Millionaire’s Mistress in the Crosshairs: Stokes Case Takes a Deadly Turn

New York, November 29, 1911 – The Stokes case has just gotten a whole lot more complicated. Show girls Lillian Graham and Ethel Conrad are on trial for the alleged murder of millionaire sportsman W.E.D. Stokes. But it was a letter, one that had gone unnoticed until today, that sent shockwaves through the courtroom. The letter, allegedly written by Lillian Graham, claimed that Stokes had nothing to fear from her. But Stokes himself testified that the letter was written and signed before Graham left New York to visit his Kentucky farm at Lexington. He denied getting her to sign it at the farm, or that two other notes introduced as evidence were written at his request in Kentucky. Instead, Stokes claimed that all the notes were written in New York and sent to his office. The prosecution, however, read into the evidence more than sixty letters allegedly exchanged between Stokes and the show girls, further muddying the waters. As the trial continues, one thing is clear: the Stokes case is no ordinary love triangle. It’s a tangled web of deceit, passion, and possibly even murder.