The Murder

Around 1863, Laura was running the Tahoe House hotel in Virginia City, Nevada. Many people rushed to Nevada in hopes of getting rich off of the Comstock lode, a recently discovered silver mine. This is when Laura met Alexander Crittenden. Crittenden stayed in the Tahoe house. He came to Nevada to set up a law firm and hoped to get in on the prosperity brought in from the silver. By the end of 1863, the lawyer and the hotel worker were swearing their love for each other. In 1864, Crittenden’s wife, son, and daughter unexpectedly showed up to the Tahoe House. This is how Laura learned that Crittenden was married. Crittenden promised that he would divorce his wife at the earliest convenience. Crittenden’s wife Clara knew of Laura, but she believed that she was just a friend. Crittenden even convinced his wife to let Laura stay in a room in their house.

Illustration of Alexander Crittenden

Because Laura was born in Mississippi, her sympathies were with the south during the Civil War. Her loyalty was so extreme that she shot at a Union soldier. The bullet missed its target and nothing ever came of it. On a later occasion at the Russ House in San Francisco, Laura shot at a man that made disparaging remarks about her. Once again, she missed and she was not prosecuted. Crittenden convinced Laura to travel to Indiana because of the more lenient divorce laws. He said that he would meet her there and they would get married. Laura waited for Crittenden for some time but he never showed up. In 1869, Crittenden moved back to San Francisco and was living with his family. Laura, who had followed him to the bay area, was still “visiting” Crittenden. Laura was living with her mother at this time. Laura bought a Colt revolver and shot at Crittenden one night after they had an argument.

In August of 1870, Laura married Jesse Snyder. Their marriage didn’t last long as they divorced October 8 of the same year because Crittenden couldn’t bear to see Laura marry Snyder. He wrote a letter to Laura:

“No—I cannot—cannot be content. You are to me the sun—air—life—everything; and without you—as we are now—there can be no existence. I am wretched, insufferably, infinitely wretched. I have no heart or mind for anything—can think of nothing but you. Day and night I wander about like a ghost...”

Laura was moved by the letter and agreed to meet with Crittenden. They both promised to divorce their spouses and get married. Laura kept her promise and divorced Snyder, however Crittenden did not.

In 1871, Clara Crittenden went east on a trip, and Laura believed she was finally going to marry Crittenden. However, Laura got word that Clara would be returning and that Crittenden had bought new furniture to surprise her with. Enraged, Laura went to a gun shop to trade her large revolver for a much smaller Sharps derringer.

In September of 1870, Crittenden sent his family on a pleasure trip. On November 3, he went to the pier in Oakland where he was to greet his family upon their return. He met up with his family and took them aboard the ferry El Capitan. From the time of the family reunion, Mr. Crittenden’s son noticed a woman dressed and heavily veiled in black, who seemed to be closely watching the family. Once the family was seated, the woman quickly made her way to them and quickly, whipping a pistol out, shot Mr Crittenden in the chest. He collapsed to the floor as the woman hurried away and took a seat. A man by the name of Captain Ketzel, a member of the Harbor Police, was aboard the ferry at the time of the murder. Ketzel disarmed the lady and arrested her. It was subsequently learned that she was Mrs. Laura D. Fair. Once she was arrested, she began to act in a very strange manner. She was handed a stimulant in a glass of water to calm her down. When she raised the stimulant to her lips, she took a bite out of the glass.