Velma West at the time of her arrest.

 

 

(UnknownMisandry.blogspot.com)

 

 

Velma West in Court, 1927

Questions concerning the nature of the crime were often raised in preparation for the trial. The main concern was
whether the murder was premeditated or an act of rage. Velma stated that the hammer was upstairs in order
to hang drapes, and that the twine had been purchased a couple days before during a visit to Painesville.

 

 

 

Home Of Velma and Eddie West, 1927

Hailing from East Cleveland, Velma West was employed at Rothman Variety on the corner of West 65th
Street and Detroit Avenue at the age of 19. She worked there for about a year before being fired. During
this time, Velma had agreed to marry the 56 year old owner of a nearby restaurant where she regularly
spent her lunch breaks. Just weeks before the wedding, Velma met Thomas Edward West. She broke off
her engagement and quickly married the farmer in 1926, moving to his home in the small, rural
community of Perry, Ohio.

Early newspaper accounts of the crime centered on the unlikely marriage of a high spirited city girl and a
straight laced boy from the country. According to the famous defense attorney Clarence Darrow, the
murder resulted from Velma finally lashing out against her life in the ultra-moral, dull village of Perry.

(Photograph courtesy of Cleveland State University Special Collections.)

 

 

(UnknownMisandry.blogspot.com)

 

 

Velma West After Her Capture, 1939

Seven years into her sentence, Velma was told by a parole board that she would spend the rest of her
life in prison. Seeing her health failing, Velma West joined with three other prisoners to escape the
reformatory for one last adventure in 1939. On the run for 36 days, Velma and her companions
hitchhiked to Texas. Velma was apprehended in Dallas and returned to the prison in Marysville.

(Photograph courtesy of Cleveland State University Special Collections.)

 

 

Velma's Desk at the Ohio Reformatory for Women at Marysville, 1939

After her escape, Velma settled into life at the Marysville prison. Due to a heart condition, she spent most
of the last year of her life in the prison hospital. She died on October 24, 1959, at the age of 53.

(Photograph courtesy of Cleveland State University Special Collections.)

 

 

The victim

 

Thomas Edward West, 1927

On the night of December 6, 1927, Velma West picked up a claw hammer and struck her husband in the head
between 6 and 8 times. Blood spatter and wounds suggested the victim fell to the floor early on and made
multiple attempts to get up during the initial blows. The murderess then covered her husband's face with a
pillowcase and continued her attack with the hammer. She then proceeded to roll the body over and strike
her victim's head with a detached wooden table leg. Following his death, Velma tied Eddie's wrists and legs
with twine in order to give the impression of a robbery. She then burned her clothes and some of the
bedsheets in the cellar, dressed for a night out, and drove to a friend's home to attend a bridge party.

It is not known what prompted the brutal attack. Accounts would later be given of Velma expressing her
unhappiness with the marriage prior to that fateful night. She previously had told numerous people
that Eddie hit her, and they were know to quarrel on a regular basis.

(Photograph courtesy of Cleveland State University Special Collections)