The Murder Of George Mack, A Twisted Story

Originally published in The Rock River Times.

Mornings started early on the Mack farm, even Sunday mornings. On Sunday, July 14, 1878, Joseph Watsic who was employed by George Mack as a farm hand struggled to get out of bed. He probably thought this morning would be like so many Sundays before. Joseph had no idea how different this day would be.

One of the other hands on the Wisconsin farm, Frank Dickerson, woke Joseph up that day to go to the barn and feed the livestock. Joseph entered the barn still groggy from sleep. But as Joseph’s eyes adjusted to the gloom of the barn, he saw a sight which caused him to shriek and run for the house.

There in one of the stalls lay his employer, George Mack. His body was horribly mutilated in what looked like a horse trampling. But things were not as they seemed that July morning.

Joseph’s shouts alerted Dickerson and both men went back to the barn. They carried George toward the house. George’s wife, Belinda, saw them coming and opened the door. One look at George’s mangled body made it clear that he was already beyond help.

Soon the news of George’s death spread and at first, folks accepted the story that “Old Jen” , one of the family’s work horses, had caused George’s death. But in the hours and days that followed, their opinions would change.

George Mack lived on his family farm near the town of Turtle Township. He lived with his wife, Belinda and three children and the two men who worked the farm, Frank and Joseph. They had a comfortable two-story house and were doing well. George was respected by his community, and it was said he was a good neighbor.

Authorities were called and they soon showed up at the Mack farm. They immediately began the process of determining how George died. Right away there were things that pointed to a story different than was first presented. Just opposite the stable was a muddy patch (called a hog wallow in the papers of the day) that looked like a struggle had taken place there.

George’s body also carried evidence that more than a horse trampling had taken place. His chest was caved in, his face was scratched and “pounded to jelly” according to the newspaper accounts. There was also a gash on the top of his head that seemed to be made with a sharp instrument. He had sustained a shattered shoulder and broken ribs. George’s hands and clothing were also smeared with mud that wouldn’t have come from the dry barn where Old Jen was kept.

This evidence aroused the suspicions of the coroner as he completed his examination. At the same time the coroner was coming to his conclusion that this was no accident, the other authorities were finding evidence of their own. The terrible news of George’s death had spread, and the townsfolk had begun to gather at the farm. They had also begun to talk.

They told stories of the fights that the couple had over Belinda’s friendliness toward the hired men, especially Frank Dickerson. George had grown so jealous of the time his wife spent with Dickerson that he finally fired the handyman in May. But then George had taken ill, and Belinda had hired Dickerson again to help with the planting. George tried to protest but Belinda ignored him.
It was customary during this time period to hold an inquest right at the scene of any death. It allowed authorities and the coroner to question people while the story was still fresh in their minds.

During the inquest into the farmer’s death, stories of the fights and jealousy between Dickerson and George were revealed. The inquest ended with a determination that George’s death was caused by blows by someone unknown. Authorities quickly took it a step further and decided that they had enough evidence to arrest Frank Dickerson for the murder of George Mack.

Frank Dickerson made a full confession to what had really happened to George on the night of July 13. The authorities had lots of evidence to prove their theory that Dickerson had done the killing. But Dickerson had his own story. According to Frank, he only helped move the body under the hooves of Old Jen. In Frank’s version, it was Belinda who had done the actual killing. He also shared that it was Belinda who had backed up Old Jen and walked the horse over George’s body several times to make it look like the horse had caused the farmer’s death.

After the funeral, Belinda went to stay with friends that lived in Beloit. And it was there that the police arrested her. Once the story broke and the townsfolk of Turtle Township and Beloit had their suspicions confirmed to the actual relationship between Belinda and Dickerson, they were outraged. The police ordered extra guards to protect the two people whose actions had caused George’s death.

As one can imagine, the interest in this story was immense. So many people showed up to the trial that the maximum limit was quickly reached. Many attendees were left standing in the halls and on the lawn of the courthouse. The papers described the courtroom as “crowded to the point of suffocation.”

Frank Dickerson’s testimony was one of the high points of the trial. He shared all the horrid details of the last hours of George’s life. Dickerson was in his room when he heard Belinda call his name. When Dickerson came down the stairs he saw Belinda strike George over the head with a club from the firewood box. Dickerson stated he headed for the door. According to Dickerson he was going to get help for George. That was Belinda when said that she would tell everyone that it was Dickerson who had struck the farmer with the club.

Belinda then told Dickerson that they needed to make it look like an accident. They carried George’s body to the barn. They laid him in the hog wallow while they chased the pigs out of the yard. Then they opened the barn and placed George’s body in Old Jen’s stall and Belinda backed the horse over the body several times. After the deed was finished, Belinda demanded that Frank get rid of their bloody clothes. He put them down in the privy. The police later recovered the bloody items.

Belinda’s defense had a lot of evidence to overcome. But of course, the main thing was Dickerson’s testimony. They painted him as a jilted lover who had tried to get Belinda to have an affair but that she had rejected his affections. He promised he would get even. Dickerson’s attempt to frame Belinda by murdering her husband and placing the blame on her was merely an act of revenge.

But it seems the jury didn’t believe the defense and on January 10, 1879, they returned with a verdict of guilty. Belinda was sentenced to “hard labor in the State Prison of Wisconsin, for the term of her natural life, and that on the 13th day of each July during such term her imprisonment should be solitary.”

Dickerson went on trial next. It lasted ten days and the outcome was exactly the same. But another twist in this story was about to occur.

Belinda appealed her conviction. The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed with her claims that she should be granted a new trial because she was not allowed to share her side of the story. She was granted a new trial.

Belinda’s second trial ended with the jury being unable to agree on a verdict. Six jury members had voted for acquittal, two members had voted for murder and the rest, voted for manslaughter. The judge ordered a new trial. But it seemed that Wisconsin was done with this case. Belinda Mack never had a third trial.

When looking back at the two trials, there was one difference that stood out clearly. In Belinda’s first trial both men that were working for the family testified against her. The younger boy, Joseph, was only seventeen at the time of the murder. He testified about the Mack couple’s fights and that Dickerson and Belinda seemed to have a “close” relationship.

But Joseph never testified during the second trial. In the time between the first and second trial Belinda had married Joseph, even though he was almost half her age. Neighbors spoke of how smart Belinda was to marry young Joseph, the only other person that was at the farm when George was murdered. According to Wisconsin state law, spouses cannot be compelled to testify against their partners.

Belinda and Frank, who had such a passionate love affair, never saw each other again. Frank was released from prison in 1890 but didn’t bother to search for Belinda. It was just as well. If he had, he would have found the former widow Mack now living in Minnesota. She was still married to the young man who had discovered George’s body.

Another incident only deepened the mystery of George’s death. George was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Beloit. A short time after his funeral, one of the caretakers noticed that George’s stone had been vandalized. The caretaker questioned neighbors about visitors to George’s grave. The neighbors mentioned that a young lady visited the grave, but no one knew her identity. The motive for the vandalism was never determined. But when folks found out that the word “Murdered” had been removed from George’s stone it definitely added another layer of mystery to this already twisted story.