Cora was born in 1876 to Frank Van Ness and Frances Wheelock. The story of her parents’ marriage is a one for a separate posting. Cora was one of 7 children who grew up in New York City.
In the summer of 1894, Cora travelled to Wisconsin to marry James Mead, the founder of Mead Bicycles. James Mead ended up being a very well to do man thanks to his bicycle company.
At some point, Cora left James to become the mistress of Leslie A. Thornewill. There is no proof, that I have found thus far, of any actual marriage between the two. Mr. Thornewill was a former Canadian Mounted Policeman. The two lived as a couple for many years.
In September 1928, Cora Mead called 911 to report that “He’s killing me!” Cora was later found dead on the kitchen floor of her home. She had been shot through the mouth and a shotgun was found some distance from the body. A coroner’s inquest was done and it was ruled that Cora’s death was a suicide. The police claimed that Cora took her own life and arranged the scene to make it appear as if Thornewill had killed her. Three days after Cora’s death, Thornewill was taken to jail for questioning.
After Cora’s death her son-in-law, Donald M. Pearson, arrived at the Sheriff’s office with a criminologist in tow. The Pearsons remained in Santa Cruz, California, until the inquest was completed.
In 1928, it was reported that a young girl, Lillian Slick, the telephone operator who was on the receiving end of Cora’s 911 call, was unavailable to the police for questioning although she was regarded as a pivotal witness. The San Francisco Union stated that she was missing.
In 1930, a private investigator was hired to look into Cora’s death thanks to Santa Cruz clergymen. Detective Avers claimed that there were witnesses to Cora’s murder. Detective Avers discovered that Cora had most likely been murdered by members of a rum running ring for “knowing too much.” It was also thought that corruption in the police department helped cover up Cora’s murder. Some of the evidence that helped the investigator was the fact that Cora had a habit of keeping copies of all letters she sent to people. In some of these letters, Cora states that she was afraid for her life, afraid that people would get to her due the fact that she knew of their operations.
There appears to have been a cover up on multiple levels throughout the case. There were allegations of the police covering up many of the important details of Cora’s murder. These rumors were unsubstantiated from what I can tell.
I have yet to find clear evidence of whether the cause of Cora’s death was ever changed to "murder".
