Middle Georgia is known for small towns, many churches friendly neighbors and homemade country cooking. Well, things weren't as they seemed in Macon, Georgia in the 1950's. Let's begin the our story.
In 1948 she married Ben F. Lyles Jr. They ran a restaurant together which belonged to his father originally. They had two daughters Marcia in 1948 and Carla 1951. Ben's health began to fail in 1951, he sold the restaurant in June 1951. His health continued to decline and on January 25th 1952 he died. Anjette became a young widow with two children. She found work at a local restaurant and saved up the money to buy back the restaurant that Ben had sold. She was always against him selling it. He never asked her prior to making that decision.
After Gabbart's death she bought a house and a car. She changed her name back to Lyles and her former mother-in-law moved in with her to be near the grandchildren. Anjette continued running the restaurant and attracted many customers. They not only loved the food but Anjette's friendly and outgoing personality. She had many influential people who visited the restaurant, politicians, attorneys and business men.
After her mother-in law Mrs. Julia Lyles moved in, Anjette discovered that she was worth a substantial amount of money. She began to urge her to draw up a will that made her the beneficiary if something were to happen. No agreement was reached in this endeavor. Anjette began to care for Mrs. Julia Lyles . She treated her just like she would her own mother, well it appeared so anyway. She brought her favorite foods home and would feed her. In August of 1957, Mrs. Julia became sick. She had extreme nausea and swelling. She died on September 29th 1957. Want to guess what was drawn up before her death? That's right, a will. Anjette received one third of the inheritance, her two children received one third of the inheritance and the only surviving member of the Lyles immediate family, Julia's son, Joe Lyles, received one third of the inheritance.
Marcia Lyles, age 9, was the oldest daughter of Anjette and Ben Lyles. She often frequented her mother's restaurant. She became sick with a high fever and nausea the early part of 1958. A restaurant worker noticed the child was sick and urged Anjette to take her home. The child's sickness became worse and she was admitted to Parkview. Anjette insisted on bringing the child's food each day instead of her eating the hospital food. She rarely left her bedside. Marcia died on April 4th, 1958.
The death of Marcia would be Anjette's downfall to her path of murder. It alarmed and upset the community that an otherwise healthy child would be stricken with this ailment and ultimately die. An anonymous letter had been sent to Julia Lyle's sister after Marcia had became sick, It read, "Please come! She is getting the same dose as the other." This was given to the Bibb County police department and they began an investigation. This warning allowed them to do an autopsy on Marcia after her death. It determined that she has been poisoned with arsenic. They searched Anjette's house and found items used in voodoo rituals. They were informed later that Anjette was very active in voodoo rituals and would whisper into a black candle of the person she had marked for death. They also found Terro Ant Poison. This had been the source of the poisoning.
On May 2nd 1958, Anjette was admitted to the hospital for 4 days. The doctors said she had phlebitis. The symptoms were strangely similar to her victims however. They released her on May 6th 1958 into police custody. She was charged with killing her daughter. She claimed her innocence. She even tried to blame neighbor kids for giving the poisoning to Marcia while playing doctor.
The bodies of the other three victims were exhumed. The same poison found in Marcia was also found in the victims. She was charged with only the murder of Marcia but was indicted in separate counts for the other three. Also, the findings for the other three victims were admitted into to trial. Picking a jury was difficult because everyone knew Anjette and many were related to her. The town was divided on her guilt.
The trial started in Ocotober 1958. It was a huge sensation in Macon. Spectators crowded the halls to get into the trial that shook Macon to its core. The facts of the case were so scandalous, four people in the same family poisoned by another member of the same family. A woman killed her own child by feeding her poison. Wild stories about voodoo rituals and black candles. When it came down to the bottom line though it wasn't that mysterious. This was all done in the name of greed. Money, Anjette saw a way to profit from every one of those deaths.
They had many witnesses at the seven day trial. One witness was Mary Beekom, a forgery expert for the state of Georgia. They testified that the will was a forgery. Her testimony proved that Julia Lyles never signed any of her assets over to Anjette. Another witness claimed that Anjette had predicted the death of her daughter and the other members of her family. Carrie Jackson, the mysterious author of the note that was sent warning of the poisoning was a black cook at the restaurant. She testified that she witnessed Anjette going into the bathroom with a cup of buttermilk for Marcia and when she came out she was stirring it. She told of several odd things she witnessed Anjette prior to the deaths of her family members. She was asked why she didn't come forward and her answer was that she felt that she wouldn't be believed. She also feared losing her job if nothing was done. It was also stated that they had witnessed Anjette shaking Marcia and saying that she was going to kill her if it was the last thing she did.
After the prosecutors rested their case, Anjette was allowed to speak to the charges against her. She stood and faced the jury and denied all the charges and attempted to discredit the state's case. The jury found Anjette guilty after only 1 hour and 34 minutes and she was sentenced to die in the electric chair. The defense fought hard for a new trial on the grounds that the other three deaths were admitted even though she was only on trial for the murder of Marcia. The Supreme Court upheld the verdict and sentencing. She was scheduled to die on August 17th, 1959. She would be the first white woman to die in Georgia's electric chair.
The governor of Georgia stepped in and asked for a psychiatric evaluation because the thought of killing a white woman in the electric chair was not a popular thought at that time. After the psychiatric evaluation she was declared insane and remanded to Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia. She began her stay there on October 17th 1959. A little piece of irony in this case, as if it weren't strange enough, she was given a job in the hospital's kitchen. She remained in the hospital until her death on December 4th, 1977. She is buried with Marcia and Ben in Coleman's Chapel Cemetery in Wadley, Georgia.
Thank you for reading my blog and I look forward to writing the next one. Please like my Facebook page and subscribe for my next story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I do writing them.
Photos and news articles were supplied thanks to:
Middle Georgia Archives, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, Ga
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| Anjette Lyles |
Anjette Lyles was a beautiful, charismatic, and friendly person. She was born Anjette Donavon on August 23, 1925 in Macon. Her parents, Jetta Watkins and William Donavon, gave Anjette her way most of the time. She had a way about her that could persuade people to go along with her, which benefited her in the end.
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| Anjette, Marcia, and Carla |
She met and married Joe Neal Gabbart on June 24th 1955. Gabbart became sick and started running a high fever. He was admitted to Parkview and transferred to the Veterans Hospital in Dublin Georgia and died on December 2nd 1955.
After her mother-in law Mrs. Julia Lyles moved in, Anjette discovered that she was worth a substantial amount of money. She began to urge her to draw up a will that made her the beneficiary if something were to happen. No agreement was reached in this endeavor. Anjette began to care for Mrs. Julia Lyles . She treated her just like she would her own mother, well it appeared so anyway. She brought her favorite foods home and would feed her. In August of 1957, Mrs. Julia became sick. She had extreme nausea and swelling. She died on September 29th 1957. Want to guess what was drawn up before her death? That's right, a will. Anjette received one third of the inheritance, her two children received one third of the inheritance and the only surviving member of the Lyles immediate family, Julia's son, Joe Lyles, received one third of the inheritance.
Marcia Lyles, age 9, was the oldest daughter of Anjette and Ben Lyles. She often frequented her mother's restaurant. She became sick with a high fever and nausea the early part of 1958. A restaurant worker noticed the child was sick and urged Anjette to take her home. The child's sickness became worse and she was admitted to Parkview. Anjette insisted on bringing the child's food each day instead of her eating the hospital food. She rarely left her bedside. Marcia died on April 4th, 1958.
The death of Marcia would be Anjette's downfall to her path of murder. It alarmed and upset the community that an otherwise healthy child would be stricken with this ailment and ultimately die. An anonymous letter had been sent to Julia Lyle's sister after Marcia had became sick, It read, "Please come! She is getting the same dose as the other." This was given to the Bibb County police department and they began an investigation. This warning allowed them to do an autopsy on Marcia after her death. It determined that she has been poisoned with arsenic. They searched Anjette's house and found items used in voodoo rituals. They were informed later that Anjette was very active in voodoo rituals and would whisper into a black candle of the person she had marked for death. They also found Terro Ant Poison. This had been the source of the poisoning.
On May 2nd 1958, Anjette was admitted to the hospital for 4 days. The doctors said she had phlebitis. The symptoms were strangely similar to her victims however. They released her on May 6th 1958 into police custody. She was charged with killing her daughter. She claimed her innocence. She even tried to blame neighbor kids for giving the poisoning to Marcia while playing doctor.
The bodies of the other three victims were exhumed. The same poison found in Marcia was also found in the victims. She was charged with only the murder of Marcia but was indicted in separate counts for the other three. Also, the findings for the other three victims were admitted into to trial. Picking a jury was difficult because everyone knew Anjette and many were related to her. The town was divided on her guilt.
They had many witnesses at the seven day trial. One witness was Mary Beekom, a forgery expert for the state of Georgia. They testified that the will was a forgery. Her testimony proved that Julia Lyles never signed any of her assets over to Anjette. Another witness claimed that Anjette had predicted the death of her daughter and the other members of her family. Carrie Jackson, the mysterious author of the note that was sent warning of the poisoning was a black cook at the restaurant. She testified that she witnessed Anjette going into the bathroom with a cup of buttermilk for Marcia and when she came out she was stirring it. She told of several odd things she witnessed Anjette prior to the deaths of her family members. She was asked why she didn't come forward and her answer was that she felt that she wouldn't be believed. She also feared losing her job if nothing was done. It was also stated that they had witnessed Anjette shaking Marcia and saying that she was going to kill her if it was the last thing she did.
After the prosecutors rested their case, Anjette was allowed to speak to the charges against her. She stood and faced the jury and denied all the charges and attempted to discredit the state's case. The jury found Anjette guilty after only 1 hour and 34 minutes and she was sentenced to die in the electric chair. The defense fought hard for a new trial on the grounds that the other three deaths were admitted even though she was only on trial for the murder of Marcia. The Supreme Court upheld the verdict and sentencing. She was scheduled to die on August 17th, 1959. She would be the first white woman to die in Georgia's electric chair.
The governor of Georgia stepped in and asked for a psychiatric evaluation because the thought of killing a white woman in the electric chair was not a popular thought at that time. After the psychiatric evaluation she was declared insane and remanded to Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia. She began her stay there on October 17th 1959. A little piece of irony in this case, as if it weren't strange enough, she was given a job in the hospital's kitchen. She remained in the hospital until her death on December 4th, 1977. She is buried with Marcia and Ben in Coleman's Chapel Cemetery in Wadley, Georgia.
Thank you for reading my blog and I look forward to writing the next one. Please like my Facebook page and subscribe for my next story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I do writing them.
Photos and news articles were supplied thanks to:
Middle Georgia Archives, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, Ga
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