Evelina Steele: A Case Study

Mrs. Albert Steele (left) was the stepmother of Evelina Steele (right), 11, who looked similar to her mother. Evelina and her father had a close relationship where the father would pay more attention to his daughter than his wife; which the stepmother didn’t like. She began threatening Evelina to stop spending time with her father. When her stepmother wasn’t around, she would sit on her fathers lap, but the stepmother found out.

On April 20, 1915, Evelina was taken to the shed in the back of the house, where her clothes were removed, her arms tightly tied together, and then she was blindfolded. As Evelina sat on a chair, completely helpless, the stepmother forced her to swallow muriatic (hydrochloric) acid until she died.

The stepmother