The Chillingworth case across three Florida counties

Curtis and Marjorie Chillingworth were killed in Palm Beach County in 1955. The proceedings against Joseph A. Peel Jr. would be heard elsewhere: first in St. Lucie County, then in Polk County. Two appellate opinions preserve that route and the different ways the prosecutions ended.

The prosecution concerning Curtis moved to St. Lucie County after a change of venue. In March 1961, a jury convicted Peel as an accessory before the fact to first-degree murder and recommended mercy. The appellate court affirmed the conviction in May 1963.

The prosecution concerning Marjorie followed a different course. An unsuccessful attempt to obtain an impartial jury in St. Lucie County led to a transfer to Polk County. During jury selection in November 1961, Peel changed his plea to nolo contendere, or no contest. The court adjudged him guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The February 1963 appellate opinion affirmed that judgment.

Read together, the opinions distinguish a jury verdict in one prosecution from an accepted plea in the other. They also separate the year of the killings, 1955, from the trial proceedings in 1961 and appellate decisions in 1963. Following the Chillingworth case through the courts means keeping both victims, both proceedings and all three counties in view.

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The Palm Beach Files

The Palm Beach Files follows the case of Curtis and Marjorie Chillingworth alongside investigations involving Marlene Warren, Dalia Dippolito and Corey Jones. Explore the county's cases beyond this brief look at two court decisions.

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