KY KY - Mary Marrs Cawein, 39, Lexington, 5 July 1965

Murdered sometime in the early morning of July 5, 1965, Cawein was found fully dressed in her bedroom, the victim of carbolic acid poisoning.

Her killer has not been found. The case was dubbed “the Carbolic Acid Cocktail Murder.”

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As investigators peeled back layers of the stories surrounding the death of Mary Cawein, sordid details of Mary and Dr. Madison Cawein’s married life emerged.

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Lappat was one of the key players in the investigation into the murder of Mary Marrs Cawein — along with Cawein’s husband, Dr. Madison Cawein; Madison Cawein’s mistress, Barbara Leapman (Lappat was also reported to be a former mistress of Cawein’s); Leapman’s husband, Dr. Hershell Leapman; and several others.

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Thousands of pages of evidence — interviews, crime scene photos, tips, leads, etc. — where complied as detectives in 1965 dove into the mystery surrounding Mary Cawein’s murder.

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From the get-go, the murder of Mary Cawein on July 5, 1965, rated as one of the great crime puzzlers in the Bluegrass State... Half a century later, the murder stands as a case study of the perils when etiquette trumps investigative ardor...

The investigation was a hot mess from the start. Instead of notifying police, Cawein called in doctor friends to confirm the death. Cops arrived late to a tainted crime scene. For example, Cawein ordered Sam Strother to dump a glass of bourbon sitting on the nightstand, destroying potential evidence...

Any of the three doctors had the skills and potential motivations to commit the murder, but the grand jury returned no indictments — just a surly statement chastising busybodies and the press.

The investigation sank into obscurity. For decades, as witnesses died off (including Cawein in 1985), Lexington authorities fought the release of the investigative files for reasons never well-explained...

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