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what's going on everybody i'm marah and i'm taz and welcome back to sisters kill hey friend hi um we're doing this again again we're still here so today's case i'm super excited about i think this is the juiciest one yet today we're gonna go back in time a little bit we'll jump in with our players we start off with dr clifford leroy adams is it leroy or leroy if he was a black man it would have been leroy
But this white man is pronounced Leroy. Leroy. Leroy. Okay. He died August 3rd, 1952. He was the doctor of the town. Kind of a big...
Stout Man. And then we have Sam McCollum. He died August 4th, 1952. He was known as the Belita King and was the husband to Ruby McCollum. And Ruby McCollum is our murderess. Wife of Sam McCollum. Ruby McCollum was born Ruby Jackson on August 31st, 1909. Now this is 40 years after the end of slavery. So that's what? A generation and a third? And it's also not that long ago. At the time, she was...
the wealthiest black woman in Live Oak, Florida and Suwannee County. Picture it, y'all. The worst state in all of the United States in 1952. To give you an idea, like this was, we've been researching this case all week. And one of the funniest things is the article's
Right, the articles besides the article that we're reading. In these newspapers, Truman is president. Eisenhower is running for president. I seen an article and it was like, first Negro teacher, kids like her. Like, it's way back. They're talking about, oh, this other school in this county is debating whether to integrate. This is the state of Florida where somebody is most likely to be lynched. More likely than any other state. And that's a fact, Jack. Also, like, I saw Vaseline in a jar for 15 cents. Just dated. So as a child,
Ruby grew up with a very Christian upbringing. Her parents were extremely strict. They were farmers. Her dad was actually a pretty successful farmer. Her and her brother and sisters were not allowed to dance. They weren't allowed to play cards. They pretty much played London Bridge and went to church. So what's really cool about this is we got to find some primary resources and Zora Neale Hurston did a 10-week expose on this case. And...
When Zora Neale Hurston was down back in her home in Florida reporting, you know, she interviewed some family members and it was like as a child, Ruby got her fair share of whoopings just like everybody else did, right? But when she acted out and she knew that she was wrong for something, she would take her punishment. And the only time that she ever protested getting a punishment is when she knew that she didn't deserve it. So that kind of tells the type of person that she is. She's what I would call just a bookworm, you know?
not out doing too much but that was also how she's raised so that was what she was used to but her parents really valued education they actually sent her to school and it was a segregated school at the time and they didn't have a lot of money but what they did is her dad was a successful farmer like we said so he traded b for tuition so that was how he was able to get his children educated and she loved to read like she loved it she was reading romance novels at like 10 which like same
She pretty much kept herself at the age 17 girl she was proposed to, which we love, but she didn't. So she was like, nah. No thanks. Okay.
But while she was at church, she finally met her husband, Sam McCullen. They got married in 1931. They dated for about two years before getting married. And she was happy, you know. Sam was always gambling, but he held down a regular job, too. Like, he didn't just hustle. They moved from Florida, went up north to New York to sell some insurance.
And then his brother called him and he said, got this job where we're going to sell burial plots. So he moved back down to Florida to sell burial plots with his brother. They also took over the Belita Empire together. This is a crazy, I don't know if this is the truth or if this is just a legend. Like a folklore. But what happens is Before This Time has like this dream of a house.
while she's sleeping like you know we dream of our future so at some point she dreamed about this house and then they when they get to live oak florida she says she sees this house and she says oh my gosh that's my house and he's like what she's like that's my house you have to get it for me that is my house like i need it he says okay he's like let's see who owns the house the house is owned by a man named hops now this nigga is the belita king in live oak right now my
Oh, Sam gambles. But this is the Bolita King. Like you say, hey, I want your house and I want to gamble you for it. So they sit down for this legendary fucking gambling match, right? And they're playing the numbers, playing cards, doing whatever the fuck they do. And this nigga walks away with all this man's shit. Not just his house, but his whole Bolita empire. So then Sam says, all right, baby, let's go move in. And now I just made it.
For those of you who don't know what Belita is, it's like the underground lottery. You pick the numbers that come out on the ball and you bet those numbers each week. Instead of going to the store and buying them, this is before the legal lottery. Right. They would just go door to door. You want to play your numbers? You got your money for your numbers? You put numbers in? Very UN on this underground. And you could make a lot.
lot of money from this like 200,000 a year they said belita was like the number three empire in florida i believe that's it citrus he blows up on this belita empire but not even that again he's still selling burial plots with his brother he owns all the jukebox in town he's got an eighteen thousand dollar farm it's money everywhere
They living the good life. Yes. They are the wealthiest black couple in Live Oaks, okay? In the whole town. And when I say wealthy, Miss Ruby only drove the latest Chrysler, okay? And the crazy thing is, like, she didn't care about clothes very much. She wasn't a flashy jewelry type of person. But that car...
Had to be the latest. You knew that car. And Ruby also didn't really go out, wasn't into the gambling lifestyle. She knew that that's what he did, but she wasn't raised that way. But what she did have was a hand in all of those finances. She knew what was coming in. She knew what had to go out. She was keeping the books of that house.
Think about fences with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. You come in, I put my wallet down, she does the bills, she says, "Alright, this is your allowance this week, go out and make some more money." That's how their house was running. In 1951, there's a law passed to try and cut down on illegal gambling. The law required them to get a license and pay a $256,000 tax.
How much? $256,000. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of money now, so I know it was a lot of money then. Sam was one of 10 African Americans to get this license. He continued to run this Bolita empire, even though the people in the state of Florida did not like it. Like, you know, the Republicans and whatnot. They're like trying to elect officials who will shut this shit down, and the officials are being paid off, so it's still happening. So Sam...
Sam is living the good life, right? He out here, he making his money. Even though Ruby never really went out, it was always talk around town. Sam was like, my woman be at the house. My floors are swept, my food is made, my clothes are laundered, and she be fucking me good too. Everything I need, my wife is at the house, but of course, niggas like that are the main ones cheating. Right. So he was out here in these streets fucking with everybody.
Then you have the town doctor, Dr. Adams. This is like your most lovable crook. This is somebody that had just moved into Live Oak not even that long ago. As soon as he came, he became a prominent figure. And now the thing about Bolita is that you, as the Bolita king, need to make sure that everybody's in on it so you don't get shut down. Right. All of a sudden, he comes home and he's like, I am at this new white man. I got a new white friend. That's how Zora used to put it. Yeah.
I found a white friend. Starts bringing him around. And when he comes to the town, he ends up not only caring for white people, obviously, but he opens his doors to black people as well, which there's two other doctors in the town. And they don't do that. What they also don't do is carry penicillin. He had brought this new medicine into the city. Was this when penicillin just was introduced? Yes. And they were like, you've got this new thing that's going to cure us of everything. Like, no.
Give me penicillin. So he was the doctor in town. He got into his first bit of legal trouble around 1942. So what had happened was he was charged with having counterfeit bills and getting payments for services that he didn't perform. This man got not one, not two, but three.
But 40 character witnesses to come speak on his behalf, talking about what a good man he is and why they would never do that, charges would drop. He was let go scot-free. That is such a privilege. That is such a white man shit. That is so basic white man shit. And if you see his face, you guys, go look on our Instagram page. If you see his face, you're going to be like, yep, that is the most basic looking. And, you know, they're like, he's handsome and any girl would be lucky to have him. And I'm like, is he? Is he?
He decides, I'm so fucking lovable, right? I should become senator. And he gets well on that path, you know? He actually, in 1952, he was the senator-elect, and he was well on his way to be governor. They were like, he's on the fast track to be governor. He's got a plan. Like, he was ready to take over. Ruby ends up having her child, and Dr. Adams delivers her child. That is her second, and then he also delivers her third child. Fifth.
And then after that Ruby starts feeling some pain and like this is her doctor right? This is the only doctor there is to see. And she starts feeling some pain and he's like talking to her and he says you know you can feel better if you just do what I tell you to do. And she's like okay bet. Turns out that turns into like them having intercourse whether it was consensual or not. And then after that it also turns into a couple penicillin shots. Or was it? Things are looking well for the good doctor you know.
He's feeling good. At the same time, Ruby's mental health is declining. She gets put into the hospital where she is diagnosed with depression and anxiety by none other than Dr. Adams.
Right. And this was in 1952 and she had just had her fourth child, Loretta. Pardon. Right. And this is like, also, there's something going on with you and this doctor. There's something going on in your house. Your husband's cheating on you and now you, this is your fourth child and you're always at the house like,
She was known to have a natural maternal instinct, but like... Four kids is a lot. That's a lot. Two kids is a lot. One kid is a lot. I do not envy anyone. She's in and out of the hospital. First, she stays for a couple of days, then she's released. The second time, they keep her for nine days, then she's released.
She's put back in again. So it just seems like she's in and out of the hospital always for mental health reasons. This brings us to Friday, August 1st, 1952. Ruby got a bill in the mail for $116 for a DNC procedure. That stands for dilation and cutters and basically means for an abortion. Was it hers? No. Oh.
No, it was not. Then whose was it? I guess it was that cheating ass husband of hers. The bill was actually addressed to her husband and she intercepted it in the mail. You know how it's illegal to open somebody else's mail? Does that count when you marry? Right. I don't know. If anybody's married, let us know. What's the law? Nothing happens Saturday. Brings us to Sunday, August 3rd. It's a quiet Sunday morning. The people are at church. Things are going fine.
So Ruby's got her two youngest kids in her car with her. Sonia's six and Loretta is one. She pulls up to the doctor's office. She gets out the car, leaving them in the car. And there are two black women in the waiting room, in the color waiting room. Ruby walks back to the office and she shoots the doctor in the back. She leaves, locks the door behind her, gets back in the car with her kids, drives home. The law, as they call it. Arrives at the house.
She has changed her clothes and she's now feeding her baby. The police are kind of like in a tight spot because on one hand, this black woman just shot and killed a white doctor. But on the other hand, her husband has been paying them a lot of money to protect him. Obviously, as soon as this happened and word went out because it's like at the doctor's and everybody's at the doctor and it's a very small town, white people are coming for her.
her the clan is coming for her and so the florida is clan nation okay they run that town don't trust anyone those are your judges those are your police office officers those are your governors they fucking ran that shit okay every single one of them the sheriff is like i need to come get you and so he pulls up at her house and he's like you know
you want the rest hey girl what's going on he says he says what in the world caused you to kill doc adams and she said i don't know why i did it he's like she was calm as fuck like and he was like so what'd you do with that gun she's like i threw it in the hedge in the back of the house into the bamboos and they go to the back of the house and they grab that gun and they arrest she said and they ask her like how the fuck did all of this happen and she's like well i was in such a state of shock
So she has absolutely no idea. She says that she completely blacked out and they are racing to get her to the jail, right? But the claim is on their way. These niggas went from church to a lynch mob.
Just like it. In three seconds flat. So the sheriff has another officer in the backseat with Ruby. And basically they're riding and white folks, I guess, is on their giddy up truck. And they're riding after the sheriff because they're about to go get him. They're about to go. They're like, no, you didn't kill the good doctor. We're going to come and get you. So the sheriff says, anybody tells the other officer, if anybody pulls up, shoot, they fucking tires out.
And that's what the fuck they did. And so that is how Ruby made it to rape for jail, which is an all-male jail. Is it? Right. Like, why did she go to the all-male facility? Maybe it was the closest one out of town. Because they would just, like, get her ass out of town. Right. They did have to get her out of town because it was about to get real dangerous for her really quick. So I guess, like, that was the sheriff doing his, like...
You pay me business. The only reason this woman is still alive at this point is because she's rich. Right. That's all that's saving her at this point. They call Sam up and they're like, yo, Sam, your wife just killed the doctor. And he's like, what the fuck? He gets home. He packs clothes for his kids and he grabs a suitcase full of money. He gets his kids in the car and he drives out to Ruby's mom house. He's like, keep these kids and here goes some money for them.
A suitcase full of money. We know what type of money this man got. Okay, it says that they had about $100,000 in cash just stashed away at their house. $100,000 in 1952 is a lot of fucking money now, you know? So he chops it off with the mom and he hits the road. Now, if you know what Florida looks like...
It's like live oak coming down into Ocala and then coming down into Gainesville. By the time that Sam made it into Gainesville the very next day, the papers say that he died of a heart attack. Ain't that some shit? Right? I don't know if he died of a heart attack. I feel like they was chasing his ass out and maybe he beat it. There is also a legend that he made it out, faked his death, and now he's living a good life. And the third option is
is that he swallowed heart pills because he didn't want to deal with the consequences. And so he just was like, fuck it, I'm killing myself. Right, because he already had heart problems, so he just downed them. Yeah. If it's not bad enough that Sam is now dead too, somebody don't want to steal his kid's money. Right. Oh, my God. I saw that. She was like, there was traces of the money. They said we picked up a couple dollars that was left, but...
They put it in a barn. I get hiding the money, but also you should hide it where you have access to it at all times, not in the barn. You know what, though? They said Ruby's parents are probably in the same house that they raised her in. They said that was a four-room house, two of them bedrooms.
And now he has dropped off, what, three of his kids because his son was in college at this time. Mm-hmm. They probably had, like, a secret... You got some room to hide some money at the house. They probably had, like, a floorboard, like, on the color purple, you know. The next day, August 5th,
was the funeral for the doctor. They'd be turning him around quick. Everything in 1952 was turned around like so. That's what I said. So he was killed on Sunday and buried on Tuesday? I was like, was it because they loved him or because that's how fast it happened? Well, also the trial happened pretty fast too. People were, you know, proper and didn't do anything.
crimes are scandalous so this like crime shook this town and pretty much shook the state of florida because like a black woman killed a white doctor and she's not dead yet and she's not swinging from a tree what the fuck so this town is absolutely going bananas and so this funeral
was packed. They said thousands came because everybody loved this doctor. They said this was the most sincere and largest funeral that they had had in Suwannee County. So now the good doctor is buried underground and Ruby McCollum is about to stand trial. In this courtroom we have A.K. Black. No, he's not Black. He's the prosecutor in this case. We have P. Guy Cruz who is the original defense lawyer. We have
Frank Cannon, the second defense lawyer, Hal Adams, no relation to Doc Adams, the judge, and Ruby McCollum. Right, and the judge had been practicing law for like 40 years at this point. Like he's real, even earlier, like when Ruby was born, he was still practicing law. So he is very... Racist.
I'm not even going to say racist, but very, you think you're doing the right thing, but you have like that instilled bullshit in your head. Right. It's in their DNA. So they're investigating, preparing for this trial. And Ruby's lawyer starts digging around the doctor's office and he finds a will. And it is not the will of the doctor.
It is the will of a man named Laverne Blue. Laverne is the owner of Blue Lodge, which was a prominent hotel at this time. The will left all of his property and his body to him. But was he like related to? Not at all. So they took the will to Laverne Blue and said, hey, did you write this? And he said, no, I didn't.
This nigga was trying to kill me and would have got away with it because he gave himself the body too. So all he had to do was turn in this falsified piece of paper. But this is not the first time that he's been caught with some fraudulent shit. Like he was already caught even when he was younger, much younger with fraudulent bills. He was doing some insurance fraud on the side. That's how he was treating niggas for free. Girl, they even say he forged his way into medical school. He's like Dr. Death. Right.
Literally. He gave himself, like, he signed a letter of recommendation to get himself into school. So he, like, did the courses or whatever, but the whole admission process? Well, white. Yeah. What's changed?
So this was an extremely high-profile case that Zora Neale Hurston, like we said, came down to report for the Pittsburgh Courier. And she was trying to get in and have an interview with Ruby. Judge said, none of that shit. No one gets to see her. You know what he said? He said...
this is a regular murder case ain't nothing special about it not a one it's sensationalized in the news making it something bigger than what it is but it's huge he also said he didn't want the news to sway the thoughts of the jury so he didn't want like a trial by media type of deal but but the reason being that he didn't want them to come in with their minds already made up
said racist Florida white men. Right, because then she has a jury full of old white men. She is a black woman with a jury full of old white men, most of them uneducated. Like, none of them had any, like... All of them poor. All of them were farmers. They up there thinking, bitch, you should be on my field working for free. Like, what the fuck? You killed... You had the nerve! You killed one of them! You killed Billy Bob and Doctor... The good Doctor!
Fuck no. Get her out of here. Get her out of here, Bill. Get her out of here. And that's exactly what the judge intended on doing. So she's got some lawyers that are fighting hard for her. They asked, could they move it to a different county? Judge said no. Which I think would have been the perfect thing to do. Everybody there already had their mind. The courthouse was across the street from the doctor's office.
AKA the crime scene. Right. It's like so in your fucking face.
It should have definitely been moved. So after jury selection, they do the whole jury selection thing. They pick their jurors. Everybody's satisfied. They break. The judge goes over again how he doesn't want to sensationalize it before they give opening statements. Then they do a sanity hearing to decide if she's sane enough to withstand trial. So they had one doctor, and he was like, oh, she's sane. And then how...
her lawyer had to be like objection this nigga is not even a psychiatrist he like studied psych like for a year at some other practice or whatever but this is not like what he does so who is he to come up here and diagnose or whatever so the judge is like okay you have your little objection so then he's like i want her diagnosed by two separate psychiatrists
So you don't want to hear the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. You just want to get this over with.
So then the prosecution is like, if you're going to allow him to get new psychiatrists, you need to put a time limit on him and you need to have it at a fixed location. And the judge is like, okay, I agree. She goes through the thing and both the psychiatrists say she's sane. So they proceed with the trial. So this is like,
First day of like... Really getting into shit. We picked the jury. We're about to get started. Uh-huh. They finished picking the jury... At about 12 o'clock noon. And judge is like... Come back at 2. 2 o'clock rolls around. And the judge is like...
We need to extend the recess. And a foreman has reached out to me saying that there's a document in existence, which if it's true, may bring about new developments in this case. What document? We don't know yet. So the judge comes back at three and he says they done found this document in Tallahassee and he's got a state trooper on his way now to go pick it up and bring it to the courthouse. Recess some more. Comes back at 415 and the judge enters with the document. He stares down Ruby and he stares down her lawyer.
And he says the documents are proof that her lawyer Cruz somehow obstructed justice because he did something two weeks before the psychiatry hearing. Like maybe he talked to the doctors beforehand and he was like,
You've obstructed justice and you're off this case. When I tell you this judge is pissed, he says, you are no longer allowed to talk to me as a lawyer, only as a man. And I wish I could say some more shit to you, but I'm going to hold it in. So he just fires her lawyer. Just like that. But he tells Ruby that he thinks it is very important that she have a fair and just trial. Oh, fair and just trial with an all white jury. Oh, oh, wow. With an all white jury. Okay.
And that she must have new counsel to represent her. He said, I will see to you that you get it. They say that they agree, but they need to, it needs to happen fair amount of time. Like don't stall. He says, I agree. I'll give them 10 days. The prosecution says, no, not 10 days.
So I don't know what day exactly this happened, but he was like, fine, we'll have court the following Monday. So seven days or less. That's not a lot of time. At all. But we're worried about being fair and impartial. She gets her new lawyer Sunday, November 3rd.
And her attorney is Frank Cannon. And he actually said that the defense objected to him being her lawyer. Why? I guess he's good or something. I don't know. But they was like, no, not him. And he had to fight to take her case. So that was Sunday. Monday, the trial begins. Don't you like prep forever when you're a lawyer? No.
But it goes to hell in a handbasket is where it goes. So she finally gets to tell her version of the story. But here's the thing. She can't really tell her version of the story because this man is such a prominent figure in this community and the white people want to see to it that
justice is served they put a gag order on her you can't talk at all about your relationship with him up to august 3rd other than the fact that he was your doctor you cannot talk about if y'all met in anything like that the only thing that you can talk about are the happenings of august 3rd 1952 nothing else so here's the tea right she said she had been his doctor's mistress for the past six
years and the question is was she his mistress or was she his concubine because there was a law in Florida or what's it called there was a paramount law so the paramount law was like oh basically I have to look it up because it's basically saying as a white man as a white man if you want to have any type of relations with
black woman that's your right you that is your do what do your business and do your thing and that is your right because you are allowed to do that because you still have control over these people now mind you black men and boys were being murdered for looking for looking at a white woman at a white woman but these niggas didn't even need her permission
like rape didn't exist for black women right and so now it's it's kind of coming out that there was sexual relations between them for a while and so the question is to what extent and what happened on this day she says the first time it happened he like comes to the house or whatever or maybe pulls her into the exam room but she says once he finished she says i'll be back and he says i don't want you to worry about this because i'm not worried about this ain't nothing gonna happen to me okay
Right. And she said from that point on, she was afraid. This is a white man saying he can do whatever and he know he can do whatever and he's been doing whatever. Doing whatever so much to the point that, remember she had two children in her car and one of them was Loretta, the one-year-old. Loretta comes out and she high yellow. She is past high yellow. She is almost, she is passing. And everybody is trying to figure out what's going on because that's not what your other kids look like. She says, oh, Dr. Adams? Yes.
That's my baby daddy. They sat there and they held this baby up like the Lion King over the balcony and was like, "Look at this baby. Don't she look just like him?" And the judge said, "Don't look at that baby!"
And so like half of the jury was looking at the baby. Half the jury didn't look at the baby. It was like because the judge was like, oh, this wasn't officially submitted for evidence. But they tried to submit the baby in for evidence to show that this wasn't a premeditated murder. This was a lover's quarrel. And like when I tell you this baby is evidence, y'all go to the Instagram page and look at the daughter and the dad.
Or the daughter and Dr. Adams side by side and tell me that's not his. I mean, there's two of them. There's one when she was a baby and one in a picture of her as an adult. And both of them look just like him. So she goes through her account of...
Mm-hmm.
You know how secretaries do? They be eavesdropping and grabbing on the tea. So they definitely had her on trial giving her testimony. But she heard them discussing a bill that was owed to
Now, as a secretary, it's her job to send out the bills. Right, and she didn't send that bill out. She did not, and she didn't know how much that bill was for. They're discussing the bill, and she's like, how much do I owe you? And he's like, $116. Now... Her three shots of penicillin are $9. But you know what wasn't? That bill that she received on Friday the 1st for that abortion. And so she's trying to figure out
Why is this bill here? Turns out, Sam, the reason why it was addressed to you, even though your wife does all the finances, because you fucking around and got a local teacher pregnant. When Sisters Who Kill began, an online store was the furthest thing from our minds. I mean...
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rocketmoney.com slash sisters so that's what that bill was all about so ruby says look i'm gonna pay you this nine dollars and i'm gonna give you an extra hundred dollars because that's what i got on me you know what i'm saying she's like he pulled her behind this like screen and told her to get on top of the operating table and she's like nah man my arm hurting please like not today he's like oh today and now get
get on top of the operating table. And she was like, another time, please. He said, now. So he begins to slap her around a bit. This is when she's decided that enough is enough. She resists and she's like, no, this isn't happening. She said he walks over to the back and he grabs a gun and he puts it in her stomach and he says, get on top of the fucking table. And
And she says they began fighting over the gun and tussling with it. And it just went off. Just went off.
the gun had four shells missing he had a bullet in his heart his left shoulder and another one in the side they say he shot him in the back but was it the back or was it like a tussling like he turned you know it sounds like a first one off and then like you go crazy pop pop pop you know what i'm saying right because the whole story of she walked in and there should be four holes in his body right you have three holes in his body four shells her
her prosecutors arguing the forensic lines up with a tussle. So there's some discrepancy because some people say that she brought the gun. And so it's this fight of, did she bring the gun like intending to kill him or was the gun his? And again,
And apparently she mentioned in court that Dr. Adams was scared of something or someone was going to come get him. And they interviewed a local, like not pawn shop, but whoever the fuck sold guns back there. It wasn't a blacksmith. He wasn't making his own or anything. So he was like, so actually Dr. Adams came in and inquired about a gun. He was like, actually, I...
ordered a gun for him so that was the argument like he didn't have a gun there she brought the gun but she's like no he had a gun so she really didn't bring the gun that's a discrepancy because another discrepancy is so you know she gave him that money and she told him give me my receipt and he gives her receipt neither the person that held said gun nor the receipt was admitted into evidence
The prosecution is arguing she shot this man over a $116 doctor bill, but she gave this man $109.
And I know she not shooting him over a $7 doctor's bill. I also want to remind you that this is the richest black woman in town. When she left, it doesn't make sense because they never took her purse in for evidence. Right. And there's like, where's the receipt? Probably in her purse. What also was rumored to be in her purse is that she had 18 $100 bills. Now, let me tell you what, if I had 18 $100 bills and a motherfucker is trying me for $7, I'm a
throw a hundred dollar bill in their face and walk the fuck out exactly and the other side of that is this doctor never sweated nobody for nothing he was known for doing pro bono work around town because he said it was pro bono but what he was really doing was claiming these people as tenants on his farm and that he needed to pay for their health insurance and was getting a kick back in taxes so fraud basically and speaking of that farm glad you brought that up he happened
that farm and when and she claims when she had Loretta and then told him that she was pregnant again because at the time of this shooting she was pregnant again allegedly with his child again when she tells him that well he's her doctor so when he examines her and realizes that she's pregnant he's like I'm gonna take you and Loretta and the unborn baby and we gonna go to the farm we leaving Sam we leaving all the motherfuckers we leaving all them other kids we going to the farm and that's that and she's like no
Can't leave my other kids behind. And he's like, yes, you are. And she's like, no, I can't. So, and then he doesn't want to hear that. So there's also the, did they argue about that that day as well? You really have to think about it, right? Because they're saying that she was sane and in a good state of mind, but she was in and out of the hospital. And now hearing all this, of course she was for mental things because she
Her life was fucking shitty. She's being raped by this white doctor. She has his love child, right? And another one on the way. And another one on the way. On the other side, her husband has gotten the teacher knocked up.
And he said, I don't want to hear shit because here you are walking around with this white man baby. She goes and gets arrested for this murder. The day after, her husband dies and she's on trial for her life. Like, literally her life. This is just a series of unfortunate events. Now again, they are really trying to like hold her back.
from speaking on anything about this. And her lawyer is just, you know, trying to bring it up before the prosecution can. And he's like, so when you was in jail, did you write your first lawyer that,
You had never had relations with the doctor? And she said, yes, I did. He says, well, why did you do that? She says, because I was afraid. And he was like, were the cops harassing you? She said, I don't know if they were cops, but they came in, they held me down, and they gave me a shot, and I was ill for the next few days. So she was fearful for her life, and then...
sign this affidavit saying that that's not his baby and I've never had sex with this man because again 1952 even if you are fucking this woman like you're not gonna admit to it that's like a right and I I
I think it goes back to what we talked about, about her personality as a child. Like she's never said that she didn't shoot him. Right. She never said that they didn't have any type of intercourse. What she said was that she did not intend to kill him that day. And what she's trying to tell you is that it's all deeper. It's not just some surface level. I killed the good doctor type shit. And especially not over $116 bill.
I'm rich. Bitch, try again. I got money. It's not about a bill. She's just like going through real tough shit at this time. And they're really just trying to get her to bring it up. So the doctor is like...
So you're fearful of your life. They're harassing you. Trying to get to the point to say, because they haven't officially said that she's raped, right? It's just speculated because the doctor has like this gag order on her where she can't say anything. Right. And every time that the defense tries to get her to say it, objection, sustain, objection, sustain, lets it happen every time.
And he even tries to do these tricks like so, OK, we can only talk about what happened August 3rd. So he found her in her jail cell sitting in a puddle of her own blood. This woman had miscarried the doctor's second baby. So he then says, you know, were you sick in the, you know, in the infirmary or were you sick in a jail? Did you have a miscarriage? She says, yes, I did.
Whose baby is it? Objection! Sustained. They did it so many times and then finally she said, but the state knows all about that. Because of course the state knew all about that because they're pumping her with drugs and making her do things. They're abusing her within this jail system. They already have her at an all-male facility so you know that they don't have the proper needs. They treat her like shit and then expect her to... The prosecution had 49 objections against
Throughout the trial. Trying to shut her up. And only eight of them did not go through. We're sitting in this courtroom. And they say that...
She never really looks at anyone. And on the bottom floor, you've got the whites. And on the balcony, you've got the colors. Things are just really not looking well, and nobody can get the truth out of her. Even Zora Neale Hurston, as famous as she was or whatever clout she thought she had, the judge said, no, nobody's talking to her. She even calls her white friend,
white author and the judge says you can't get to her either like there's not letting anybody tell this story december 3rd is when they give the closing arguments basically the defense is arguing that this whole trial was bullshit he says your witnesses were trash you have a woman who is deaf in one ear but she's testifying that she heard either a door shut or the gun go off what the fuck i saw that i i
couldn't understand that line. I'm surprised you put it in our notes. We write notes, you guys. I'm surprised you put it in our notes because I read that on the newspaper and a deaf woman testified that she heard something and a blind woman testified she saw something. I thought it was just some slick shit that I didn't understand. A deaf woman testified that she heard something and a woman losing her sight says that she saw something. And these are the witnesses that you put on the stand. Not a reliable source. Not a reliable source. And this was two out of the three witnesses.
three witnesses then on top of that he's like you know she's admitted to shooting this man but you have to understand that this was not a premeditated sense nothing that they have argued have pointed to this being premeditated so she deserves if anything second degree murder so the judge gave them five options first degree murder without mercy
First-degree murder with mercy, second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not guilty. The jury goes out. The jury went out at 12...
The jury came back at 2.21. They took no time to figure this out. They probably was in there like, they giving free hors d'oeuvres. Listen, because it was lunch, right? So they was snacking in there. That's what took so long. That's what took so long. And we were just pretty much, we knew what the fuck we were going to do about that. She got the verdict of guilty without mercy. Meaning she's supposed to go to the chair. So her lawyer stands up and he was like, listen,
I got 15 days to appeal this and you bet your ass I'm appealing it. Hell yeah. He gets an appeal and they're just doing all this research, all this research until, I mean, she sat in jail for years waiting on them to figure this out. Finally, they allow for them to retrial because they say it was unjust that they went and visited the crime scene without the judge present. So they was like, fine, you can have a new trial.
So this time he puts her on for insanity and he wins. So they sentence her to life in a psych ward. And they send her to Chattahoochee, which is like,
the worst psych ward. Like, that shit you see on American Horror Story, this is what was going down in here. And also, at the time, they were so quick to put a woman in the psych ward. And the practices then were so bad. Right. Electric shock therapy. They had things where they was like, their head in a hole or something like that. Just the absolute worst psych ward.
torture ever because they thought that that is what cured yeah make them miserable and then they'll be happy right how does that happen how does that work so they sentenced her and she is there until 1974 and this trial was happening 1953 she got moved two years later so 1955 so what
A little under 20 years. That's a long time. Out in 1974, and she returns to her family, and her family's kind of like, hey, we're such and such. And she's like, I know who y'all are. Like, I still know y'all. Right. And when people question her about Dr. Adams or who's the father of her youngest daughter, Loretta, she's like, I don't know.
I don't remember nothing. I don't remember nothing from back then. So then you wonder, is it the shock therapy? Is she scared to death to talk about it? Yeah, that gag order was tight on her and she knows what they are capable of. She's finally free and I doubt she's doing anything to fuck that up after what she's been through. Exactly, exactly. Ruby is out and then she dies on May 23rd, 1992 at the age of 87.
So as much as the judge tried to play down this case, it was obviously huge. It stirred up the town. It still stirs up the town. Like, they consider it like a mark on their city, and they were...
talking about this all over the country, of course, because this rich black woman just killed a white doctor. Like, huge, right? The town had a lot of mixed opinions about it. There are so many unanswered questions in this case because you have to understand that this story involves three people and two of them are dead. Right. All you have to go off is Ruby, who can't say anything. And so you just have a lot of speculation going on. There's speculation about...
her being a mistress some people feel she was raped some people said anybody be lucky to have that doctor and she probably felt honored to be with him and then on trial she says i was not his enemy i'm in love with him so which was weird as fuck to me right because i was completely was it a stockholm thing yeah that's what i was thinking like is it some type of stockholm syndrome where it is hard for you to say no to this person you fall in love with your captor
It can happen. It can, but does the switchback happen like that to make her kill him? She could have just had enough that day. I mean, that's what she says. I just had enough. And he pulled out his gun on her. Maybe that was something new, you know? Mm-hmm.
She said that he, like, just got that gun. So maybe, you know. He was feeling really badass. Mm-hmm. Another thing that they say is that she was at this doctor's office damn near every day. Oh, secretary said every day. The speculations are that she either was fucking him in that office every time she was up there.
Or that he had gotten her addicted to, what was it, morphine? Yep, and shooting that shit into her arm every single day. To the point where she's addicted, so now she's coming back, like, can't fight it type shit. And then he's also saying, like, there's two ways to make this right. I have to do what I have to do, give you your full examination, including me in you.
and here's your little shot to make you feel good. Doctors are so pervy. It still wasn't even confirmed officially that that was his daughter either. It just nothing ever happened. And even afterwards, right? So both of them had a lot of money, Dr. Adams and the McCollum family, right? Right. So you have to remember the dad died, Sam died, and Adams, Dr. died. The will has to be divided into five parts.
Or four parts for McCollum. Is Loretta his child or is she not? Then, is she Adams' child? Because do they divide his money by him and his daughter? Or him, his daughter, and her? But here's the thing. All that's fine and dandy. But what Mrs. Adams did?
did his wife because of course he had a wife oh she sued her for everything that they had so the McClellan family had absolutely nothing because she got all of their money so sure some money was actually all the money would go to her because she is now the sole breadwinner she is the wife your wife gets your money well now it's time to move on to our favorite segment called well I'm not black I'm OG I ain't do it but if I had done it
This is how I would have done it. So let's get into it. She's innocent, clearly, right? Yeah. I mean, not in the time setting that she was in, but oh, she's fucking innocent. Right. And if I would have done it, you know, when you're in that situation and you're tussling for your life, sometimes you really have to tussle for your life. If I would have done it, I would have been in first degree because that shit would have been thought out. Right. And I think that was the whole premise of her defense.
of her defense. She shot him in the doctor's office with two people in the waiting, three people in the waiting room if you count the secretary. And always, if you're trying to murder somebody, the best way to do it is to get them secluded. Right. And a doctor's office, even if it is the examination room, is not secluded and she's smart enough to know that. She's not dumb. She also had her kids in the car so she wouldn't
planning on being along she was coming to get her quick fix and get out the fucking door but now it's turning to this whole thing so she's innocent at least not first degree right she says she does it manslaughter what's manslaughter so manslaughter is like you kill them but it's like not without malice so basically the circumstances are not accounted to murder because murder is like uh i meant to do this i'm still had some deep hatred for this person and that's the reason why you did right so it's like
definitely should have been manslaughter definitely should have sent her to a women's facility as soon as it happened I would say she should have been in a black facility but even blacks probably fucking worse cause they get second class everything well also just the fact that a woman was doing this type of crime is just like how unladylike whether there hadn't been a woman on death row for like almost 100 years before this in the state of Florida remember she got put to the electric chair right
And she just won her way out of it. I'm surprised she made it through, honestly. Yeah, she actually made it. She had to serve her time, but she actually came out on the other end. And I applaud you, girl.
And the fact that her story is so, it's so hard to find her story. Like when we were researching this case, we had to deep dive into some very old newspapers. There's no mainstream story about this. The only podcast talking about this, a white podcast, like this is such a gem in what black people have to do and overcome. And you know what? That's why it's not widespread. Right. If a black woman just went and
and just lost her mind and was truly crazy it'd be like everywhere on the news but they're trying to make it seem like no these white people were good and these niggas are bad in 1994 two years after she had died somebody tried to investigate the case and was still blocked like they went to the courthouse to try and get records and was still if that gag order is on they don't want to you cannot say anything
You cannot attempt to say anything. You cannot try to say anything because worse is fucking coming. You can't say shit. And the fact that gag orders are still, like, happening. Like, there's supposedly a gag order about what's going on at the border at the detention camps. I'm sure there is because I ain't heard shit. You ain't heard shit. And then on top of that, her family doesn't speak about it.
Her sister spoke on that documentary that we watched. Right. But her son was like, I don't talk about them. And a couple of nieces and granddaughters, but distant people. Right. And her son was like, I don't talk about another. Which I don't. He wasn't one. He just declined to speak. Right.
Right, and basically was like, no, she never moved back here. Like, very much not about the trial at all. If he says, I don't talk about my mother, I would ask him about everything, but I want to know who raised Loretta and if she was raised white or black. But here's the thing, when...
Sam dropped off the kids. He dropped off his kids. And then Loretta left to go be with some... What? Yes, to go be with some aunts. Aunts or sister-in-laws, one or the other. And those are the people that held her up in court. So she was actually raised in a different house than the rest of them. Because she knows she up in New Jersey now. So I guess, like, maybe he was like, my kid's going to be with my family and...
your kid's gonna be with your family type shit i don't fucking know she's not even there to do her half of it right what the fuck responsibility do i have over this child um so she was gonna grow up unloved anyways that's so sad
So this was a really interesting case. That was a doozy. You guys feel free to ask us questions in our discussion group. Right. We have some secret facts that we didn't let out on air. Right, so make sure that you follow our discussion group. You can follow our discussion group. You can follow our Instagram page. That's where you'll find our source material, pictures, and we can chat about the case.
You can also email us at sisterswhokillpodcast at gmail.com. Maybe you have a case you want us to do. Maybe you have questions about our case. Maybe you just want to say hi. We're here for all of that. Right. You got anything else to say? Mm-mm. All right. Peace. Night. Night. Night.