Description

Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph was edited for publication purposes.Mrs. Kate Hayden, 71, wife of real estate developer Samuel Hayden, was murdered in her Beverly Hills mansion on February 9, 1955. Police initially questioned two men, one a former butler who had been fired two weeks before the murder. Both men had alibis, however, and were released after taking lie-detector tests. The family's maid, Peggy King, also known as Margaret Moore, took a lie-detector test as well. King's test was not as conclusive, and after questioning she broke down and confessed to the killing. She told police she and Mrs. Hayden had been arguing about the preparation of a meal. After striking the older woman with the ax many times, she staged the crime scene to make it look like a robbery and told police she hadn't seen anything. Herbert Greenwood and Everette Porter were respected African-American attorneys in Los Angeles.Photograph caption dated February 18, 1955 reads "Peggy Moore King, held in the ax murder of Beverly Hills matron Mrs. Katie Hayden, 71, confers with her lawyers, Police Commissioner Herbert Greenwood (left) and Everett Porter, at her preliminary hearing today. A moment later she was near collapse as she listened to a description of the fatal ax wounds." The three are seated at a table.

Record Contributed By

Los Angeles Public Library

Record Harvested From

California Digital Library