The Case of the Airman Who Loved His Wife to Death
The Tampa Federal District Court opened its first murder trial on February 2, 1953, during which the U.S. presented nine witnesses to testify against Sergeant Plumer C. Cothran. He faced charges of second-degree murder related to the death of his wife, Jeanne Cothran, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Jeanie Cothran, a mother of three who was expecting at the time of her untimely death, sustained fatal neck injuries from a butcher knife on March 16, 1952. The cause of death was initially classified as a suicide. The tragic event occurred in their home in the Tampa Bay Gardens apartment community, which was constructed by a civilian contractor at the MacDill Air Force Base.
Deputy Sheriff Salla and Special OSI Agent James Meyers spent five months after the incident digging into the Cothran family and the events surrounding the death of Jeanie Cothran. The final piece of the puzzle required a more in-depth conversation with Jeanie's husband, Sergeant Plumer C. Cothran. In that conversation, Salla reported that Cothran ultimately confessed, revealing that he had thrown a butcher knife at his wife during a dispute—a dispute that began when she accused him of stepping out on her.
Cothran was indicted by a county grand jury, but the case was transferred to the federal government once it was determined that their apartment was located on property under federal jurisdiction.
Witnesses characterized the 28-year-old airman as notably distressed the night of the tragedy. Mrs. Delbert C. Connerly, a neighbor of the Cothran family, stated that Cothran called for her to come downstairs around 6:35 PM. She recounted finding the couple in the bathroom, where Cothran was desperately trying to stop the bleeding while repeatedly shouting, "Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie." Mrs. Connerly told the jury that Cothran was doing everything he could to help his injured wife, "but it was too late."
Mrs. Connerly mentioned that, to her knowledge, the couple was truly committed to each other and that she was not aware of any family disputes. Additionally, she told the court that she was the one who cleaned the bathroom and made an effort to organize the living room right after the incident.
Deputy Sheriff Shykove testified that Cothran claimed that after an afternoon of arguing, his wife, visibly distressed, came out of the kitchen with a knife in her throat. He removed the knife, assisted her into the bathroom, and called a neighbor for help. Shykove noted that Cothran was in tears throughout the entire interrogation.
Pathologist Capt. Thomas W. Greiwe, who conducted the autopsy, testified that while the victim could have stabbed herself, it is unlikely she did.
Judge Barker denied the U.S. request to present a photograph of the body depicting the wound, deeming it too inflammatory.
The bride was accompanied by her brother-in-law, D. E. Willis, while her sister, Margaret Spangler Willis, served as matron of honor. After the ceremony, a reception took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Willis. The couple honeymooned in Miami.
Miss Spangler, the daughter of James Spangler and Nannie Jenkins, completed her high school education in Middleboro, KY, before attending a business college in Knoxville, TN. She had resided in Tampa for several years.
Sergeant Cothran graduated from Jackson County High School in Marianna, Florida, and studied electrical and diesel engineering in Chicago. At the time of their marriage, he was on a 90-day furlough after serving overseas with the 20th Air Force and was stationed at MacDill Air Force Base.
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MacDill Air Force Base, located in South Tampa, was initially established as MacDill Field, a U.S. Army Air Corps facility that transitioned to the U.S. Army Air Forces shortly before World War II. When the U.S. Air Force was formed as an independent branch in September 1947, it was renamed MacDill Air Force Base.
In 1950, the Paul Smith Construction Company commenced construction on the Tampa Bay Gardens Apartments, making MacDill the first installation in the U.S. to implement the Wherry Act, which was passed by the 81st Congress.
"Any interested builder (who has shown himself to be responsible and to have the capacity to construct, manage, and maintain a development) discusses the requirements of the individual base number and size of the units, rents, etc.—with the commanding officer of that base. The builder submits his plans for the proposed development to the commanding officer of the base. If approved by the commanding officer of the base as satisfactory to the needs of that base, the proposal is submitted to Headquarters USAF where it is examined carefully to determine whether it meets the requirements of the Pentagon task force."
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Sheriff's Deputies L. J. Skipper, Jack Shykove, and John Salla conducted the investigation into the death of the 31-year-old spouse of a MacDill airman. The officers stated that the woman was pronounced dead upon her arrival at Tampa Municipal Hospital and was expecting her fourth child in two months.
An autopsy was approved by Assistant State Attorney J. Frank Umstot for Jeanne Cothran, who sustained a fatal injury from a butcher knife on March 16, 1952. The Sheriff's department requested Umstot's assistance with the investigation into the death of the airman's wife.
Jeanne Cothran was found dead in the living room of the family's apartment with a four-inch neck gash that severed the jugular vein, the Sheriff's Office reported. Sergeant Plumer Cothran told them his wife had committed suicide.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Plumer Cothran, a B-29 flight engineer at the Air Force Base, was placed under the protective custody of his executive officer, Major Edward Wooten, after being detained in the base guardhouse for questioning. Cothran was not booked, nor were any charges made against him, Salla related.
Salla said Cothran gave him this story of his wife's death: The airman and his wife were sitting in the living room of their home. His wife asked him to change the radio station. When he turned from changing the station, he saw his wife had slashed her throat open with a butcher knife.
Cothran said he then ran for help to an adjoining apartment and brought neighbors back with him. The neighbors helped the bleeding woman to her bathroom, where they attempted to check the flow of blood. MacDill authorities were summoned.
"The investigation proved to be rather difficult for us," Salla recounted. "When Shykove, Skipper, and I arrived, the Air Police were already there, but well-meaning neighbors had confused things by starting to clean up before anyone got there — they already had cleaned up most of the bloodstains and had removed the woman and the knife which slashed her throat."
Salla estimated that the woman died between 6:30 and 7 o'clock. "We were only informed of the incident around 9:30, and the three of us arrived within 15 minutes of receiving the call," he clarified.
He noted that the delay was caused by military authorities carrying out their investigation until that point, after which they opted to transfer the case to civil officers, recognizing that civil police had authority over a death that took place on a military reservation.
Disagreements emerged between military and civil police authorities regarding the timing of when County investigators were summoned by the military to take charge of the inquiry. In response to Salla's remark about the three-hour delay in notification, Major John P. Lovett commented:
"At 7:45 p.m., the Air Police were notified of the death of Mrs. Cothran. At this time, the Office of Special Investigation and the County Authorities were notified. County authorities arrived 35 minutes later, and instead of dispatching criminal investigators, two traffic officers were sent."
Explaining the County's position, Chief Criminal Deputy L. J. Swann said all County criminal deputies were busy on other cases at the time and it was necessary to dispatch County Traffic Officers Lynn and Zalva at 8:00 p.m. Swann added the three deputies joined the traffic officers as soon as they were free at about 9 p.m.
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The six-foot-tall flight engineer, with blond hair and blue eyes, arrived at County Jail two days after his wife's passing, accompanied by his executive officer, Major Edward Wooten. The airman took a lie detector test. Chief Criminal Deputy L. J. Swann did not reveal the results but stated Cothran had agreed to the test quite willingly and readily.
In addition, Swann revealed the results of the autopsy, stating there was no clear cause of death aside from a butcher knife wound to the throat. The report showed the knife blade penetrated completely through the woman's neck and lodged in the spine at the base of her skull.
The remains of Mrs. Cothran were transferred to Middlesboro, Kentucky, on March 20, 1952, for funeral services and burial.
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Tampa, Florida
The week of July 6, 1952:
MARRIAGE LICENSE APPLICATIONS
Plumer C. Cothran, Jr., 30, 4115 Mullens, and Peggy Jo Smith Mook, 31, 2805 San Isidro
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Mrs. Peggy Jo Mook, daughter of Mrs. Josephine Smith from 2805 San Isidro St., and Paul Cothran, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. P. C. Cothran of Marianna, exchanged vows under the guidance of Rev. McLauren Meredith at Hyde Park Methodist Church.
The bride looked stunning, standing before an altar beautifully adorned with baskets filled with white summer flowers, wearing a street-length gown crafted from China blue Moygashel linen. The gown showcased a fitted bodice accented with a band of white soutache braid embroidery and delicate medallions of imported lace, enhancing the full skirt.
To complement her gown, she opted for a small blue velvet hat decorated with matching lace medallions and rhinestones, paired with nylon lace pumps, and carried a white prayer book topped with an elegant orchid.
Following the ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. Cothran began their honeymoon at the Gulf Beaches and will move into their new home at 4115 Mullen Avenue after the beginning of August.
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On Friday, August 22, 1952, a 28-year-old B-29 flight engineer was detained at the guardhouse of MacDill Air Force Base after admitting to the murder of his 31-year-old wife, Jeanne, which occurred on March 16, according to Sheriff's Deputy John Salla. Sergeant Plumer C. Cothran confessed the crime to an agent from the Office of Special Investigation, reported Salla.
For five months, officers from the County Sheriff's office and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) had been quietly investigating the tragic death of the expectant mother, whose throat was slashed. Salla said that Cothran told OSI Agent James H. Meyer that he didn't mean to kill her.
Until his confession, Cothran had contended his wife's death was suicide. Now, Cothran admitted he threw the knife at his 7-month pregnant wife, striking her in the throat, following an argument in which she accused him of stepping out on her.
According to Salla, a few weeks ago, Jeanne Cothran's brother came to Tampa from his home in Middlesboro, Kentucky, with new information that solidified the case. This revelation significantly aided the investigation and was reportedly derived from a conversation between Spangler and one of Cothran's children.
At the time of Cothran's arrest, his three children were in the care of his current wife, the former Jo Ann Mook. In his statement to investigators, Cothran said they met at a softball game at Palma Ceia playground. Officers related that Cothran said he remarried within four months of his first wife's death because "I had to have someone to take care of my children."
While being questioned, the airman admitted that he knew he had made a false statement regarding the death of his first wife. Cothran was referring to the account he provided, claiming that his wife had stabbed herself while he had his back turned in their living room. He claimed to have made attempts to correct his statement with the OSI agent on base, but after twice failing to make contact, he let it go.
Here is the text of Cothran's statement as reported by Deputy Salla: "At the time I threw the knife at her, I didn't intend to kill her—I had no intention of hitting her with it. I couldn't kill Jeanne. I loved my wife."
Cothran said he whirled and threw the knife at his wife after she accused him of "stepping out on her."
"It all started about 3 o'clock in the afternoon on March 16. After an argument in which my wife accused me of stepping out on her, she dressed, took my oldest daughter, and left the house. She returned about 30 minutes later, saying she was forced to return because she didn't feel well. The argument started again. Then my wife left again-this time to visit a neighbor. She returned again in about 15 minutes. She sat down in a chair across from me. I tried to read the newspaper. Then she got up and went into the kitchen. When she returned, I noticed she had a butcher knife in her hand. She threatened to use it on herself rather than 'go on arguing. I took the knife away from her, turned the radio off, and started toward the kitchen. Then she accused me again of 'stepping out on her.' I threw the knife at her, and it stuck into the side of her throat. I ran over and pulled the knife from her neck. I couldn't stop the bleeding, and I called for help. I was drinking at the time of this accident. After I came back from an emergency furlough - for my wife's burial - I thought things over; I had made a false statement. I went to the agent investigating the case. He was out of town, so I tried a second time and was still unable to contact him."
Salla said Cothran's confession came as point after point of evidence was hurled against his tale of suicide. The lynch pin, according to Stalla, was the autopsy report, which indicated that it would be impossible for a person to inflict upon themselves an attack with a knife so vicious that the blade would become lodged in the spine at the base of the skull.
Salla said that Cothran's claims of "loving his wife too much to hurt her" were not aligned with leaving her funeral expenses unpaid despite having collected $900 in insurance following her death. Cothran did not explain why her funeral expenses were left unpaid.
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The second wife of Sergeant Plumer C. Cothran filed for an annulment in Circuit Court following her husband's arrest for the knife murder of his first wife the day before. Peggy Jo Mook Cothran married Cothran just four months after the murder occurred.
In her complaint, Peggy Jo alleges that Cothran misrepresented himself as a widower, claiming his wife's death was a suicide last December. However, the complaint asserts, "In truth and fact, his wife was not a suicide, but had been killed by the defendant personally in March 1952."
In addition to the accusations of deceit regarding the death of his late wife, Peggy Jo charged Cothran with falsely claiming he was debt-free and had excellent credit, when in reality, he owed considerable money and had written bad checks.
Should the Court deem the marriage valid, Peggy Jo included a divorce petition in her filing. She argued that the alleged misrepresentations about the timing and circumstances of his wife's death, as well as his financial situation, "constitute extreme cruelty by the defendant,” leading to her humiliation and rendering her unable to continue living with him under any circumstances.
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Almost a month later, on September 22, 1952, Plumer C. Cothran, MacDill Air Force Sergeant charged in the butcher-knife death of his wife, announced in the Criminal Court of Record of Hillsborough County, Florida, that he was ready to meet his $2500 bond and to obtain a lawyer.
Judge Grayson ordered his bond increased to $5000 and set the date for Cothran's arraignment on the second-degree murder charge. Cothran appeared alone in court today, attired in his Air Force uniform. He made no comment when Grayson ordered his bond doubled.
Judge Grayson ordered his bond increased to $5000 and set the date for Cothran's arraignment on the second-degree murder charge. Cothran appeared alone in court today, attired in his Air Force uniform. He made no comment when Grayson ordered his bond doubled.
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The trial of the MacDill Air Force Sergeant charged with the butcher-knife slaying of his wife was postponed indefinitely on October 6, 1952. Joe Moran, Jr., assistant county solicitor, requested the delay, explaining that they are awaiting guidance from Attorney General [AG] Ervin and United States District Attorney Phillips regarding the jurisdiction matter.
The problem involved determining criminal jurisdiction over the MacDill housing area constructed under the Wherry Act. The crime was committed on a property developed by private enterprises on reservation land leased by the federal government for 99 years. A key provision of this complex arrangement stipulated that the state would hold criminal jurisdiction in the area.
Two members from the MacDill Base Legal Office were tasked with reviewing the lease of the Wherry Housing project to clarify the military's obligations in providing police protection for a civilian housing project located within a military installation.
Captain Philip M. Traynor, the assistant legal officer at MacDill, reached out to AG Ervin to seek clarification regarding the attorney general's previous opinion that the United States and Florida share criminal jurisdiction over the reservation.
Traynor's correspondence suggested that MacDill and the United States district attorney's office hold a different view, believing that the federal government maintains exclusive jurisdiction over the reservation, except for service of process. The letter requested AG Ervin to reaffirm his stance.
"The Government wants to ensure that, before Cothran goes to trial, he is tried in the correct court—under the appropriate jurisdiction," stated Major John R. Lovitt, Base Provost Marshal. While the military is questioning federal versus state jurisdiction, the county solicitor's office is aware that Phillips's office is reassessing the location of the knife-slaying incident.
In the meantime, Cothran found himself caught in a complex jurisdictional issue. After Judge Grayson had raised his bail from $2,500 to $5,000, he managed to post bond. However, shortly after his release from state custody, air police intervened, handcuffing him and taking him to the MacDill stockade. Maj. Irving Peskoe, the base's legal officer, explained that Cothran is being held in the stockade while a pre-trial investigation is conducted.
Peskoe also mentioned that the U.S. district attorney intends to move forward with prosecuting him. He indicated that the Air Force cannot court-martial Cothran unless the U.S. district attorney decides against pursuing the case in federal court. Nonetheless, the reference to a court-martial implies that if the state cannot prosecute Cothran and the federal district attorney chooses not to take on the case, he could still face military justice.
Two days later, U.S. District Attorney Herbert S. Phillips informed the press that the Federal Government would take over the case of Sergeant Plumer Cothran, charged with the knife slaying of his wife.
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Sergeant Plumer Cothran was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on a second-degree murder charge in the butcher-knife slaying of his pregnant wife. In the preliminary hearing on October 15, 1952, Cothran said he was financially unable to obtain his counsel. Federal District Judge William Barker stated he would not be arraigned in Federal Court until the court appointed him a lawyer.
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On January 6, 1953, William C. Pierce, the newly appointed attorney for Cothran, filed his first action: a motion to dismiss the federal indictment with Judge Barker. Barker promptly rejected the request. Cothran's trial is scheduled to begin on February 2.
Pierce argued that the indictment was flawed, as it did not adequately demonstrate that the U.S. had jurisdiction over the case. He also claimed that the indictment failed to restrict the case to a second-degree charge, which could allow a jury to potentially deliver a verdict for first-degree murder. He acknowledged that the jurisdictional question was a technical matter.
“We are not disputing the actual facts,” he stated, “but questioning whether the indictment sufficiently alleges what the government claims the facts to be.” U.S. Attorney Herbert S. Phillips countered that jurisdiction had been established and that the indictment was structured to prevent any first-degree murder charge.
Judge Barker affirmed the indictment's validity but agreed to specify in his order that the trial must be confined to a second-degree charge. Cothran was initially arrested by the county and indicted by a county grand jury on a second-degree murder charge.
This trial was significant as it marked the first murder trial to take place in the Tampa Federal District Court in the nearly 50-year history of the current building.
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The Air Force flight engineer facing second-degree murder charges stemming from the death of his 7-month pregnant wife, admitted from a Federal Court witness stand, that he killed his expectant wife with a butcher knife in their MacDill Air Force Base apartment here last March 16. But he insisted it was all quite accidental. He loved his wife very much, and he wouldn't have harmed even her little finger.
On February 3, 1953, Matt O'Brien, prosecuting the case as assistant U.S. District Attorney, presented a group of witnesses to prove the government's charges. After O'Brien announced, "The government rests," Attorney Pierce called Cothran to the stand and started questioning him closely about his past service record, which was described as "perfect—without a flaw," and his record as a married man, which was also described as "near perfect" until the incident of March 16.
In clear and coherent sentences, the handsome young airmen took the stand on his behalf and offered a stout denial of any possible intent to harm his wife.
Cothran told the jury about his life, starting with his birth on a train near Plum Branch, S.C., on May 7, 29 years ago, when his mother was traveling from Clearwater, Fla., to Columbia, S.C., to meet his father, who was taking the state bar examination. He continued with his entry into the service on Nov. 17, 1943; his four tours of overseas duty; his missions; and his 72 assignments to different airbases.
Pierce also highlighted the numerous citations, including the Presidential, that Cothran received for outstanding military service and excellent conduct, and presented a large stack of letters exchanged between him and Jeannie after they were married on Jan. 4, 1946, while he was overseas. Judge Barker refused to admit the letters, objecting to Prosecutor O'Brien, who argued they were immaterial.
The defense attorney dug into every bit of background to prove that Cothran, up to the time of the unfortunate incident of March 16, had led a "religious and clean life, in civilian pursuits as well as military." Then he asked for a recitation of events on that Sunday of March 16, when Mrs. Cothran was killed.
Cothran mentioned that he spent the entire day at home. Throughout the day, he had a few drinks from a bottle of whiskey, and he noted that Mrs. Cothran also indulged in several drinks. He recounted that later on, his wife finished the remaining whiskey and consumed a fifth of wine. Around 3:30 p.m., she took their oldest child, Judy, age 5, to the Air Base movie theater but returned half an hour later, stating that she felt unwell.
An argument ensued in their living room after his wife, who was expecting their fourth child in about 90 days, accused him of being unfaithful. Cothran described the argument as just words exchanged with no physical altercations. Afterward, she went into the kitchen, returned to the living room, and asked him to change the radio station.
He turned toward the radio to twist the dial, and when he again faced his wife, she had a butcher knife in her hand. "I'd rather kill myself than go on arguing like this!" the airman testified that his wife threatened. At that, he moved to the settee where she sat sideways at one end, and he wrested the long knife—about 10 inches from tip to tip—from her hands.
"I was afraid she would hurt herself with it," he told the jury. "I certainly had no intent of harming her with it-I'd rather have died myself."
Then he said, she appeared very upset and once again hurled the accusation at him that he had stepped out on her. With that, Cothran, who said he was holding the knife in a normal position and was walking toward the kitchen with it- about 12 to 14 feet away- stopped and threw the knife in a fit of anger.
"It might well have struck one of the two children," he said, "because I was not aiming at her, nor did I intend to harm her."
Seeing what had occurred, he ran to his wife's side, grabbed the knife on which she had placed her left hand, and pulled it quickly from her throat, where it had penetrated the neck two inches or more, about four inches below the left ear.
"The blood started spurting out of Jeannie's neck, and I grabbed the wound and tried to stop its flow,” Cothran said. "But when it started flowing from her mouth, I couldn't stop, and I started yelling for help." He said his wife stood up and leaned against a door, then walked to the bathroom, all the while with him holding her jugular vein, trying to stop the flow of blood.
He yelled for help, and Mrs. Connerly came immediately. Jeannie was standing with a hand against each side of the lavatory. Other neighbors came. An ambulance was called, and Cothran rode with his wife to the Base Hospital, never once taking his hand off the artery, hoping to stop the flow, he testified.
He kept his hand there until a doctor at the base said: "It is of no further use ... you can move your hand now... she is dead." He said he was considerably shocked and was ordered under the care of a base doctor.
The first statements he made to OSI officers at MacDill were that Jeannie had taken her own life. He made these statements several times. Then, later, he started thinking about the stigma he would place on his wife's name, "and I felt it wasn't right-the whole thing was not right, telling a lie about it—I wanted to tell he whole story straight."
So, several times, he returned to the OSI office at MacDill and asked for Mai. James Meyers, a special OSI agent who investigated the case. But he was out several times, and it was not until five months later that he signed a statement in which he admitted throwing the knife, he said.
Pierce dwelled at length on the fact that Cothran had tried in vain several times to contact the OSl agent to straighten out the story's details, but that the agent was away at other bases.
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On the afternoon of February 4, a verdict was expected from the Federal Court jury hearing the Cothran case, with an answer to one of two questions:
Do they believe the airman had criminal intent when he killed his wife, an expectant mother, with a butcher knife in their Tampa Bay Gardens apartment on the evening of March 16?
Do they believe, as he and his defense attorney, William N.C. Pierce insists that he did it in a gesture of exasperation as his wife accused him of stepping out on her.
In his closing arguments to the jury, Cothran's attorney provided a summation lasting one hour and twenty minutes. In contrast, Prosecutor O'Brien only needed half an hour to present his argument and rebuttal.
Pierce wove a defense that showed Mrs. Cothran, during an argument, walked into the Cothran living room with a butcher knife, and in a mood of despondency, said she would rather kill herself than keep on arguing, and that the Cothran wrested the knife from her to prevent her from harming herself. He was en route back to the kitchen with the knife, some 14 feet from his wife, when she again accused him of infidelity.
"It was all a tragic accident." Pierce maintained, "because the airman loved his wife and family very much and had an exceptionally clean record." He said Cothran was proud of his record as a husband who never stepped out, and that when the late Mrs. Cothran accused her husband of that act of infidelity, "it became a blow to hit him where it wasn't fair, and he threw the knife in a gesture of desperation."
“I know," stated Pierce, "that he would willingly leap from the top of the First National Bank Building if it meant bringing his Jeannie back to life today."
He defended Cothran's first stories of the death as suicide by saying that while it "was indeed wrong for him to do so, it was the first impulse, then he stuck to it." However, Cothran later made several attempts to see the OSI investigating agent to "change the whole story and relate the facts."
Finally, five months later, he managed to do so, assuming responsibility for throwing the knife but declaring in a written statement he "had not intended to harm Jeannie." He insisted it was all an accident.
"About this suicide story," said the defense attorney. "One never knows what they'd do under the same circumstances, bolt of lightning out of the blue had struck in the Cothran home- he had seen a knife sticking in the throat of his wife and loved one - sudden - horrifying. What thoughts do you suppose raced through his mind?"
"And later, when he was informed the case was closed-labeled suicide-he was not satisfied to let it go at that. As he flew here and there high in the sky, his thoughts always turned back to Jeannie. He didn't want that stigma to remain on her name. So he determined to straighten that out, regardless of the circumstances. How many other men do you think would have done the same?" Pierce asked the jury.
He told the jurors that "if this homicide is an accident, or a misadventure"-as he had contended repeatedly-"then it is excusable homicide. A person must be criminally careless or guilty of reckless conduct to make it unlawful. He must have thrown the knife with that intent if he is found guilty. And I say he did not."
In the Government's summation to the jury, Prosecutor O'Brien cited Cothran's two stories, with emphasis on the fact that he told the suicide story to the OSI, the sheriff, and to all his and his wife's relatives. "Then," said O'Brien, "after he had this change of conscience the defense speaks about, the OSI still had to send for him and interrogate him 12 hours before he finally gave what he called the facts in the case... that is how anxious he was to abandon the suicide story."
However, the prosecutor emphasized that the key action was to apply Cothran's account of the incident to the physical evidence of the case. He then used exhibits—photographs captured in the Cothran Apartment—to demonstrate to the jury his argument that the incident could not have happened as Cothran claimed.
O'Brien highlighted the positions of chairs, rugs, and various furnishings tossed around the apartment. "Which do not add up with Cothran's story," he declared.
Then, he pictured as absurd Cothran's contention that he "threw the knife from 14 feet or so." He cited the fact that the knife entered straight into Mrs. Cothran's neck for a depth of three inches "and if it was traveling through the air in curliques as they say, why did it not make a longer slit in her neck?"
The prosecutor asked the jury to "reconcile Cothran's story with the physical aspects- the facts."
"He turned and threw that knife- he was 'exasperated' only in her direction," he emphasized. The position of the knife on the apartment floor when it was picked up by a neighbor was also described as "not the spot where Cothran said he put it after withdrawing it from his wife's neck."
"I doubt if he threw that knife at all," O'Brien declared.
O'Brien rejected the defense attorney's description of his client's high mental conscience, declaring that this concern over the suicide stigma against his wife's name disappeared after he thought the case was closed.
He also downplayed the moral implications of the case, stating that it was irrelevant whether he was a good father and husband or if he had known his second wife before the incident—"the fact remains that we have a manslaughter, and we try facts."
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Although the original Federal charges were the Federal Court equivalent of murder in the second degree, Federal Judge Barker interpreted the indictment to charge Cothran with nothing more severe than voluntary manslaughter, and so informed the jury in his charge. That would carry a maximum 10-year penalty on conviction.
The jury apparently felt from the outset that Cothran was not guilty as charged because it returned to the Courtroom twice during its three hours of deliberation. One time, they wanted Judge Barker to redefine two degrees of manslaughter. Next, they asked for a reexamination of the two degrees of manslaughter, plus that for excusable homicide.
At 5:32 p.m., the jury sounded the buzzer, and a deputy U. S. Marshal brought them in to announce their verdict: "Not guilty."
The jury's verdict gave credence to the defense's claim that Cothran's wife’s pregnancy likely contributed to the emotional turmoil that triggered and sustained the argument with her husband, ultimately resulting in her death.
Amidst the turmoil, anguish, and concerns surrounding the six-month imprisonment and subsequent trial, the son of a former Clearwater attorney found himself as joyful as one could be under the circumstances. Pierce described his client as "very pleased with the verdict." He noted that one of Cothran's first desires upon his release was to "enjoy a large steak."
Cothran conveyed his enthusiasm to take back responsibility for his children as soon as a suitable nurse-housekeeper could be found. The children were brought to court for the ruling, accompanied by family members who had been caring for them in Tennessee for the past six months. Their touching reunion in the courtroom deeply affected the small audience present.
"This renews my faith in the Government of the American institution. Here I was, broke, charged with murdering my wife, and the Government not only appointed a lawyer to represent me, but gave me such a fair trial I was able to prove my innocence and clear my name.", Cothran said as he left the Courthouse with his attorney.
With the cloud of suspicion lifted, he reported back for his old job with the 366th Bomb Squadron at MacDill Base on February 5, 1953, and Second Lt. Doan Lawrence said: "He goes right back to work where he left off as a flight engineer."
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Epilogue
Pierce filed a motion after the verdict demanding that his client receive all back pay he missed while the case was ongoing.
On August 11, 1953, Plumer Cothran, aged 29, and Joan Lackey, aged 21, both from Sacramento, California, obtained a marriage license in Reno, Nevada.
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The Full Ervin Opinion
The question of whether Florida or the United States can try T/Sgt. Plumer C. Cothran, Jr., for the knife slaying of his wife in a MacDill Base housing project appeared nearer solution yesterday when Attorney-General Ervin apparently conceded the United States has exclusive jurisdiction over MacDill.
In the opinion, however, Ervin did not make reference to the tangled Wherry Act, under which MaDill housing was erected by private enterprise on reservation land leased out by the Federal Government for 89 years.
The Ervin opinion, addressed to MacDill legal officers with copies to Tampa, said: "You have asked for an opinion as to whether or not the state of Florida exercises concurrent police jurisdiction on the United States' reservation known as MacDill Field in Hillsborough County. "Under the provisions of Sec. 6.04 of the Florida Statutes, 1941, the Governor of Florida issued a deed of cession to the Federal Government of property now known as MacDill Air Force Base in Hillsborough County. Under the terms of this lease, there was reserved to the state a concurrent jurisdiction with the United States over the lands so ceded to execute all processes, civil and criminal, within said lands. "Thus, except for the right to serve process, the MacDill Air Force Base is property over which the United States has exclusive jurisdiction. "On Oct. 18, 1946, an opinion was issued by this office setting forth the following: 'If a crime is committed on a territory over which the United States has exclusive jurisdiction, the courts of this state would be without jurisdiction to try and punish the offender.'
"Thus, it is my opinion that neither the state of Florida nor its political subdivisions have any authority over a crime committed on property over which the Federal Government has exclusive jurisdiction."
Note to reader: Plumber C. Cothran Jr. was a Staff Sergeant in March 1952, and during this recounting of this case, his rank was changed to Technical Sergeant. To avoid confusion, I've simply referred to him as Sergeant.
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| Jeanne "Jeanie" Spangler |
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| Jeanne Spangler and Plumer C. Cothran on their wedding day in 1946 |
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| Sgt. Plumer C. Cothran was arrested on August 23, 1952 |
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| Sgt. Plumer C. Cothran was arrested on August 23, 1952 |
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| Sgt. Plumer C. Cothran with Attorney Pierce during a trial break in Feb. 1953 |
Primary Sources:
The Tampa Tribune, Fri, Jan 04, 1946, Page 10
The Tampa Tribune, Sat, Jan 5, 1946, Page 6
The Tampa Tribune, Sun, Feb 11, 1951, Page 58
The Tampa Times, Fri, May 18, 1951, Page 7
The Tampa Times, Tue, Feb 03, 1953, Page 2
The Tampa Tribune, Wed, Mar 19, 1952, Page 6
The Tampa Times, Sat, Jul 19, 1952, Page 5
The Tampa Times, Fri, Aug 29, 1952, Page 2
The Tampa Times, Wed, Feb 04, 1953, Page 4
The Tampa Times, Mon, Sep 22, 1952, Page 2
The Tampa Tribune, Sat, Jul 12, 1952, Page 17
The Tampa Times, Sat, Jul 19, 1952, Page 5
The Tampa Times, Tue, Mar 18, 1952, Page 2
The Tampa Tribune, Thu, Mar 20, 1952, Page 2
The Tampa Tribune, Tue, Feb 03, 1953, Page 11
The Tampa Times, Sat, Aug 23, 1952, Page 1
The Tampa Times, Sat, Aug 23, 1952, Page 3
The Tampa Tribune, Sun, Nov 06, 1949, Page 38
The Tampa Tribune, Sun, Jul 16, 1950, Page 18
The Tampa Times, Mon, Mar 17, 1952, Page 5
The Tampa Times, Sat, Aug 23, 1952, Page 3
The Tampa Times, Wed, Oct 15, 1952, Page 1
The Tampa Tribune, Sun, Aug 24, 1952, Page 13
The Tampa Times, Fri, Aug 29, 1952, Page 2
The Tampa Tribune. Tue, Oct 7, 1952, Page 2
The Tampa Tribune, Sat, Aug 30, 1952, Page 5
The Tampa Times, Tue, Oct 7, 1952, Page 3
The Tampa Times, Mon, Sep 22, 1952, Page 2
The Tampa Times, Tue, Jan 6, 1953 · Page 3
The Tampa Tribune, Wed, Oct 08, 1952, Page 2
The Tampa Tribune, Tue, Jan 06, 1953, Page 26
The Tampa Tribune, Tue, Feb 3, 1953, Page 11
The Tampa Times, Tue, Feb 3, 1953, Page 1
The Tampa Times, Wed, Feb 4, 1953, Page 4
The Tampa Times, Thu, Feb 5, 1953, Page 1
The Tampa Tribune, Thu, Feb 5, 1953, Page 1
The Tampa Tribune, Thu, Feb 5, 1953, Page 22
The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California, Wed, Aug 12, 1953, Page 33
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2270/records/19918915
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2270/records/19603676
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1506/records/602543
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