Roll of Honor
Nellie Wicks
Incident
Corrections Employee Nellie Wicks was stabbed to death by an inmate at the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane at 7:45 a.m.
The inmate, a woman, was committed to the hospital in 1893 after she killed her husband and two women. It was September of 1893 when a woman and her grown daughter came to her home in Burllingham to talk to her husband about some property. The community became suspicious when the three could not be found and told the police they were missing. During a search of the property, the women's nude bodies were found in a barn near the home. Both had been struck in the back of the head with an axe and shot in the heart five times. Her husband was found under the house. He had been killed in the same manner.
Corrections Employee Nellie Wicks was a nurse in the prison hospital. The inmate was very fond of her. When she told the inmate she was quitting and going to work for a private hospital, the inmate followed her into the bathroom, locked the door from the inside, and, using scissors, stabbed her to death. The inmate died in the prison hospital on June 28, 1918, from Brights Disease.
Corrections Employee had served at the Matteawan Hospital for one year.
Survivors
She was survived by her parents and siblings.
In Our Keeping
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BO-US-NY-7E2F872C- Stewardship
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- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 tribute.
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Tributes
You barely got started.
Corrections Employee Wicks gave the New York State Department of Correctional Services 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Albany community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Corrections Employee Wicks.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Corrections Employee Nellie Wicks is one of 1 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.
In NY, 728 of 2,147 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 33.9% of this state's fallen. That is 33.9 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At New York State Department of Correctional Services, 26 of 36 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 72.2% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Felonious compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Nellie Wicks's cause is highlighted.
How Nellie Wicks Compares
When Felonious Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Felonious deaths across the full memorial record. Nellie Wicks is highlighted in Sep.
Weapons Used Against Officers
Most common weapons in felonious officer deaths. Nellie Wicks was killed by edged weapon.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
35 officers from New York State Department of Correctional Services are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
