Mary Jane Smith had been having sexual relations with Norris almost the entire time he had been working on the family farm, and in the year leading up to the murder had been plotting to kill her husband so she could acquire his property.
Having no success in hatching a final plan for the murder, Mary Jane asked Norris to write a letter to her sister Julie Ann Cargin asking for help, and the sister agreed to travel to Michigan and help dispose of Mr. Smith.
After sneaking out of his hotel room on the night of September 12, Norris had made his way to the Smith family farmhouse and crawled in through a window that had been left open by Freeman Cargin.
He and Freeman waited for Charles Smith to retire to his bedroom for the night, at which point the two mean entered the bedroom and savagely beat Charles Smith into unconsciousness. Cargin then used a strap to strangle Smith to make sure he was dead.
The two men carried the body out to the barn on a mattress, and then set fire to the structure, while Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Cargin stayed behind to clean up any evidence of the murder.
Mary Jane Smith also confessed to her role in the killing, although the Cargins continued to insist they had no knowledge of the conspiracy to murder Charles Smith.
The Cargins were both heard to have made made violent threats against Charles Smith in the period leading up to the murder, and witnesses had seen Freeman Cargin meeting with Alexander Norris on the day of the crime.
One of the neighbors, Elihu Westall, had begun to suspect something was wrong and tried to warn Charles, only to learn that Smith already feared for his own life.
Charles revealed to Westfall that he suspected the Cargins had arrived at his home with the intention of murdering him, and that should anything happen to him that the matter must be fully investigated.
All four suspects were found guilty and received prison sentences. Alexander Norris was sentenced to ten years, Mary Jane Smith to fifteen years, and Julia Ann Cargin and Freeman Cargin were both given life sentences.
With no family left to care for them, the children were sent to live with neighbors in Maple Grove. The youngest son was taken by a neighbor named Speers, while Arthur and Cora Rolfe went to live with the family of John Northwood, who also served as the executor of Charles Smith’s estate, as noted in the above real estate listing.