"Yes, I Shot to Kill."

Commerce on the busy intersection  of Twenty-Fourth and J Streets, in Omaha, Nebraska, was interrupted, the evening of October 16, by the crack of three pistol shots. A young woman fired once in the air, trying to get the attention of the man who had just walked away from her. When he continued walking without turning around, she aimed at his back and fired again. Then she pointed the revolver at her own head and fired a third shot. Two bodies fell to the pavement.

Both were still alive and were quickly taken to Presbyterian Hospital. The man was Henry J. Reiser, a well-known, single, man-about-town, connected to the Armour meat packing company. The shot had severed his spinal cord, and he was not expected to live. The woman was Mrs. Eloise Rutiger, a prominent Omaha social leader, whose husband was also associated with Armour. The bullet had only grazed her head, and she was in no danger.

“Is he dead yet?” Mrs. Rudiger asked when she came to in the hospital, “Yes, I shot to kill. It was for my husband to do, but he would not, so I did it myself. The wretch has given me enough cause, and I hope I have accomplished what I undertook.”

The Wilton Tragedy.

Moses Lovejoy was a respected, well-to-do farmer with a large spread in Wilton, New Hampshire. He had two lovely daughters, Ellen and Ida; both were intelligent and refined. Everything was rosy until 1868 when Moses hired Edwin Willis Major as a farmhand.

22-year-old Edwin Major came from Goffstown, New Hampshire; he was five foot ten, thickset and muscular with a heavy black mustache. When Lovejoy hired him, he already had a reputation as a bully, feared by people in town. Major was soon intimate with both of the Lovejoy girls; at the time, Ellen was 19, Ida was 13.

In July 1869, Ellen returned from picking blueberries, then suddenly collapsed and died. Her death could not be explained and was vaguely attributed to a spasm. Those who laid out her body for burial believed that she was pregnant when she died. The following November, Ida discovered that she was pregnant. Edwin Major was the father; he married Ida, and they lived together in her father’s house.

At first, it appeared that marriage would reform Major. He joined the Baptist Church in the Centre village and, for a time, was a zealous convert who became sexton of the church. But when money disappeared from the church’s charity fund, suspicion fell on Major, and he was expelled from the church. When relations became strained between Major and his father-in-law, he and Ida left the farmhouse and moved to French Village.

Major took a job at a furniture factory but was soon discharged for undisclosed reasons. A short time later, one of the workshops at the factory burned down. Suspicion rested on Major, but no movement was made toward his arrest. People lived in terror, fearing that if they brought charges against him, Major would retaliate and burn down their buildings.

In the five years since the wedding, Ida gave birth to four children, two of which had died suddenly, but no investigation was made. In 1874, Ida was pregnant again. Major started telling people that his wife was ill, suffering from spasms. He said that Ida was a “camphor subject,” meaning she habitually took camphor oil, a cough suppressant that could be addictive or even fatal when taken internally.

On Saturday, December 19, 1874, Major took a train to Nashua, New Hampshire, where he met with several physicians. He asked about procuring abortion, an illegal operation at the time; for his cousin, he said. When Major returned on Sunday, Ida appeared to be in good health. At 6:00, she prepared supper; at 7:00, she was dead. Ida had begun having spasms, and when neighbors were called to help, she was too sick to recognize them. They summoned a doctor, but she was dead before he arrived. This time the doctor was suspicious and sent for Coroner B.B. Whitmore. He did not arrive until after Ida’s funeral the following Tuesday.

Coroner Whitmore ordered Ida’s body disinterred and held Major in custody pending an inquest into her death. He sent Ida’s stomach to Boston for analysis by Dr. Edward S. Wood of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Wood analyzed the stomach contents using Drogendorff’s process, including three tests; 1. Taste, 2. Reaction with sulfuric acid and bichromate of potash, 3.the physiological test—the substance was fed to a frog. The frog died instantly, and Dr. Wood determined that Ida’s stomach contained strychnine. He presented his findings to the coroner’s jury, who concluded that Ida was poisoned by Edwin Major.

As Major awaited trial, Ellen Lovejoy’s body was exhumed. Though she had died five years earlier, her stomach was still intact; it was sent to Dr. Wood for analysis. He performed the same tests, this time administering the substance to a dog, producing death. Ellen had also been poisoned with strychnine. In addition, the exhumation proved conclusively that Ellen was pregnant at the time of her death. 

Edwin Major’s trial for murder began on September 13, 1875. Though public sentiment was strongly against Major, the evidence against him was circumstantial. The trial lasted about twelve days, and after deliberating for eighteen hours, the jury was hopelessly split and could not agree on a verdict. The second trial held the following December lasted four days, and after two hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. He was sentenced to hang on January 5, 1877.

In the year between sentencing and Major’s scheduled execution, his supporters circulated a petition to commute his sentence to life in prison. Major was confident that he would not be executed and was devastated when the governor refused the petition.

Major was hanged in Concord, New Hampshire, on January 5, 1877. At the scaffold, he was pressed to make a confession, but he reiterated his innocence. Major appeared calm on the gallows, but before the trap was sprung, his nerve deserted him, and he fell upon his knees, utterly broken down. He died without a struggle. 

---

Sources: 

“Arrest for Wife Murder,” Sunday Times, December 27, 1874.
“Edwin Willis Major,” Illustrated Police News, January 13, 1877.
“The Gallows,” Chicago Daily News, January 5, 1877.
“Major Held for Trial,” Daily Patriot, January 11, 1875.
“The Major Poisoning Case,” Daily Patriot, September 14, 1875.
“The Major Poisoning Case,” New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette, September 15, 1875.
“The Major Poisoning Case ,” Lake Village Times, September 11, 1875.
“Miscellaneous Items,” New England Farmer, December 9, 1876.
“New England Matters,” Boston Traveler, September 6, 1875.
“New Hampshire,” Lake Village Times, July 31, 1875.
“News Article,” Vermont farmer, September 24, 1875.
“Supposed Murder at Wilton,” Farmers' Cabinet., December 30, 1874.
“Twinkles,” Providence Morning Star, November 29, 1875.
“The Wilton Poisoning Case,” Boston Journal, September 18, 1875.
“The Wilton Tragedy,” Boston Traveler, January 3, 1876.

Life and Execution of John Hanlon.

John Hanlon, (alias Charles Harris, Charles Hanlon) was a barber in Philadelphia. On September 6, 1868 Hanlon disguised himself with false whiskers and dark clothing and approached 6-year-old Mary Mohrman who was playing next door to his shop. Her friends saw Mary accompany him into an alley; she was never again seen alive. 

A year later, after two more attempted assaults, Hanlon was captured and convicted of the rape and murder of Mary Hohrman.

Read the full story here: 

Little Mary Mohrman.

Murders in Church.

On April 13, 1895, the mutilated body of Minnie Williams (top portrait) was found in the library of Emanuel Baptist Church in San Francisco. While searching the church, the police found the body of Blanche Lamont, strangled, and posed naked in the church belfry.  Both women had been romantically involved with the Superintendent of Sunday School, Theo Durrant (bottom portrait) who was soon dubbed “The Demon of the Belfry.”

Read the full story here:

  Theo Durrant - The Demon of the Belfry.

Source: Illustrated Police News, May 4, 1895.

Murderous Maine.

 At first glance, the State of Maine seems an unlikely spot for a murder. With its primeval forests and rocky coastline, Maine is a nature lover’s dream. But conditions are harsh; the winters are long and cold, and in the nineteenth century, the isolation could be unbearable. Aa a result, Maine became the site of many brutal and mysterious murders. Here are just a few: 

	The Hart-Meservey Murder. The winter of 1877, Captain Luther Meservey of Tenant’s Harbor went to sea leaving his wife Sarah alone. When Sarah was found strangled in her own home, Nathan Hart, a neighbor of the Meservey’s was tried and convicted on evidence so circumstantial that many in town refused to accept the verdict.
	The Smuttynose Murders. With their men away fishing, The night of March 6, 1873, Maren Hontvet, Karen Christensen, and Anethe Christensen were prepared to be alone in their cold house, but nothing could have prepared them for the arrival, by rowboat, of a deranged axe murderer.
	John True Gordon. John True Gordon was convicted of the axe murder of his brother Almon, his brother’s wife Emma, and their infant daughter, Millie. He shared a gallows with Louis Wagner, convicted of the Smuttynose murders, in Maine's most gruesome execution.
	The Bangor Mystery. William B. Elliot, a constable and tax collector for the town of Glenburn, Maine was found on the road, brutally hacked to death. The identity of his killer remains a mystery.
	The Kittery Crime. On November 14, 1883, Thomas Barrows of Kittery, Maine, was found dead with six bullet wounds in his arms, legs, and head. His wife called it a suicide, but if so, why did he wound himself five times before firing the shot that killed him? And how had he shot himself six times with the five-barrel revolver found near the bed?
	"Mary Bean" - The Factory Girl. A body, identified as Mary Bean, a young factory girl who was treated for typhoid, was found floating in a culvert in the mill town of Saco, Maine, in April 1850. Her real name was not Mary Bean and her condition was not typhoid. When the truth was learned, the story of Mary Bean's death became a cautionary tale exhorting factory girls to guard their virtue.

The Kaiser Conspiracy.

On a road outside of Norristown, Pennsylvania, on October 28, 1896, Frank Mancil and his daughter came upon an agitated man shouting, “Murder! Help!” The man was bleeding from his arm, and, in a buggy nearby, a woman lay prostrate.

The man, Charles O. Kaiser, Jr., told Mancil that he and his wife Emma had been attacked by highwaymen who shot them both then left with their watches and her purse containing $53. Mancil thought the woman was only unconscious, so they went in two carriages to the office of Dr. Mann in Bridgeport. Dr. Mann could see right away that Emma Kaiser had died from a bullet wound to the left temple.

Mrs. Halliday in Handcuffs.

 

In 1894, Lizzie Halliday was sentenced to death for murdering her husband and two others and. A state commission judged her insane and commuted her sentence to life in an asylum. Though she exhibited all the signs of a woman who was violently insane, many believed that Lizzie was merely a gifted actress.

At Mattawan State Asylum, she killed her favorite nurse with a pair of scissors. No one disagreed when the press dubbed Lizzie Halliday “Worst woman on earth.”

Read the full story here: The Worst Woman on Earth.

The Rogers Murder.

The morning stillness on East 12th Street, New York City, was shattered on December 31, 1869, by cries of “Murder!” Charles M. Rogers lay bleeding on the sidewalk in front of his house as two men were seen running from the scene.

The Rescue of Ameer Ben Ali.

This week’s guest post from Howard and Nina Brown of Jack The Ripper Forums - Ripperology For The 21st Century (jtrforums.com) continues the story of Ameer Ben Ali (aka “Frenchie”) who was falsely convicted of the 1891 murder of Carrie Brown. "The Rescue of Ameer Ben Ali" focuses on the evidence that led to his release.

THE RESCUE OF AMEER BEN ALI

In the last Murder by Gaslight article of ours, along with the photograph of Ameer Ben Ali, an article was transcribed which featured a prominent stage actor proclaiming he had been told by Ali's court interpreter that Ali had confessed to being in the same room as murder victim Carrie Brown and inferring that he had committed the heinous crime. 

Whether Ali stated that he committed the crime is irrelevant since he didn't murder Carrie Brown.  He didn't have the key which was necessary to lock the door to Room 31.  Within days a handful of people associated with the real killer's employer knew that and it would not be until a decade passed that this miscarriage of justice would be resolved resulting in the pardoning & exoneration of the Algerian.  There were three efforts towards pardoning Ali; one following the sentencing, another in 1897, and finally in 1901.

The proof of his innocence all along was the key to Room 31 at the East River Hotel taken by the killer and left by the same at the residence of his then employer, 51-year-old George Damon of Cranford, New Jersey.

Damon was the proprietor of a printing firm at 44 Beekman Street, Manhattan, which was not far from the Brown murder site.  Damon was also a pillar of his community in Cranford, situated in Union County 18 miles from Manhattan.  Damon, in addition to his printing firm, dabbled in real estate, held patents, & was a member of the Chamber of Commerce.  This photo is of the Damon residence as it looked 100 years ago. 

 

A Murder in Pantomime.

Lizzie Lochner returned home from a night on the town sometime after midnight the morning of June 2, 1894. Her husband Joseph, who stayed home with the children—4-year-old Rosa and her infant brother— berated Lizzie for her for coming in so late. They began to loudly argue the matter as they had done many times before.

Their lodger, Gus Englund, was used to being awakened by the Lochner’s arguing but this night was different. The voices grew to a crescendo followed by a few minutes of silence, then the sound of a gunshot. Joseph Lochner burst into his room and said, “Oh, Gus, Gus, I have done it. I have killed my wife.” He then ran out of the building by the back door.

Murdered Alice Brown.

 

Read the whole story of Alice Brown's mysterious, 1897 murder in Boston here: 15 Corning Street.

Illustrations from Boston Post, November 6, 1897.

Good News! Three Cheers!

 

The Hangman, a newspaper dedicated to the abolition of capital punishment, celebrated the commutation of Orrin DeWolf’s death sentence on September 9, 1845.

Did this young, drunken, diseased, conniving, duplicitous, murderous, libertine deserve mercy? You decide: Orrin DeWolf. 

The Mabbitt Mystery.

Luella Mabbitt.

Luella Mabbitt and Amer Green made a handsome couple. 23-year-old Luella was an attractive,   well-formed young lady—“of the blonde type of beauty and very winning in her ways.” Amer Green, 34-years-old, was tall and good-looking with manly features. But Luella’s father, Peter Mabbitt, did not approve of his daughter’s suiter, so, reluctantly, Luella told Amer that they had to break up. She would return his letters and he was to return hers.

On August 6, 1886, Amer Green, with his friend William Walker took a buggy ride to the Mabbitt home in Wildcat, Indiana. Her parents saw Luella leave the house with the letters, but she never came back.

Peter Mabbitt believed that his daughter had been kidnapped by Amer Green. Green and Walker were questioned by authorities, but both denied any knowledge of Luella’s whereabouts. In the days that followed search, parties were organized in the area around Wildcat Creek. Peter Mabbitt hired a private detective and offered a reward of $500 for the apprehension of his daughter’s kidnappers.

Mrs. Minnie Walkup.

The beautiful Minnie Wallace Walkup, married at 16, widowed a month later, may have gotten away with murder...three times.

Read her story here: Vamp of New Orleans.

Picture from National Police Gazette, November 14, 1885.

The Connell Homicide.

A little past midnight, January 4, 1868, William Connell, age 21, was standing at the corner of Bowery and Bayard Streets, New York City, conversing with Maggie Brown and Emma Gardner, two young women in their teens. Richard Casey came up to them and flourished some bank notes in the faces of the women in an insulting manner, implying that they were prostitutes—which in fact they were. Connell took offense to the action and asked Casey what he meant by it. Casey asked if he was going to defend the women and Connell replied that he was a stranger there but did not like such conduct.

“Well I’m no stranger here,” said Casey, and knocked Connell’s hat off his head.

As Connell stooped to pick up his hat, Casey drew a revolver from a breast pocket and fired at his head. Connell cried out in agony and fell into the gutter; Casey shot him again. Then he pointed the pistol at Maggie Brown and said with a foul epithet, “I’ll finish you too.”

Rough on Rats.

 

Rough on Rats was a cheap but effective over-the-counter rat poison. It was a very popular product, and in the 1880s, the company published an almanac and had its own theme song.

Chorus

R-r-rats! Rats! Rats! Rough on     Rats,

Hang your dogs and drown 

    your cats;

We give a plan for every man

To clear his house 

    with Rough on Rats.

Reportedly, Rough on Rats also caused an increase in human deaths by poisoning. While that might be difficult to prove statistically, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence. Here are three cases, from the 1880s, of murder by Rough on Rats:

	Monster or Maniac? Though Sarah Jane Whiteling poisoned her husband at the devil’s request and murdered her daughter to save her from a life of sin, her jury did not believe her insane.
	A Troubling Spirit. Haunted by his victim’s face, John Delaney confessed to poisoning Mary Jane Cox.
	The "Rough on Rats" Murder. After deliberating for 18 hours, the jury found Mrs. Korun Larson guilty of poisoning John Guild with Rough on Rats.

A Fatal Jealousy.

Deidrich Steffens, a bottler of lager beer, was making a delivery on Park Avenue in Brooklyn, the afternoon of April 17, 1883, when he was called to by John Cordes, a wholesale grocery dealer. Cordes was standing in front of the grocery store of Steffens’s friend, Diedrich Mahnken, and as Steffens crossed the street, Mahnken emerged from his store brandishing a “British bull dog” revolver. Without a word Mahnken fired five shots into Deidrich Steffens—four to the head, one to the chest.

Fiend, or Innocent Victim?

 

The prosecution claimed that Adolph Luetgert, "Sausage King of Chicago," dissolved his wife Louisa in a vat of lye, but without a body, how could they prove she was dead?

Read the full story here: The Sausage Vat Murder.

The East River Murder.

The morning of February 8, 1898, the nude, dismembered body of a man was found floating in the East River, near a ferryboat slip on Roosevelt Street, New York City. The entire front portion of the head was missing, leaving only the right ear and a portion of the back of the head. The left leg was missing from a point just above the knee and the right leg had been cut off at the hip. Both arms had been cut off at the shoulder.

The cuts were smooth and intentional, eliminating the possibility that they had been taken off by steamboat paddle-wheels. The police were convinced that the man was murdered and butchered. 

Who Murdered Dr. Cronin?

 

Old Cap. Collier, the fictional dime novel detective, tries his hand at solving the murder of Dr. Cronin.

The real murder of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin was stranger than fiction, with the good doctor found naked and dead in a Chicago sewer after confronting the corrupt leaders of an Irish secret society. As Edmund Pearson said, “It was one of those murders over which men nod their heads and look portentous and intimate that ‘everything hasn’t come out yet.’”

Read the whole story here: Clan-na-Gael and the Murder of Dr. Cronin.