Murder of Nancy Titterton
| Murder of Nancy Titterton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Beekman Place, Midtown Manhattan, New York, US |
| Coordinates | 40°45′13″N 73°57′54″W / 40.7535°N 73.9649°W |
| Date | April 10, 1936 |
Attack type | Murder |
| Weapon | Cord |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Victim | Nancy Evans Titterton |
| Perpetrator | John Fiorenza |
Nancy Violet Evans Titterton (1903 – April 10, 1936) was an American aspiring novelist and a wife of an NBC executive who was murdered in New York City in 1936.[1] She was found strangled in her Manhattan apartment and the only clues were a single horse hair and a piece of cord. It was an early case solved due to forensic science.[2]
Background
[edit]In the late 1920s, Ohio-born Nancy Evans worked for the New York Post where she met her husband, Englishman Lewis Henry Titterton.[3] After the couple married in 1929, and her husband was promoted as an executive of the National Broadcasting Company, the couple moved to Manhattan near the East River. Her husband was described as a man who "thought the future of radio depended on the vision of the writer".[4]
One of her works was honored with the cover of Story Magazine.[5] In 1935, she was offered a book deal following the publication of one of her short stories, and in 1936, she was preparing to write her first novel.[5]
Crime
[edit]On the morning of April 10, 1936, 34-year-old Nancy Titterton was killed at her apartment at 22 Beekman Place.[6] Her body was discovered that afternoon by Theodore Kruger and John Fiorenza, two furniture repairmen who were delivering a repaired couch.[5] She was found in a bathtub and had been raped and strangled to death.[7]
There was little evidence at the crime scene apart from a 13-inch (33 cm) piece of cord and a single hair found on the bed.[5] On initial inspection, the hair was dismissed as belonging to the victim. However following further investigation, it was revealed to be a piece of horsehair, which was used as stuffing in the apartment's upholstery.[7]
When news broke of the crime, the Beekman Place "Bathtub Murder" gained notoriety due to extensive media coverage.[8] The case was solved after Alexander Gettler, a scientist at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York, traced the hair to a local upholstery shop recently visited by Titterton.[8] The upholstery shop in question was owned by Kruger, with Fiorenza being an assistant at his shop. The location of the horsehair had already led police to suspect Fiorenza of the crime.[9] Fiorenza, an ex-convict, confessed to the crime.[10]
Fiorenza faced trial for the murder which concluded on May 28, 1936.[11] The jury took 19 hours to reach a guilty verdict.[12] Fiorenza was sentenced to death.[13] Fiorenza was held at Sing Sing prison.[14] He was executed on January 22, 1937, in the electric chair.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "WOMAN WRITER, 34, FOUND STRANGLED IN BATHTUB IN HOME; Mrs. Nancy E. Titterton, Wife of Radio Executive, Slain in Beekman Place Apartment". The New York Times. April 11, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ "Murder of executive's wife in 1936 solved through early forensics". NewsNation. May 31, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ Content, Contributed (October 31, 2009). "Snagged by a cord in killing of novelist". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ Sterling, Christopher H. (2004). Encyclopedia of Radio 3-Volume Set. Routledge. p. 1732. ISBN 9781135456498. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ^ a b c d Bovsun, Mara (April 5, 2025). "JUSTICE STORY: How NYPD solved the perplexing murder of true crime writer Nancy Titterton". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ "BBC Four - Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story, Traces of Guilt, New York, 1936 — Nancy Titterton is found strangled in her apartment". BBC. June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ a b "Caught by a Cord: The Murder of Nancy Titterton". The Lineup. May 20, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ a b "Where the Wealthy Wind Up Dead". The Daily Beast. January 22, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ a b Eddy, Cheryl (April 17, 2015). "This Baffling 1936 Murder Was Solved With A Hair And A Piece Of String". Gizmodo. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ "UPHOLSTERER'S AIDE CONFESSES MURDER OF MRS. TITTERTON; Workman, Trapped by Twine Under Body, Was the First to Notify Police of Crime. A SUSPECT FROM START Under Constant Surveillance While Cord Was Traced to Shop of Employer. STRANGLING RE-ENACTED Dodge to Ask Quick Indictment of Prisoner, an Ex-Convict -- Early Trial Planned. CONFESSION SOLVES TITTERTON MURDER". The New York Times. April 22, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ "Murderer caught after a horse hair found at the crime scene". 9news.com.au. May 27, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ "FIORENZA GUILTY; MUST DIE IN CHAIR; Jury, After 19 Hours, Reaches Verdict of First-Degree Murder in Titterton Case. JUDGE PRAISES FINDING Sentence Will Be Pronounced Next Thursday -- Prisoner Shows No Emotion". The New York Times. May 29, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
- ^ "FIORENZA DOOMED TO ELECTRIC CHAIR; Appeal to Delay Execution of Slayer of Mrs. Titterton Set for Week of July 13". The New York Times. June 6, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ^ McCabe, Scott (April 9, 2012). "Crime History: Single horsehair helps reveal killer of promising novelist". Washington Examiner. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
