Column: A jealous man, a scalpel and the death of Lizzie Skinner in Bloomfield
On her way to the Monon depot to board a train, Malissa "Lizzie" Skinner didn't know she would never leave Bloomfield. With plans to visit out of town, she was looking for time away from the man who had deserted his family to have a relationship with her. Lizzie, divorced from Richard Spears, had reinstated her maiden name and had been involved with Dr. E. Ellsworth Gray. Described as insanely jealous, Gray believed Lizzie was "receiving attention from men in Bedford and Bloomington."
It was the afternoon of Dec. 29, 1898, when Ellsworth Gray stabbed Lizzie Skinner in the neck and chest with an 8-inch scalpel in front of witnesses on a Bloomfield street. Death was instant, but it was reported an hour passed before the coroner took charge of the body lying in the street. Gray had wiped the bloody instrument on Skinner's wrap.
More from Dixie Kline Richardson: Tracing shinplasters and wild cat cash to bank in Gosport, Indiana
Said to be from an influential and esteemed family, yet a drunkard and a gambler, Gray was a son of Dr. John W. Gray. The 37-year-old physician was a graduate of a St. Louis medical college. It was known he had threatened Lizzie's life. According to reports, he didn't resist arrest, giving himself up immediately.
Judge John C. Robinson of Spencer was appointed special judge because Greene Circuit Court Judge W.W. Moffett was a relative of the defendant. The final presiding trial judge was John S. Bays of Sullivan. Arraignment was held May 8 in Bloomfield on the charge of murder in the first degree to which E.E. Gray pleaded insanity.
A jury of 12 farmers was impaneled on May 9. They were Andrew J. Combs, Jacob Baughman, Henry Buckner, John W. Arthur, Aaron Combs, Charley Ballard, Joseph H. Pigg, William Breck, John H. Moore, James Wells, William Elgin and Daniel Taxe.
Attorneys for the state were Charles D. Hunt, prosecuting attorney of Sullivan, John R. Riddle, deputy prosecutor, W.V. Moffett and Seymour Riddle of Bloomfield. On the defense side were Emerson Short, Cyrus E. Davis, W.L. Slinkard and Thomas Van Buskirk.
On May 12, the state's attorney address the jury with an account of the crime and the "life of dissipation and gambling" led by the accused while Gray reclined in a rocking chair and appeared unconcerned.
Meanwhile, outside the courthouse, tacked on trees and scattered about the grounds, were signs reading, "Where do you get your scripture for killing a man because he has killed someone else? Are you smarter than Jesus Christ?"
More in opinion: My summer reading list, and a few recommendations from Mr. T too
At 2:45 p.m., Sunday, May 21, 1899, after 24 hours deliberation, Gray was sentenced to life imprisonment. There were no relatives present. He seemed devoid of any feeling on hearing the verdict. The defense claimed the outcome a victory.
There was no demonstration from the public, but the local news editor wrote, "It was a surprise and there is no disguising the fact that it gives general disgust. There is much feeling in this section over the fact that so many cold-blooded murders have been committed in this section recently."
Fourteen years later, Dr. E.E. Gray was released from the Michigan City penitentiary, announcing he had continued his studies and would again take up the practice of medicine. He was pardoned by Indiana Gov. Samuel Ralston who was raised in Owen County.
E.E. Gray did resume the practice of medicine. He died of liver cancer in Bicknell, Knox County, Feb. 19, 1929.
Dixie Kline Richardson is a former Owen County historian, and former assistant editor at the Spencer Evening World. She resides in Ellettsville.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Columnist shares history behind a daylight killing in Bloomfield
