Murder on the Ohio Belle

Murder on the Ohio Belle PDF Author: Stuart W. Sanders
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 081317872X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
In March 1856, a dead body washed onto the shore of the Mississippi River. Nothing out of the ordinary. In those days, people fished corpses from the river with alarming frequency. But this body, with its arms and legs tied to a chair, struck an especially eerie chord. The body belonged to a man who had been a passenger on the luxurious steamboat known as the Ohio Belle, and he was the son of a southern planter. Who had bound and pitched this wealthy man into the river? Why? As reports of the killing spread, one newspaper shuddered, "The details are truly awful and well calculated to cause a thrill of horror." Drawing on eyewitness accounts, Murder on the Ohio Belle uncovers the mysterious circumstances behind the bloodshed. A northern vessel captured by secessionists, sailing the border between slave and free states at the edge of the frontier, the Ohio Belle navigated the confluence of nineteenth-century America's greatest tensions. Stuart W. Sanders dives into the history of this remarkable steamer—a story of double murders, secret identities, and hasty getaways—and reveals the bloody roots of antebellum honor culture, classism, and vigilante justice.

Murder on the Ohio Belle

Murder on the Ohio Belle PDF Author: Stuart W. Sanders
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 081317872X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Get Book Here

Book Description
In March 1856, a dead body washed onto the shore of the Mississippi River. Nothing out of the ordinary. In those days, people fished corpses from the river with alarming frequency. But this body, with its arms and legs tied to a chair, struck an especially eerie chord. The body belonged to a man who had been a passenger on the luxurious steamboat known as the Ohio Belle, and he was the son of a southern planter. Who had bound and pitched this wealthy man into the river? Why? As reports of the killing spread, one newspaper shuddered, "The details are truly awful and well calculated to cause a thrill of horror." Drawing on eyewitness accounts, Murder on the Ohio Belle uncovers the mysterious circumstances behind the bloodshed. A northern vessel captured by secessionists, sailing the border between slave and free states at the edge of the frontier, the Ohio Belle navigated the confluence of nineteenth-century America's greatest tensions. Stuart W. Sanders dives into the history of this remarkable steamer—a story of double murders, secret identities, and hasty getaways—and reveals the bloody roots of antebellum honor culture, classism, and vigilante justice.

The Insanity Defense and the Mad Murderess of Shaker Heights

The Insanity Defense and the Mad Murderess of Shaker Heights PDF Author: William Louis Tabac
Publisher: True Crime History
ISBN: 9781606353523
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
They have no witnesses. They have no case. With this blunt observation, Mariann Colby--an attractive, church-going Shaker Heights, Ohio, mother and housewife--bet a defense psychiatrist that she would not be convicted of murder. A lack of witnesses was not the only problem that would confront the State of Ohio in 1966, which would seek to prosecute her for shooting to death Cremer Young Jr., her son's nine-year-old playmate: Colby had deftly cleaned up after herself by hiding the child's body miles from her home and concealing the weapon. Thus, this "highly intelligent" woman, as she would be described at her trial, had hedged a little on her wager. Not only were there no witnesses to the crime, but there was not a shred of physical evidence to pin the slaying on her. Under the usual forensic standards, her wager was spot on; the probabilities were that she would get away with it. But as the Shaker Heights police found themselves stymied by an investigation that was going nowhere, Mariann Colby upped the ante a bit. Under intense questioning, she broke down, claiming the gun had accidentally discharged. The state thought it had its capital murder case, but Mariann Colby's bet against it would be right on the money. As her trial unfolds in the book, the imprecision of her insanity defense confounds the judges, and psychiatrists disagree about her diagnosis. To make matters worse, the panel of judges that initially tried Colby was so confused by what they'd heard that they did not reach a decision consistent with the law of the state. This led to a second trial and more conflicting psychiatric opinions, another controversial judgment, and clashing trial outcomes. After reading The Insanity Defense and the Mad Murderess of Shaker Heights, readers--and the many childhood friends of the slain boy whose painful reminiscences are set forth in the book--will contemplate whether Mariann Colby did indeed get away with murder. In addition, those interested in legal history will find much of value in Tabac's discussions of the case and its use of an insanity defense strategy.

Belle Cora

Belle Cora PDF Author: Phillip Margulies
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307476030
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 610

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Book Description
In the home where Arabella Godwin was raised it is forbidden to speak her name, and her picture is turned to the wall. But in the turbulent America of the 1850s, everyone knows her as "Belle Cora," madam of San Francisco's finest bordello. Judges and senators do her bidding; a vicious newspaper editor plots her downfall; a preacher looks at her from across his pulpit and tries to forget that once she was his wife. Merchant's daughter, farm girl, prostitute, mother, madam, murderess, avenger, protector—she has worn all these masks: the only thing that never changes is her tireless pursuit of the one man who can see her for who she really is.

The Mystifying Murder in Marion, Ohio

The Mystifying Murder in Marion, Ohio PDF Author: Phil Reid
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1469130289
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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Book Description
In 1919, the first trans-Atlantic flight in world history occurred, the Volstead Act was passed (later on repealed), the Treaty of Versailles was signed, and Babe Ruth set a record for most consecutive scoreless innings pitched in a world series, a record that lasted until 1961. In Marion, Ohio, Mrs. Rose Belle Scranton was found dead at a coal pile, west of the Erie roundhouse on January 29, 1919. Up to this day, the murder case is still unsolved despite the wealth of evidence and information gathered and presented. Phil Reid extricates the 1919 Marion murder case almost a century later in The Mystifying Murder in Marion, Ohio. Reid comes up with an amplified and detailed work in The Mystifying Murder in Marion, Ohio, spanning a brief history of a little town to newspaper articles covering the Scranton murder. Several angles were look into based on the clues gathered and recorded witness accounts, including robbery and domestic trouble. The series of events following the murder, like a portent of worst things to come, heated things up in Marion: racial discord, exodus of the colored laborers out of town, and multiple arrests, including that of Mrs. Scranton’s husband. Authorities are baffled-- just when they are about to decipher the mystery behind the crime, a witness or evidence pops out contrary to the supposedly solved case.

Saving Stacy

Saving Stacy PDF Author: Rob St. Clair
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781791379919
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
An investigation of the murder of five people at one rural Bellefontaine farm property, that only one person, teenager Stacy Moody, survived. Her brother Scott Moody, who died in the massacre, was accused of the crime. The author represented Steven R. Moody in his capacity as administrator of his son Scott's estate, defending the estate against two wrongful death actions.

Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor

Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor PDF Author: Berry Craig
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 1949669297
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
When the air raid alarm sounded around 7:55 a.m. on December 7, 1941, Gunner's Mate Second Class James Allard Vessels of Paducah was preparing to participate in morning colors aboard the USS Arizona. In the scramble for battle stations, Vessels quickly climbed to a machine gun platform high atop the mainmast as others descended below decks to help pass ammunition up to gunners. At 8:06, a bomb exploded and the Arizona sank. Vessels's lofty perch saved his life, but most of his shipmates were not so lucky. In Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor, Berry Craig employs an impressive array of newspapers, unpublished memoirs, oral histories, and official military records to offer a ground-up look at the day that Franklin D. Roosevelt said would "live in infamy," and its aftermath in the Bluegrass State. In a series of vignettes, Craig uncovers the untold, forgotten, or little-known stories of ordinary people—military and civilian—on the most extraordinary day of their lives. Craig concludes by exploring the home front reaction to this pivotal event in American history. Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor swept away any illusions Kentuckians had about being able to stay out of World War II. From Paducah to Pikeville, people sprang to action. Their voices emerge and come back to life in this engaging and timely history.

America's Femme Fatale

America's Femme Fatale PDF Author: Jane Simon Ammeson
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 1684351618
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
How does a Norwegian farm girl become an infamous American serial killer, responsible for upward of 40 murders? Born in rural Norway in 1859, "Belle" Storset Sorenson Gunness was constantly dealt bad hands in life—so she decided to take life into her own hands. In America's Femme Fatale: The Story of Serial Killer Belle Gunness, Jane Simon Ammeson traces Gunness's path from a poor teenager rejected by a wealthy lover; to a new wife in Chicago, desperate to escape the poverty of her childhood and impatient for a child to love; to an ambitious, widowed landowner in La Porte, Indiana. Ammeson's careful research reveals how the young immigrant slowly turned into one of America's most dangerous serial killers, allegedly murdering husbands, lovers, and children, and, for a price, disposing of inconvenient corpses for others. Ammeson brings this shocking story to life, detailing the suspicious neighbors who were cowed into silence by Belle's intimidating personality, the culture of orphanages trafficking children and matrimonial agencies, the carnival atmosphere that exploded around the pile of bones found on Gunness's farm, and the sensational reporting that filled newspapers for months. Perfect for true crime fans fascinated by the creation of a sociopathic serial killer, America's Femme Fatale will leave you entertained and looking over your shoulder.

A Killing in the Hills

A Killing in the Hills PDF Author: Julia Keller
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250003482
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
Prosecuting attorney Bell Elkins and her estranged teenage daughter, Carla, try to protect their town and each other in the aftermath of a shocking triple murder committed by an unknown shooter whose identity is gradually realized by Carla.

An All-American Murder

An All-American Murder PDF Author: John Oller
Publisher: John Oller
ISBN: 1631732765
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
On a hot summer day in 1975, 14-year-old Christie Lynn Mullins left her neighborhood swimming pool with a friend, supposedly to attend a "cheerleading contest" behind a shopping center in Columbus, Ohio. Less than an hour later, she was found brutally beaten to death in the nearby woods. The neighborhood man who reported discovering her body was thought by many to be the true killer, but was never charged. Instead, the crime was pinned on a passive drifter with an IQ of 50, who confessed after six hours of interrogation. Two years later he was acquitted following a dramatic, Perry Mason-like trial full of surprise witnesses and testimony. "An All-American Murder," by lawyer and journalist John Oller, is the story of a homicide that rocked the city of Columbus, Ohio nearly 40 years ago and remains unsolved to this day. Despite widespread belief that the original police investigation was flawed, law enforcement authorities never actively pursued this alternate suspect and refuse to discuss the case today. Friends, neighbors, and classmates of the victim, as well her family, firmly believe that justice was not done and that this "cold case" should be reopened. "An All-American Murder" has been described as "a tragic, fascinating story well-told," and "an exceptionally well written, insightful look into the angst that people can carry for decades when the criminal justice system is unable/unwilling to provide closure." Perhaps with the benefit of this book, closure will finally be obtained.

Confederate Citadel

Confederate Citadel PDF Author: Mary A. DeCredico
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813179289
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
Richmond, Virginia: pride of the founding fathers, doomed capital of the Confederate States of America. Unlike other Southern cities, Richmond boasted a vibrant, urban industrial complex capable of producing crucial ammunition and military supplies. Despite its northern position, Richmond became the Confederacy's beating heart—its capital, second-largest city, and impenetrable citadel. As long as the city endured, the Confederacy remained a well-supplied and formidable force. But when Ulysses S. Grant broke its defenses in 1865, the Confederates fled, burned Richmond to the ground, and surrendered within the week. Confederate Citadel: Richmond and Its People at War offers a detailed portrait of life's daily hardships in the rebel capital during the Civil War. Here, barricaded against a siege, staunch Unionists became a dangerous fifth column, refugees flooded the streets, and women organized a bread riot in the city. Drawing on personal correspondence, private diaries, and newspapers, author Mary A. DeCredico spotlights the human elements of Richmond's economic rise and fall, uncovering its significance as the South's industrial powerhouse throughout the Civil War.