The week of Oct. 25, 1909, Alma Bell prepared with her attorneys, L.L. Chamberlain and W.J. Prewett, for her upcoming trial for the homicide of Joe Armes. Originally, the trial was to begin in late October, but it was pushed back to Nov. 10.
Alma, the daughter of locally famous pocket gold miner Pike Bell, was in love with Joe. According to Alma, Joe agreed to marry her after she told him she thought she was pregnant, but he wanted nothing to do with her when he discovered she was not with child.
On the evening of June 5, 1909, Alma fatally shot Joe Armes through the heart. The crime was sensational and was reported in newspapers across the county. Through it all, Alma was steadfast. In her mind, she was justified because Joe rejected her, but she still loved him.
Throughout the trial, Alma was in mourning and at times wore a black dress with a wide-brimmed black hat. On Nov. 24, 1909, the jury of 12 men found Alma innocent by reason of insanity. Alma eventually settled in San Francisco where she ran a boarding house. She died in 1952 and is buried near her father in the Old Auburn Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
But, as we approach Halloween, we should note that some people do not believe Alma is at rest. In the 1970s, a night custodian in the Historic Courthouse in Auburn once saw a woman in an old fashioned long black dress and wearing a wide-brimmed black hat glide across the floor and go through a closed locked door. Recently, a court clerk and one of the bailiffs in the courthouse thought they saw part of a long black skirt dart around a corner when no one was there.
Who is the mysterious woman in black? We don’t know for sure, but some point to the style of dress and surmise it could be Alma. Happy Halloween!
Photo: Clipping from the Nov. 25, 1909, San Francisco Call
|
