By Scott A. Grant
mail@floridanewsline.com
In the early evening of Jan. 23, 1974, Athalia Ponsell Lindsley was hacked to death by an assailant wielding a machete on the front steps of her home at 124 Marine Street in St. Augustine. The brutal murder remains unsolved to this day.
Suspicion immediately fell on Athalia’s neighbor, Alan Griffin Stanford Jr. An 18-year-old neighbor on the other side saw a man attacking Athalia and shouted to his mother “Mr. Stanford is hitting Mrs. Ponsell.” The youth would later recant saying he could not be sure that the assailant was Mr. Stanford.
The coroner determined that Athalia had been struck nine times by a machete, severing one of her fingers and nearly decapitating the 56-year-old victim. The only thing missing from the house was a pet blue jay whose cage had been smashed.
Athalia and Stanford had a long running feud, beginning with the six rescue dogs she kept in her house who Stanford claimed barked incessantly. Additionally, Stanford was the County Engineer, and Athalia criticized him frequently at County Commissioner meetings, claiming amongst other things that he lacked the requisite certification to qualify as a county engineer.
Athalia Ponsell Lindsley was a wealthy socialite from the north. She had been born in Ohio, but grew up on an island off the coast of Cuba. She was an attractive young woman and worked for some time as model and showgirl in New York City. She had dated and was rumored to be engaged to Joseph Kennedy Jr., older brother of future President John F. Kennedy. She also appeared as a hostess on Bud Collyer’s television game show “Winner Takes All.”
When she moved to St. Augustine, she was an outsider from the north who tried to change things. That did not go well. She ran unsuccessfully for State Senate and planned to run for a seat on the St. Johns County Commission. She showed up regularly to voice her opinion at commissioner meetings. At a meeting in October 1973, Athalia claimed that Stanford had “threatened my life.”
Four months before the murder, Athalia married James “Jinx” Lindsley, a former mayor of St. Augustine and a successful realtor and real estate investor. The couple did not live together. She lived in her home on Marine Street and her husband lived at the historic Lindsley house on St. George Street. On the day of the murder, they had traveled to Jacksonville together on a shopping trip before returning to their separate homes.
In February, county mechanic Dewey Lee discovered what appeared to be the murder weapon in the marsh a few miles from the murder scene. The sheriff found the machete, a wristwatch, dark pants, a white shirt, belt, and a purple tie all wrapped up in a pink towel. The items were blood stained. The watch was traced to Stanford by the serial number. It was determined the pants and shirt had been purchased by Stanford’s wife.
At trial, defense attorney Edward Booth argued that the sheriff’s office was out to get Stanford and very well may have planted the evidence against him. Or perhaps it was Dewey Lee who committed the crime and planted the evidence. Witnesses testified that Stanford was in his office at the time of the murder. The lone eyewitness who had originally identified Stanford now said the assailant was heavier with more hair.
The jury deliberated for two and a half hours, before returning a verdict of not guilty. During that time, they enjoyed a dinner on the county. Sheriff Dudley Garret disagreed with the verdict and did not pursue the case any further believing he had caught the killer.
The tragedy was not entirely over. In November, a friend of Athalia’s, Francis Bemis, a newspaper writer, who was researching the case, was found dead in a vacant lot near the corner of Bridge and Marine streets. Her skull was crushed. Like Athalia, her murder has never been solved. Some say the ghosts of both women still haunt the bay front.
Scott A. Grant is a local historian and author. By day he runs Standfast Asset Management in Ponte Vedra. He welcomes your comments at scottg@standfastic.com
