Dorothy Sherwood

Case record: Dorothy Sherwood

Dorothy Sherwood (born 1908) was a burlesque dancer and Salvation Army worker who was convicted of first-degree murder for killing her two-year-old son.

Background

Sherwood was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the third child of a Scotch-Irish foundry worker. Her father was married six times, and Sherwood was the daughter of his third wife. One of her older siblings died at eighteen months, and another at five years of age. Sherwood's mother died when she was nine, and she was placed in an orphanage.

In 1925, after a period in the orphanage, she did Salvation Army work. In this endeavor, she wore a red-ribboned bonnet. She sang gospel hymns in six southern cities for approximately three years.

From this job, she moved on to dance in burlesque. She never achieved the prominence of a stripper and was always in the back row in the chorus.

She married a stage hand, James Sherwood, the electrician of the burlesque company. Her marriage was conducted as a publicity stunt before an audience of burlesque fans during a regular performance. James was from a poor family in Newburgh, New York, a Hudson River town. When the company broke up, the couple returned to Newburgh. There James found sporadic work as a motion picture operator, and Sherwood was employed as a waitress.

Their daughter, then age seven, resided with his mother. At that time their other child, Jimmy, was an infant. James had tuberculosis and died in a sanitarium in New York.

Afterward, Sherwood became engaged to a minor politician and dry county agent. When she lost her job, the engagement was broken. Her landlady evicted her when she could not afford the room and board.

The offence

Sherwood drowned two-year-old Jimmy in Moodna Creek in Newburgh on August 20, 1935.

She carried Jimmy's body to the Newburgh police headquarters, exclaiming it was too hard to make a living for myself and the baby.

The case was exceptional, being the only first degree murder case involving a woman in Orange County, New York history until then.

Trial and sentencing

Sherwood, 27, pleaded temporary insanity during her trial for the drowning of Jimmy in January 1936. The jury recommended mercy when it convicted her of first degree murder. The jury foreman mentioned that she had led a hard life.

Trial Judge Jonathan D. Wilson was compelled by New York state law to sentence her to die in the electric chair at Sing Sing.

In 1936, all first degree murder convictions were reviewed by the New York Court of Appeals. Two defense psychiatrists maintained that Sherwood was insane while two prosecution psychiatrists testified to the contrary.

Appeals

She won an appeal for a new trial. The United States War Veterans Association circulated petitions days later urging Governor Herbert Lehman to grant Sherwood an unconditional pardon.

The Court of Appeals set aside the first degree murder conviction on July 8, 1936.

Outcome

She pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter the following September 2, and received a six-to-fifteen-year sentence.

Parole and aftermath

She was then 28. Sherwood was freed on parole after serving three years and three months at the Westfield State Farm (Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women) in Bedford Hills, New York.

The Salvation Army employed her doing clerical work in one of its institutions. Sherwood was allowed to visit her 11-year-old daughter, Dorothy May, who resided in Newburgh.