Irene Schroeder
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Irene Schroeder (February 17, 1909 – February 23, 1931) was an American criminal who became the first woman to be electrocuted in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
and the fourth woman to be executed by electrocution in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. She was given several nicknames by the press, including "Trigger Woman," "Iron Irene," "Irene of the six-shooters," "animal woman", "the blonde tiger," "the blonde bandit," and "Tiger Girl."Charles A. Earley, "Tiger Girl"—The Blonde Whose Gun Spat Death!,
''True Detective Mysteries,''
September 1930) p. 40ff.


Early life

Schroeder (née Crawford) was born in 1909 in
Benwood, West Virginia Benwood is a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Wheeling metropolitan area. The population was 1,269 at the 2020 census. History Benwood was chartered in 1853 and incorporated in 1 ...
. At the age of 15, she married Homer Shrader, and they had a son, Donnie, a year later. She soon left Homer and became a waitress in
Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...
. There, she met Walter Glenn Dague, who became her lover.


Shootout in Butler, Pennsylvania

On December 27, 1929, she and Dague as well as her older brother, Tom Crawford, were involved in a grocery store robbery in
Butler, Pennsylvania Butler is a city in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is north of Pittsburgh and part of the Greater Pittsburgh region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,502. Butler is named after Major General ...
. While escaping the scene of the crime, they were stopped by two police officers, Brady Paul and Ernest Moore. A shootout ensued. Paul was fatally shot, and Moore was wounded. Shrader, Crawford, and Dague all escaped and went into hiding, leaving Irene's four-year-old son, who had been in the car at the time, with a family member. Irene changed the spelling of her name to Schroeder to muddy the trail that the police were following. Donnie was soon interviewed by the police, and his testimony was later used to help convict his mother. He stated:
"I saw my mama shoot a cop. Uncle Tom shot another one in the head. He shot right through the windshield."


Arrest and trial

Tom Crawford was never arrested; the police believed that he was killed in a shootout after a robbery in
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. After a long manhunt, Dague and Schroeder were both apprehended after a shootout in
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. They were tried in Pennsylvania and sentenced to death by electrocution. Schroeder was the first female to be executed in such a way in Pennsylvania. Schroeder was electrocuted on February 23, 1931, at 7:05 a.m., wearing "a gray dress of imitation silk with white collars and cuffs, beige silk stockings and black satin slippers" to her death. Her executioner Robert G. Elliott remarked that she seemed particularly "composed and fearless." Her parting words to her six-year-old son, Donnie were "I am going to die, my boy, but I am not afraid. Be a good boy and don't be afraid." Donnie was heard to remark, "I'll bet my mom would make an awful nice angel." Dague was executed the same day.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroeder, Irene 1909 births 1931 deaths 20th-century executions of American people 20th-century executions by Pennsylvania American female murderers American people executed for murdering police officers American robbers Executed American women Executed people from West Virginia People convicted of murder by Pennsylvania People executed by Pennsylvania by electric chair People from Benwood, West Virginia