The Great Murdering-Heir Case

The Great Murdering-Heir Case PDF Author: William B. Meyer
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438496362
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book

Book Description
In 1882, Elmer Palmer was convicted of poisoning his grandfather Francis in rural northern New York State. In a famous decision in 1889, the New York Court of Appeals denied Elmer the right to inherit from Francis, even though the statute governing wills seemed to entitle him to the legacy. Twentieth-century commentators have treated Riggs v. Palmer as a model of the judicial craft and a key to understanding the nature of law itself; however, the case’s history suggests that it is neither of these things. In its own time, the decision was radically at odds with legal doctrine as then understood by American judges. Rather than a quintessentially principled ruling, it was most likely ad hoc and ad hominem, concocted to thwart a particular individual thought to have been punished too lightly for his crime. The book illustrates the value of two approaches to interpreting decisions, those of "case biography" and "legal archaeology." Both draw upon historical sources neglected in conventional legal scholarship. In doing so, they may challenge—or confirm—the validity as precedent today of classic cases from the past.

The Great Murdering-Heir Case

The Great Murdering-Heir Case PDF Author: William B. Meyer
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438496362
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book

Book Description
In 1882, Elmer Palmer was convicted of poisoning his grandfather Francis in rural northern New York State. In a famous decision in 1889, the New York Court of Appeals denied Elmer the right to inherit from Francis, even though the statute governing wills seemed to entitle him to the legacy. Twentieth-century commentators have treated Riggs v. Palmer as a model of the judicial craft and a key to understanding the nature of law itself; however, the case’s history suggests that it is neither of these things. In its own time, the decision was radically at odds with legal doctrine as then understood by American judges. Rather than a quintessentially principled ruling, it was most likely ad hoc and ad hominem, concocted to thwart a particular individual thought to have been punished too lightly for his crime. The book illustrates the value of two approaches to interpreting decisions, those of "case biography" and "legal archaeology." Both draw upon historical sources neglected in conventional legal scholarship. In doing so, they may challenge—or confirm—the validity as precedent today of classic cases from the past.

The Great Murdering-Heir Case

The Great Murdering-Heir Case PDF Author: William B Meyer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781438496344
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Uncovers the facts behind the celebrated 1889 case of Riggs v. Palmer and shows how they transform our understanding of the decision.

The Death of an Heir

The Death of an Heir PDF Author: Philip Jett
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 125011182X
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Get Book

Book Description
The Death of an Heir is Philip Jett's chilling true account of the Coors family’s gilded American dream that turned into a nightmare when a meticulously plotted kidnapping went horribly wrong. In the 1950s and 60s, the Coors dynasty reigned over Golden, Colorado, seemingly invincible. When rumblings about labor unions threatened to destabilize the family's brewery, Adolph Coors, Jr., the septuagenarian president of the company, drew a hard line, refusing to budge. They had worked hard for what they had, and no one had a right to take it from them. What they'd soon realize was that they had more to lose than they could have imagined. On the morning of Tuesday, February 9, 1960, Adolph “Ad” Coors III, the 44-year-old CEO of the multimillion dollar Colorado beer empire, stepped into his car and headed for the brewery twelve miles away. At a bridge he stopped to help a man in a yellow Mercury sedan. On the back seat lay handcuffs and leg irons. The glove box held a ransom note ready to be mailed. His coat pocket shielded a loaded pistol. What happened next set off the largest U.S. manhunt since the Lindbergh kidnapping. State and local authorities, along with the FBI personally spearheaded by its director J. Edgar Hoover, burst into action attempting to locate Ad and his kidnapper. The dragnet spanned a continent. All the while, Ad’s grief-stricken wife and children waited, tormented by the unrelenting silence. The Death of an Heir reveals the true story behind the tragic murder of Colorado’s favorite son.

The Case of the Horrified Heirs

The Case of the Horrified Heirs PDF Author: Erle Stanley Gardner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Criminal defense lawyers
Languages : en
Pages : 488

Get Book

Book Description
"When the lives of two widows become entangled, the question is will their deaths be, also? Lauretta Trent was a wealthy, elderly, and ailing widow; Virginia Baxter a young, beautiful grass- and not-so-rich widow... Admittedly, the thread linking the two ladies was tenuous indeed, but its steel-like strength tripped Perry Mason and thrust him headlong into one of the most baffling cases of his career..." --

Hot Blood

Hot Blood PDF Author: Ken Englade
Publisher: Diversion Books
ISBN: 1635768357
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 399

Get Book

Book Description
The disappearance of fabulously rich Chicago candy heiress Helen Brach and the suspicious deaths of a string of champion racehorses are linked in a celebrated scandal that has reverberated through every level of the glamorous enclaves of thoroughbred horse breeding. When widowed heiress Helen Brach suddenly disappeared on the morning of February 17, 1977, after a visit to the Mayo Clinic, she left behind a lavender Rolls-Royce, Cadillacs in red, pink, and coral, an eighteen-room mansion, and a fortune now estimated at $75 million. She also left behind a mystery that would tantalize investigators for years. When Assistant US Attorney Steven Miller assigned himself the challenge of solving the Brach case, he never imagined an investigation of the horse world would lead to a charming gigolo named Richard Bailey who made a career of romancing wealthy women out of huge sums of money, a shadowy figure called The Sandman who made his living by killing priceless horses so that their owners could collect insurance, and the ghastly murder of three children in 1955.

The Murder Room

The Murder Room PDF Author: Michael Capuzzo
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1592406351
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Thrilling, true crime tales from the Vidocq Society - a team of the world's finest forensic investigators whose monthly lunches lead to justice in ice-cold murders. Three of the greatest detectives in the world were heartsick over the growing tide of unsolved murders. Good friends and sometime rivals William Fleisher, Frank Bender, and Richard Walter decided one day over lunch that something had to be done, and pledged themselves to a grand quest for justice. The Murder Room draws the reader into a chilling, darkly humorous, awe-inspiring world as the three partners travel far from their Victorian dining room to hunt ruthless killers, among them the grisly murderer of a millionaire's son, a serial killer who carves off faces, and a child killer enjoying fifty years of freedom and dark fantasy. Acclaimed bestselling author Michael Capuzzo brings true crime realistically and vividly to life in this account of a group of passionate men and women, inspired by their own wounded hearts to make a stand for truth, goodness, and justice in a world gone mad.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon PDF Author: David Grann
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307742482
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 417

Get Book

Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, “one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."—New York Magazine • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NOW A MARTIN SCORSESE PICTURE “A shocking whodunit…What more could fans of true-crime thrillers ask?”—USA Today “A masterful work of literary journalism crafted with the urgency of a mystery.” —The Boston Globe In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. Look for David Grann’s latest bestselling book, The Wager!

Philip and Alexander

Philip and Alexander PDF Author: Adrian Goldsworthy
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 046509550X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 587

Get Book

Book Description
This definitive biography of one of history's most influential father-son duos tells the story of two rulers who gripped the world -- and their rise and fall from power. Alexander the Great's conquests staggered the world. He led his army across thousands of miles, overthrowing the greatest empires of his time and building a new one in their place. He claimed to be the son of a god, but he was actually the son of Philip II of Macedon. Philip inherited a minor kingdom that was on the verge of dismemberment, but despite his youth and inexperience, he made Macedonia dominant throughout Greece. It was Philip who created the armies that Alexander led into war against Persia. In Philip and Alexander, classical historian Adrian Goldsworthy shows that without the work and influence of his father, Alexander could not have achieved so much. This is the groundbreaking biography of two men who together conquered the world.

A Murder In Macedon

A Murder In Macedon PDF Author: Anna Apostolou
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN: 9780312967925
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book

Book Description
Beware of Greeks bearing knives... In the summer of 336 B.C., Philip of Macedon has summoned all of Greece to join him in celebration in the old capital of Aegae. As he enters the arena filled with his loyal subjects, he is brutally stabbed by the cruel dagger of Pausanias, a young captain of his guard. Soon the palace corridors are awash in fear and chaos: Philip's ex-wife, the witch Olympias and mother of his son Alexander, plots the violent death of his young successor; Alexander, unconvinced that Pausanias is actually his father's executioner, scours the city for a killer amidst rumors of his own illegitimacy; and everyone, including Alexander himself, falls under the dark cloud of suspicion. As Alexander struggles to fill his father's role as ruler of Greece, he calls on the help of his young Hebrew friends Miriam and Simeon to uncover not just Philip's assassin, but the mystery of his own origins. From the dark chambers of Olympia's lair to the sun-baked streets of ancient Greece, Anna Apostolou unfolds a magnificent tale of antiquity and intrigue in rich historical detail.

Getting Life

Getting Life PDF Author: Michael Morton
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476756848
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book

Book Description
“A devastating and infuriating book, more astonishing than any legal thriller by John Grisham” (The New York Times) about a young father who spent twenty-five years in prison for a crime he did not commit…and his eventual exoneration and return to life as a free man. On August 13, 1986, just one day after his thirty-second birthday, Michael Morton went to work at his usual time. By the end of the day, his wife Christine had been savagely bludgeoned to death in the couple’s bed—and the Williamson County Sherriff’s office in Texas wasted no time in pinning her murder on Michael, despite an absolute lack of physical evidence. Michael was swiftly sentenced to life in prison for a crime he had not committed. He mourned his wife from a prison cell. He lost all contact with their son. Life, as he knew it, was over. Drawing on his recollections, court transcripts, and more than 1,000 pages of personal journals he wrote in prison, Michael recounts the hidden police reports about an unidentified van parked near his house that were never pursued; the bandana with the killer’s DNA on it, that was never introduced in court; the call from a neighboring county reporting the attempted use of his wife’s credit card, which was never followed up on; and ultimately, how he battled his way through the darkness to become a free man once again. “Even for readers who may feel practically jaded about stories of injustice in Texas—even those who followed this case closely in the press—could do themselves a favor by picking up Michael Morton’s new memoir…It is extremely well-written [and] insightful” (The Austin Chronicle). Getting Life is an extraordinary story of unfathomable tragedy, grave injustice, and the strength and courage it takes to find forgiveness.