Told Tales By Dead Women.

Nell Cropsey, a young North Carolina woman, disappeared from her family's Elizabeth City residence on the evening of November 20, 1901. Nell's body was found floating in a neighboring river after a frantic search that lasted more than a month. She had been cruelly murdered, but by whom? Her lover was imprisoned for more than a dozen years despite maintaining his innocence before the governor released him. Did he kill Nell? If not, who did it? And why did he kill himself so soon after being released from jail?

The murder of Nell Cropsey continues to be one of the most peculiar murder cases in the history of the state, and it's possible that the unresolved issues in the case are what cause Nell's ghost to still linger at her ancestral home to this day.

July 1882 saw the birth of Nell Maud Cropsey. Her parents, William and Mary Louise, had been residents of Brooklyn, New York, but they had moved to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in the south in 1898. William was appointed Pasquotank County judge, and the couple relocated to a 65-acre farm. Nell and her younger sister Olive became well-known in the neighborhood as they cheerfully adapted to their new home. Both girls were stunning and attracted a lot of attention. Nell was courted by Jim Wilcox, the son of the local sheriff, while Olive started dating a man by the name of Roy Crawford. They had been talking about getting married by 1901, after being together for almost two years.

Roy and Jim both went to the Cropsey house that evening, November 20. Around 11:00 p.m., Jim got up and invited Nell to join him on the front porch for a chat after the two couples had spent the evening together. Olive and Roy were the only ones awake in the house; everyone else was asleep. Olive believed that Nell had returned home and gone to bed after a period of time of thirty minutes. No one was outside when Roy Crawford decided to go. When Olive entered the room she and her sister shared, she saw that Nell was not in bed. Going to bed under the assumption that Nell was still with Jim.

The Cropsey's dog suddenly started barking obnoxiously at midnight. After being awakened by the commotion, the entire family stepped outside onto the porch to investigate. Olive found out that Nell hadn't gone to bed even though no one was around. She couldn't find her sister.

Mrs. Cropsey was frightened, but her husband tried to reassure her by speculating that possibly Nell and Jim had made up their minds to elope. He told his wife that during their discussion about marriage, they had brought up the fact that it was common for young couples to go off and be married.

William Cropsey was not certain that his daughter had fled by daybreak. Nell had been anticipating a vacation to New York. Nothing from her possessions was missing. The closet still held her belongings, including her suitcases. William was certain that there was a problem. He went to Sheriff Wilcox's house to inquire. Since Jim was the last person to see Nell that evening, he might have some notion of her whereabouts. Jim was at home when he came, but he declined to see Nell's father in the parlor.

William went to meet the police chief because he was upset and concerned. Jim Wilcox was compelled by the police to go back to the Cropsey house, where he was interrogated for several hours. Mary and Olive begged Jim to tell them something, but he refused. He would only add that after a 10-minute talk, he had left Nell sobbing on the porch. He remained silent when asked why the girl was sobbing, what the two of them were talking about, or where he went after leaving the Cropsey house.

Nell Cropsey was the target of a huge search. Police personnel, volunteers, and trained bloodhounds searched the area's woods and wetlands. The missing girl had not been located. Rumors about Nell and Jim Wilcox's relationship started to circulate, painting a negative picture. Brutal conflicts and Nell's apprehension of Jim's violent temper were described to the police by friends. Recently, Nell had confessed that she intended to cease seeing Jim, and they had been fighting more frequently than usual during the previous few months, Mary Cropsey told the police.

The lost girl was still missing after several weeks. The Cropsey family started to worry when Jim Wilcox continued to refuse to speak with the authorities. Nell's body was later discovered floating in the Pasquotank River on December 27. Many believed that the perpetrator had recently retrieved the girl's body from a hiding location and tossed it into the river after numerous unsuccessful searches of the area's rivers.

Jim Wilcox was captured with no more suspects. Jim received numerous death threats while he was incarcerated, each threatening to have him lynched for his crime. Even after Nell vanished from the house, he continued to refuse to explain where he was. This made matters worse. Nell was fatally wounded by a hit to the left temple, according to the autopsy. Jim's reputedly strong temper raises the possibility that a disagreement could have ended fatally.

Jim skipped the pre-trial hearing because he had waived his right to one. He was given a hanging verdict in March 1902 after being found guilty of first-degree murder. His case was ruled a mistrial by the North Carolina Supreme Court before he was sent to the hangman. In 1903, he was tried for murder once more and this time, he was convicted of second-degree murder. He was ordered to serve the following 30 years behind bars. But Governor Thomas Walter Bickett paid Jim a visit in 1918. He was forgiven and released a short while later.

Jim met with renowned newspaper editor W.O. Sanders after being released from prison because Sanders was preparing to write a book about the Cropsey case. Whatever Jim had to say to him apparently shocked Saunders so much that he decided to begin writing the suggested book right now. However, it was not to be. Jim shot himself in the head with a shotgun not long after the encounter. Saunders was killed in an automobile accident not long after that.

It will never be known what Jim Wilcox said to Saunders during that meeting.

But it's only one of the unsolved riddles in this case. Nell Cropsey's fate that night in 1901 is likely to remain a mystery to us, and perhaps this is why her ghost won't go to sleep. People who have resided in the former Cropsey house over the past century have noted weird occurrences. Doors open and close, lights come on and off, the water in the sink runs even though no one turns the handle, and unexplained cold air gusts move through the house.

There have also been tales of seeing a pale young woman going around vacant rooms. The same pale figure has been spotted from an upstairs window by onlookers on the street. One night, a homeowner claimed to have seen Nell standing at the foot of her bed and knew it was the slain girl when she woke up.

Can Nell's death's unsolved mystery ever be put to rest? The sad young woman is as unlikely to achieve the tranquility she is still looking for after all these years because it seems implausible. Because she is still alive and able to walk, she serves as a constant reminder that she was never truly given the justice she deserved. As we recall the tragic story of her ghost, her sad story is retold often. It's true what they say about dead men, or in this case, a dead young lady, telling tales.