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One Week Only! On sale for 99 cents! So Far  from Home: The Pearl Bryan Murder "Yes. they drove far from the city, To a place so far from home, There they left her body lying Headless and all stained with blood"

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The Proctor Mystery.

(Illustrated Police News, February 1, 1885)

On Thursday, July 27, 1882, Sarah Proctor, of Salem, Massachusetts, heard groans coming from the cellar where her husband, George, was working.  Downstairs, she found him lying on the floor between two barrels. She rushed toward him exclaiming, “Good God, what is the matter, George?”

There was no response, so she ran to a neighbor for help. He found George alive but unconscious. On the floor was a small pool of blood from a wound in the back of his head, believed to have been sustained when his head hit the barrel. A doctor was summoned, but there was little he could do. George remained unconscious but held on until 10:15 that night. The official cause of death was “paralysis of brain.”

On Saturday, Sarah’s young nephew, Benny, was playing in the cellar and found a seven-shot Robin Hood pistol under the stairwell. One shot had been fired. He gave it to Sarah, who passed it on to her father-in-law. He gave it to the police the following day. When Medical Examiner Carlton heard of the discovery, he deemed it necessary to examine the body. George’s funeral was being held at the First Universalist Church. Following the service, the body was taken back to the undertaker’s, where Carlton performed an autopsy. 

The autopsy showed that the wound behind George’s left ear was a bullet wound. The bullet was still in the skull. It was removed and found to match the bullets in the pistol found under the cellar stairs.

Everyone’s first thought was that George Proctor had committed suicide. He was the owner of the Produce Exchange in Salem. In the week before his death, he made his will, paid his insurance assessments, settled his accounts, and installed his brother as manager of the Exchange. But from the position of the wound and the fact that the hairs around it were not singed, the Medical Examiner concluded the wound was not self-inflicted. 

George Proctor was murdered in the cellar of his own home, but it was unclear who would benefit from his death. The Proctors lived comfortably, but they were not wealthy. Some of his business ventures had failed. The will left his insurance benefit in trust for his widow and children; his brother would remain manager of the Exchange, and net profits would be divided semi-annually between his wife and his brother.

On August 1, Judge Osgood held an informal hearing where Sarah Proctors and other witnesses testified as to the circumstances of the murder. The hearing lasted two days, but nothing was resolved.

The following February, at a spiritualist meeting, a medium named Mrs. S. Dick communicated with George Proctor. She received tidings from the spirit world, then she suddenly paused and said, “I cannot go any further until I tell something which is the message that I hear, ‘No woman had anything to do with my death. George K. Proctor.’”

(Illustrated Police News, February 1, 1885)

The murder remained a mystery, and it gradually faded from public memory. However, the police did not forget the murder. District Officer Joseph E. Shaw of the State Force, together with Salem City Marshal Hart, continued to gather evidence. The investigation proceeded for another three years until February 1885, when, despite Mrs. Dick’s pronouncement, the Grand Jury of Essex County found an indictment against Sarah Proctor.

“Mrs. Proctor, I have a very painful duty to perform,” said Marshal Hart at Sarah Proctor's door.

“What is it, Mr. Hart?” she replied.

“I am instructed to arrest you, Mrs. Proctor, for causing the death of your husband, George K. Proctor.”

She fell back, as though stunned, and burst into tears. “You know I didn’t do that; you know I am innocent.”

The Marshal took her to jail in Lawrence.

Statements from people who knew the Proctors told the lawmen that their household was not a happy one. Sarah Proctor had a violent temper when aroused, and on more than one occasion, just before his death, George came to the police station and asked for protection. The City Marshal told him that he could obtain a warrant against his wife, but advised him not to bring public scandal on his family. George and his wife spent very little time together, and his friends advised him to get a legal separation.

Owing to trouble with her mother, their oldest daughter, Lilly, moved out of the house a year before Sarah’s arrest. Their other daughter was not on speaking terms with her mother and sued her for her share of the income from the Produce Exchange. She testified against her mother before the Grand Jury.

Sarah claimed that she had not heard a gunshot that morning, but the police conducted experiments that proved the shot would have been heard anywhere in the house. Her mother had sent Lilly out of town that day, and the younger sister was asleep. They also proved that the pistol could not have been thrown to the spot under the stairs where it was found. Other witnesses claimed there were towels saturated with blood at the house that morning, indicating that the bullet had bled more profusely than first thought. The police claimed to have additional evidence against Sarah that they did not make public.

Sarah Proctor remained in jail until May 12, 1885, when her case came before the Supreme Judicial Court. Attorney General Sherman moved that Sarah P. Proctor be arraigned on the charge of murder. However, he told the court that since the Grand Jury indictment, a number of important witnesses had changed their testimony and the evidence needed to be examined with more care.

“Since then, “ said the Attorney General, “I have, with the assistance of the district attorney and the officers, made a most thorough and searching examination of this important case, and I have come to the conclusion that I cannot expect or properly ask a jury to convict the prisoner on the evidence which we have at present.”

While the arraignment stayed in effect, Mrs. Proctor was released from custody. Public sympathy turned in her favor, and the suicide theory was revised, but the case remained unsolved.

---

Sources: 

“The Celebrated Proctor Murder Case,” Daily Evening Bulletin, May 13, 1885.
“Clearing Up a Mystery,” GALENA INDUSTRIAL PRESS, February 19, 1885.
“More Murder,” BOSTON HERALD, February 3, 1885.
“Mrs. Sarah P. Proctor, the Alleged Husband Murderer,” Illustrated Police News, February 21, 1885.
“A Mysterious Tragedy At Salem,” Springfield Republican, July 31, 1882.
“Obituary,” Boston Daily Advertiser, July 28, 1882.
“The Proctor Mystery,” Worcester Evening Gazette, July 31, 1882.
“Salem,” Boston Daily Journal, September 5, 1882.
“Salem,” Boston Evening Journal, February 26, 1883.
“Salem,” Boston Daily Journal, October 19, 1883.
“The Salem Mystery,” Boston Evening Journal, May 13, 1885.
“A Salem Sensation,” Boston Evening Journal, February 3, 1885.
“The Salem Tragedy ,” Boston Daily Journal, August 2, 1882.
“Tragedy at Salem,” Boston Daily Journal, July 31, 1882.

Sadie and Clarence.

Sadie and Clarence.

In April 1894, the murder of Montgomery Gibbs, a successful attorney, caused great excitement in Buffalo, New York. He was found shot to death in a driveway on Delaware Avenue with no clues to the killer’s identity. The police and newspapers investigated the crime, but they had no solid leads, and it remained unsolved. Then, in October, they received a tip that Clarence Robinson, a young burglar in custody in Cleveland, Ohio, committed the murder with his wife, Sadie.   At their trial for first-degree, both pleaded not guilty, each saying they had been coerced by the other.

Read the full story here: The Delaware Avenue Murder.

John and Eva.

 

When John Keys and Eva Dickenson were married in Cincinnati on August 21, 1890, they told their relatives that they planned to honeymoon on the Atlantic coast, but John had another plan. He purchased an Ohio River shanty-boat and planned a slow trip downriver to St. Louis. It would not be their last deception; in fact, what transpired on that fateful journey would remain forever shrouded in mystery.

Read the full story here: The Lawrenceburg Shanty-boat Mystery.

The Attleboro Sensation.

(Illustrated Police News, April 3, 1886.)

Agnes Anastasia Long moved out of her parents’ home in East Attleboro, Massachusetts, in April 1882. With her many male suiters, she was considered the black sheep of the family. Her father had enough of her bad behavior and, according to the Boston Herald, “refused to permit her to darken the threshold of his humble home.”

Ida and Sophia.

 

Ida Quinlan and Sophia Grant.

Mrs. Ida Quinlan went out to buy a pair of stockings at around 9:00 on the night of February 1, 1896, leaving her baby in the care of her sister, Mrs. Sophia Grant. She took a streetcar to the store several miles away and returned to the house at around 11:00. Entering the sitting room, she was surprised to find the drawers of the chiffoniers pulled out and their contents spread on the floor. She called for Sophia and, getting no response, went into the kitchen, where she found her sister lying dead on the floor, covered with blood. Horrified, Ida ran from the house to seek assistance from the neighbors. At least that was the story she told the police. The following day, Ida Quinlan was arrested for the murder of her sister.

Read the full story here: Did Ida Do It?

Daniel, Teresa, and Phillip.

Daniel Sickles, Teresa Bagioli, Phillip Key

In 1859, Dan Sickles, a congressman from New York (and future Union General), was married to the most beautiful woman in Washington, but his other interests, including his mistresses, often kept him away from home. His lonely young wife, Teresa, found comfort in the arms of Philip Barton Key, D.C. District Attorney and son of poet Francis Scott Key. When Sickles learned of their affair, he armed himself and confronted Key on the street. Blinded by rage, he shot and killed his wife’s lover. Was it premeditated murder or temporary insanity?

Read the full story here: Dan Sickle's Temporary Insanity.

A Father's Demon Deed.

Illustrated Police News, February 8, 1879.

O.P. Hull, a well-to-do farmer, lived with his wife and six children near the village of Wassonville, Iowa. Mr. Hull was a kind father and affectionate husband who was adored by his family. He especially doted on his attractive and popular 19-year-old daughter, Emma. Her comfort and happiness were foremost in his mind. He would leave nothing undone to benefit his daughter, but his attachment to Emma was so strong that her absence from home, for any reason, would worry his mind terribly.

Guest Post: 'Once a Happy Bride.'

 Howard and Nina Brown are frequent contributors to Murder by Gaslight, on matters pertaining to the 1891 murder of Carrie Brown, viewed by some as the work of London’s Jack the Ripper. The Browns run the website JTRForums.com, discussing all aspects of Jack the Ripper's murders, and CarrieBrown: Murder In The East River Hotel, a discussion site on the Carrie Brown case. They have written three books on Carrie Brown: East Side Story:1891 Murder Case of Carrie Brown, An Illustrated Encyclopedia and A -Z: The1891 Murder Of Carrie Brown In The East River Hotel, and 'Once A Happy Bride' The Tragic Life Of Carrie Brown: From Liverpool To The Lower East Side.

Their latest book, ‘Once a Happy Bride’, available from Amazon, covers aspects of Carrie's life that have been generally glossed over, beginning with her days as a young bride of a successful sea captain, and continuing through her days in New York, when she was never able to shake the ravages of alcohol. Howard and Nina are sharing the foreword of their new book.

James and Ellen.

James Lattin and Ellen Lucas.
(Daily Graphic, November 20, 1874.)

Ellen Lucas of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was to be married on October 3, 1874. The typically happy 18-year-old was somewhat anxious on the evening of October 2, repeatedly looking at the clock as she hastily ate supper. Ellen changed her clothes and left the house at 7:00, telling her mother that she would not be gone long. Mrs. Lucas watched her daughter walk to the corner where she met her fiancé, James E. Lattin. Ellen never came home that night.

Read the full story here: The Bridgeport Tragedy.

The Tell-Tale Skull.

(Philadelphia Inquirer, April 29, 1895.)

Johanna Gahan married Jimmy Logue, a professional thief, in 1871, just as he was preparing to serve a seven-year prison sentence for burglary. She waited for him, and after his release, Jimmy bought a house for them in Philadelphia. Within a year, Jimmy was off on a “thieving expedition” to Boston. When he returned, Johanna was gone.

Those who knew Jimmy Logue knew he frequently beat Johanna, and they believed she had taken the opportunity of his absence to run away. Logue searched for her, but he was arrested again for burglary and sent back to prison. Nothing more was thought about Johanna’s disappearance until workmen repairing the kitchen of the Philadelphia house found a woman’s skull under the floorboards.

The skull was identified as Johanna’s by the formation of the teeth and the clothing found with the skull. Jimmy was in trouble again, but this time he had an alibi. 

Read the full story here: "A Romance in Crime."

The Confession of Mary Cole.

The Confession of Mary Cole, 1813.

Cornelius and Mary Cole lived in a farmhouse in Sussex County, New Jersey, with their two children and Mary’s widowed mother, Agnes Teaurs. Cornelius bought the property from Agnes in exchange for an annuity of $50 per year for the rest of her life. Mary and her husband did not live happily with Agnes. According to Mary, her mother was always very hard on her, and she insisted on sleeping in the same bed as Mary and Cornelius, even though they provided her with another bed.

In December 1811, Agnes apparently moved out of the house. Mary told the neighbors that Agnes was offended by something the couple did, so she packed up and moved in with her brother in Bergen County. The following March, Mary and Cornelius left as well, moving in with his family. They rented the farm to another family.

The family that moved into the farmhouse perceived an unusual and unpleasant odor. They believed it was coming from beneath the floor, and in June, they pulled up some floorboards in the kitchen and found the source. It was the dead body of a woman lying in a shallow hole covered with ashes and swingle tow (flax fiber). They raised an alarm, the neighbors collected in the kitchen and were able to identify the body as that of Agnes Teaurs.

Jennie Cramer's Tragic Ballad.

(New Haven Independent)

Taylor Ward sings "Found Drifting with the Tide" (excerpt), the tragic ballad of Jennie Cramer's murder.

“Found Drifting with the Tide” was a song written by A. C. Willis, "Dedicated to the memory of Jennie Cramer," who was murdered in 1881.

When the body of beautiful young Jennie Cramer was found on a sandbar in the ocean off West Haven, Connecticut, in August 1881, it was assumed that she had drowned and possibly committed suicide. But there was no water in her lungs, and a thorough examination of the body revealed that the cause of death had been arsenic poisoning. It was also revealed that she had lost her virginity within the last forty-eight hours, and not consensually—she had been violently raped. Suspicion fell immediately on Jimmy Malley, Jennie’s current beau and nephew of the richest man in New Haven. The problem for the prosecution, and everyone since, was determining what exactly happened in the last two days of Jennie Cramer’s life.

Read the full story here: Found Drifting with the Tide.

Charles and Lizzie.

 

Charles Kaiser conspired with Lizzie DeKalb to murder his wife for insurance. When the plot was uncovered and the murderers tried, both claimed that they acted under the hypnotic power of James Clemmer, the insurance agent who conceived the plan.

Read the full story here: The Kaiser Conspiracy.

A Delilah's Revenge.

 

In 1863, Theodore B. Weber, then a businessman in Burlington, Iowa, was attracted to Mrs. Adelaide (Ada) Bennert, a woman sixteen years his junior. His passion “soon ripened into criminal intimacy,” and although both were married, they began a romantic affair. When Mr. Bennert learned of his wife’s infidelity, he left her in disgust. Weber moved to Chicago to join his brother’s boot-and-shoe wholesale business. Ada followed him to Chicago, and the affair continued.

Hannah and Stephen.

 

Stephen Pettus gave Hannah Southworth a glass of drugged champagne and had his way with her while she was unconscious. Hannah became pregnant and for years after, she badgered Pettus to acknowledge that he had ruined her. When all legal means were exhausted, she avenged her honor by shooting him in the back on a Brooklyn street.

Read the full story here: Avenging Her Honor.

The Conspirators and their Hitman.

In 1830, Joseph Knapp conspired with his brother, John Francis Knapp, to hire a local criminal, Richard Crowninshield, to murder their great uncle, Captain Joseph White, in Salem, Massachusetts. They believed that if the captain died without a will, they stood to inherit a sizable fortune.

Read the full story here: "A Most Extraordinary Case"

Jack the Strangler Post-Mortem.

Strangler Suspect, Jacob Tolker
(New York Journal, May 14, 1897)

Eight women were strangled—seven fatally— on Manhattan’s East Side, between May 1894 and August 1900. While the police closed three of the cases, their solutions were so weak that the New York City newspapers continued to list them all as unsolved and continued to speculate that one man committed all eight crimes. “It is not difficult to construct a hypothetical 'Jack the Strangler' who prowls up and down Second Avenue and from time to time surrenders himself to his cruel, cowardly mania.” Said the New York Journal. Was there a mad strangler at loose on Second Avenue, or was “Jack the Strangler” the product of sensational journalism?

Kate Scharn.

Kate Scharn.
(New York American, August 20, 1900.)

It had been more than two years since a murder was reported in New York City’s East Side, but on August 20, 1900, the pattern was all too familiar. A young woman was found murdered in her room after 1:00 a.m. No one heard a sound. Her jewelry was stolen. A variety of men were suspected, but with very little evidence against any of them. Kate Scharn was the latest victim of “Jack the Strangler.”

Maggie Crowley.

Maggie Crowley.
(New York Journal, March 16, 1898.)

On March 15, 1898, a woman was found strangled to death in the courtyard of a New York City tenement.  She was the seventh strangulation victim in the area over the previous four years. What made this case different was that even before the victim was identified, the police had a suspect in custody. Some believed he was responsible for all seven murders.

Shortly before 5:00 a.m. Robert Hoey told Policeman Peter Dillman that there was a dead woman in the courtyard at 27 Monroe Street, where he lived. Hoey said he was returning from his job on the docks, unloading the steamer, Gulf Stream. Coming home in the dark, he literally stumbled over an obstruction that turned out to be a woman lying on the ground. He thought she was sleeping and tried to rouse her, but his efforts were in vain.