Ep 109 – The Poisoning On Independence Day – Haunted Hospitality Podcast

By all accounts, July 4, 1965 was a fairly normal night for Madison and Marrs Cawein. They went out with their friends for Independence Day, and after some drinking and revelry, Marrs decided to turn in while Madison decided to stay out longer. She got back home around midnight, greeted the babysitter, and had a nightcap with the friend who drove her back before going to bed. No one — aside from her killer — saw her alive again. Because sometime between 2 and 6 in the morning, Marrs Cawein was injected with an unknown substance and poisoned with carbolic acid.

In this episode, we explore what happened the night Marrs Cawein died and what the subsequent investigation uncovered in this still-unsolved case.

But first, Zoey’s Something Something is a spelling bee of southern and spooky words.

Sources:

“Grand Jury Lists No Facts Uncovered in Cawein Case” by Norma Eckdahl, The Lexington Herald, Sept. 29, 1965, via Newspapers.com.

“Cawein Death Declared Officially a Homicide” by Norma Eckdahl, The Lexington Herald, Aug. 14, 1965, via Newspapers.com.

“The Kentucky Belle’s Fatal Nightcap” by Ruth Reynolds, Daily News, Sept. 4, 1966, via Newspapers.com. (This is an excellent resource for learning more about this case!)

“Mrs. Cawein’s Rites Are Conducted Today,” Danville Advocate-Messenger, July 7, 1965, via Newspapers.com.

“THE HORSE-SHOW WHODUNITS” by Alice Higgins, Sports Illustrated, September 20, 1965, via Vault.

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002890.htm

“Date Not Chosen for an Inquest in Cawein Death,” The Courier-Journal, Aug. 8, 1965, via Newspapers.com.

“Full-Scale Investigation Readied in Cawein Death,” The Lexington Leader, Aug. 4, 1965, via Newspapers.com.

“Drs. Cawein, Lappat Heard by Grand Jury,” The Lexington Leader, Sept. 22, 1965, via Newspapers.com.