Jesse Wilkins

Her final words in court, lucid and chilling, quote, can I go home now?

End quote.

Some believe Laura Bell Devlin never really left.

The area where she was booked has become one of the more active spots in the building.

Cold drafts move through even when the air is still, and investigators have picked up faint whispers on recorders, usually a woman's voice, quiet and low.

A few have claimed to see a figure standing inside the doorway, only to have it fade when they look again.

Whatever lingers there doesn't seem angry, just restless.

like someone still waiting for the chance to go home.

In 1953, Mae Varner was brought to the Licking County Jail after an attempted overdose.

Her stomach had been pumped, and officials planned to keep her there just long enough for the medication to work its way out of her system before sending her home.

But within 45 minutes of arriving, something went horribly wrong.

May somehow set her clothing on fire inside her fourth floor cell.

By the time help arrived, it was too late.

Those who have spent time on the fourth floor say May never really left.

Her old cell is known for sudden spikes of heat in an otherwise cold building.

and investigators have reported faint smells of smoke or burning cloth with no source to be found.

A few visitors have described hearing muffled cries from behind the cell door when the floor is otherwise empty.

What happened that night left an impression, one that still seems to echo through the concrete and steel of her cell.

And finally, the most tragic and well-known story connected to this jail, the case of Carl Etherington.

In 1910, Newark was under strict prohibition laws, and 17-year-old Carl Etherington worked as a dry agent, tasked with shutting down illegal saloons.