Morbid Fact Du Jour for May 15, 2015

Today’s Astrological Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Things were tense in the Covell household of Bandon, Oregon. Fred Covell was a successful chiropractor, but his first wife had died and left behind two children, Lucille and Alton, who were both mentally deficient, Alton more so than his sister. Alton had in fact been institutionalized for a time, but returned home after his father remarried. Dr. Covell and his new wife Ebba had three more children together.

Also living in the home was the doctor’s brother Arthur. Arthur had been working on a truck when it fell on him and crushed his spine, leaving him paralyzed and bedridden. He could barely sit up and was completely dependent on his brother and sister-in-law for care.

Despite his injury, Arthur managed to make himself useful after a fashion. He studied astrology and soon was running a profitable mail-order astrology business with many Hollywood clients.

Ebba and Arthur did not get along; 14-year-old Lucille later said that her stepmother never went upstairs to see Arthur and was always complaining about how much he ate. But Lucille and 16-year-old Alton were apparently very fond of him.

So when Arthur hatched a plan, aided by his astrological calculations, to murder his disliked sister-in-law, Alton was willing to carry it out. Not only did Arthur plan to kill Ebba, he also had designs on at least 27 other Bandon residents whom he wanted murdered for financial gain. He kept meticulous encrypted notes about his deadly plans, and had decided, with the help of the stars, that Ebba must die on September 3, 1923, at eleven A.M. He and Alton discussed the plans in detail, and even included Lucille in their discussions; Lucille later admitted that she had not warned Ebba or her father about the plans because she was afraid of what they might do to Uncle Arthur.

On the appointed day, after Fred Covell had left for work, Alton, following the plan concocted by Arthur, soaked a rag in ammonia and sneaked up behind Ebba, pressing the rag to her nose with one hand and pinning her arms with the other. After a desperate, three-minute struggle, Ebba was dead, and Alton carefully laid her on her bed and told his uncle that the deed was done.

There were no signs of injury on Ebba except a red rash on her cheek from the ammonia. The police were suspicious from the get-go and at first focused their attention on Fred Covell. However, Lucille quickly confessed her knowledge of what had happened, and confronted with his sister’s admissions, Alton cracked and gave a full confession.

Arthur Covell refused to admit anything beyond knowing that September would be a bad month for Ebba, but his journals, when deciphered, sealed his fate. Arthur and Alton Covell went on trial and were convicted. Alton received a life sentence, and Arthur, who’d attended the trail on a cot, was sentenced to hang. He was carried to the gallows by prison guards on May 28, 1925, and Alton was released after about eight years.

Culled From The Malefactors Register
Submitted by Aimee