Folk Figure. A native of Kentucky, Annan was 24 and twice-married when she was charged with the 1924 murder of her alleged lover in Chicago. Her husband spent his life savings to get her the best lawyers, and after a sensational trial she was found not guilty. Annan left her husband the day after her acquittal. Her third marriage, to a boxer, lasted only a few months. She died of tuberculosis at 28. Annan was the basis of the character Roxie Hart in Maurine Dallas Watkins’ play “Chicago” (1926), which in turn inspired the 1975 Broadway musical and its Oscar-winning 2002 film adaptation.