By 1923, Annie Willow had endured a volatile sixteen-year marriage to Harvey Willow. Against a backdrop of domestic unhappiness, she fell in love with the 16-year old farmhand, Ralph Shadel. She preferred his gentle company rather than her brutal life with Harvey. But even if she had not been married, Ralph’s age would have been an obstacle. Men could marry women who were much younger than them at this time, but it was relatively rare for a woman in her mid-thirties to marry a teenage boy. In 1920s America, she could not simply leave Harvey and start a new life with Shadel. Torn between her obligations to her family and her hopes for a better life, Annie seemed to be destined for a life of continued misery under Harvey’s wrath.
Everything changed when Harvey discovered Annie and Shadel’s romance. He threatened to kill them both. Annie couldn’t disregard this threat. Fearful for her and her young lover’s life, she implored Shadel to kill Harvey so that they would be safe and free to start a new life together. The possible legal repercussions of her actions were not pertinent at that time; she felt she had to take her destiny into her own hands. Neither of them seemed to have thought much beyond the act itself.