On the evening of January 31, 1912, a St. Louis police officer noted the business of The Cowperthwait Loan Company uncharacteristically had its lights on at 7:00 p.m., well after its usual closing time. The officer entered to find a disturbing scene that would launch an investigation to find a criminal whose exploits are truly stranger than fiction. My niece, Kaitlyn, joins me to unravel the mystery of The Single Cuff Button.
I only wish this picture of Cheatham was a color photo so we could truly appreciate his “azure” eyes.
“Cheatham Diary Shows Him a Wooer at Age of 4.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10 May 1912.
Citations
Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the Twenty-Eighth Session of the Legislature of the State of California. State Office, J.D. Young, Supt. State Printing, 1889.
“Cheatham Diary Shows Him a Wooer at Age of 4.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10 May 1912.
“Cheatham Jests as Confession Is Read.” St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, 8 Mar. 1912.
“Cheatham Made Will Before Killing.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8 Mar. 1912.
“Cheatham Pleads Guilty to Wurzburger Murder.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 14 Oct. 1912.
“Cheatham’s Confession of the Wurzburger Killing.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8 Mar. 1912.
“Cheatham Pleads Guilty to Wurzburger Murder.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 14 Oct. 1912.
“Cheatham Weds Widow, Who Posed As His Sister.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 24 May 1922.
“J. Wurzburger, 75, Once a Power in City Politics, Dies.” St. Louis Star-Times, 16 Nov. 1933.
“Jewelers Condemn Release of Cheatham.” St. Loåuis Post-Dispatch, 26 May 1922.
“Killed Man to Rob Him; Freed After Ten Years.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 17 May 1922.
“Lawyer Hired for Cheatham; Plea May Be Insanity.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11 Mar. 1912.
Morrow, Jason L. O’Sullivan, Dalton. Vintage True Crime Stories Vol I: An Illustrated Anthology of Forgotten Cases of Murder & Mayhem . Historical Crime Detective Publishing. Kindle Edition.
“Pawnshop Slayer Pleads Not Guilty.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 19 Mar. 1912.
“Pawnshop Slayer Would End Life.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 14 Mar. 1912.
“Police In Fear Cheatham Will Not Be Caught.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 4 Mar. 1912.
“S. A. Cheatham Is Being Hunted in Pawnshop Killing.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2 Mar. 1912.
“Sailor’s Knot Clew to Pawn Shop Suspect.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3 Mar. 1912.
“Watches Worth $4000 Part of Pawnshop Loot.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3 Feb. 1912.