Portland Press Herald photographers captured Mrs. Mary E. Morrill as she waited in the Superior Court Room on Wednesday, September 18, 1935. Morrill was charged with the brutal murder of her husband, Herbert L. Morrill, and faced life in prison.

During her trial, Mrs. Morrill pled self-defense, according to an Associated Press report, claiming she had suffered frequent abuse and deprivation at the hands of her husband for years. She alleged that she had been denied proper food and clothing and was a virtual prisoner in her own home. An autopsy performed by Dr. Wilbur F. Leighton revealed extremely brutal injuries, including a fractured skull, crushed larynx, three deep neck wounds—one severing the spine—a fractured jaw, a chin gash, and punctures in the left cheek. The newspaper described it as "Body Badly Battered." The jury was not swayed by Mrs. Morrill's self-defense argument.

The jury deliberated for only two hours and six minutes before declaring her guilty of the axe murder of her husband in West Falmouth on June 8, 1935. Pictured at her right is her counsel, Harry E. Nixon, and to Mr. Nixon’s right is his associate, Clinton W. Benson.