The Staffleback Family of Murderers

Nancy Chase was born 16 Aug 1832 in Allegany County, NY to Levi R Chase & Lucinda.

Inmate: #8258 Kansas State Prison
Rec: 2 Oct 1897
Crime: Murder
Term: 25 yrs

Here are some newspaper articles on the crime:

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55461177/staffleback/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55462074/staffleback/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55461927/the-eagle/


She married in 1867 to Michael Staffleback (1818-1893) They had the following children.
It's said they had 13 children but these are all I found.

Edward Staffleback
1855–1899
Alonzo Staffleback
1858–1881
Phil Staffleback
1859–1859
Louisa Staffleback
1866–1897
Michael "Mike" Staffleback
1867–1943
Emily "Emma" Staffleback
1869–1944
George Staffleback
1872–1911
Mary Elizabeth Staffleback

1873–1948

They would divorce 8 Sep 1887 • Lawrence County, Missouri, USA. She would marry a man she had lived with for many years before her divorce. Charles W Wilson 5 Oct 1896 • Carthage, Jasper, Missouri, USA. He would also go to prison with the bunch and he would tell his story after his wife is dead.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55504825/charles-wilson/

He was also a prisoner at the Kansas State prison for murder, he would die in prison 18 Nov 1899.

He was married twice

Spouse
Sarah Ann Townsend
1856–1881
Children
Louis Staffleback
1877–
Florence Louise Staffleback
1880–1947

Spouse
Cora Kitcher

Cora his wife turned state's evidence and was let go. Her photo is below. They were not blood sisters but sisters in crime.

Alonzo they called Lon was insane or driven crazy by his family. He never married and I found some really sad newspaper articles on his life.

Louisa was married to William M Lake

Michael or Mike as he was called was not at home when all this was going on. He was already in prison again for another of his crimes, Here's a timeline of his crimes I put together and some newspaper articles I found.

27 Dec 1888 in Lawrence, Missouri, USA to Millie Ann Mortin

Arrested

Dec 1889 • Lawrence County, Missouri, USA

for stealing clothes off of clothes lines in Mt. Vernon. Both Nancy and her son pleaded guilty. Nancy paid a ten-dollar fine, while Michael was sentenced to eight days in jail.

Arrested

1894

for burglary and larceny and tossed in the clink to await trial. He pled guilty to the larceny charge and was sentenced to two years in the state pen, while the burglary charge was dropped. He was escorted to Jeff City in early September 1894. He was released in early February 1896, after serving three-fourths of his term, and he immediately joined the rest of the Staffleback family, who'd gone back to Joplin and then moved across the state line to Galena during his incarceration.

Murder of Hookers

1896 • Galena, Jasper, Missouri, USA

According to the later testimony of Cora Staffleback, wife of another Staffleback brother (George), Mike Staffleback got involved in another crime very soon after his arrival in Galena, this one more heinous than the petty crime he'd been convicted of in Lawrence County. Cora said that Mike and Ed Staffleback (yet another brother) invited two prostitutes to stay at the Staffleback place in early 1896. Apparently the brothers considered the girls their own private whores, because they got jealous of the attention the girls were paying to some other men and ended up killing the girls and dropping their bodies in a deserted mine shaft.

The bodies of the girls were never discovered; so Mike Staffleback never paid for this crime, if indeed he committed it.

Arrested

1897 • Cherokee County, Kansas, USA

charge of larceny, this time in Cherokee County, Kansas. He was in jail at Columbus awaiting trial when Galbraith was killed. So, Mike avoided getting drawn into that case as well. He was sentenced to seven years in the Kansas State Pen on the larceny charge, however, at the same time his mother and brothers were convicted and sent up for murdering Galbraith.

Arrested

May 1908 • Jasper County, Missouri, USA

 Mike was released from the Lansing prison shortly after the turn of the 20th century, and he went back to Jasper County, Missouri, where he soon returned to a life of crime. In May 1908, he was again convicted of larceny and sentenced to two years in the state prison.

Arrested 

May 1914•Jasper County, Missouri, USA

He had just been released when he got arrested again in May of the same year on a charge of stealing chickens. He was considered an habitual offender and stealing chickens.

Arrested

1914 • Jasper County, Missouri, USA

1914, he served a brief sentence in the county jail on a charge of petty theft.

He had another wife named Lottie Alice Day, I didn't find their marriage record.

Mike would 4 Sep 1943 but for some strange reason his obit wasn't published until 14 Sep 1944

Emily was Emma she was married to Fred E Chapman.

I found this article 

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55462619/emma-staffleback/

She would marry again to a Mr. Mitchell
She would also claim her mother body after she died in prison.

Inmate: #8259 Kansas State Prison
Rec: 2 Oct 1897
Crime: Murder

He was married to Ooary Sake 2 Jul 1893 • MT Vernon, Lawrence, Missouri, USA.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55461927/the-eagle/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55409889/nancy-wilson/   

 George would die in 1911 while in prison and in 1904 he would talk.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55462465/staffleback/

Mary the last child was married twice and there wasn't very much information mentioned about her during the trial.

Nancy would die in prison in 1909 and begged to be freed so she didn't have to die in prison and the warden said no, but they did let her son George and her husband Charles be at her side and her daughters sent farewell letters.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55461111/nancy-chase/


https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55462191/nancy-chase/


Michael Staffleback Sr. would die alone with no family by his side in 1893.

I mostly feel bad for Lon (Alonzo) he was clearly abused and neglected. Maybe he was autistic or slow, but there was no excuse for that kind of treatment.

I made them a tree and added everything to it. There are 5 other trees made and they have some stuff about the murders but very little family information.