Florence Maybrick: Death Sentence Commuted

By 1907, the criminal justice system was changed when Britain's Court of Criminal Appeal was established. Had Florence Maybrick been tried in 1907 - even if all else remained the same - she would likely have been a free woman as soon as her case was reviewed by an appellate court. But Florence did not have that luxury, and she served her entire 15-year sentence.

When Florence was set free in 1904, she spent six months in a convent in Truro, Cornwall. The Truro Cathedral currently contains a painting that depicts the beauty of this part of England, which is near the sea. But Florie did not stay in Cornwall. She wanted to return to her own country. She and her mother, Baroness von Roques, traveled to America together.

Everyone clamored to hear Florie's story. She wrote a book about her ordeal, My Lost Fifteen Years, and became a fixture on the American lecture circuit. After two years of constantly reliving her story, though, Florie gave up the security of a steady income. She had had enough.

Within a few years, Florie needed a job. A friend in Chicago recommended Florie for a housekeeping position in Connecticut. Now going by the name Florence Elizabeth Chandler (her given name), Florie became increasingly reclusive. As she grew older, she was befriended by the students of a nearby boys' school in South Kent. She died in that small town on October 23, 1941. She was 79 years old.

For nearly 20 years a Connecticut neighbor knew Florie was the famous defendant condemned to hang for killing her husband. A dry-cleaning tag on a black lace dress Florie had given to Genevieve Austin revealed the truth. The tag said "Florence Maybrick." But it was not until after Florence died that her friend told the press who the reclusive "cat lady" of South Kent really was. Florence was buried in the South Kent School cemetery.