The 'Pretty Widow' Conning the Coast
A charming socialite accused of swindling Seattle investors with worthless oil stocks awaits her day in court, leaving police convinced no jury will dare to convict her.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mrs. Lloyd A. Smith, a pretty widow awaiting trial in Seattle on the charge of obtaining money under false pretenses from scores of gullible people, is said to be one of the cleverest women currently on the Pacific coast. Her success in securing money is alleged to be due entirely to a wonderful fascination which she possesses. During a few months spent in Seattle last summer, Mrs. Smith, it is charged, acquired thousands of dollars by persuading men and women whom she met in a social way to invest in worthless oil stock. Before they had had time to discover they had been duped, she returned to San Francisco. Now, none of the men who admit that she persuaded them to invest money in the oil stock ever dreamed of prosecuting her. The little widow is sometimes known as 'Madame Lucy.' She is very dainty and refined, and always dresses in plain, rich black. She has gray eyes which are as big and innocent as a child’s, which she uses most effectively. One police officer said, 'We all know she is guilty, but I don't believe a jury of twelve men can be found in the whole country who will ever send her to prison. She has such a way with her.'
“We all know she is guilty, but I don't believe a jury of twelve men can be found in the whole country who will ever send her to prison. She has such a way with her.”
Long before digital scams, 'pretty widow' grifters operated in the same social circles as their marks, weaponizing class status and gender tropes to avoid legal repercussions. This story mirrors modern concerns about 'white-collar' crime and how social capital often serves as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.