Clik here to view.
Laura and Alexander.
Laura D. Fair and Alexander P. CrittendenA prominent California legislator was sitting with his wife and son on board the Oakland-San Francisco ferryboat El Capitain the evening of November 3, 1870....
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Cursed Murderer in Lowell, Mass.
William H. Devlin(Illustrated Police News, December 22, 1877)Shortly after noon on Monday, December 10, 1877, a man entered the Lowell, Massachusetts, Police Station in a highly excited state. He told...
View ArticleClik here to view.
James Dougherty's Obsession.
Mary Anderson was an acclaimed international stage actress in the late 1800s. Among her many fans was a young Brooklyn man named James M. Dougherty. He worked as a telegraph lineman and studied...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Song of the St. George Murder.
A Song Written in Memory ofThe St. George Murder.(excerpt) In St. George, Me., as you shall hear,It proves to be the fatal year -That Mrs. Meservey, in the prime of life.By a murderer's hand has lost...
View ArticleClik here to view.
So Far from Home - 99¢.
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 lyingHeadless and all stained with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Daniel, Teresa, and Phillip.
Daniel Sickles, Teresa Bagioli, Phillip KeyIn 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,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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,”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View Article
