She was Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, a beautiful young woman who had been seduced at age fifteen by architect Stanford White.
At the time of the seduction, she was single and a showgirl in the “Floradora” company. She met White in a room with a red velvet swing.
After she married, her husband Harry Thaw grew enraged at the liaison and killed White on June 28, 1906.
The murder occurred on the roof of one of the buildings White had designed, the second Madison Square Garden.