Henry Provenchia (sometimes spelled “Provencher”) met Lizzie
Hutchins in 1890 at a dance in Somersworth, New Hampshire. Three weeks later,
they were married. He was 19, she was 15. They were happy for a while, but
Lizzie had an ugly temper, and when stirred up, she became physically abusive. Henry
said that once, “he saw stars when she biffed him on the nose.”
After Lizzie gave birth to a son, she started drinking
heavily. Her temper became worse, and the couple frequently quarreled. In 1897,
they realized they could no longer agree and decided to separate. Henry took the boy and moved to Rochester,
New Hampshire, and Lizzie stayed in Somersworth.
In Rochester, Henry hired 18-year-old Annie Cox as his
housekeeper, and their relationship blossomed into romance. Lizzie’s mother, Sadie Fuse, also lived in
Rochester, and she could see Annie Cox as she came and went from Henry’s house.
She relayed this news to Lizzie, who became consumed with jealousy.
Lizzie would go to Rochester and spy on Henry and Annie,
peeking through windows, hiding in the woodshed, and trying to break in. She would visit Henry alone and try to reconcile. Allegedly, they still occasionally
slept together. But the last time she went to his house, Lizzie asked him to
kiss her, and he refused. He did not wish to have anything more to do with her.
She angrily responded that she would make it hot for him.
On January 31, 1899, Lizzie, along with Henry’s sister, Agnes Provenchia, visited Lizzie’s mother. They had been drinking the night before and
were still intoxicated. Sadie Fuse described the visit:
My daughter, Lizzie Provencher, came up from Somersworth on
the 11:27 train this morning. She came to my house bringing with her Henry
Provencher's sister. Her first words were, 'You are mad with me.'
My reply was, 'Lizzie, you know that I don't welcome anyone who comes to my house intoxicated as you are.' 'Perhaps you would not be so mad
if you knew what I have come for,' said Lizzie.
Then she went on to say, ' I have come to kill that woman
who is living with my husband and I am going to do it. I have a man locked in
my room in Somersworth. I have got his watch and his revolver, and he can't get
out of that room until I get back.'
She then asked for some machine oil, and taking a revolver
from her stocking, sat down and deliberately oiled and cleaned the weapon.
After spending some time in the house, during which she and her companion went
down cellar to drink, she went out. This was early in the afternoon.
Lizzie and Agnes went to Henry’s house. Agnes would later state,
in a thick French-Canadian accent, that she went under threat of bodily harm. When
she learned of Lizzie’s intentions, she did not want to go, but Lizzie threatened
to shoot her if she didn’t.
Agnes said that they entered the house without knocking, and Annie Cox
received them pleasantly. Lizzie asked if it was her intention to live with Henry
permanently. Annie said she was preparing to leave, and if Lizzie would not
harm her, she would get out at once. Lizzie said she ordered Annie to leave the house, but Annie refused.
Either way, Lizzie was not satisfied. When she drew the pistol from her stocking, Agnes
fled from the house. Lizzie fired at Annie, hitting her in the arm. She fired
three more shots, and Annie fell to the floor, dead.
As Lizzie returned to her mother's house, she met Joseph
Hunneman, an acquaintance, on the street. She could not contain herself and had
to tell him what she had done.
“Do I look like a woman who has killed another?” she asked.
“No,” he said.
“I have,” she replied, “I fired three bullets into Annie
Cox. I am going to kill my husband.”
He tried to persuade her not to do so, but she said, “Yes, I
have thought it over for six months, and I am going to kill my husband.”
Lizzie was laughing when she returned to her mother’s house.
She said she had killed Annie Cox because if she couldn’t have Henry, no other
should. She removed all but one bullet from the revolver.
“That one I will reserve for myself,” she said, “If the
officers get too close, they will never take me alive.”
The man Lizzie claimed she had locked in her room in Somersworth was
Assistant Marshal Paquette. Agnes had invited him up to the apartment the night before. The three of them drank a considerable amount of liquor, and Paquette stayed the night. Sometime during
the night, Lizzie took possession of his revolver, the gun she would use to
commit the murder. Paquette easily escaped from the locked room the next day, but when he
learned what had happened, he knew he was in trouble. He quickly left town and sent a telegram to his boss from Haverhill, Massachusetts, to say he would not
be reporting for duty.
Joseph Hunneman was the first to find the body of Annie Cox.
After meeting Lizzie on the street, he went to Henry Provenchia's house to see
if she told the truth. He found Annie’s body lying in a pool of blood. For some
reason, Hunneman delayed telling the police about the murder, and Lizzie had
enough time to leave Rochester.
Lizzie and Agnes went to the train depot but found that they
had missed their train. They separated then. Agnes stayed in Rochester, where
she was arrested as a witness. Lizzie hopped a freight train, riding in a car
carrying horses. She got off in Dover, New Hampshire, and was seen boarding a
train for Portland, Maine. The police were waiting for her in Portland, and
after obtaining extradition papers, they took her back to Rochester.
Lizzie Provenchia was indicted for first-degree murder. She said
she would plead not guilty and claim self-defense, saying Annie Cox attacked
her first. But when the case went to court in Dover that September, she
retracted her plea of not guilty and pleaded guilty to murder in the second
degree. The court accepted her plea and sentenced her to twenty-five years in
prison.
A large crowd gathered at the depot in Dover on October 3,
1899, to see Lizzie off to prison. Lizzie was stylishly dressed in a black
satin gown. Around her neck she wore a black feather boa, and her hat was tastefully
trimmed in black feathers. A wrap was carelessly thrown over her arms to
conceal her manacled wrists.
Sources:
“Alleged Murderess,” Worcester Evening Gazette, February 1, 1899.
“Begins Long Sentence,” The Boston Globe, October 4, 1899.
“The Cox Murder,” Evening Bulletin, February 2, 1899.
“Deliberate Murder,” Lowell Sun, February 1, 1899.
“Horrible Murder,” Foster's daily Democrat, February 1, 1899.
“In First Degree,” Weekly Union, February 22, 1899.
“Inquest at Rochester,” Daily Kennebec Journal, February 2, 1899.
“Killed Her Pretty Rival,” National Police Gazette, February 28, 1899.
“Mrs Provenchia Arrested,” Springfield Republican, February 2, 1899.
“Shot Dead by a Lealous Wife,” Evening Times, February 1, 1899.
“A Stormy Life Led to Crime,” Evening Times, February 4, 1899.
“Without Bail,” Weekly Union, February 8, 1899.
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