Things were tense in the Covell household of Bandon, Oregon. Fred Covell was\u00a0a successful chiropractor, but his first wife had died and left behind two\u00a0children, Lucille and Alton, who were both mentally deficient, Alton more so\u00a0than his sister. Alton had in fact been institutionalized for a time, but\u00a0returned home after his father remarried. Dr. Covell and his new wife Ebba\u00a0had three more children together.<\/p>\n
Also living in the home was the doctor’s brother Arthur. Arthur had been\u00a0working on a truck when it fell on him and crushed his spine, leaving him\u00a0paralyzed and bedridden. He could barely sit up and was completely dependent\u00a0on his brother and sister-in-law for care.<\/p>\n
Despite his injury, Arthur managed to make himself useful after a fashion.\u00a0He studied astrology and soon was running a profitable mail-order astrology\u00a0business with many Hollywood clients.<\/p>\n
Ebba and Arthur did not get along; 14-year-old Lucille later said that her\u00a0stepmother never went upstairs to see Arthur and was always complaining\u00a0about how much he ate. But Lucille and 16-year-old Alton were apparently\u00a0very fond of him.<\/p>\n
So when Arthur hatched a plan, aided by his astrological calculations, to\u00a0murder his disliked sister-in-law, Alton was willing to carry it out. Not\u00a0only did Arthur plan to kill Ebba, he also had designs on at least 27 other\u00a0Bandon residents whom he wanted murdered for financial gain. He kept\u00a0meticulous encrypted notes about his deadly plans, and had decided, with the\u00a0help of the stars, that Ebba must die on September 3, 1923, at eleven A.M.\u00a0He and Alton discussed the plans in detail, and even included Lucille in\u00a0their discussions; Lucille later admitted that she had not warned Ebba or\u00a0her father about the plans because she was afraid of what they might do to\u00a0Uncle Arthur.<\/p>\n
On the appointed day, after Fred Covell had left for work, Alton, following\u00a0the plan concocted by Arthur, soaked a rag in ammonia and sneaked up behind\u00a0Ebba, pressing the rag to her nose with one hand and pinning her arms with\u00a0the other. After a desperate, three-minute struggle, Ebba was dead, and\u00a0Alton carefully laid her on her bed and told his uncle that the deed was\u00a0done.<\/p>\n
There were no signs of injury on Ebba except a red rash on her cheek from\u00a0the ammonia. The police were suspicious from the get-go and at first focused\u00a0their attention on Fred Covell. However, Lucille quickly confessed her\u00a0knowledge of what had happened, and confronted with his sister’s admissions,\u00a0Alton cracked and gave a full confession.<\/p>\n
Arthur Covell refused to admit anything beyond knowing that September would\u00a0be a bad month for Ebba, but his journals, when deciphered, sealed his fate.\u00a0Arthur and Alton Covell went on trial and were convicted. Alton received a\u00a0life sentence, and Arthur, who’d attended the trail on a cot, was sentenced\u00a0to hang. He was carried to the gallows by prison guards on May 28, 1925, and\u00a0Alton was released after about eight years.<\/p>\n