June 27, 1963 - A three-judge court convicted William Zantzinger (pictured in February) of manslaughter today in connection with the cursing and caning of a Negro barmaid at a Baltimore charity ball in February. Judge D.K. McLaughlin announced the verdict in Washington County Circuit Court, along with verdicts of guilty in assaults by Zantzinger on two other hotel employees at the Spinsters Ball. Judge McLaughlin said that sentencing of the 24-year-old Zantzinger, a southern Maryland farmer, would be delayed pending motions for a new trial and pre-sentence investigation. Zantzinger was accused of causing the death of Mrs. Hattie Carroll, a 51-year-old waitress who collapsed the night of the ball and died in a hospital 9 hours later. The court accepted medical testimony that the caning itself was not enough to cause death. But the combination of shock produced by Zantzinger’s abusive language and the blow with the cane were sufficient to cause a sudden blood pressure increase and fatal brain hemorrhage, Judge McLaughlin said. The verdict involves a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $500 fine.
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