Page 1 Stories of Murder, Mayhem, and Misadventure
The two men earnestly watch as the turnkey finishes his rounds and then disappears down the corridor leading into the adjacent sheriff’s residence. When the flickering of the guard’s kerosene lantern disappears, the prisoners begin sawing through the iron bars of … Continued
On the night of Thursday, September 13, 1904, Mrs. Adelia C.B. Sweeting—a native of Jackson, Michigan, making the voyage aboard the Western States from Buffalo to Detroit—was jarred awake from a deep slumber by a squeezing sensation around her throat. … Continued
Part 2 Leave it to Beaver Love and Weidenmann took James Odell’s statement to the second floor cell where Pearl sat on a cot. Pearl’s mouth dropped open when Love read James Odell’s confession. Pearl insisted the crime was … Continued
Part 1 “Did you wrong her?” As the taxicab neared a desolated spot in the forests on the outskirts of Rochester, New York, twenty-three-year-old Edward Kneip felt his heart throbbing. He twisted his wrists, but the handcuffs binding his … Continued
With his bowler hat and three-day beard, George Ebeling certainly looked the part of a wild-west desperado, and over the previous two and a half years, he did his best to play the role as well. Unfortunately, train robbery just wasn’t … Continued
Christ died on a Friday, and for years, convicted felons expiated their “sins” on “Hangman’s Friday.” For John E. Schuyler, however, Friday would prove to be his lucky day. On occasion in the history of capital punishment, some condemned … Continued
The wind howled on the evening of Thursday, November 15, 1906, but the temperature inside the Grand Rapids Auditorium was balmy as a standing-room-only crowd huddled together while they watched the main event: a scheduled ten rounds between two heavy-hitters … Continued