Trial of the Century by Teri Sopp

Trial of the Century by Teri Sopp

Photo by Rebecca Berg

On a pleasant early evening in April 1897, the beautiful 19-year-old daughter of a prominent Jacksonville Cuban cigar manufacturer was shot and killed just inside the front gate of the family’s grand mansion in the Springfield neighborhood of Jacksonville. Her sister and the family gardener watched as a young, lovesick boy shot the young woman, then fled the scene. New of the sensational shooting made papers as far away as New York City.

Just over one month later, a trial commenced in a Jacksonville courtroom that could rival any televised current “trial of the century.” Drama unfolded in a courtroom where a judge and lawyers whose names ultimately shaped Florida politics for years to come (Call, Broward, Fletcher). Slippery legal tactics, overt racism, constant press coverage, spectator antics, and a shocking verdict were all part of the show.

In her new book, Fatal Switch: Murder on the Panama Road, Fernandina Beach, author Louise Stanton Warren tells the tale of the shocking murder of Marie Louise Gato. Warren, who grew up in the Springfield and Northshore areas of Jacksonville, has always been interested in Northeast Florida history. She has combined her research skills with a fascinating narrative to craft the tale of this brazen 1897 murder of a beautiful daughter of Jacksonville’s Cuban aristocracy. Warren’s recounting of the subsequent shocking brawl of a trial spotlights an injustice not widely known.

Warren, who many may know as one of the founders of Jacksonville’s Old City Cemetery Tour and as the producer of the Evergreen Cemetery Halloween Tour, “Tales from the Crypt,” has family connections with the northside of Jacksonville. Her grandparents lived in Springfield when her grandfather was director of the Anti-Saloon League of Florida and her grandmother was music director of the Springfield Methodist Church. Warren’s mother grew up in Springfield and was in the first graduating class at Andrew Jackson High School.

Warren became interested in the story of the murder of the beautiful young Miss Gato when a women’s service club to which she belonged began those Old City Cemetery tours as a fundraiser. “Years ago, I drove over the Mathews Bridge in my red Camaro,” Warren said, “and when I stopped at the light at the bottom of the exit, I spotted this lovely little Victorian cemetery off to the right and drove in on a rutted dirt road to explore.”

When she learned that the cemetery was home to the grave of a 19-year-old girl who had been murdered, Warren‘s interest was piqued. She started researching the Gato family, the War for Cuban Independence, and Jacksonville’s nineteenth-century cigar industry. The grave of Marie Louise Gato became one of the most popular spots on the cemetery tour.

The Gatos resided in a fine home just a few miles from the factory; Warren discovered that on the day of the murder, Marie Louise had taken the trolley home but had asked a fellow passenger to walk her home because she feared a suspicious man she had seen. When she entered the gate to her family’s beautiful home, she was accosted by Eddie Pitzer, a young man who had often sought her company.

Pitzer, who had been hiding in the bushes, fired shots at Marie Louise, first knocking her hat off then blowing her thumb off. As Marie Louise tried to escape, Pitzer dragged her by her skirt and shot her three more times in the back. Marie Louise’s sister and the family gardener witnessed the shooting and Pitzer’s escape from the yard.

The shooting of Marie Louise Gato was sensational news. The New York Times covered the story. Warren, who was a lawyer before giving up the practice to write full time, spent hours reading newspaper accounts of the police investigation and the trial to re-imagine the scenes in the dusty county courtroom.

Intrigued by the back stories of the prominent Cuban exiles, Warren began extensive genealogical research, eventually connecting with descendants of the family members. Research took Warren from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Tavares, Florida and Savannah, Georgia, and many other places, in search of the stories of all the players in the case.

Warren rented an office in Fernandina Beach just to have a space in which to write. She also belonged to a writers’ group called Chats Noir, where she was coached by Carol O’Dell and encouraged by other members of the group.

“I’ve always been a reader,” recalls Warren. “As a young girl, I of course loved the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew,” she laughs. Warren wrote for the Jackson High school newspaper and for the Florida State University Flambeau.

“I always knew I wanted to write a book,” says Warren. “I just didn’t know it would take me twelve years!”