Photograph used for articles dated June 29, 1927, May 24, 1932, May 18, 1934, April 1, 1935, June 17, 1935. In June 1935, Clara Phillips, the "tiger girl," walked out of the Techachapi women's prison into the world of freedom today after serving 12 years. It was a far different release from iron bars than when she escaped from the Los Angeles jail on December 5, 1922, a few days after her conviction of the hammer murder of Alberta Meadows. Even with her release today, the mystery of this jail escape has not been solved. This photo-diagram of the old county jail shows the two versions of her escape. Officers said she crawled out her cell window, to which large arrow points, slid down drain pipe to adjoining roof and then reached street by route indicated by dotted line. Jesse Carson, who helped her, said she walked right out the main jail door, shown by arrow.; In 1922, Clara Phillips, a former chorus girl, learned the identity of her husband's mistress, Alberta Meadows. Fueled by jealousy and rage, Phillips went on to purchase a claw hammer, then, in the company of her friend Peggy Caffee, sought out Meadows and assaulted her. The animal-like attack against Meadows, who was left disemboweled and with a severally mauled face, earned Phillips the name "Tiger Woman." Phillips was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison for the crime of passion. She escaped from the Los Angeles County prison 1922 and was found in Honduras in 1923. She was an inmate at San Quentin from 1923 until 1932, when she was transferred to the original California Institution for Women in Tehachapi. She was released on parole in 1935.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;20 x 36 cm. on board 20 x 36 cm. Photographic prints
Phillips, Clara Los Angeles County Jail (Los Angeles, Calif.) Escapes--California--Los Angeles Jails--California--Los Angeles County Criminals--California--Los Angeles Women murderers--California--Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
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