The 1936 Murder of Nancy Titterton

The year was 1936. Nancy Titterton was 33 years old at the time. She lived at 22 Beekman Place in New York with her husband of seven years, Lewis Titterton, an executive at the National Broadcasting Company. Nancy was a writer and a gifted one at that. The two were very happy and known to be completely devoted to one another. Lewis' world was forever shattered one dreary Friday when Nancy was found murdered in their own home.

Theodore Kruger and his young assistant, Johnny Fiorenza, went to 22 Beekman Place to return a loveseat that they had repaired for the Tittertons. The door was ajar, so Kruger called out Nancy's name. She did not answer and the two gentleman heard the sound of running water. They slowly entered the house and followed the sound to uncover a grisly sight: Nancy was lying face down in an empty bathtub with a pajama top tied around her neck. She had on nothing but a pair of stockings and the shower was left running. Fiorenza phoned the police and Assistant Chief Inspector Lyons reported to the crime scene.

The torn undergarments on the bedroom floor implied that the motive was of a sexual nature. The door showed no signs of forced entry, which suggested that Nancy knew her killer. The initial search of the Titterton home yielded no concrete clues. It was not until Nancy's body was being removed from the tub that the first piece of evidence came to light: a 13-inch long piece of severed cord was found underneath the victim's body.

Marks on Nancy's wrists indicated that she was bound. The killer took the cord with him, but overlooked the small fragment that was hidden under Nancy's body. The knife that was used to cut the cord was found nearby, but there were no fingerprints on it. The fact that the killer brought the cord with him, took it with him when he left, and wiped the knife clean suggested that the attack was premeditated. The killer would not have bothered leaving with the cord had he not felt that it might implicate him. Lyons and his fellow detectives worked to trace the cord to its source.