Nancy Violet Evans Titterton (1903 – April 10, 1936) was an American aspiring novelist and a wife of an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

executive who was murdered in New York City in 1936. She was found strangled in her

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

apartment and the only clues were a single horse hair and a piece of cord. It was an early case solved due to

forensic science Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

Background

In the late 1920s, Ohio-born Nancy Evans worked for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' where she met her husband,

Englishman The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. The English identity began with the Anglo-Saxons, when they we ...

Lewis Henry Titterton. After the couple married in 1929, and her husband was promoted as an executive of the

National Broadcasting Company The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, the couple moved to

near the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

. Her husband was described as a man who "thought the future of radio depended on the vision of the writer". One of her works was honored with the cover of '' Story Magazine''. In 1935, she was offered a book deal following the publication of one of her short stories, and in 1936, she was preparing to write her first novel.

Crime

On the morning of April 10, 1936, 34-year-old Nancy Titterton was killed at her apartment at 22

Beekman Place Beekman Place is a small street located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Running from north to south for two blocks, the street is situated between the eastern end of 51st Street and Mitchell Place, ...

. Her body was discovered that afternoon by Theodore Kruger and John Fiorenza, two furniture repairmen who were delivering a repaired couch. She was found in a bathtub and had been raped and strangled to death. There was little evidence at the crime scene apart from a piece of cord and a single hair found on the bed. On initial inspection, the hair was dismissed as belonging to the victim. However following further investigation, it was revealed to be a piece of

horsehair Horsehair is the long hair growing on the Mane (horse), manes and Tail (horse), tails of horses. It is used for various purposes, including upholstery, brushes, the Bow (music), bows of musical instruments, a hard-wearing Textile, fabric called ...

, which was used as stuffing in the apartment's

upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English wor ...

. When news broke of the crime, the Beekman Place "Bathtub Murder" gained notoriety due to extensive media coverage. The case was solved after Alexander Gettler, a scientist at the

Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York (OCME) is a department within the city government that investigates cases of persons who die within New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populo ...

, traced the hair to a local upholstery shop recently visited by Titterton. The upholstery shop in question was owned by Kruger, with Fiorenza being an assistant at his shop. The location of the horsehair had already led police to suspect Fiorenza of the crime. Fiorenza, an ex-convict, confessed to the crime. Fiorenza faced trial for the murder which concluded on May 28, 1936. The jury took 19 hours to reach a guilty verdict. Fiorenza was sentenced to death. Fiorenza was held at

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for men operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York, United States. It is abou ...

prison. He was executed on January 22, 1937, in the

electric chair The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New Yo ...

References

{{Portal bar, 1930s, New York City, Law 1903 births 1936 deaths 1930s in Manhattan 1936 in New York City 1930s murders in the United States Deaths by person in New York City Murder in New York City April 1936 in the United States 1936 murders