Murder of Belle Douglas

What the Joplin Bulletin called "one of the most horrible and villainous crimes that has ever disgraced the history of Southwest Missouri" came to light on Monday, April 10, 1876, when one or more teamsters crossing Center Creek a few miles northwest of Joplin discovered the body of a young woman floating in the river downstream from the ford, where her clothes had snagged on a limb. The body was taken to the nearby residence of Charles Manlove, where it was identified as Miss Belle Douglas. Belle had been living with Manlove, and she had been missing for about four weeks. Although newspaper accounts at the time identified Belle as Manlove's sister-in-law, census records suggest that she might, in fact, have been his sister. If Belle was not his sister, then he must have had both a sister and a sister-in-law named Belle.
At any rate, an examination revealed that Belle had been struck twice with a heavy object, once on the side of the head and once on the back of the head. Either blow was deemed sufficient to have caused death. Belle was also found to be about seven months pregnant at the time of her death, and certain circumstantial evidence caused investigators to suspect that Manlove was both her seducer and her killer.
Manlove was arrested and taken to Joplin for a preliminary examination before Justice of the Peace J. C. Maddy. After several days of testimony, he was charged with murder and released on a $10,000 bond to await trial.
Before his earthly trial came up, however, Manlove was, according to the Joplin Democrat, called to answer at a "higher court" later the same year. While riding horseback on August 8 near the Stevens diggings about four miles west of Joplin, Manlove was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning that passed from the top of his head down through his body, breaking three ribs, and then separated and went down both legs. "Thus ends in tragedy one of the most mysterious occurrences that has happened in this county since the war," said the Democrat. "With Chas. Manlove dies his prosecution..., and perhaps the secret of her (Belle's) death will forever remain secret."