Mugshot of the infamous “Trunk Murderess,” hailing from Stockton, CA.

In 1906, the body of Albert McVicar, LeDoux’s third husband, was discovered stuffed into a trunk at the Southern Pacific Railroad depot in Stockton-- which she had left behind while fleeing to San Francisco. Authorities picked up LeDoux and charged her with McVicar’s murder, leading to a lengthy trial that would soon cover the face of newspapers throughout the country. Subsequently it was uncovered that her second husband had also died of mysterious causes, resulting in a $5-10,000 life insurance payout, and that LeDoux had married a fourth while still in bed with McVicar. While she is often referred to as a “bigamist,” it is said that the drunkard McVicar (who’s business had failed) was no saint himself, forcing LeDoux into a “life of shame in the red light district” and leaving her for work at the Rawhide Mine in Tuolomne County.

After trial postponement due to the destitute 1906 earthquake, LeDoux was sentenced to hang, making her the first woman in California to receive the death penalty. LeDoux successfully appealed the court on the basis of jury tampering and bias due to her media-influenced infamy. Her sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in 1910 of which she served 10 years before being paroled. Unable to find solace in the world, LeDoux was in and out of prison for various reasons until her death behind bars in 1941.