Clement Bothamley left his wife and two young daughters in England to come West with his paramour, the widow Harriet Mellick, who likewise left children behind. Living as husband and wife, they bought a house and settled in Newton, Kansas, where they soon had a child. After Harriet and her daughter died in complications of childbirth, Clement bought property and moved out of town to take up sheep raising, his family's occupation.
Not long afterward Clement became involved with Nellie C. Bailey, the beautiful and rather notorious wife of a Newton banker. After a meeting with Bothamley in St. Louis, Nellie came to live at his sheep ranch, where she went out heavily veiled and was introduced as his sister from England.
The couple soon made plans to travel to Texas with the sheep, there to sell the stock and take up a new life. On the night of Oct. 7, 1883, near the Skeleton Ranch at Hackberry in Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Clement was shot in the head by Nellie. The hired drovers heard the shot but were too far away to do more than witness the dead man.
Bothamley was buried at the ranch and sheep, wagon and participants were taken back to Newton in the company of a group of deputy marshals. As the investigation intensified, Clement's body was exhumed and also returned to Newton. With the details of the death and Nellie's real identity unfolding, Bailey was soon arrested and charged with the murder of Clement Bothamley.
The sensational trial in Wichita in October of 1884 had several twists. The investigating sheriff had been killed on another case and so could not testify. In her defense, the beautiful and charismatic Bailey claimed that Bothamley was in fact a corrupt and sickly English aristocrat and that his death had been a suicide.
After details of Clement's tangled affairs were brought out, public opinion swung against him and Nellie was speedily acquitted of his death.
After collaborating with an author to tell a flattering and greatly enhanced version of her story, Nellie soon embarked on a successful book tour about the West. She later remarried and settled down in Utah, but Clement Bothamley, sheep farmer and romantic scoundrel, lies without justice in an unmarked grave.
Not long afterward Clement became involved with Nellie C. Bailey, the beautiful and rather notorious wife of a Newton banker. After a meeting with Bothamley in St. Louis, Nellie came to live at his sheep ranch, where she went out heavily veiled and was introduced as his sister from England.
The couple soon made plans to travel to Texas with the sheep, there to sell the stock and take up a new life. On the night of Oct. 7, 1883, near the Skeleton Ranch at Hackberry in Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Clement was shot in the head by Nellie. The hired drovers heard the shot but were too far away to do more than witness the dead man.
Bothamley was buried at the ranch and sheep, wagon and participants were taken back to Newton in the company of a group of deputy marshals. As the investigation intensified, Clement's body was exhumed and also returned to Newton. With the details of the death and Nellie's real identity unfolding, Bailey was soon arrested and charged with the murder of Clement Bothamley.
The sensational trial in Wichita in October of 1884 had several twists. The investigating sheriff had been killed on another case and so could not testify. In her defense, the beautiful and charismatic Bailey claimed that Bothamley was in fact a corrupt and sickly English aristocrat and that his death had been a suicide.
After details of Clement's tangled affairs were brought out, public opinion swung against him and Nellie was speedily acquitted of his death.
After collaborating with an author to tell a flattering and greatly enhanced version of her story, Nellie soon embarked on a successful book tour about the West. She later remarried and settled down in Utah, but Clement Bothamley, sheep farmer and romantic scoundrel, lies without justice in an unmarked grave.
Clement Bothamley left his wife and two young daughters in England to come West with his paramour, the widow Harriet Mellick, who likewise left children behind. Living as husband and wife, they bought a house and settled in Newton, Kansas, where they soon had a child. After Harriet and her daughter died in complications of childbirth, Clement bought property and moved out of town to take up sheep raising, his family's occupation.
Not long afterward Clement became involved with Nellie C. Bailey, the beautiful and rather notorious wife of a Newton banker. After a meeting with Bothamley in St. Louis, Nellie came to live at his sheep ranch, where she went out heavily veiled and was introduced as his sister from England.
The couple soon made plans to travel to Texas with the sheep, there to sell the stock and take up a new life. On the night of Oct. 7, 1883, near the Skeleton Ranch at Hackberry in Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Clement was shot in the head by Nellie. The hired drovers heard the shot but were too far away to do more than witness the dead man.
Bothamley was buried at the ranch and sheep, wagon and participants were taken back to Newton in the company of a group of deputy marshals. As the investigation intensified, Clement's body was exhumed and also returned to Newton. With the details of the death and Nellie's real identity unfolding, Bailey was soon arrested and charged with the murder of Clement Bothamley.
The sensational trial in Wichita in October of 1884 had several twists. The investigating sheriff had been killed on another case and so could not testify. In her defense, the beautiful and charismatic Bailey claimed that Bothamley was in fact a corrupt and sickly English aristocrat and that his death had been a suicide.
After details of Clement's tangled affairs were brought out, public opinion swung against him and Nellie was speedily acquitted of his death.
After collaborating with an author to tell a flattering and greatly enhanced version of her story, Nellie soon embarked on a successful book tour about the West. She later remarried and settled down in Utah, but Clement Bothamley, sheep farmer and romantic scoundrel, lies without justice in an unmarked grave.
Not long afterward Clement became involved with Nellie C. Bailey, the beautiful and rather notorious wife of a Newton banker. After a meeting with Bothamley in St. Louis, Nellie came to live at his sheep ranch, where she went out heavily veiled and was introduced as his sister from England.
The couple soon made plans to travel to Texas with the sheep, there to sell the stock and take up a new life. On the night of Oct. 7, 1883, near the Skeleton Ranch at Hackberry in Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Clement was shot in the head by Nellie. The hired drovers heard the shot but were too far away to do more than witness the dead man.
Bothamley was buried at the ranch and sheep, wagon and participants were taken back to Newton in the company of a group of deputy marshals. As the investigation intensified, Clement's body was exhumed and also returned to Newton. With the details of the death and Nellie's real identity unfolding, Bailey was soon arrested and charged with the murder of Clement Bothamley.
The sensational trial in Wichita in October of 1884 had several twists. The investigating sheriff had been killed on another case and so could not testify. In her defense, the beautiful and charismatic Bailey claimed that Bothamley was in fact a corrupt and sickly English aristocrat and that his death had been a suicide.
After details of Clement's tangled affairs were brought out, public opinion swung against him and Nellie was speedily acquitted of his death.
After collaborating with an author to tell a flattering and greatly enhanced version of her story, Nellie soon embarked on a successful book tour about the West. She later remarried and settled down in Utah, but Clement Bothamley, sheep farmer and romantic scoundrel, lies without justice in an unmarked grave.
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