Someone got away with murder, in Savannah!

By Bob Ford Special to

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It was the first Christmas season of the 20th century.

The country was doing well with the second industrial revolution in full swing, where individual craftsmanship was being replaced by mass production. Horses and buggies would soon be joined on the road with Ford Model T’s. Train travel was common, communication went from the telegraph to the telephone … life got a little faster.

Teddy Roosevelt would be just the man to lead the country into a new era, young, brash and confident. Yes, all was going nicely in most households except for ones like Frank Richardson’s in Savannah, Missouri.

Frank, his young wife Addie with their three young boys were facing more than the normal Christmas stresses. They had a very troubled marriage. It’s a story with all the components of a classic “who done it.”

You see, on Christmas Eve 1900, Frank would be murdered and we are still trying to figure out who was the guilty party.

At the time, the problems surrounding the family covered many of life’s difficult struggles: jealousy, adultery, alcoholism, social status, forgiveness and money.

Addie and Frank had split up that year because he admitted to having an affair and now was being blackmailed. Don’t feel sorry for Addie, she was no saint either, entertaining a couple men on the side, both were suspicious of each other.

Alcohol was Frank’s friend and foe. He, no doubt, suffered from depression and threatened suicide several times. When he got drunk he turned mean, people started avoiding the moody lush.

Richardson was a small town merchant with a partner making ends meet, whereas his brother John built a very successful candy company in St. Joseph.

As said, there was a lot of anxiety in the house, but no one thought their troubles would turn deadly.

When Addie missed the Christmas play the boys were in, Frank became furious. He stormed home, wanting to know where she had been. As he stepped onto his front porch, the front door opened.

Frank was heard saying, “has it come to this?!”

Those were his last words. A gun shot rang out, the bullet hit Frank in the head and killed him instantly. But who pulled the trigger?

I sat down with Jan Glenn, Kathy Ridge and Michelle Silkett, all amateur sleuths from Savannah with different theories on who killed Frank Richardson. That podcast with their murderous hunches can be heard at bobfordshistory.com.

Jan thinks Addie did it. “She had the most to gain and felt threatened.”

OK, but the body was pulled into the house after the shot and Frank was a big man, Addie petite? Neighbors heard the shot and came running into the house contaminating the crime scene. Addie never left the house, so where was the weapon?

The gun was found blocks away the next day, but how did it get there?

Cathy thinks it might have been Stewart Fife, the son of Richardson’s partner. He was having an affair with Addie but had an alibi.

Addie’s reputation was further tarnished when Richardson’s maid Bessy stated at the inquest that “Addie would entertain men behind locked doors at the house.”

That would be scandalous in 1900 Victorian Savannah.

Michelle chimed in, thinking the perpetrator might have been Goldie Whitehead, the floozy from Stanberry who was blackmailing Frank after their short tryst.

A grand Jury was convened. After a contentious vote, they indicted Addie. They also said they would have indicted another person with just one more “for” vote but declined to identify the other potential culprit.

At trial, Addie changed details of her story several times. It seems to me she was protecting someone, but who?

Addie was ultimately acquitted. There were too many loose ends, plus her brother-in-law John had spent the money and acquired great legal representation.

What now? The prosecutor was looking for the next most likely suspect. The pressure was on no doubt to find the murderer in such a public case. They indicted Stewart Fife, who fairly quickly was also acquitted.

All would go free. No one would be found guilty for the murder of Frank Richardson on his front porch.

Who do I think did it? Since Frank’s last words were, “has it come to this?” it’s likely he knew the person holding the gun. With the murder weapon being found blocks away and the bullet fired from a low angle, heading upwards through Frank … I think it was Frank’s 13-year-old son. That’s the person Addie went to great lengths to protect, as a mother would do.

There is no correct answer. “Somebody got away with murder in Savannah, Missouri.”

To get the full story, Kimberly Tilley has written a definitive book on the mystery titled, “Has it Come to This!”

Kim dissects the cause, murder and trial but the book leaves with more questions than answers.

Frank Richardson’s grave is located at Mount Mora Cemetery in St. Joseph. I understand the cemetery’s premier event, “Voices of the Past.” This fall centers around unsolved murders of people buried in the cemetery and Frank’s demise is front and center.

I can’t wait to hear that presentation because if there is one person who might be able to figure out “who done it,” … it would be their brilliant and handsome chief detective.