More than 135 years after her violent death, the murder of Alice Kelly continues to stand as one of Ottumwa’s most haunting unsolved cases.
On the morning of July 10, 1888, a 15-year-old boy traveling by wagon discovered a horse and buggy tied near a wooded area known as the “Old Field” north of Ottumwa. Believing someone was sleeping under a blanket, he alerted a passerby. When the two men looked closer, they found the body of 28-year-old Alice Kelly.
Investigators determined Kelly had suffered a brutal attack. She had been struck in the head with an iron rod before her throat was slashed with a razor. Authorities also found evidence that she fought desperately for her life. A corsage of flowers, purchased just hours before her death, was still pinned to her dress.
Kelly had arrived in Ottumwa only weeks earlier after traveling from Detroit. Contemporary newspaper accounts described her as an educated but controversial woman who had gained a reputation for blackmailing prominent men. Investigators believed revenge may have been the motive for the killing.
Witnesses reported seeing Kelly riding through town on the evening of July 9 with an unidentified man described as being of slight build, with sandy-colored hair and wearing a white straw hat. Authorities suspected he lured her to the secluded location where she was murdered.
Despite an extensive investigation and a $500 reward offered by Iowa Governor William Larrabee for information leading to an arrest, no one was ever charged in the case.
Alice Kelly was buried in Inland Cemetery in Cedar County, Iowa. Her murder remains one of Wapello County’s oldest unsolved homicide cases and continues to be remembered by local historians as a chilling chapter in Ottumwa’s history.
Source: Nancy Bowers, Iowa Unsolved Murders: Historic Cases.
