Today’s Theatrical Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
On Thanksgiving Day, 1882, a matinee performance of the play “Si Slocum” was underway in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the fourth act, the character played by Frank Frayne (owner of the theater company) was to shoot at an apple off the head of the character played by Frayne’s real-life fiancee, Annie Von Behren. Not only that, Frayne was supposed to fire the rifle at Von Behren over his shoulder, while facing away from her.
They’d performed this trick plenty of times before, but today something went wrong. Frayne claimed a defect in the catchspring of the rifle allowed the bullet to leave the barrel, and Von Behren was struck in the forehead and died within fifteen minutes. Frayne was arrested, but no charges were filed; the prosecutor was disappointed and felt that even if Frayne was not guilty of murder, he should still face charges under a law that made it a crime to point a gun at another person.
Culled From: Wikipedia
Submitted by: Aimee
Frank tried to play at William Tell,
The shot hit Annie and down she fell.
No charges were ever laid,
And poor Annie still is daid. – Aimee