California Polytechnic State University history lecturer and UNP author Kathleen A. Cairns was interviewed for the L.A. Times weekly column "L.A. Then and Now."  The article, "Unwitting Pioneer of the Battered-woman Defense," briefly outlines Nellie May Madison’s life. 

Madison, an unconventional woman in many ways, shot her fifth husband in the back because he abused her.  She was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.  Cairns states in the article, "They really wanted to nail her… .  They didn’t like her lifestyle [nor] the fact that she didn’t break down and cry." 

Read an excerpt of Kathleen A. Cairns’ The Enigma Woman: The Death Sentence of Nellie May Madison.

Visit The Enigma Woman‘s book page.