-mayhem-mystery-mabel-page-part-3.html","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Mayhem & Mystery: Mabel Page (part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, James Pylant concludes a \u201cwhodunit\u201d story that mystified police and townspeople alike in Weston, Massachusetts, in 1904. James is an editor at GenealogyMagazine.com and author for JacobusBooks.com, is an award-winning historical true-crime writer, and authorized celebrity biographer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Recap:<\/em><\/strong> On the afternoon of 31 March 1904, Edward Page came home to find the body of his 41-year-old daughter, Mabel, in her upstairs bedroom in Weston, Massachusetts. Someone mysteriously stabbed her to death and quietly slipped away, unnoticed, in the broad daylight of a small town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot understand the murder of my daughter at all, for she had no enemies as far as I know, there was no robbery, and she was not assaulted,\u201d Edward Page told a Boston<\/em> Herald<\/em> reporter.<\/p>\n

For more details of the story up to this point, reads Part I<\/a> and Part II<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On 24 January 1905, a jury found Charles L. Tucker guilty of murdering Mabel Page. The strange case had taken many shocking twists and turns, with more to come after the conviction.<\/p>\n

Motion for a New Trial Denied Again<\/strong><\/p>\n

One year later, in January 1906, Tucker\u2019s counsel lost the second motion for a new trial.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 23 January 1906, page 11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The conclusion of this article reads:<\/p>\n

In conclusion the court said: \u201cThe prisoner had had all his rights carefully guarded and preserved for him, and he is not entitled to a new trial.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wife of Mysterious \u2018Morton\u2019 Says He Committed Murder<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two days after Tucker\u2019s counsel lost the second motion for a new trial, a new claim emerged about the mysterious J. L. Morton note, which was a slip of paper found near Mabel Page\u2019s body that no one could explain. On the evening of 24 January 1906, a 35-year-old blonde appeared at a police station in Brooklyn, New York, excitedly announcing that her husband was the mysterious J. L. Morton.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 25 January 1906, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to this article, Olive McIsaac explained that her husband, John Archibald McIsaacs, assumed the alias J. L. Morton when he worked as a barber at the Plaza Hotel in Boston. About two days after Mabel Page\u2019s murder, McIsaacs, who returned from an out-of-town trip, told his wife, \u201cWell, we done the Page case all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

When McIsaacs was arrested and brought to police headquarters, his wife was asked to repeat her story in front of him. She did so, causing her husband to turn pale and fidget in his seat. He was also a friend of Charles L. Tucker and had mentioned his name several times. The McIsaacs had lived in New York for about two months when she made the admission to the police.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is lying,\u201d McIsaacs said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not lying,\u201d Olive answered. \u201cI don\u2019t know whether what I have been told is so or not, but I\u2019m telling just what my husband told me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Olive filed an assault charge against her husband. But when a Brooklyn detective, Captain Harkins, asked her to repeat her accusation about McIsaac\u2019s confession in the Page murder to J. H. Whitney of the Massachusetts State Police, she said, \u201cI never made such a statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 26 January 1906, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNow look here,\u201d said Harkins. \u201cI want you to tell this gentleman the same story you told me yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI simply told you that I had my suspicions,\u201d she said. \u201cNever did the thought enter my mind that my husband had anything to do with the murder of that girl.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Olive had given Captain Harkins a letter her husband wrote and asked that he send it to Boston so police could compare the handwriting to the mysterious note found in the Page home. When the captain reminded her about the letter, Olive said, \u201cI simply brought you a letter, but not for any such purpose.\u201d She admitted that her husband had treated her \u201cbrutally,\u201d but she didn\u2019t want him to go to prison. McIsaacs pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife.<\/p>\n

Here is the mysterious note that was found at the crime scene of Mabel Page\u2019s murder. It reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cJ. L. Morton, Charleston, Mass.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 25 January 1906, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reportedly, Charles L. Tucker received several visits in prison from one Olive Russell, which happened to be Mrs. McIsaacs\u2019s maiden name. However, she denied she ever knew him, as did her husband. Captain Harkins concluded that Mrs. McIsaac fabricated the story of her husband\u2019s involvement in the Page murder for revenge. Having followed the strange murder case in newspapers, Olive was fascinated with Tucker and wrote to him. The two exchanged letters and met in person. However, Tucker denied that he knew her.<\/p>\n

Tucker Sentenced to Die by Electrocution<\/strong><\/p>\n

On January 27, as the McIsaacs caper ended, Charles L. Tucker appeared in court to receive sentencing.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 28 January 1906, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to this article, Tucker\u2019s face turned pale as Judge Edgar A. Sherman announced that:<\/p>\n

\u201c10 days prior to Sunday, June 10, the prisoner shall be removed from the jail at East Cambridge to the state-prison at Charlestown, where, during the week of June 10, he shall suffer death by electricity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A reporter observed an expression of relief wave over Tucker\u2019s face, signifying the ordeal was over.<\/p>\n

However, this case of strange twists had more surprises to offer.<\/p>\n

Maine \u2018Tramp\u2019 Charged with the Murder<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 17 May, talkative and hard-drinking 30-year-old Jerry Hayes, who described himself as \u201cvery dangerous,\u201d was arrested in Bingham, Maine, for the murder of Mabel Page. A woodchopper, Hayes \u2013 known by three different aliases, Hale, Moulton, and Morton \u2013 allegedly told his former landlady, Margaret Brown, that he was at the Page house on the day of the murder, but that he slipped out of state \u201cbefore things got too hot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 17 May 1906, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the case against Hayes soon collapsed. At his arraignment two days later, he was discharged after a plea of not guilty.<\/p>\n

Message in a Bottle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then another twist: on 11 July 1906, 16-year-old William Hogan of Charleston, Massachusetts, gave police a bottle he had found drifting along the beach at Long Island.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 12 July 1906, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bottle contained a strange message dated 10 July 1905 stating:<\/p>\n

We sailed from Boston in the catboat Spruce to avoid arrest. We were caught in a storm off the Georges. Our mast blown out we are certainly lost. All hope is gone so a man in our crew sends this message in regard to the Mabel Page murder. He confesses he killed Mabel Page. We are on our way to Boston. Hoping Tucker has not been executed and that we may be in time to save him. We remain,
\nTHE SHIPWRECKED CREW.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Police quickly dismissed the message in a bottle as a hoax.<\/p>\n

Tucker Executed<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the last day of March, a petition for commutation of Tucker\u2019s sentence circulated, and days later, the condemned man sent a personal appeal to Governor Curtis Guild requesting the same, declaring his innocence. The governor received a petition with 115,555 signatures on May 22. Governor Guild called a special hearing on the matter on June 5, but two days later, he decided \u201cnot to interfere with the course of justice.\u201d Charles L. Tucker was executed on 12 June 1906.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 12 June 1906, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Edward Page died days before his 80th birthday on 22 April 1906, nearly two years following his daughter\u2019s brutal murder. \u201cHe failed rapidly under the horror of this tragic affair,\u201d stated his obituary. (Morning Sentinel<\/em>, 23 April 1906)<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> Sherlock Holmes investigates a mystery.
\nIllustration credit: https:\/\/depositphotos.com\/home.html<\/a><\/p>\n

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