Eva Coo

Some people collect stamps; others postcards. Bordello Madame Eva Coo collected insurance policies on her friends, colleagues and employees. One employee in particular, Harry Wright, a slow witted handyman had been taken under Eva's wing when his mother died at her request. Mrs Wright also entrusted his inheritance; a few thousand dollars and the family home to Eva's care. It did not take Eva long to work her way through Harry's fortune and after his house mysteriously burnt down and the insurance money was spent, Harry's usefullness was rapidly waning. However, Eva had taken out a dozen policies on Harry's life with an estimated payout of $6,000 in the event of his death. This amount would be doubled if he died in an accident. With the connivance of another employee, Martha Clift, Eva devised a plan for augmenting her financial resources. On 14 June 1934 Eva and Martha drove the hapless Harry to an isolated spot outside Oneonta, New York, where Eva hit him with a mallet and Martha drove the car over his unconscious body. The two ladies then dumped his body beside a busy highway to make it look like a hit and run accident. The police were not convinced and after several hours of questioning, Martha broke and spilled the beans. She was convicted of second degree murder and served thirteen years of a life sentence. Eva was not so lucky; she was executed in the electric chair at New York's Sing Sing Prison on 27 June 1935. Her last words were "goodbye darlings" to the weeping matrons who had accompanied her on the last mile.