Alice Maud Hartley (ca. 1864–1907) was convicted in 1895 of killing Nevada state senator Murray D. Foley by gunshot in 1894. She was sentenced to eleven years but had served only two when she was pardoned.

Early life

Alice Maud Hartley was born in England in 1864."Alice Maud Hartley," ''Online Nevada,'' undated
/ref> She testified that she was married and had one child there. Her birth name is unknown. She came to the United States and married a silver prospector and miner named Henry Hartley in the Meadow Lake district of

Nevada County, California Nevada County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 102,241. The county seat is Nevada City, Califor ...

in 1886. Her husband died in late 1893, after which she moved to

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where she exhibited three oil paintings and six watercolors during the spring exhibition of the Hopkins Institute of Art. In March 1894 she exhibited at the California Midwinter International Exposition in the same city. A self-portrait was displayed at the

California State Fair The California State Fair (CSF) is the annual state fair for the state of California. The fair is held at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California. The Fair is a 17-day event showcasing California's industries, agriculture, and diversity of people. Th ...

in 1895 in Sacramento.

Murder and childbirth

Crime

Mrs. Hartley then moved to

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

in October 1893 and rented a studio on the third floor of the Bank of Reno, where she offered art lessons and painted portraits. She told investigators and testified in court that she was approached by Senator Murray D. Foley, the bank president, who visited her in her studio and insisted that she drink some liquor with him, drugged

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

and

benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

, she said. She took a sip and he persuaded her to drink it all. She lost consciousness, awoke once and then passed out again. She awoke again at 5 a.m. and he was still there."Foley's Crime," ''Los Angeles Times,'' September 13, 1894, page 2
/ref> She testified that Foley knocked at her door "several times on different nights afterward," and on February 25 she went into her room to find him inside. He kissed her violently, picked her up and threw her on a couch, where she lost consciousness again. She found she was pregnant and insisted that he "acknowledge the paternity of the child and put it in writing. He said he would, but there must be no witnesses." "The Hartley Trial," ''Morning Appeal'' (Carson City), September 14, 1894, page 3
/ref> On July 26, he visited her room and threatened to strike her, seizing a chair as a bludgeon. She took a pistol hidden on a shelf behind a curtain and shot him twice."Mrs. Hartley Guilty," ''San Francisco Chronicle,'' September 17, 1894, page 1
/ref>

Trial and sentence

Mrs. Hartley was indicted by the

Washoe County Washoe County () is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 486,492, making it Nevada's second-most populous county. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County is included in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Statis ...

grand jury in August 1894 and went on trial the next month before an overflowing crowd of spectators. The all-male jury found Mrs. Hartley guilty of

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

, with a recommendation of mercy. She was sentenced to eleven years in prison. On November 16, 1894, she gave birth to a boy, whom she named Vernon Harrison Hartley. Petitions both for and against the sentence were presented to the State Board of Pardons. It met on June 3, 1895, and turned down her bid for freedom. On June 18 she and the baby were taken to the state prison in Carson City, where they were assigned to two adjoining rooms and she was given the privileges of a trusty.

Freedom and lawsuit

In January 1897 the State Board of Pardons granted her a full pardon on the ground that the shooting was justified in that Foley had "wronged her," that she had been sufficiently punished and that she had a child to raise. Mrs. Hartley then proceeded to file a suit for one-half of Foley's estate, valued between $2 million and $8 million, on behalf of their son. Testimony began on November 24, 1896, in Carson City. A jury reported it stood 8 to 4 in favor of Mrs. Hartley, but could not reach a valid agreement, and the case was headed for a retrial when news came that the little boy had died of

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...

. Mrs. Hartley carried on the case as the heir to her son, but in June 1897, a judge declared that her testimony was not valid and she was declared not of interest to the estate, which at that point was estimated to be only $100,000.

Church disturbance

Mrs. Hartley was in the news again when she interrupted a service at the Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Francisco to stand and declare that she had a message concerning Theodore Durrant, who at that time was being tried for murdering two women whose bodies were found in the church two years earlier. She said that God had told her that Durrant was innocent and that his life should be spared. Ushers and others escorted her from the church, where she was surrounded by passers-by and a policeman investigated, but Mrs. Hartley hurried away.

Remarriage and death

Alice Maud Hartley and William S. Bonnifield of

Winnemucca, Nevada Winnemucca () is the only incorporated city in Humboldt County, Nevada, United States, of which it is also the county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 8,431, up 14.0 percent from the 2010 ...

, were married in San Francisco on January 4, 1899."Slayer of M.D. Foley Becomes a Bride," ''San Francisco Chronicle,'' January 5, 1899, page 15
/ref> She died in Denver, Colorado, on December 28, 1907."Seek Control of Rich Estate," ''San Francisco Chronicle,'' December 30, 1907, page 1
/ref>