Pearl O'Loughlin

Life got busy for a while and although I have several blogs already researched, I have not posted in more than a week. Sometimes that makes it a bit more difficult for me because I like to compose my blogs close to when I researched them so I remember things but, it is what it is.

On October 15, 1930 ten year old Leona O'Loughlin was reported missing in Denver Colorado. It is not exactly clear who reported Leona missing. Her father, Leo, was a police detective but he was extremely sick on the day that she was reported missing. In fact, it was said that everyone in the house except for Leona's uncle, Leo's brother, Frank, was sick that day with varying symptoms. Aside from Frank, Leona lived with her father, her step-mother, Pearl, and step-brother Doug Millican, who was seven. It was unclear whether before she had gone missing if Leona was also sick. Leo's symptoms resembled the flu while Pearl's seemed to be acute poisoning, meaning she was not extremely sick. Some reports said that Doug had not been sick but others indicate that while he was sick but again, it was not extreme.

Leona's body would be found in a nearby lake on October 17^th, two days after she was reported missing. Her cause of death was a bit in dispute. The medical examiner determined that Leona had been strangled but it was unclear whether when her body was placed in the lake whether she was still breathing. It was 1930 and while I would think they could have determined if there was any water in her lungs it appears that the medical examiner was unclear. One thing that was clear was that ground up glass was found in Leona's intestines and stomach.

Leo O'Loughlin's first wife had died in 1928, leaving him with his young daughter. Leo had married Pearl in January of 1929 but from the time of their marriage until October of 1930 the couple had separated three times and the word “divorce” was thrown around quite often. The week before Leona had been murdered Leo had changed the beneficiary of his $3,200 ($56,000 in today's value) life insurance policy from Pearl to Leona. It seems apparent that Pearl was not aware of this.

Suspicion fell on Leo's brother Frank pretty early on. Investigators quickly learned that Pearl and Frank did not get along at all. Also, he seemed to be the only person in the house who did not become ill but it was later revealed that he had not eaten dinner with the family on the night of October 14^th. It was later said that when Leo was asked he stated he was sure that Frank was innocent but that he could not say the same about his wife. Frank would be initially charged partly because Pearl kept insisting on the fact that he was involved. The family car had been searched and a towel and a tire iron were found and they both had blood on them. The problem was that blood typing was not apparently available at the time. Pearl would later claim that the blood on the towel came from her son, Doug, having a nose bleed at some point.

On October 19^th Dennis O'Loughlin, Leo and Frank's father, told investigators that the family had been at his home for dinner a few days before Leona had disappeared and after they left he had found ground glass in his sugar bowl. It was unclear if he had retained the sugar or why he had not reported this earlier. He would claim that he had thought Pearl had been acting suspiciously that evening.

Pearl was eventually taken into custody and was interrogated for four days. On October 23^rd she confessed to murdering Leona, but still she insisted that Frank was involved which led to him being charged and held for murder also. It seems though that her confession was less than “amazing” I guess we should say. She basically said she would “take the blame.” Her lawyer would not let her sign a confession though so nothing was in writing and within just a few days she recanted her confession.

Prosecutors would allege that Pearl, who made all of the family meals, had placed ground glass in the rice she served the family on October 14^th. Some of the reports that claim Doug had not become ill stated that she had refused to allow the boy to eat the rice that night. The prosecutors also believe that Pearl had tried the same tactic with Dennis, Leo's father, a month prior. Dennis' estate was said to be worth $35,000 (over $500,000 today) and she knew that Leo would inherit from his estate. They believe that Pearl became frustrated when Leona did not die from the glass and that sometime that evening had hit her on the back of the head twice, strangled her and placed her in the lake. It seems that while the medical examiner was not clear if she had drowned, the prosecutors believed it was Pearls plan to make it look like an accidental drowning.

Pearl went on trial and the jury deliberated for “less than two hours” before finding her guilty. Her alleged confession had not been allowed to be entered into the court and it was said that for this reason the prosecutors were unable to seek the death penalty. She was sentenced to 62 years to life but after serving 19 years she was paroled by the Governor in 1951. Frank O'Loughlin was scheduled to go on trial after Pearl but charges were dropped against him.

Frank would die in 1946. Leo would go on to remarry once more but it was said that after several years of marriage it would end in divorce. Leo died in July of 1956 at the age of sixty-eight. Pearl would live until 1987 when she died at the age of eighty-eight.