The Scandalous Murder of Louis Schulman

 

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On the snowy evening of February 2, 1944, Dr. Louis Schulman, a prominent 42-year-old physician from the affluent Pittsburgh neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, left his office in the Oakland Medical Building on Fifth Avenue with one of his patients, 23-year-old Jeannette Coury. The doctor had offered to drive Miss Coury home, and she accepted. 

They walked through the brisk night air along Fifth Avenue, and when they reached the intersection with Halket Street just before ten o'clock, a hooded figure wearing a gabardine raincoat emerged from the darkness and stepped between them. Suddenly, a gunshot shattered the silence, and Dr. Schulman clutched his chest.

As he slumped to the pavement, Dr. Schulman glanced at the shooter and a twinge of recognition reflected in his eyes, followed by mortal fear. "Oh my God, she's crazy!" he cried, pulling himself up and attempting to run down Fifth Avenue, in the direction of Montefiore Hospital, with the hooded attacker hot on his heels. The hospital was only a block away, and the doctor was, quite literally, running for his life.

Miss Jeannette Coury could only look on in bewildered silence as the doctor suddenly seemed to change his mind and crossed the street to the Oakland Pharmacy, leaving a trail of blood in the snow. Perhaps the doctor realized he was fading too quickly and would never reach the hospital. But just when Dr. Schulman grabbed for the pharmacy door, a second shot rang out and the physician collapsed onto the sidewalk. He was rushed by ambulance to Montefiore Hospital, but died within minutes of his arrival.

A few minutes later, a taxicab pulled to the curb in front of the Central Police Station. A middle-aged Syrian immigrant, a seamstress by trade, casually walked into the building. It was quite easy to overlook the woman; she appeared much older than her 38 years, a lifetime of manual labor having etched fine lines onto her plain face, her clothing frumpy and anything but stylish. The man at the desk, Sergeant Leo Walsh, glanced at her, wondering if perhaps she had dropped an envelope containing her weekly grocery money, or maybe had come to report a suspicious-looking character lurking in a darkened city doorway. Sergeant Walsh surely didn't expect what happened next.

"Evening, ma'am," nodded the desk sergeant. "It's a cold one out there, isn't it?"

"It certainly is."

"Is there something I can help you with, ma'am?"

"Well, perhaps. You see, I have just shot and killed a man out in Oakland."

The desk sergeant didn't know it at the time, but on that evening, February 2, 1944, he found himself with a front row ticket to one of the most scandalous murders to ever take place in the Steel City.

 

The Syrian Seamstress

After the woman at the police station identified herself as 38-year-old Martha Ashear, Sergeant Walsh asked for the weapon. Martha reached into her handbag and slowly withdrew a .38 caliber revolver. Two bullets had been fired, while two other bullets bore the dent of the gun's hammer but hadn't been discharged. When asked where she had obtained the revolver, Martha stated that it belonged to her deceased father. It was apparent that Martha Ashear had been determined to fire every last bullet into Louis Schulman, but why?

Martha was transported to a police station in Oakland, closer to the scene of the crime, and when she was questioned by Homicide Detective Lawrence J. Maloney, she burst into tears and made an outrageous claim-- that Dr. Louis Schulman had sexually assaulted her five years earlier, and, according to Martha, had "ruined her life and her health".

The authorities were suspicious of the seamstress' tale, of course, as Dr. Schulman was one of the most well-known and respected physicians in Pittsburgh. Nineteen years earlier he had graduated from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and quickly built up his practice. Only a week before the attack, he had been elected president of the Pittsburgh Medical Forum. He was happily married to a former nurse from Passavant Hospital, and was the father of a 16-month-old daughter. His brother, Benjamin, was also a Pittsbugh doctor, while another brother, Alex, was a prominent attorney in Los Angeles.

However, when detectives looked into the killer's claims, they were suprised by what they discovered. Numerous acquaintances of Martha Ashear were interviewed, and they confirmed Martha's story. Hilda Tucke, a supervisor at the Hart Trousers Company, where Martha had previously worked, told authorities that her former employee had filed a lawsuit against Dr. Schulman and that she had planned to testify on Martha's behalf when the civil suit was to be heard at the end of the month.

 

A Shocking Confession

When pressed for a confession by City Detective Inspector Walter C. Monaghan, Martha told a shocking story. In 1931, she was injured in a fall and went to Dr. Schulman for treatment. In 1938, the injury returned, but this time, when she went back to Dr. Schulman for treatment, the doctor allegedly raped her in his office. She became pregnant, and during a subsequent visit to the Medical Building on Fifth Avenue, Dr. Schulman gave Martha what she believed was medicine. A short time later, however, while attempting to move an icebox at home, Martha suffered a miscarriage. Martha was convinced that the “medicine” was actually a drug intended to produce an abortion. Being a deeply religious woman strongly opposed to abortion, and looking forward to becoming a mother for the first time, Martha couldn’t help but feel that she had unwittingly murdered her own unborn baby.

After her miscarriage, Martha told her story to anyone who would listen at the district attorney’s office. Her charge was presented to a grand jury, but Louis Schulman was never indicted. Undeterred, Martha went to a magistrate in 1941 and swore an affidavit accusing Dr. Schulman with indecent assault. A hearing was held before Alderman William Timmons on September 11 of that year, but the charges against the physician were dismissed for lack of evidence. Quite simply, it was the word of a poor Syrian immigrant against an affluent and popular medical professional, whose powerful connections ensured that his name would never be smeared in the local papers. 

Martha Ashear never stood a chance of getting the justice she believed that she deserved; the best she could hope for was to win a civil suit against Dr. Schulman. But, as she could not afford an attorney, she would have to bide her time and suffer in silence. Even worse, the miscarriage had robbed her of her strength and had left her in so much physical pain that she eventually had to stop working at the Hart Trousers factory.

By 1943, Martha had finally squirreled away enough money to hire an attorney, John D. Meyer, who entered a civil suit against Dr. Schulman, seeking $10,000 in damages. The physician, through his attorney, offered an out-of-court settlement that November for $250. Martha Ashear rejected the offer, and the case was continued several times. It was finally scheduled to go before a judge on February 15, 1944. But something snapped inside Martha, causing her to gun down the man she believed had ruined her life, less than two weeks before the court date. Had her savings finally run dry? Had she lost or misplaced physical evidence that was vital to her lawsuit? Or had the doctor’s powerful and influential friends intimidated Martha or the witnesses who were slated to testify in her behalf? During her confession at the Oakland Police Station, Martha failed to provide answers to these questions.

“The pain I suffered was unbearable,” was all that Martha said to Inspector Monaghan and Assistant District Attorney George Langfitt. “And I’m glad I shot him.”

Martha Ashear being questioned by Inspector Monaghan

 
The Woman Who Never Forgets

After many hours of interrogation, Martha Ashear began to speak more freely to authorities. She appeared remarkably calm and composed throughout the ordeal, and recited her life history, from her childhood in Syria to her arrival to the United States. Inspector Monaghan was amazed at the woman’s memory.

“She came to this country in 1923. She can remember every detail of her life here,” remarked Inspector Monaghan. “She is a woman who never forgets. I’ve never found a woman with a more remarkable memory.”

Martha admitted that she had stood outside the Medical Building for three hours in the freezing cold and swirling snow, waiting for the lights in Dr. Schulman’s office to go out. “He came out of the building,” she said. “He had a girl with him. I don’t know her but I know her sister. I don’t know how many times I shot him, but it wasn’t more than twice. When I left home, I was determined to kill him.
“I wanted to get away from Pittsburgh, so I would never see him again. But I couldn’t afford to. I was broke. In my statement I said that I was glad that I had done it... that it had kept me from losing my mind. I still feel that way.”

Also interviewed by detectives was Mary Thomas, of 1223 Gilmore Way. According to Miss Thomas, who had been friends with Martha for several years, Martha had moved in with her just three days earlier. Her money had run out, and she had been forced to leave her apartment at 71 Chatham Street.
“Martha left here tonight around six o’clock,” explained Miss Thomas. “She took an egg sandwich and a tangerine with her when she left tonight. Martha acted rather odd and told me she might not return home. I told her I’d leave the key out for her, since I have been sick and go to bed early. I can’t believe Martha would shoot anyone.” 

Her opinion was echoed by others in the neighborhood. “She was so quiet and dignified,” one neighbor told a reporter.

Jack Samuels, the taxi driver who drove Martha to the police station, also shared his story with reporters. “I had stopped my cab at the corner of McKee and Forbes,” he said. “There was a streetcar there and passengers were boarding it. The woman had one foot on the car step when she suddenly turned and ran toward the cab. She got in and I asked her where I could take her.” Martha told the cabbie to drive her downtown, but to avoid Fifth Avenue. She then leaned forward and politely asked, “If you kill somebody, where do you go?”

“I didn’t know what she was talking about,” said the cab driver. “I told her that the only place I knew to go in such a case was the Homicide Bureau... I thought that maybe she had just returned home and found that her husband had killed someone and wanted to report it.” During the drive, Samuels grew curious and began asking questions. He asked why she wanted to go to the police.

“If I killed you, where would I go?” she repeated. Samuels promptly headed for the Central Police Station.

“That was enough for me,” admitted Samuels. “I quit asking questions, collected my fare and got back to my cab as fast as I could. She went into the police station and that was the last I saw of her... I haven’t been able to sleep a wink with it on my mind. I wish she would have taken that streetcar!”

Jack Samuels, the cabbie who drove Martha to the police station

Circling the Wagons

By February 4, the murder of Dr. Louis Irwin Schulman was plastered across the front pages of newspapers not just in Pittsburgh, but across Pennsylvania. The coverage reported Miss Ashear’s astonishing accusations, but, surprisingly, rather than looking into these claims, the medical community circled its wagons around their fallen comrade.

Immediately after the murder, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Medical Society admitted that the society never investigated Dr. Schulman because, in the words of the spokesman, “there was nothing to investigate.”

“He had an excellent standing as a reputable physician, a large practice and personal following,” read the statement. “There never was anything to arouse the slightest suspicion about the type of practice he conducted.”

The Inquest

Funeral services for Dr. Schulman were held on the morning of Monday, February 7, and he was laid to rest at Beth Shalom Cemetery near Millvale. Meanwhile, the district attorney's office was building its case against the Syrian seamstress, who was being held on an open charge pending the outcome of the inquest.

The inquest into the death of Dr. Schulman was held by Coroner William McClelland on Tuesday, February 15. Among those who testified were Jeannette Coury, who stated that Martha had fired at Dr. Schulman at almost point-blank range. She initially thought it was a prank, or perhaps some sort of fraternal order initiation. When she saw the blood, she ran back inside the Medical Building. Another witness was Dr. Goldgeld, who testified that he had heard a gunshot before seeing a man crying for help while being chased by a woman. “He fell flat on his face on the sidewalk,” he continued. “He didn’t move. The woman stepped in back of him, and, with both hands extended, fired twice.”

This, of course, refutes the fact that only two bullets had been successfully fired from the weapon. Nevertheless, the coroner’s jury, on the strength of Martha Ashear’s confession alone, recommended that she be held for a grand jury and charged with murder.

There were also other inconsistencies and important questions that were never asked during the inquest. No testimony regarding the doctor’s injuries was given, and no autopsy report produced. And then there’s the testimony of 23-year-old Jeannette Coury. How did she manage to get back inside the Medical Building if Dr. Schulman had locked the door behind him when they left? What would a patient be doing with a key? And what sort of doctor examines young, pretty women at 10 o’clock at night? It is rather interesting to note that, like Martha Ashear, the Coury family was also of Syrian descent.

At the time of the shooting, Jeannette Coury was married to Joseph M. Basil, an army private who was overseas fighting in the war. Her life seems just as mysterious as that of the physician who offered to drive her home after a late-night doctor’s appointment; Jeannette would pass away just a few months later, in September 3, 1944, at the age of 24. Details of her death are unknown, though no report of any hospital admission appeared in any of the city’s numerous papers. 

 
A Message From Beyond the Grave

Upon learning of his brother’s death, Alexander H. Schulman, the Los Angeles attorney, traveled to Pittsburgh to investigate the circumstances of Louis’ death. The day after the inquest, he went to the press with excerpts of a letter he had reportedly found among his late brother’s personal effects, which conveniently happened to contain a direct denial of Martha’s accusations.

The letter, which was supposedly written by Dr. Schulman five months before the murder, was addressed to the insurance company which covered the doctor against civil suits. The letter was essentially an agreement that the suit brought by Martha Ashear be settled for $250. “The charges and claims are absolutely untrue,” the doctor had written, agreeing to settle the suit only on the condition that it was made clear that any such payment was not an admission of guilt.

“I repeat,” continued the letter, “that the charges and claims made by this woman in this suit, and at all other times, are absolutely unfounded and untrue... No patient that I have ever had was treated with greater consideration, kindness and courtesy, because I recognized her to be mentally disturbed. I can assure you that her attitude was not only a great surprise, but a great shock to me.

“However, I feel that your advice as to the method of bringing her present suit to an end should be followed and I have no objection... I believe, however, that the release, in addition to the usual clauses, should state: It is understood and agreed that the settlement of this case by payment of the insurance company as herein provided is not to be construes an admission by Dr. Schulman of the truth of any statement or allegation made by the said Martha Ashear, and it is understood and agreed by her that the said Dr. Schulman denies each and every such statement and allegation.”

 

Was Martha Insane?

On March 10, while Martha was being held prisoner at the county jail, Assistant District Attorney Langfitt announced that a lunacy commission would be appointed to determine whether or not the defendant was mentally fit to stand trial. Judge A. Marshall Thompson appointed two psychiatrists to perform the evaluation, Dr. Edward Everett Mayer and Dr. Rodney F. Kiefer. Three additional psychiatrists were later appointed to the commission.

On March 15, Martha Ashear was indicted by the grand jury on charges of murder and involuntary manslaughter, while the hearing to determine Martha’s sanity was held before Judge Thompson on March 28. All five state-appointed psychiatrists declared that Martha was “incurably insane” and recommended her immediate removal to a mental hospital. Dr. Mayer told the judge that Martha was suffering from delusions, declaring: “I will mention two famous men who are paranoiacs-- Mussolini and Hitler. The delusions they have are permanent.”

One of the doctors who testified was John A. Malcolm, who had examined Martha previously in 1939 at Mercy Hospital. At that time, he testified, he had recommended to her family that she be placed into a mental asylum. Another member of the lunacy commission was Dr. Harold L. Mitchell, who had also examined Martha previously, in September of 1940. He, too, believed that the woman showed signs of severe mental illness. 

 

Yet, if Martha Ashear really was as mentally unstable as these five experts insisted, she had done an exceptional job of concealing it from everyone, from her closest friends, to co-workers and employers. The finding of the lunacy commission also seemed to contradict the neighbor who described Martha as being quiet and dignified, not to mention Inspector Monaghan, who had marveled at the woman's ability to remember even the most minute details of her life going back decades. These hardly seem to be traits shared by those deemed every bit as "paranoiac" as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, or someone who was "delusional" and "incurably insane". And if her mental health truly was in such a precarious state, might it not be the result of being a rape victim? After all, when Drs. Malcolm and Mitchell first examined Martha, it was already after her miscarriage had taken place.

This, of course, raises an interesting question. Would the lunacy commission have reached the same decision had its members been drawn from outside Allegheny County? Like Dr. Schulman, all five members had connections to the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, either as graduates or professors. And, like Dr. Schulman, the members of the lunacy commission belonged to the same medical associations and societies. Might it be possible that the Pittsburgh medical community sought to protect the reputation of one of their own by discrediting Dr. Schulman's accuser?

On April 4, 1944, Martha Ashear was committed to Mayview State Hospital near Bridgeville, where hospital administrators described her a "model prisoner". She kept to herself, caused no trouble, and was soon forgotten by everyone except for close friends and relatives. The following month, the Pittsburgh Medical Forum passed a resolution praising the "integrity and deportment" of their slain president, Dr. Louis Schulman, and published the resolution in their next issue of the Pittsburgh Medical Bulletin. 

Today, one is remembered fondly as a hero gunned down in the prime of his life, while the other has been completely ignored by history-- just like her startling accusations. But, unfortunately, whether or not there was ever any truth to Martha Ashear's allegations, the world will never know.

 

Sources:

Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Feb. 3, 1944.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 3, 1944.
The Pittsburgh Press, Feb. 3, 1944.
Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Feb. 4, 1944.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 4, 1944.
Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Feb. 15, 1944.
The Pittsburgh Press, Feb. 15, 1944.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 11, 1944.
The Pittsburgh Press, March 13, 1944.
The Pittsburgh Press, March 28, 1944.
Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, March 29, 1944.
The Pittsburgh Press, April 5, 1944.
Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, May 23, 1944.