During the war, the
Women's Army Corp was created. This gave women the opportunity to serve
the country in "appropriate" roles. The lovely, once-divorced Maoma
Ridings was a member of the Women's Army Corps in 1943. She worked as a
physical therapist at Camp Atterbury, just outside of Edinburgh,
Indiana.
Maoma was born in Warm
Springs, Georgia as Maoma Little. She worked as a therapist at the Warm
Springs Infantile Paralysis Foundation in her early adult life before
joining the Women's Army Corps. During her time at the foundation, she
had the privilege of serving as a nurse to a patient who later became a
notable figure of the time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was treated
for polio at the foundation and fell in love with Warm Springs, Georgia.
Once Maoma was stationed at Camp Atterbury and divorced from her husband, she would frequently take a trip to Indianapolis on her weekend furloughs. She was known to carry large sums of money on these trips. Many people said that Maoma would frequent parties during these trips.
On August 28, Maoma was
granted furlough and she embarked on her normal trip to Indianapolis for
a weekend of frivolity. She had scheduled a date with a Corporal
Emmanuel Fisher, that was to take place around 6 or 6:30.
Upon her arrival in
Indianapolis, Maoma purchased a fifth of whisky at a local liquor store.
It was about 4:45 in the afternoon, when the purchase was made. She
then checked into her room between 5 and 5:15. By 5:30, she was settled
in and had called for room service.
Maoma was known to be a
generous tipper, which may have been why the hotel staff seemed to
remember her well. A bellboy arrived delivering the soda pop that she
had ordered. Happy with the delivery, she tipped him 25 cents.
Shortly after this
encounter, Maoma would call and request ice. It would be delivered by
Robert Wolfington, a bellboy, at about 6:15. She also tipped him 25
cents. While delivering the ice, Wolfington claimed to have spotted a
dark-haired woman dressed in black lounging on the bed.
Corporal Emmanuel Fisher
had been running late that evening. He attempted to call Maoma's room
at 6:30, but no one answered. He had assumed that since he was running
late, she had simply found someone else to go out with for the evening.
The two weren't going steady so it wasn't a big deal.
At eight that evening, a
house keeper was doing her rounds on the seventh floor of the Claypool
hotel. She came to room 729 and knocked on the door. With no response,
she unlocked the door so that she could complete the tidying.
In no way was she
prepared for the horrendous scene before her eyes. Next to the bed, in a
pool of her own blood, was the body half-naked of Maoma Ridings along
with a quarter not far from her hand. After rushing to call an operator
so that the scene was reported to police, the housekeeper returned to
room 729 and laid a sheet over the lower half of the body to preserve
the woman's dignity.
Originally, the military
had taken control of the investigation, but decided two days later that
the case belonged to the Indianapolis Police Department. This
complicated matters and it seems that vital evidence, such as finger
prints because DNA wasn't being used yet, may have been lost or simply
not collected.
Ultimately, after some
debate, the cause of death was determined to be a blow to the head. The
blow came from the very whiskey bottle that Maoma had purchased earlier
in the evening. When an x-ray was taken, no skull fractures were found.
There were lacerations on her neck, torso, and wrists. These were
believed to have been made from the broken pieces of the whiskey bottle.
The examination revealed
that while the jugular had been cut, it had not been severed. Also, the
cuts inflicted on the victim's wrist were inflicted post-mortem. Police
thought that this may have been done to try to stage the murder to look
like a suicide. When the contents of Maoma's stomach was examined, it
showed that she had consumed approximately 10 ounces of 100 proof
whiskey shortly before her death.
The examination
determined that prior to her death Maoma had intercourse. The experts
said that they were unable to tell from the body whether or not she had
been raped or had consented to the act. Investigators like Saul Raab
believed that she had been raped prior to her death. This conclusion
mostly came from the violent way in which she was murdered and the fact
that she was found nude from the waist down.
Another possible motive
other than rape was robbery. While Maoma was known for carrying large
sums of money, only 46 cents was found in her room. This would not have
been enough to cover the cost of her room at the Claypool.
At this point the
investigation takes off and muddles itself very quickly. Police received
a note on September 1, 1943 that they originally thought was a clue,
but was later believed to just be a publicity seeker. The day after the
murder a bloody pair of trousers were dropped off at a dry-cleaners and
the shop-worker called police. The pants owner came forward and declared
that he got blood on them when he had "a friendly scuffle" with his
wife. Little pieces of information continued to pop up and blur the line
between fact and fiction.
The Six Suspects
Robert A. Watts:
Wiona Kidd and William Luallen: photographs unavailable
Jack Anderson Wilson (the black dahlia theory):
Marie Simpson (drunk woman): Photograph unavailable
Robert De Armon: photograph unavaliable
Robert Wolfington (the Bellboy):
As the investigation
into Maoma's death continued, investigators ran out of steam quickly.
Rumors swirled that the military was not cooperating and sharing
information, as if they were trying to cover something up. Meanwhile,
the federal government offered FBI lab services because President
Roosevelt had been fond of Maoma when she was his nurse while he was
being treated for Polio.
The suspect list grew
quickly. Some suspects made the list for numerous reasons. Some fit the
"profile," while others were in the wrong place at the right time. More
bizarrely numerous individuals confessed to the crime and put themselves
and others on the list. Stranger yet is the theory that Maoma's killer
is the same man that some believe is responsible for The Black Dahlia
Murder.
The first suspect that I
wanted to talk about is Robert A. Watts. Watts appears to have made the
list because he fits the profile and it would have been easy to pin the
murder on him. He grew up in the slums of Indianapolis at the time. His
father was absent and his mother was a known drunk, according to
neighbors. Some would later attribute his long rap sheet to these
factors.
Watts confessed to the
murders of two Indianapolis women in 1948. These murders were classified
as "sex-murders," meaning that the motive was rape. Interestingly, Saul
Rabb was the judge for Watt's murder trial. Saul was also one of the
head investigators in Maoma's case. The fact that the three murders had
involved sexual assault was the connecting factor.
It was revealed upon
Watts' arrest that he had a long rap sheet for sexual assault and
attempted sexual assault. He was a city employee at the time. His
conviction was the driving force behind the city requiring
fingerprinting for all of its employees.
When Watts was found
guilty of the murder of Mrs. Mary Lois Burney, he was sentenced to
death. Hours prior to being put to death in the electric chair, Watts
ate a last meal of fried chicken and met with a spiritual advisor. He
was also questioned about the murder of Maoma Ridings at the time. He
denied any involvement. With nothing to lose, there is no reason for him
to not confess.
The next suspect I want
to cover is actually a pair. William Luallen and Wiona Kidd had been
married and in love, until William was sentenced to serve ten to twenty
years for larceny. Upon his sentencing, Wiona filed for divorce.
Fourteen months after
the murder of Maoma Ridings, William Luallen confessed to prison
officials that he had killed Maoma and his wife had been the woman in
black seen in the room at the Claypool. He claimed that they had met
Maoma at a few parties on the weekends prior to her death. When he
describing the murder to the police, he said that he did not get blood
on his clothing, but only on his hands. He stated that he wiped his
hands on the back wall of the closet in Room 729 of the Claypool hotel.
Meanwhile, Wiona Kidd
had gone back to Knoxville, Tennessee where she was from. At this time
Indianapolis Police officers had burglary charges pending against Wiona.
Police had already picked Wiona up for the burglary charge. She waived
her extradition back to Indiana.
She was quoted as saying
"if he knows so much about it, he must have done it himself," when she
was asked about what she thought of William's confession. She denied any
involvement. William would later withdraw his confession and claim his
ex-wife had not involvement. He stated that he didn't want her to be
able to run around with other men while he was locked up.
Third possible suspect
is the most unlikely in my opinion. Jack Anderson Wilson was not a
police named suspect, or at least not that I could find after hours of
research. Instead, Wilson has been the subject of many books and the
fixation of many authors since his death in 1982.
In numerous books,
Wilson has "been tied" to the Cleveland Torso Murders, the murder of
Georgette Bauerdorf, The Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short), Maoma Ridings,
and numerous others. Some authors even claimed that Wilson was a member
of the mob. Wilson became sensationalized and it is as if truth and
fiction co-mingle when telling his story.
In the book
"Corroborating Evidence," which can be found in the source list for part
one, the author claims that Wilson was a cross-dresser. His
cross-dressing allowed for him to be the woman in black that had been
seen in Maoma's hotel room just shortly before her murder. It seems like
a stretch to me, but we will never know. Wilson died in a hotel fire in
1982.
The fourth possible
suspect was Marie Simpson. Simpson admitted to the murder during a
display of public drunkenness. Marie was charged with vagrancy at the
time, so that police would be able to hold her. This charge was meant to
discourage homelessness originally, but was often abused during this
time. Police often used this charge to hold poor individuals when they
were suspects in a different crime.
She was 27 years old at
the time and admitted to knowing Robert Wolfington, one of the Claypool
bellboys, for three years. Her confession didn't match the facts or
evidence in the case. So she was removed from the suspect list.
The final two suspects
are the most compelling in my opinion. If one of these suspects
committed the murder, he was not working with the other. I simply saved
them for the end because the two were the most heavily questioned.
Robert Wolfington, the
23 year old bellboy, was a suspect of convenience. He was the last
person to admit seeing Maoma alive in her room, when he delivered ice to
the room. When police went through hotel records and didn't have
paperwork for the ice request, Robert was made a formal suspect.
In order to hold Robert,
the police charged him with vagrancy. A judge ordered that his bond be
set at $2,500. Police officers would end up grilling him in 7 hour
intervals without ceasing. It was during this type of interrogation that
it was discovered that Wolfington had attempted suicide in the year
prior to the murder. The reason for his attempt was the breakdown and
eventual end of his marriage.
Police latched on to
this information because whoever killed Maoma slit her wrist after her
death to make it look like a suicide. It's important to note that
Wolfington did not slit his his wrist in his attempt. From my research,
it seems like he tried to poison himself.
Eventually, it was
established that it was common practice for the bellboys to take room
service orders directly, some of the heat was taken off of Wolfington.
He had cooperated and been extremely straight-forward with investigators
throughout the process. On September 3, 1943, he was released and no
longer classified as a "serious" suspect.
Meanwhile, in the
background of the newspaper articles, a more sinister suspect lurked.
His name was Robert De Armond. The man worked at the hotel as a steward
during the day and at a local amusement park in the evenings. On the day
that Maoma was murdered he clocked out of the hotel at 3:18pm and
didn't arrive for work at the amusement park until 7:34 that evening.
Robert's lack of an
alibi is not the only the only thing that made him a compelling suspect.
Maoma had intercourse, more than likely was raped, prior to her death.
This fit Robert's bill.
Ten years earlier, in
1934, Robert was a 30 year old school teacher at Franklin County
Schools. He was married and had a small child. Life was good. That was
until, he raped a ten year old girl in Brookville, Indiana. He was
tried, convicted,and sentenced to two to twenty years in a state prison.
In 1939, he was
transferred from the prison to a state mental hospital to serve his
sentence. The superintendent of the facility stated that Robert
responded well to treatment, but still showed "marked sexual
tendencies." One might speculate that these tendencies either involved
rape, violence, or pedophilia. Robert also escaped the same facility
during his stay, but was quickly recaptured.
In April of 1943, Robert
was released into the custody of his father. His father was required to
write and submit reports about him to the state. Robert began working
at the Claypool Hotel two months prior to the murder.
He was arrested on
September 3, 1943, on vagrancy charges, by the Indianapolis Police
Department. He was now 40 years old. The judge set his bail at $1,000.
Due to the vagrancy charge, Robert had violated his parole and was going
to go back to prison. While in custody, he escaped, but was captured
again without incident.
While in custody, Robert
was questioned about the murder of Maoma Ridings. It was observed that
he had a large cut on his left hand. He could provide no explanation of
the cut. When officers questioned him about what he had done between the
hours of 3 and 7 that afternoon, he was incoherent and evasive.
Officers even took
Robert De Armond back to the Claypool. They asked him to walk them
through what he had done on the day of the murder. He refused to take
this serious and investigators were frustrated. As of October 1943, he
was ruled out as a suspect without explanation. He was never able to
account for his time that day.
The murder remains unsolved even today. Maoma Riding's murder most likely will never be solved. Her killer is more than likely dead him or herself. Anyone who has information is still asked to contact police and authorities.
________________Source_______________________
"At Your Leisure: The
Downfall of a Landmark." Jeff Kamm. HistoricIndianapolis.com. January
2015.
http://historicindianapolis.com/at-your-leisure-the-downfall-of-a-landmark/
"Bellboy Put on the Grill For Seven Hours." The Indianapolis Star. September 1943.
"Coded Letter in
Chandelier Offers New WAC Death Clew." The Franklin Evening Star.
September 1943.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3002822/clue_found_in_maoma_ridings_case/
"Corroborating Evidence." Rasmussen, William T. 2004. Available for Purchase.
"Divorcee Is Due Today For WAC Murder Quiz." The Indianapolis Star. October 1944.
"Ghost Hunter's Guide to Indianapolis." Page 89. Sankowsky, Lorri. Young, Keri. Pelican Publishing Company 2008.
"Historic Indianapolis Crimes: Murder and Mystery in the Circle City." Fred D. Cavidner. The Historic Press, 2010.
"Indiana Unsolved: The
1943 Murder of Cpl. Maoma Ridings at the upscale Claypool Hotel remains
a
mystery." Diana Penner. The Indy Star. October 2013.
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2013/10/01/indiana-unsolved-the-1943-murder-of-cpl-maoma-ridings-at-the-upscale-claypool-hotel-remains-a-mystery/2901193/
"Indiana Unsolved: Maoma
Ridings Murder at the Claypool Hotel." The Indy Star. October 2013.
https://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/news/history/retroindy/2013/10/01/indiana-unsolved-maoma-ridings-murder-at-the-claypool-hotel/2902219/
"Jack Anderson Wilson."
The Black Dahlia Murder: The 1947 Murder of Elizabeth Short.
http://blackdahlia.web.unc.edu/jack-anderson-wilson/
"Maoma Little Ridings." Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/125470671/maoma-ridings#
"Question Woman of WAC Slaying." The Call-leader Newspaper. Elwood, Indiana. October 1944.
"Sheriff Studies His Confession." Wildhack, William H. The Indianapolis News. October 1944.
"#TBT: August 8, 1943-
The Corporal Maoma L. Ridings Murder; Case #24670-A." IMPD NEWS Facebook
Page. https://www.facebook.com/IMPDNews/posts/954165531301345
"The Kingsbury Run
Murders: a.k.a The Torso Murders." The Cleveland Police Museum.
http://www.clevelandpolicemuseum.org/collections/torso-murders/
"WAC Death Tale Denied." The Times. Munster, Indiana. October 1944.
"Woman Held as Slaying
Suspect." The Daily Banner. October
1944. https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=TDB19441026-01.1.1
"7 Hotel Mysteries That
Will Send Chills Down Your Spine." Janmejai Singh Rathore. Storypick.
September 2015. http://www.storypick.com/unsolved-hotel-mysteries/
"Attempt at Suicide by Wolfinton, WAC Slaying Suspect, Is Disclosed." The Indianapolis Star. September 1943.
"Bellhop is Grilled in WAC Slaying." The Franklin Evening Star. September 1943.
"Court Guards Increased as Escape Tip is Given." The Indianapolis News. January 1948.
"'Drunk' Woman Who Admitted to WAC Slaying Is Questioned." The Franklin Evening Star. September 1943.
"Hotel Employe Questioned In Slaying of WAC." The Times. Munster, Indiana. September 1943.
"Jack Anderson Wilson."
The Black Dahlia: The 1947 Murder of Elizabeth Short.
http://blackdahlia.web.unc.edu/jack-anderson-wilson/
"Judge Orders Slaying Case to Open Monday." The Indianapolis News. January 1948.
"Murder Mase is Still Big News in Capitol City." The Tipton Daily Tribune. September 1943.
"Paroled Rapist, Sentenced at Brookville, WAC Slaying Suspect." Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. September 1943.
PODCAST:
The Trail Went Cold. Minisode 21. Maoma Ridings.
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