Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a series. Read the first installment HERE.
BY SHELLIE TAYLOR
This is not a review for the latest crime novel by James Patterson or a pitch for a new true crime series on Hulu.
It is part of a historical remembrance of five North Carolina women who brought a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘Til death do us part.
The female killer is a subject of research that has been very popular in the last 20 years. For the longest time, many people did not believe women had the capacity or capability to kill. While the study of the female killer is relatively new, women have been killing for a very long time.
Marriage is the most intimate relationship among humans. Emotions can reach very high levels when our expectations of the other person are not met. The spouse is bound to experience more frustration and emotions with their significant other just because of the greater personal connection. In the words of Ruth Graham, wife of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, “Divorce is never an option. Murder, yes. But never divorce.”
Neta White Harrison, Asheville (1912)
Neta Rosalie White was born to Robert and Laura White in Hickory, N.C., on September 10, 1891. She married Walter A. Harrison on July 23, 1910, also in Hickory. It is unknown how the son of a railroad engineer from Salisbury and the daughter of a contractor from Alexander County met, but nevertheless, their marriage was proudly announced in the Hickory newspaper. What undoubtedly started as a happy marriage tragically transformed into something more sinister.
The year following their wedding witnessed two significant events. In March of 1911, Walter, who worked as a fireman for the Southern Railroad Co., was seriously injured on the job. A train wreck in the mountains near Old Fort left him in critical care, and the newspapers reported that doctors did not think the young man would survive the ordeal. He spent several weeks being treated but was eventually sent home and made a full recovery. On August 17, 1911, Walter and Neta welcomed their newborn son into the world. They named him Walter White Harrison, following the tradition of naming firstborn children by using the father’s name and the mother’s maiden name.
Also in 1911, although we do not know specifically when, Neta Harrison was a patient at Long’s Sanatorium in Statesville. I am guessing that her visit at Long’s was after the birth of her son. It could have been attributed to symptoms of post-partum depression. The fact that her husband had a near-death experience while she was four months pregnant probably did not help her mental state.
Whatever her reason for being admitted and regardless of when it happened, Dr. H.F. Long would testify that she was very mentally unstable when he treated her in 1911.
Around 7 a.m. on March 5, 1912, the union of Neta and Walter Harrison came to an end when Neta took her husband’s .32-calibre long range Smith & Wesson pistol and shot him in the chest. Their African-American cook was in the kitchen and heard the blast. When she came running, Neta told her to call for help. She confessed to the first responders that she had been trying to commit suicide and when her husband grabbed for the gun to stop her, it accidentally went off.
Although this explanation was possible, a rumor floated around that she actually had a motive to kill her husband. Walter had sent their 7-month-old son to Neta’s parents in Hickory because he did not believe his wife was mentally capable of properly caring for the infant. Having her child taken away might have been the catalyst that sent her over the edge.
On March 14, it was declared that Neta was not responsible for her actions because of her mental deterioration. She was sent to the state asylum in Raleigh to be treated in the prison ward. However, in October the case took another turn. Physicians examined her again, declared her sane, and signed an order to the warden of the state penitentiary requesting she be remanded to Buncombe County to stand trial for murder. This was a bizarre and unexpected plot twist. The new evidence which was presented to warrant the new examination was when investigators deduced that Walter Harrison was not standing or trying to grab the gun when he was shot. He wasn’t even awake. The new theory was that Neta had shot him in his sleep. That changed everything.
A new hearing was held in 1913 and was concluded in May. The decision was that Mrs. Harrison was, once again, criminally insane and not responsible for her actions on the morning of March 5, 1912. Two doctors testified at this hearing: Dr. Henry F. Long from Statesville who had treated her prior to her husband’s death, and Dr. Jordan from the hospital in Raleigh who treated her after the shooting. Long testified that he advised the husband to have her committed to a hospital for long-term care. He said it was “dangerous for her to be at large: that she might commit suicide or homicide.” Jordan said that she was suffering from “puerperal insanity,” which is an outdated term for post-partum psychosis (PPP). Although similar to post-partum depression, this condition is much more extreme and can include manic episodes, paranoia, and hallucinations. These symptoms can make a person violent and unpredictable.
The May 1913 hearing determined that Mrs. Harrison should be acquitted and not stand trial for murder. This was done and she was discharged from her care. Her defense counsel said it was one of the saddest cases he ever experienced, and that Neta no longer even had a memory of the event.
However, Neta Harrison moved on quickly with her life following her release. On April 8, 1916, she married Everett Bryant in Catawba County (I presume this means she moved back to Hickory where her parents lived with her son). Unlike the first husband, when things didn’t work out, she divorced him, according to her death certificate. She once again found herself in a mental institution, this time, Broughton Hospital in Morganton, where she remained for over a year until her death on November 11, 1963. She died of a heart attack caused by a blood clot and the hardening of her arteries. She is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Hickory near her parents and son who would be buried there in 1976.
LEARN MORE
This story and others will be presented at the Iredell County Public Library on Thursday, March 20, at 6 p.m. Register HERE.
Shellie Taylor is the Local History Program Specialist at the Iredell County Public Library. She can be contacted at michelle.taylor@iredellcountync.gov or 704-878-3090, Ext. 8801.