The Book
Whispers in the Small Town of Bluefield
The full case — cross-checked against court records, contemporary newspaper coverage, and the people still alive to remember.
About the book →Bluefield Case Study
Bluefield, West Virginia · October 1952
A 69-year-old man was murdered. His head was never found.
Nine hours of interrogation. A guilty plea. Thirty days later, a state hospital for the “colored insane.” This is the Arizona Love case.
A timeline most people have never seen.
The Arizona Love case sits in court records, newspaper microfilm, and the long memory of a small West Virginia town. Here are the moments that shaped it — verified against the public record.
- Oct 2, 1952 Sonny Marshall, 69, retired Norfolk & Western brakeman, is killed in Bluefield, West Virginia.
- Oct 3, 1952 His body is found in a cabbage sack in a vacant lot. The head is missing.
- Oct 1952 Arizona Harris Love, 49 — his housekeeper of eight years — is questioned for nine hours. No lawyer. No psychiatric evaluation.
- Jan 26, 1953 She pleads guilty to first-degree murder. The disputed motive: a $56 wage.
- Less than 30 days later Transferred from Pence Springs Women’s Prison to Lakin State Hospital — the facility designated for the “colored insane.”
- Oct 7, 1975 Judge Jerome Katz signs her release after 22 years. She asks to stay at Lakin as a volunteer.
- Oct 18, 1980 Arizona Love dies. She is buried in the Lakin cemetery. Sonny Marshall’s head has still never been recovered.
“If she don’t have anything to work with, she can’t do me no harm.”
— Mary Smith, when asked why she would care for the family of a woman the town called a witch
Where to go next.
The Author
Lorraine Clark
Forty-six years in Bluefield. Her mother cared for Arizona’s family when the town wouldn’t.
About the author →Start Free
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Bluefield Case Study
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