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Nellie May Madison

Nellie May Madison
Born April 5, 1895
Red Rock, Montana
Died July 8, 1953 (aged 58)
San Bernadino, California
Cause of death Stroke
Criminal penalty Death (commuted to life in 1935, granted clemency in 1943)
Motive ending spousal abuse
Killings
Date March 24, 1934
Location(s) Burbank, California
Killed 1
Weapons handgun

Nellie May Madison (née Mooney) (April 5, 1895–July 8, 1953) was an American woman who was convicted of murder in 1934 for killing her husband. She was the first woman to be sentenced to death in the state of California. Due to public outcry, her sentence was later commuted to life in prison and she was eventually released.

Her case helped garner legitimacy for the abuse defense, a concept virtually unknown at the time in criminal cases.

The case was the subject of a 2015 episode of Investigation Discovery's series A Crime to Remember.

She was born in Red Rock, Montana and raised in the nearby community of Dillon. She was trained to be a natural survivalist of the mountains. Prior to her marriage to Eric Madison, she had an annulment from a 23-year-old ex-convict when she was 13-years-old. She also later married and divorced three different men. All produced no children.

On March 24, 1934 at their home in Burbank, California, after repeated spousal abuse episodes by her husband Eric Madison, Nellie Madison pointed a gun at Eric while he was changing out of his day clothes with the intent on threatening him. He quickly reached under the bed for a box of butcher knives and threatened to cut her heart out. As he was reaching for a knife, Nellie shot Eric in the back five times, killing him.

Nellie Madison was later arrested and tried for the murder of her husband. Even before he knew all the facts, Los Angeles County District Attorney Buron Fitts sought the death penalty for Madison. On advice of her lawyers, Madison made no mention of the spousal abuse and claimed she was not at the scene of the murder. As her story was implausible, a jury convicted her and Judge Charles Fricke sentenced her to the death penalty. On appeal, the California Supreme Court upheld the conviction.

After sentencing, Madison's ex-husband, whom she was still friends with, urged her to make the spousal abuse episodes public.

When pleading her case to Fricke, he refused to reduce the sentence and dismissed the allegations of domestic violence as "ridiculous."


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