Feb. 9, 1963 - A statewide alarm was broadcast today for the arrest of a socially prominent Southern Maryland tobacco farmer charged with homicide in the caning death of Hattie Carroll (right), a Negro barmaid. The warrant was issued in Baltimore for William D. Zantzinger (left), 24, minutes after he had been released under $3,600 bond on charges of assault, to which he had pleaded innocent. Zantzinger was charged with “assaulting and thereby causing the death of Mrs. Hattie Carroll,” who worked as a part-time barmaid at Baltimore’s Emerson Hotel. Police said the assault occurred around 1:30 a.m. as Mrs. Carroll, the 51-year-old mother of 9 children, was tending bar for the posh Spinster’s Ball, a white-tie-and-tails charity affair. Police said a heavily intoxicated Zantzinger became enraged because Mrs. Carroll was slow in serving him a drink. He called her a “n****r” and struck her about the head and face with a cane. Within five minutes from the time of the blow, Mrs. Carroll leaned heavily against the barmaid next to her and complained of feeling ill. Then she collapsed. Police said she died at 9 a.m. at Mercy Hospital without regaining consciousness. An autopsy will be performed to determine the precise cause of death.
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