Dark Downeast - The Suspicious Death of Sally Maynard Moran (Maine)

Episode Date: October 25, 2021

QUESTIONABLE, 1953: Sally Maynard Moran left for a walk to the far side of Monhegan Island on the evening of July 9, 1953. That side of the island is known for the tallest oceanside cliffs on the Maine coastline. It’s among those cliffs this story unfolds. Was it a truly tragic accident? Was it a choice? Or could it have possibly been murder? View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/sallymoranFollow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTokTo suggest a case visit darkdowneast.com/submit-caseDark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.

10 miles off the mainland and just a square mile in area, outlined by the highest ocean cliffs on the main coastline and crashing white waves of the Atlantic, you'll find the quaint little village of Monhegan Island. Monhegan feels indescribable at times, a beauty you just have to see to fully grasp. It's no wonder that the island has become a haven for painters. Perhaps the beauty is better described with colors on a canvas than words alone. And so artists bring their easels and paintbrushes. Tourists bring their cameras. Adventurers lace up their hiking boots to explore the untouched forest paths, leading to unobstructed ocean sightlines atop towering seaside cliffs. The kind of cliffs that leave your legs tingling should you stand too close to the sharp edge.

It's among those cliffs that this story unfolds. Was it a truly tragic accident? Was it a choice? Or could it have possibly been murder? I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is the story of Sally Maynard Moran on Dark Down East. Monhegan Island's name is derived from the Algonquin language, meaning out-to-sea island. It's a reminder that long before colonists forcefully claimed the land as their own, it was home to the indigenous population of the region. The documented history of the island is laced with tales of pirates and wars and territorial disputes. At times, it was abandoned, not a single inhabitant. But it remained a favorite stop for fishing vessels and other ships, its harbor rich with cod and other catch. By the mid-1800s, Monhegan Island was incorporated

under English colonial control as an island plantation, a small established village with an informal local government. The land was farmed and the crop of potatoes was bountiful for such limited acreage, but the real industry was fishing and lobstering, and it persists alongside tourism as the two local economy drivers to this day. Tourists come for the nearly 20 miles of hiking trails through protected wildlands, the vignettes of endless sea everywhere you turn, and if they happen to be artistically inclined or merely appreciative of those who are, they come for the art. In the late 1800s, word of the beautiful Rocky Island village spread quickly as notable painters and art students flocked to the

shores of Monhegan to capture on canvas the land and seascapes unlike any other. And with that, the art colony of Monhegan Island was born. In a 2012 piece for the Boston Globe, correspondents Diane Baer and Pamela Wright traveled to the island to experience it for themselves. They wrote, quote, The island is magical. The light is magnificent. The place has soul. There is a painting everywhere you look. There were also painters everywhere we looked. We had been on the island for a day, and already we'd seen artists perched on ledges and bluffs, lining the dirt roads, gathering at the edge of forests, standing with easels propped and brush in hand at Fish Beach, Swim Beach, Pulpit Rock,

and Lobster Cove, end quote. Art is part of the fabric of the island. For more than 150 years, names like George Bellows, C.K. Chatterton, Edward Willis Redfield, Frederick Judd Waugh, N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth visited, stayed, and painted the island. As did the celebrated, but draftsman Rockwell Kent first arrived on Monhegan in 1905. He visited on recommendation of his teacher, Robert Henri, at New York School of Art, and as many artists before and since, was captured by the island and made it his muse for some of the most prolific works in his portfolio. In 1906, Rockwell decided to make himself a more permanent piece of the island and hired someone to build a cottage of his own overlooking Rocky Lobster Cove.

In a piece by Mountain Lake PBS contributor Doug Cook, the associate director of the Monhegan Museum of Art and History explained that the builder Rockwell hired never did show up to start the job as scheduled. And so, as Rockwell Kent put it, out of anger was born a carpenter. He built the cottage himself. After all, he studied architecture at Columbia for his undergraduate education. During his early years on the island, he produced some of his most well-known works. His illustration style is usually referred to as early American modernist, with heavily stylized elements and contrasting colors. Some of his more well-known illustrations included a special edition of Moby Dick released in 1930. His illustrated edition sold out immediately.

His painting, however, is more realistic. For me, his ability to capture the quality of light on the horizon over open ocean is breathtaking. The soft fade of pinks to yellows to blue-gray sky is almost like seeing it in real life with your own eyes. Although his art was celebrated, Rockwell's politics often made him a target. According to a piece by the New England Historical Society, he became more and more radical and outspoken during World War II. He advocated for peace and friendship with the Soviet Union. In 1948, he ran for Congress on the American Labor Party ticket, and he made enemies with none other than anti-communist leader Joseph McCarthy. In early July of 1953, Rockwell Kent

appeared in front of Senator McCarthy and the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. During his testimony, Chief Counsel of the Subcommittee Roy Cohn asked, Mr. Kent, are you a member of the Communist Party? Rockwell Kent replied, quote, I am going to avail myself of the privilege of the Fifth Amendment and, if you please, not answer that question, end quote. After the televised appearance and publicity surrounding his testimony before the subcommittee, Rockwell fell out of favor. One month later, Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland rejected Rockwell Kent's collection of unsold paintings and prints. He later donated that body of work to the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, that same July of 1953, something terrible happened on Monhegan to a woman who was staying studied and graduated from Berea College in Kentucky, the first integrated co-educational college in the South. After her schooling, Sally married a man named Daniel Moran. He was Princeton-educated, a World War II veteran, and head of Moran & Hedkin, a New York-based firm of publishers' representatives. They had a son together, also named Daniel. According to the Daily News, Sally and Daniel ended their marriage in 1948. And the divorce settlement included a sliding alimony arrangement, which meant he paid Sally depending on his own wealth at the time of each payment. For a time, that sliding arrangement afforded her a Manhattan apartment at 330 East 63rd Street.

Just as a side note, Sally was described as a divorcee more often than not. Now, it's not altogether surprising, given the time, that I couldn't read a single source without encountering a mention of Sally's marital status. But it's still a bit frustrating to read this over and over, as if it's some evidence of who she was as a person. Occasionally, the descriptor was socialite divorcee. As for the socialite part, Sally ran in circles of famed painters and artists, even modeling for a few, including the beloved yet politically controversial Rockwell Kent. Sally and Rockwell, along with Rockwell's wife, who was also named Sally, were all close friends. Rumors suggested that Sally Moran was Rockwell Kent's mistress.

Some sources cite letters written between the two of them as proof of their secret relationship. But I've been unable to surface those same original letters for myself. It's possible they're included in the archive of Rockwell's papers in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institute. However, the full archive is not digitized at this time. So, as Sally's ex-husband's earnings fluctuated, so did her payments, and by the summer of 1953, she was broke. She confided in her friend Rockwell, and he offered to have Sally stay in his summer home on Monhegan Island while she figured out what to do next. On June 1, 1953, Sally took him up on it. Sally packed her bags for a summer at the Horn Hill Cottage along with Rockwell's

daughter, Mrs. Kathleen Finney, and Mrs. Finney's two children. Those from the island, whether year-round locals or summer people, knew Sally Moran to be, quote, gay, vivacious, and loved living, end quote. But the two people closest to her said that she'd grown more depressed and moody that summer, no doubt brought on by all the changes in her life. Sally did seek therapy for depression, and it seemed to be helping. She wrote in a letter that summer, quote, I have a passionate desire to live because I love life and hope springs eternal, end quote. On July 8th, 1953, Sally attended a dance at the schoolhouse on the island. She returned to the Lobster Cove Cottage and rose the next day for afternoon tea with her friend,

artist James Fitzgerald, who owned a cottage next door. By all accounts, Sally was herself. Although she confided in James that some of her days could be challenging. According to reporting by the Daily News, she took sleeping pills at night to get a good rest. So that evening of July 8th, 1953, at 7.30pm. Sally was at the cottage with Kathleen when she stood up from her seat and said offhand that she was going for a walk to the far side of the island. Kathleen didn't question it. The far side of the island had the best views. She waved Sally off and as she trekked towards the path, never once considered it would be the last time she'd

see her friend alive. The next morning, as Kathleen Finney got up for breakfast, she discovered that her friend Sally wasn't in her bed. She checked every room in the small cottage and realized Sally wasn't anywhere. It appeared Sally hadn't returned from her evening walk to the headlands on the other end of Monhegan. Her heart pounded almost audibly through her chest. That side of the island has the tallest cliffs, the longest fall to the surf-soaked rocks below. Kathleen left the cottage and knocked on the door of her neighbor, James Fitzgerald, and told him of Sally's absence. They agreed. Something was wrong.

James Fitzgerald sounded the alarm with authorities on the mainland. The search for Sally began with frantic energy, and for four days the search persisted by land, sea, and air. Trained bloodhounds traced the scent of Sally along the path she often walked to the far end of the island. Three times, the dog led them to the precarious edge of Burnhead Cliff. They searched deep crevices between the rocks of the cliff face and scanned the canopied woods of the cathedral spruce trees, but found no sign of Sally. There are no reports of any evidence on land,

no clue of where Sally Moran might have ended up, if not back home that night. The search tapered as authorities assumed the worst. The sea kept secrets, and if that's where Sally met her fate, there was little hope they'd ever see her again. Three weeks later, on July 31, 1953, a fishing vessel 49 miles southeast off the coast of Portland Headlight discovered a body of a young woman floating in the water. The Coast Guard responded and recovered the body, transporting it to the mainland where the coroner in Rockland

would determine the identity of the deceased. That same evening, the remains were positively identified as Sally Maynard Moran. Was it death by suicide, or was it a tragic accident? Before Sally's remains were recovered from the water, those were the only two theories considered, the only two the small island community could grasp. But the autopsy report left them with a third possibility. As reported by the Boston Globe, Maine State pathologist Dr. Arch Morrill, alongside Harvard's head of legal medicine, Dr. Richard Ford, conducted an extensive post-mortem examination

on Sally's body. Their report? Sally died by foul play. Morrill and Ford reported that she didn't have any water in her respiratory system. According to their assessment, that meant she couldn't have died by drowning. But what Sally did have was a fracture of the skull caused by blunt force trauma and a broken right forearm. Those familiar with the over 100-foot cliffs of Monhegan Island's headlands were convinced that a fall or even a jump from that height would have resulted in multiple injuries, several broken bones, and evidence that the rocks did more damage on her way down, especially with the tides that day. And even if she somehow dodged the rocks, it would be very unlikely that Sally plunged into the sea without swallowing even an ounce of the angry Atlantic saltwater.

The team of pathologists were clear. There was no sign of drowning in Sally Moran. These findings by Dr. Morrill and Dr. Ford were cause for the Lincoln County attorney, J. Blen Perkins, to open the investigation into her death, considering the very real possibility that Sally Maynard Moran was murdered on Monhegan Island. As the investigation began in full force, the Lincoln County attorney told the Boston Globe

that the investigation, quote, will not be closed until a satisfactory explanation is found as to what happened between 7.30 p.m. on July 9th, when Mrs. Moran was last seen alive, and the following afternoon when a thorough search revealed that she was no longer on the island, end quote. Daniel Moran, Sally's son, told the Globe, quote, I am certain that my mother did not end her own life. I do not know what happened to her, but I am sure she was not a suicide, end quote. He claimed that the letters she wrote to him that summer did not represent a woman struggling. As investigators opened the case as a potential homicide, reports of two unknown men seen on the island began to surface.

Strangers were easy to pick out on the small island of locals and returning summer residents, and so the presence of two individuals not known on the island piqued investigators' interest. Even more compelling, the men were seen in the meadow surrounding the Rockwell home, just around dusk on the evening of Sally Moran's disappearance. The search gained steam when an island minister reported hearing a woman yell, get your hands off me. It would have been around the same time and place that Sally Moran went for her walk. The county attorney told the press that he had descriptions of the two strange men, but not names. Police planned to question the owners of Monhegan's four hotels, as well as the captains of the boats that brought visitors and tourists

from the mainland. It was a nebulous lead at best, but it was the only one they had. As the scope of the investigation grew, state officials joined the effort. They collected witness statements and interviews, pored over Sally's letters, spoke to her family and friends and even her psychiatrist. They interviewed Rockwell Kent, whose cottage she was staying in. They spoke to the neighbor, artist James Fitzgerald. In October of that year, Perkins told the Daily News, quote, The murderers may have been hired. I certainly would not rule out the possibility that whoever killed Sally Moran was hired to do it, end quote. But when questioned on motive, why would someone want to kill Sally, Perkins couldn't answer.

Whether he simply declined to provide an answer, or he didn't know, is unclear. For months, the investigators toiled over the fragments of details they gleaned, traveling between the mainland and the island each time a new conversation was needed. Finally, in November of 1953, it seemed they were ready to present their findings to a grand jury. For three days in November of 1953, a grand jury met in Lincoln County to consider the evidence in the death of Sally Maynard Moran. When the session adjourned, Maine Attorney General Alexander A. LaFleur, alongside Lincoln County Attorney J. Glenn Perkins and Sheriff Stanley G. Waltz announced, quote, nothing has turned up to point the slightest suspicion toward any individual, end quote. It seemed they couldn't determine the identities of those two men if they existed at all. Though the original pathologist concluded that foul play was likely, those findings and their analysis wasn't enough without other evidence to support it. It was an undetermined death. That was that case closed. But was it really?

A Portland Press Herald headline from December 1st, 2013 reads, Monhegan Cold Case Heats Up 60 Years Later. Its author, Bill Nemitz, had the story. 75-year-old Phil Bowler had taken a particular interest in the Sally Maynard Moran case. According to his interview with Bill Nemitz, Phil is a researcher by nature. He loves to travel and learn about the regions he's in, especially the art originating from each locale. As he researched Rockwell Kent, he encountered the name and story of Sally Moran.

And when Phil Bowler starts down a research rabbit hole, he seems to go all in. I think I'd like Phil Bowler. Nemitz reported that Phil submitted a Freedom of Access Act request to the Attorney General's office for the original case files. That request was denied. Phil was aghast. Why deny access to files from a decades-old closed case? Phil, if you hear this, welcome to the club. Getting FOAA requests actually fulfilled seems to be a fairy tale these days. But Phil took the issue all the way to court, where the AG's office argued that the files from the 1950s fell under an old version of access law. Put simply, they couldn't give Phil squat because it was prohibited by an old statute.

However, they did hand over the files to someone else seven years earlier. Sally Moran's grandniece. Martha Wolfe was born two years after Sally died, but when she heard of her great-aunt's death on Monhegan Island, Martha wanted to know more. The confidentiality of files didn't have to apply to family members, Bill Nemitz reported, and so Martha received a copy of the entire file. Inside were the original documents. Every piece of surviving information of the investigation into Sally's death,

as authorities tried to determine if it was, in fact, a homicide. But as Bill summarized his conversation with Martha Wolfe, after her independent, personal, untrained review of the records, she tends to side with the findings of the grand jury. There's not enough there to prove homicide. It was more likely an accident. At least, that's what Martha Wolf believes. A tragic, sudden accident. Still, to this day, the mystery and alternate theories persist.

In the 1960s, artist Jamie Wyeth, son of Andrew Wyeth and grandson of N.C. Wyeth, purchased the Monhegan Island summer home of Rockwell Kent, making the vistas that once inspired Kent his own. But it wasn't just the views that inspired Jamie Wyeth. He absorbed the stories that the walls of the summer home held and learned about the artist who walked the halls before him. In 2013, Jamie Wyeth painted a portrait of the man whose home he purchased. In the piece, Rockwell Kent stands with a painter's palette in his hand and an expressionless face. His red and black flannel shirt contrasts with the white snow and gray stone behind him. The sky is murky with clouds, but in the distance, you can see the unmistakable shape

of a body, hurtling headlong towards the water below. Jamie Wyeth named his piece Portrait of Rockwell Kent, second in a series of untoward occurrences on Monhegan Island. Portland Press Herald writer Bill Nemitz spoke to Jamie Wyeth for his piece about Sally Moran in 2013. He asked Jamie about the portrait of Rockwell Kent. What did he mean when he included the falling body into the sea?

Jamie dismissed any conspiracy theories that might be brewing in your own brain right now. He said that it was simply a reflection of the stories that hang like fog over the island, despite the passage of time and better judgment. Rockwell Kent wasn't even on the island at the time of Sally's disappearance. And he never returned to Monhegan after, either. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. Source material for this case and others is listed at darkdowneast.com. If you love listening to this show, if you want to support the stories I tell, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, hit follow, subscribe wherever you listen, and don't forget to leave a

star rating on Apple Podcasts as well. It's the easiest way to support this show. Now through the end of 2021, I'll be sharing information about missing and unidentified persons in New England. It is my goal to bring attention to these cases in hopes of bringing these humans home to the people who love and miss them. The case I want to highlight today is a very current one. The family of Joy McDonald has not heard from her since September 9th, 2021, the same day police made contact with her about an incident when she was confused and wandered into a home that was not her own. Her white Nissan car was found abandoned at the footbridge on Pierce Street in Belfast, Maine. She is 40 years old with dark brown curly hair. If anyone has had contact with with Joy, please contact Detective Sergeant Cook at 207-338-2040. Joy McDonald's photo and law

enforcement contact information is listed at darkdowneast.com slash missing. Thank you for supporting this show and allowing me to do what I do. I'm honored to use this platform for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones and for those who are still searching for answers in cold, missing persons and murder cases. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe,

and this is Dark Down East.