1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: I'm Kate Winkler Dawson. I'm a journalist who's spent the 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 1: last twenty five years writing about true crime. 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 2: And I'm Paul Hols, a retired cold case investigator who's 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,439 Speaker 2: worked some of America's most complicated cases and solve them. 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: Each week, I present Paul with one of history's most 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: compelling true crimes. 7 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 2: And I weigh in using modern forensic techniques to bring 8 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 2: new insights to old mysteries. 9 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: Together, using our individual expertise, we're examining historical true crime 10 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: cases through a twenty first century lens. 11 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 2: Some are solved and some are cold, very cold. 12 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: This is buried Bones. 13 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 2: Hello, Kate, how are you? 14 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: Hey, Paul, how are you? 15 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 2: I'm doing really good. 16 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: Okay. I need you to look to the right and 17 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: please give our anxious listeners an update on your fish. 18 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: Not a long update, well it can be long. I 19 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: guess if you want. They love your fish. And you 20 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: told me something was going on in the little ecosystem 21 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: that you've built, right, Oh. 22 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, over the past. I don't know at 23 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 2: this point. You know, maybe four months I ended up 24 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,199 Speaker 2: having some sort of disease get into my tank. Oh no, 25 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 2: lost a fair number of fish, which was devastating, but 26 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 2: it's stabilized. I medicated it. I've got a few newer 27 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 2: fish in there. I've got a blue Hippo tang, which 28 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 2: is for if you don't know, that's Dory from the 29 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 2: Finding Nemo. Just a beautiful fish. And then I've got 30 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 2: a fox face, another beautiful fish, and I'm gonna slowly 31 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 2: start restocking it. I have to be much more diligent 32 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 2: to make sure I don't get another devastating disease into 33 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 2: the tank. 34 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: What happens? How does that even happen? If it's a 35 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: closed system. 36 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 2: Right, well, it's a closed system until I add something new, 37 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,639 Speaker 2: you know. And this is where you know, I'm going 38 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 2: to have you know, for those people out there that 39 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 2: are true hobbyists, I'm probably going to get slapped a 40 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 2: little bit. You know. Technically, when you get a new fish, 41 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 2: you should quarantine that fish to make sure it doesn't 42 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 2: have a disease before you add it into the tank. 43 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 2: And I got kind of lazy and I added a 44 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 2: new fish in and I'm pretty sure brought a disease 45 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 2: into the tank, and so lesson learned. But no, right now, 46 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 2: the fish that are in there, you know, they still 47 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:03,119 Speaker 2: have my yellow Watchman goby, pistol shrimp pear. I've got 48 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 2: a firefish. I've got a diamond goby that goes around 49 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 2: sifting the sand. He's my bone collector. He grabs all 50 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 2: the shells and puts them around his house. 51 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: You know. 52 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 2: I've got a six line rass, which I love, you know. 53 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 2: And of course the fox face and the doryatfish, So 54 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 2: they're doing good. 55 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,399 Speaker 1: Did your serial killer clownfish survive or no? 56 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 2: No, no, And this may sound bad, but in many 57 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 2: ways now that he's not in the tank, and I 58 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 2: probably should say she, because I'm pretty sure serial Killer 59 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 2: clown was a female, because you know, the clownfish are 60 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 2: all born male, and then the ones that become dominant 61 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 2: urn female. Of course, And yes, of course, but the 62 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 2: fact that that clownfish isn't in my tank, it's now 63 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 2: back to being a peaceful tank. The lobster is doing 64 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 2: well happy. You know. These reeflobsters are very shy, but 65 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 2: it's much more willing to come out when food is 66 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 2: put into the tank, you know. And I've got this 67 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 2: fire shrimp that will come out as well and dance 68 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 2: around a bit. And I still have an emerald crab 69 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 2: that you know, maybe once a month. 70 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: I see, Oh god, this tank is huge. Well, I'm 71 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: sorry about the I mean, I have a loss of 72 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: any animal is really sad. But it is interesting how 73 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: things have dramatically changed when you remove your aggressors from 74 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 1: the tank. And so I guess that's a lesson learned. 75 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: Or would you ever get any clownfish again? 76 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 2: I you know, I would be hesitant just because of 77 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 2: the experience with that one clownfish. You know, you want 78 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 2: to be very diligent about what fish you put in 79 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 2: to make sure they're compatible with the other fish as 80 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 2: well as with the invertebrates as well as with the coral, 81 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:00,919 Speaker 2: you know. So I'm going to be taking my time 82 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,600 Speaker 2: and making sure that I do things, you know, the 83 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 2: right way. 84 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: Well, best of luck to you. I can't wait for 85 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: updates on the fish, as our listeners feel the same 86 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: way I do. They love the updates. This moves us 87 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: into a story that I think is fascinating because we 88 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: get to the crime and we get to the killer 89 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: pretty quickly. It's the unraveling of the motive that I 90 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: think is really interesting. So another we're talking about the 91 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: serial killer clown fish and you know, we're looking for 92 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: the origin of where all of that instinct comes from. 93 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,280 Speaker 1: And that's the mystery we have here, is what ends 94 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: up happening with this person. So I'm going to take 95 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: you back, Paul. Get ready, We're going back to eighteen 96 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: ninety and we're going to Akron, New York. So get ready. 97 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: I'm going to set the scene. Okay, Okay, Halloween Night, 98 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: which seems very spooky and ominous, really not in eighteen ninety. 99 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: It doesn't really, It's not really observed in western New 100 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 1: York at this time. So when I say Halloween night, 101 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:10,479 Speaker 1: really it's October thirty. 102 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 2: First, Okay, So no trick or treaters out, and about no. 103 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: No trigger treaters out, and about Christmas is just kind 104 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: of catching on during this time period also, So yeah, 105 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: no no trick or treaters. It does happen to just 106 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: be October thirty first, ok And this isn't a small 107 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: town Akron, New York. Two little girls go missing. This 108 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: is a good caveat. It's always upsetting to talk about 109 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: the deaths of children. There doesn't appear to be any 110 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 1: sexual assault happen here, but still, you know, I just 111 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: want to warn people. If this is an episode you 112 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: need to zoom through or skip over. Let's get into 113 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: this story. The two little girls who are missing are 114 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: named Nellie May Connors, she is ten, and Delilah Brown, 115 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,600 Speaker 1: who is six. And you know, Akron, as I had 116 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: mentioned before, is a small town. It's east of Buffalo 117 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety as a bustling metropolis, and it's close 118 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: to the Erie Canal. But Akron is a tiny little 119 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: place and very small. These are hometown girls, they're friends. 120 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: In the week hours of the morning, people are searching. 121 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: Now there have been concerned all night because they were missing, 122 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: and now they've been searching, and they go down to 123 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: a creek and it's called Murder Creek for various reasons, 124 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: mostly going back to battles involving indigenous people. I think 125 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: the fear probably was that they got lost, they ran away, 126 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: and that you know, they maybe had fallen into the 127 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: creek or had gotten hurt or something. 128 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 2: And just to clarify, Nellie and Delilah are together when 129 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 2: they go missing. 130 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: Correct ten year old and a six year old yep 131 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: in this small town. So they're searching all over the place. 132 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: The parents are very upset, of course, and they make 133 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: a discovery. I just want to get to this quickly. 134 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: They find Nelly's body below the New New York Central 135 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: Railroad Trustle, which is a bridge for freight trains. The 136 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: Trustle is about fifty feet above where Nelly is found, 137 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: and according to the newspapers, her body is cruelly bruised 138 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: and her brains have been dashed out from striking the 139 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: stone abundment. And this sounds like a terrible scene and 140 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: probably a really awful accident. So Nelly is the ten 141 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: year old, it sounds like could have fallen from the 142 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: bridge for freight trains and cause this kind of injury. 143 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 2: That's what it sounds like right now. Yeah, but you 144 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 2: know that's where the autopsy can possibly show, you know, 145 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 2: is this blunt force trauma from impact from a fall 146 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 2: or do you have blunt force trauma from some other 147 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 2: object striking Nelly from different directions that possibly would indicate, 148 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 2: you know, that somebody caused these injuries to. 149 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: Her and then hit her body underneath this bridge, right yes. 150 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: So they're looking for Delilah while they're recovering Nelly's body, 151 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: and she is alive, which is amazing because she's in 152 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: the creek. Her arms and her legs are broken, it 153 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: is cold, she is breathing painfully, and she is gravely injured. 154 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: Now they went missing, you know, Halloween night. This is 155 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: in the morning, so she has been in the creek 156 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: water this whole time. But she's alive, and you know, 157 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: they start to rescue her. Essentially, so arms and legs 158 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: broken and bruised, and all of that sounds like either 159 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: another fall or an intentional injury to a second little girl. 160 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and I haven't had a homicide case. 161 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 2: And where all four limbs are broken, you know, this 162 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 2: right now sounds like possibly, you know, she's bracing for 163 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 2: impact from a fall with their arms and legs and 164 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 2: they get broken from the fall. But again we have 165 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 2: to see what the pathologist says. 166 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: Fifty feet is that that's a long way, right, Fifty 167 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: feet would be a long way to fall, especially for 168 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 1: two little girls. 169 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:23,440 Speaker 2: If that's what happened, fifty feet is a very significant fall. 170 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 2: You think about the room that you're sitting in right now. 171 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 2: The ceiling that you look up at is typically eight 172 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 2: feet tall, right roughly, so imagine five times at height 173 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 2: and impacting if you fall and you impact on concrete 174 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,439 Speaker 2: that is often fatal. 175 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,320 Speaker 1: Well, we have a pretty good answer about what happened, 176 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: and so I told you we were not going to 177 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: take long to get to the suspect, the offender in 178 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: this case. When they pull her from the creek, Delilah, 179 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: the six year old says, when they say what happened, 180 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:03,439 Speaker 1: Delilah says, quote, Sarah was smart to throw us from 181 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: the bridge. It's cryptic and weird. And we know who 182 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: Sarah is. 183 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 2: I was going to ask who Sarah. 184 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, we know who Sarah is. This is what ends 185 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: up happening. They are both thrown from this bridge that 186 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 1: is fifty feet above the surface below. 187 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 2: And this bridge is a railroad trestle. Yes, okay, So 188 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,959 Speaker 2: with that type of statement, I'm thinking, you know, from 189 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,559 Speaker 2: a little girl saying it, you know, who knows exactly 190 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 2: what her perception and her meaning of that statement is. 191 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 2: But were they out on this railroad trestle and a 192 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 2: train is coming and now I'm assuming Sarah is going 193 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 2: to be either same age or maybe an older individual 194 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:44,719 Speaker 2: to save them. It's like get out of the way 195 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:48,959 Speaker 2: of the train. You know, maybe it's just and Sarah recognizes, 196 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 2: oh no, and she runs home. But interesting statement. 197 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: It is, so we of course need to identify who 198 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: Sarah is. She actually goes by Sadie, but her name 199 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: is Sarah McMullen, but everyone calls her Sadie. She is older. 200 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 1: You're right, she's seventeen. She used to be a housekeeper 201 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: and a nanny in Delilah's house. Now we are certain 202 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: that Sadie did this because there were witnesses that she 203 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 1: was with the girls. Of course, Delilah is putting her there. 204 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: It's the why, I think, because the why is very 205 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: very confusing in this case, and we have more details 206 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:26,679 Speaker 1: because we do have witnesses that place her with the girls. 207 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: So do you want me to talk about Sadie and 208 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: her relationship in this world or do you want me 209 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: to talk about the details of what happened with her 210 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:41,000 Speaker 1: leading up to this, like actually what happened on October thirty. 211 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 2: First, my process is I always start, you know, with 212 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 2: the autopsy, with the crime scene. I'm assuming at this 213 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 2: point that the autopsy has shown that the injuries to 214 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 2: Nelly and Delilah are from impact from a fault. Okay, 215 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 2: So with that, now it's going to what happened at 216 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 2: the crime scene. So I now I'm working with Okay, 217 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 2: I've got two girls that have fallen off of this 218 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,839 Speaker 2: railroad trestle. One is killed upon impact, the other is 219 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 2: able to survive. Is there anything to indicate that Sarah 220 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 2: went down to where the girl's bodies were at I. 221 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 1: Can just tell you now. Sarah is from their world. 222 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: She is known. They went with her on the day 223 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:34,080 Speaker 1: of October thirty first, when this happens. Before that, Sadie 224 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:36,920 Speaker 1: had been acting strangely. She spent the first part of 225 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: the day with the Browns, and the Browns were Delilah's 226 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: father and you know other family members. Delilah's dad was 227 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: a widower and he owned a saloon in town. Sadie 228 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: had originally been hired as help when Simon's wife went ill, 229 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: and then she died, and then she stayed on to 230 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: help with the housework until Simon's sister moved in, and 231 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: then Sadie had to find another job. She became a 232 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: servant in a household in Buffalo. She came back to 233 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: visit the family. The rumor was that she was infatuated 234 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 1: with Delilah's dad, who was Sadie's former boss, Simon Brown. 235 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: So Sadie comes back to visit, and on that day, 236 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: October thirty, first, the day the girls go missing, people 237 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: say when they're interviewed by investigators that Sadie had been 238 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 1: acting very strangely. She had been with the family with 239 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: Delilah's family in the first part of the day. They 240 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: still had a close relationship, and Nellie, the other little girl, 241 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: and Delilah were such good friends. You know, Nellie was 242 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: at the house all the time. Nellie was there, Sadie 243 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: played parlor games with the two girls and then said 244 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: let's go on a walk. So acting strangely, not yet, 245 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: but they say later in the day things took a 246 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: weird turn. She first took the girls to the general 247 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: store to buy butter, but instead of buying the butter, 248 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: she got into a huge argument with the shopkeeper, which 249 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: he remembered, and she slams a quarter on the counter 250 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: before walking out of the store with no butter. Maer 251 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: and the researcher said, this is akin to leaving a 252 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: ten dollar bill on the counter these days and just 253 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: walking out with nothing. And I'm assuming since she's a servant, 254 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: she doesn't have a lot of money to begin with, 255 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 1: so things are getting kind of weird. Already, So in 256 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: this situation, in my opinion, what we're looking at is 257 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: kind of premeditation. Is this someone who we are going 258 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: to see as having some sort of a psychological breakdown 259 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: resulting in what she does? Or is this a planned 260 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: out murder because she's in love with one of the 261 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: girl's fathers and something happens, she thinks that this is 262 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: justified in some reason. I think that's kind of what 263 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: we're trying to look at here. 264 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 2: That you know, in her of Sadie, there's multiple avenues 265 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 2: that possibly could be occurring. You know, is she taking 266 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 2: these girls out on a walk already with the intent 267 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 2: to kill them and has pre planned this? If so, 268 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 2: when did she make that decision? Was that decision made 269 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 2: that day or had that decision been made prior to 270 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 2: that day, or was this a spontaneous act? You know, 271 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 2: when we start saying that she's acting Sadie's acting strangely, 272 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 2: well that could mean a lot. It's like, well, what 273 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 2: exactly is that? Is she's showing some form of psychosis 274 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 2: where you know, she is having this this mental break 275 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 2: or the strange behavior is she is already thinking about 276 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 2: what she's going to do, you know, and so her 277 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 2: mental state is kind of acted, if you will, from 278 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 2: normal interactions. She's agitated. It sounds like at the general store, 279 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 2: you know. And is that just because she's in that 280 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:14,680 Speaker 2: ramp up process behaviorally to where she knows she's going 281 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 2: to be committing this double homicide. 282 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: Those are all good questions, and her background, I think 283 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 1: is also pretty interesting too. So let's see, I'm jumping 284 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: I'm gonna jump around a little bit because we have 285 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: witnesses who say some stuff. There's an eleven year old 286 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: boy named Daniel Flynn. He says that about eight o'clock 287 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: on October thirty first, so this is nighttime, right, he 288 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: saw Sadie walking with the two girls. She was walking 289 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: between them, holding each of their hands, and she was 290 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,360 Speaker 1: walking very fast in the direction of the railroad trestle. 291 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:55,360 Speaker 1: He says that not long after that, Sadie returned by herself, 292 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: walking fast, holding hands. Girls are coming along. They trust her. 293 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,399 Speaker 1: So again we you and I are trying to figure out, 294 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 1: as a judge will pretty soon, what was this woman thinking. 295 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: Is this some mental illness, mental breakdown or was this 296 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: pre planned and now she's executing it? 297 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 2: Sure? Yeah, and this is where you know of course, 298 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 2: the interview of Sadie is going to be key. 299 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,399 Speaker 1: She's denying all of it. She said, you're all crazy, 300 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: I haven't done anything, okay, and she will continue to 301 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: deny it throughout all of this. So we don't get 302 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: anything out of Sadie. Let's get to what Delilah says, 303 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: which is Delilah says, And just as a reminder, Nelly 304 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 1: is the little girl who died. Nellye is ten and 305 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 1: Delilah is six, So this is a six year old who, 306 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: thank goodness, recovers. It takes a long time, but she 307 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 1: does recover. So we have a ten year old who's 308 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: dead and a six year old who I'm sure has 309 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: injuries that are never going to go away. After this, 310 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 1: she says that Sadie grabbed them and held their hands 311 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 1: just like the little boy said, took them towards the trestle, 312 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: which spans Murder Creek. It seemed clear to both girls 313 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: what she was going to try to do, because she 314 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:14,640 Speaker 1: starts sort of wrestling with them to try to get 315 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 1: them off the bridge. She struggled with both of them, 316 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: they fought back, but she managed to throw both of 317 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,919 Speaker 1: them into the creek. Then, of course, Delilah has no 318 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,400 Speaker 1: clue what happened after that. She's got two broken arms, 319 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: two broken legs, and Nellie is dead. So what ends 320 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,240 Speaker 1: up happening is Sadie then goes back to Simon's house, 321 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: the father Delilah's father's house, and Delilah's aunt Hannah was there. 322 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:43,640 Speaker 1: Sadie had barely walked through the door when she turned 323 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:48,160 Speaker 1: around and left again. She then went to a nearby 324 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 1: much lower bridge which was right behind the father's saloon, 325 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,120 Speaker 1: and she jumped into the water from the bridge. Simon 326 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: and another guy saw her and yanked her out of 327 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:02,440 Speaker 1: the water, but she kept screen to put her back in. Now, 328 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,639 Speaker 1: this sounds like a psychological break to me, But I 329 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: don't know. This could be an act. 330 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 2: It almost sounds like it was an attempt at suicide. 331 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 2: But was that staging? You know, she has already thrown 332 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,880 Speaker 2: the two little girls off the railroad trestle, and now 333 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,920 Speaker 2: she's jumping into a body of water and trying to 334 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 2: prevent people from rescuing her. I mean that again, we 335 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 2: don't know Sadie's internal thoughts. You know, maybe she truly 336 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 2: had such remorse from having what in her mind she 337 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,919 Speaker 2: killed Nellie and Delilah both, and now she's going, I 338 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 2: can't live with what I've done, or she goes back 339 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 2: and the father that she's infatuated with doesn't seem to 340 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,760 Speaker 2: be giving her the attention she wants, and now she's 341 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,919 Speaker 2: going out either truly wanting why bother living, or she 342 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 2: wants attention to herself and is getting that attention by 343 00:20:55,240 --> 00:21:00,040 Speaker 2: this ruse of attempting suicide, or she's setting up an 344 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 2: defense because she knows she will be the prime suspect 345 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 2: in what happened to Nelly and Delilah. 346 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,639 Speaker 1: It's very disturbing because you know, as soon as she 347 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,360 Speaker 1: gets pulled out of the water, she is brought in 348 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: by Simon and laid on the couch and she's soaking wet. 349 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: At eight o'clock and this is when Simon Delilah's dad 350 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,200 Speaker 1: say where are Delilah and Nelly? Where did they go? 351 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: And they ask Sadie where the girls went, since she said, hey, 352 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: why don't you guys go on a walk with me? 353 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,159 Speaker 1: And she says, was Delilah with me? And then she 354 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: touches her head and says she wants to know why 355 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: her hair is wet, and this sends, of course, you 356 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: can imagine the family's into a panic and that's when 357 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,159 Speaker 1: the search really kicks in and they find the girls 358 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: the next morning. So is this her not remembering if 359 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,719 Speaker 1: this really is some sort of a break or what 360 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: does that represent? 361 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's where now it's really trying to evaluate her 362 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 2: psychological state, and part of that evaluation is going to 363 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 2: be taking a look at her behaviors, her actions leading 364 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 2: up to this moment in time. Is she showing proper cognition? 365 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,919 Speaker 2: You know? Is she like with the homicide, you know, 366 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 2: she is purposely leading Nellie and Delilah out to this 367 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 2: railroad trestle that is at a substantial height, Yet she 368 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 2: herself goes to a much lower bridge to throw herself 369 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 2: into the river. Why doesn't she go back to the 370 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 2: railroad trestle? Right? So that's showing, well, she's recognizing possibly 371 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,200 Speaker 2: that that lower bridge is something that she can jump 372 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 2: off of and survive, And that's telling me, that's informing 373 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 2: me that she's seeking this out if she was truly 374 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 2: in a mental break a psychosis. Right now, my question is, well, 375 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 2: why didn't she just throw herself off off of that 376 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 2: road tressel? After she threw Nelly and Delilah. You know, 377 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,600 Speaker 2: it was this she eliminating these two girls that obviously 378 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 2: get Delilah's father's attention, and she's going, I want all 379 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:15,919 Speaker 2: that attention, and so I'm going to get rid of 380 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:20,160 Speaker 2: these two girls. So now Simon, Delilah's father, all his 381 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 2: attention is focused on me. 382 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: And if you'll remember where that bridge, the small the 383 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 1: lower bridge is located, it's right behind Simon's saloon. 384 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 2: And he's the one that finds her, right yep. 385 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 1: It is actually sounds to me like she is setting 386 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 1: this up for him to rescue her, and then I 387 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: don't know what happens after That's her actions are very confusing, 388 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:43,880 Speaker 1: and I have more details also. 389 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 2: Well, it sounds to me she is trying to seek 390 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 2: get his attention. 391 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: Well she got it. So let's talk about a potential 392 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: kind of change. I don't know if we want to 393 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,959 Speaker 1: call it a trigger. Hannah Brown, who is Simon Brown's sister, 394 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: Delilah's aunt, says, yes, Sadie was being strange that day. 395 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: And she says that day, Sadie had gotten a letter 396 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: at their house because she had just changed jobs not 397 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,280 Speaker 1: too long ago. I guess she was still getting mailed 398 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,359 Speaker 1: there at the Browns, Sadie got a letter that she 399 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,840 Speaker 1: found very, very upsetting. It turns out that a made 400 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 1: from a different household where Sadie had worked in Buffalo 401 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: was accusing Sadie of stealing jewelry, and Sadie was completely 402 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:32,439 Speaker 1: freaked out. What does that connect with the most, the 403 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 1: premeditated murder aspect of this or the mental break aspect 404 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: of this? 405 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 2: I think at this point I can't say for sure 406 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 2: if this letter is causing her to have a mental break, 407 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:49,200 Speaker 2: is something where now it changes circumstances in her life 408 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 2: where she feels compelled to commit the in her mind, 409 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,400 Speaker 2: this double homicide of Nellie and Delilah. For me, it's 410 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 2: just it's a stressor and that's all I can label 411 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 2: it at right now. 412 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,679 Speaker 1: I'm guessing you're right because it sounds like Sadie wrote 413 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: to her aunt on the same day that she threw 414 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: the girls off the bridge, and listen to this letter. 415 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,119 Speaker 1: It sounds like it lines up with what your first 416 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: theory was about. Simon Brown, Dear aunt, when you get this, 417 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:18,400 Speaker 1: I will be far from the earth. I am sick 418 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: and tired of living, and as I told you, my 419 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 1: last hope is come at last, which means it's gone. 420 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 1: I am thankful to die. People rebuke me for things 421 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: that I am not guilty of. I'm assuming the theft 422 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,359 Speaker 1: of the jewelry, and as I have no one to 423 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,199 Speaker 1: love me, I can go in peace, my heart. I 424 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: leave an Akron with the one I always spoke to 425 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: you of, as he seems not to care for me. 426 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, this is where here we have Sadie and she 427 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 2: really wants Simon's attention and whether or not this, her 428 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 2: jumping off of the bridge behind his saloon, was truly 429 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 2: suicide attempt. I mean, this letter to her aunt sounds 430 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,159 Speaker 2: like a suicide letter. I would be evaluating, you know, 431 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 2: this bridge. Would a person jumping off that bridge expect 432 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 2: to die or drown, you know, if the water's deep 433 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:19,199 Speaker 2: enough or it was as truly just a ruse to 434 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,560 Speaker 2: make it look like she's attempting suicide. So she gets 435 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:24,160 Speaker 2: Simon's attention, and. 436 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,119 Speaker 1: It's interesting because it sounds to me like it's Simon, 437 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,239 Speaker 1: But there are other theories about who this love is 438 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: that she's talking about. She ends the letter to her 439 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 1: aunt by saying that she wants to be buried near 440 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,920 Speaker 1: the one that she loves and she signs it your 441 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: no more niece, And so people of course are gleaning 442 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: from this letter that Sadie was in love with Simon Brown. 443 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: But there are other accounts that say she was seeing 444 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 1: a man in Buffalo and was dismayed when he didn't 445 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:58,360 Speaker 1: write to her while she was in Akron. And other 446 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:03,399 Speaker 1: people say that Simon Brown's unmarried brother was involved in 447 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: a romance that she potentially wanted to be involved with. This, 448 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:11,680 Speaker 1: you know, Simon Brown's unmarried brother, but there's so much 449 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,679 Speaker 1: muk to get through. Other people say Simon was actually 450 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 1: engaged to Nellie's mom, which would have then made them 451 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,639 Speaker 1: step siblings, which would have been very sweet. So you know, 452 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: all of this is to say that Sadie says, you're 453 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 1: all nuts. I didn't write this letter. This doesn't look 454 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: like my handwriting. I don't know what you're talking about. 455 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: I didn't do anything, you know, and doesn't explain why 456 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 1: she ended up in the water and jumping off of 457 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:38,159 Speaker 1: a bridge. She's just denying all of it. 458 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:43,879 Speaker 2: I know there's these other potential love interests, but she's 459 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 2: killing Nellie and Simon's daughter Delilah. Yeah, they're right. There 460 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:54,320 Speaker 2: is that relationship focus as far as I'm concerned, And 461 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 2: so for me, I believe that Simon is the one 462 00:27:57,880 --> 00:27:59,920 Speaker 2: she's writing about in that suicide letter. 463 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: I think that's probably the case too. I mean, she 464 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,879 Speaker 1: chooses to do it then, and also she says to 465 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:08,440 Speaker 1: her aunt, bury me next to the one I love 466 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: in Akron. If this is a buffalo guy that she's seeing, 467 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:13,639 Speaker 1: that doesn't make any sense. 468 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 2: Well, and that kind of struck me too, because you 469 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:19,640 Speaker 2: know Simon's still alive. How does she know where Simon's 470 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,199 Speaker 2: going to be buried? Was she thinking, you know, he 471 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,280 Speaker 2: doesn't love me, so I'm going to take out the 472 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 2: entire family. Was she planning on killing him? 473 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 1: Everything about Sadie McMullen is confusing. And then we have 474 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:36,239 Speaker 1: some medical experts who are really interesting. And actually I 475 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: had been skimming through when you and I were talking. 476 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: I had been skimming through a journal which I read 477 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 1: entirely too much from the eighteen hundreds, the Journal of 478 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,600 Speaker 1: Nervous and Mental Disease. And when a case pops up 479 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: in this journal, it's for a reason. It's something that 480 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: is interesting that happened with that case. And so I 481 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: think you'll see that coming up because this is sort 482 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: of you know, we will get into a world that 483 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 1: I had to touch on when I write about the 484 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds. But it's still a mystery for me. So 485 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: Sadie said, forget it. You're not penning in this on me. 486 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: I'm pleading not guilty, which she did. She's arigned in January, 487 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:16,360 Speaker 1: so this is two months after this happens, and Delilah, 488 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 1: who had survived, was ready to go to court. I mean, 489 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: she the six year old, wanted to see everything that 490 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: was going to happen. As I said, Sadie pleads not 491 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: guilty after this, her lawyer, who is a guy named 492 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 1: Edward Hayes, tells the press. I don't think anybody can 493 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: entertain doubts as to her insanity, and I don't believe 494 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 1: any jury will be willing in the face of the 495 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: evidence I will introduce to declare that she plotted and 496 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 1: executed this deed in a sane moment. So of course 497 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: he's going for an insanity defense here, right, which even 498 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: in the eighteen hundreds was a high bar, probably even 499 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: higher than it is today. So she really has to 500 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: demonstrate some things in order for her to be put 501 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: in a mental health institution. Would be the nice way 502 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: of saying it in the eighteen hundreds rather than going 503 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: to prison. 504 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 2: Sure, and now it's really assessing what I was talking 505 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 2: about before. Is she's showing steps? Is she taking steps 506 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 2: that require thought forethought in order to get Nellie and 507 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 2: Delilah out to that railroad trestle? You know, how is 508 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 2: she moving through the day to get up to that point. 509 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 2: That's the interesting thing. You know, she's she's showing some 510 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 2: agitation at the General's store, but that doesn't mean that 511 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 2: she's mentally incompetent. She's not knowing what she's doing. You 512 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 2: know the fact that she's holding Nelly and Delilah's hands 513 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 2: walking towards the railroad trestle, and we have Delilah's statement 514 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 2: saying she wrestled and was able to get both of 515 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:54,040 Speaker 2: them tossed off the trestle. You know, there is a 516 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,479 Speaker 2: functioning cognition that appears to be going on with Sadie. 517 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:01,520 Speaker 2: So I'm right now leaning towards you know, I don't 518 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 2: think she's you know, in this psychosis, you know where 519 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:09,000 Speaker 2: she is not knowing what she's doing. She's not knowing 520 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 2: right from wrong, which is often you know, part of 521 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,440 Speaker 2: the bar that has to be crossed in order to 522 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 2: say somebody is insane to stand trial. Is they did 523 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,680 Speaker 2: not know what they were doing, was, you know, was wrong. 524 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:27,520 Speaker 2: She wrote that letter that day to her aunt, right, 525 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 2: the suicide. 526 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: Letter sounds like it. I think it was received a 527 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: day or two later, though, because I don't believe her 528 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:33,760 Speaker 1: aunt was in Akron. 529 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:38,080 Speaker 2: So okay, But Sadie's denying that that she wrote that letter, 530 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 2: and the handwriting doesn't look like hers, And of course 531 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,840 Speaker 2: I'd be interested in seeing what kind of evaluation was 532 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 2: done to try to determine who authored that letter. 533 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, and let me set the scene for this, because 534 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,360 Speaker 1: the media, I think does as always play a part 535 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: in here. So the trial begins March fifth, eighteen ninety one, 536 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: and the newspapers describe her as pretty and pale, slender, 537 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: self possessed, and dressed with simple taste, with her luxuriant 538 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,760 Speaker 1: brown hair flowing loosely over her shoulders. Sounds like a 539 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 1: nice country girl. The way they're describing her, which is, 540 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: you know, that really does play into the sympathy part 541 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 1: of this, especially when you're pursuing an insanity defense, right. 542 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 2: Well, for sure, you know, and she as a defendant 543 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,400 Speaker 2: is a sympathetic figure. She doesn't look like the boogeyman, right, 544 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,959 Speaker 2: you know, So of course that's going to make it 545 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 2: harder for the prosecution to be able to convince a 546 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 2: you know, members of the jury that she is capable 547 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 2: of this horrible crime. 548 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: So the trial goes on. Dahlilah does not testify, thank goodness, 549 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: but she is there and wants to see all of it. 550 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: Her father, Simon does testify, and this again goes to 551 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,360 Speaker 1: your suspicion, which I think is right, that this is 552 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: the man that Sadie was focused on. Plus the newspapers 553 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: of the eighteen I love the way they wrote. They 554 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 1: say that when Simon took the stand, Sadie's demeanor changed. 555 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 1: They describe a polar and a parting of the lips. 556 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 2: Did she blow him a kiss? 557 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:16,600 Speaker 1: Maren? I like when Maren says stuff like this. She says, 558 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:19,040 Speaker 1: they just generally went all in on the idea that 559 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 1: Sadie is in love with Simon, which I think we 560 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 1: both believe that Simon is the man. There's too much 561 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:27,720 Speaker 1: connecting him to this case for it to not be 562 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 1: Simon is the main focus here. 563 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, And does Simon testify about his interactions with Sadie 564 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 2: that day. 565 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 1: No, I mean he describes yanking her out of the water. Yeah, 566 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 1: and the fact that she sounded really odd, you know, 567 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: like why is my hair wet? Is Delilah actually with me? 568 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: But he was not talking about her acting oddly throughout 569 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: the day, just that part, I think, because she was 570 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: occupying the girls. He I'm sure was doing man stuff, 571 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 1: nineteenth century man stuff. You know, he was, what do 572 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: you need to know? What that is? My chopping wood 573 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:05,280 Speaker 1: killing grizzly bears. 574 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 2: No, that was just a funny way to put it. 575 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:10,080 Speaker 2: But yeah, I know what you mean. 576 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: He was not hanging out in the parlor watching her 577 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:16,279 Speaker 1: play parlor games with him. I think so the first 578 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: interaction I'm assuming really he had because it sounded like 579 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:22,800 Speaker 1: her behavior was sort of evolving over the day. Maybe 580 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: she made some kind of a decision in her mind, 581 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 1: and then that's what happened. Let me tell you the 582 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,040 Speaker 1: stakes just real quick, and then you can give me 583 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 1: any further thoughts you have. If she is considered sane 584 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 1: and she's convicted, she will be the first woman ever 585 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,319 Speaker 1: to be executed in the electric chair, oh, which had 586 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 1: been just introduced to New York two months earlier, and 587 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:46,440 Speaker 1: let me tell you, things did not go well with 588 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:49,040 Speaker 1: the electric chair for the first couple of years. It 589 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,240 Speaker 1: was not a good situation. So there is a lot 590 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:54,600 Speaker 1: riding on this trial for Sadie McMullen. 591 00:34:55,280 --> 00:35:00,160 Speaker 2: No, for sure, she most certainly must have been informed. Hey, 592 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,440 Speaker 2: you know, you're looking at a death sentence and this 593 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:07,279 Speaker 2: is the way that the state is now executing. So 594 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:11,120 Speaker 2: I could see where the stakes are very high, you know. 595 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 2: Just still, I'm very curious when Sadie got back into town, 596 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,640 Speaker 2: you know, I'd be very curious to know what kinds 597 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 2: of interactions Simon and Sadie had. Is there a possible 598 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:31,280 Speaker 2: precipitating event where Simon ignored Sadie or scolded her something 599 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:36,360 Speaker 2: like that, you know which now she's taking that out 600 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,239 Speaker 2: on Nellie and Elilah. 601 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:41,040 Speaker 1: It could be, I mean, she was a nanny. It 602 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:42,800 Speaker 1: could be that he just assumed she was going to 603 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:44,400 Speaker 1: hang out with the kids and he didn't need to 604 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,160 Speaker 1: spend time with her. If the rumor is true that 605 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:52,759 Speaker 1: he and Eliza, who was Nellie's mom, were actually involved, 606 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:55,520 Speaker 1: Now Eliza said that's not true. She told the corner 607 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,719 Speaker 1: of that. But if it is true, it doesn't really matter, right, 608 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 1: if it was true, it just matters, matters what Sadie thinks. 609 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:07,400 Speaker 2: It's within the offender's perception, always is, there's the facts, 610 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:12,600 Speaker 2: but how does the offender, No, how does the offender feel? 611 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:16,680 Speaker 2: What does the offender perceive? Are the facts? You know? 612 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:18,279 Speaker 2: That's the critical thing? 613 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 1: Well, hang on tight, because we're about to take a 614 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:26,560 Speaker 1: pretty big left turn here with this case. So we 615 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,000 Speaker 1: need to talk about Sadie because people do talk about 616 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,279 Speaker 1: her background here and it's important. So she had a 617 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:35,920 Speaker 1: very sad, difficult wife before she wound up an akron. 618 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,160 Speaker 1: She was born in Chicago. Her parents were described as 619 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:44,080 Speaker 1: austere and ill tempered. Her father was probably an alcoholic. 620 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:46,480 Speaker 1: Her mother died when she was young. Now this is 621 00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:50,640 Speaker 1: in your wheelhouse. Purportedly she died of fright after an 622 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:54,200 Speaker 1: encounter with a bear? Is that a heart attack? Right? 623 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:59,120 Speaker 1: That's not funny. Your poor wife's and your dog's experience 624 00:36:59,160 --> 00:36:59,640 Speaker 1: with a bear. 625 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:05,799 Speaker 2: Well, I've had my encounters with bears too, But so okay, 626 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:09,680 Speaker 2: So how old was mom when she had the encounter 627 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:10,239 Speaker 2: with the bear? 628 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:12,439 Speaker 1: That you know? We don't know? It just said mom. 629 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,080 Speaker 1: Her mother died when she was young, so I would 630 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:17,239 Speaker 1: guess the mom's probably pretty young. I mean, you can't 631 00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:19,040 Speaker 1: even think forties, I would. 632 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 2: Guess so, but Sadie's young. So now you know, it 633 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 2: tells me a little bit about her upbringing. She doesn't 634 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,680 Speaker 2: have that maternal figure after a certain young age, whatever 635 00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:35,920 Speaker 2: age that was. Father sounds like maybe abusive, you know. 636 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:41,080 Speaker 2: So this is part of that, you know, the formative aspect. Now, 637 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,680 Speaker 2: you know, we've seen I mean it's like the Netflix 638 00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:49,880 Speaker 2: show mind Hunter, right, that study of serial predators. You know, 639 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,600 Speaker 2: I've got the academic texts, you know, sexual homicide patters 640 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:55,440 Speaker 2: and motives. You know, that's part of what they were 641 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,840 Speaker 2: looking at was the family dynamics in these offenders upbringing. 642 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,920 Speaker 2: And they saw sort of this kind of pattern, you know, 643 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:06,480 Speaker 2: the overbearing mother, the abusive father. But it's like many 644 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 2: people have that in their upbringing and don't become killers, right, 645 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:13,880 Speaker 2: you know. So, but it's just something of course that 646 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:19,640 Speaker 2: on one hand is like, Okay, so Sadie possibly has 647 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:24,520 Speaker 2: some antisocial behaviors that resulted from her upbringing. But at 648 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:28,320 Speaker 2: the same time, the defense could use that and say, well, 649 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:30,799 Speaker 2: look at poor Sadie, you know, because of the way 650 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 2: she was brought up. This is why she has this 651 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:35,160 Speaker 2: mental issue. 652 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:37,600 Speaker 1: I think what the defense is really going to hit 653 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:41,240 Speaker 1: on is what happens next. So her father sounds terrible. 654 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:43,920 Speaker 1: She pretty much ran the household. And remember this is 655 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:46,680 Speaker 1: all happening present day when she's seventeen. This is not 656 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 1: an older woman, She's a teenager. Her dad worked a 657 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:53,840 Speaker 1: lot of jobs around the Midwest, and when she was twelve, 658 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:58,240 Speaker 1: they went from Missouri to Akron, New York, mostly on foot, 659 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,279 Speaker 1: so they spent a lot of nice sleeping outside. And 660 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:06,360 Speaker 1: this is sort of the beginning of when Sadie started 661 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:10,480 Speaker 1: having seizures. And everybody confirms she had seizures where she 662 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:14,919 Speaker 1: would have spells of quote losing time. The defense put 663 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:18,960 Speaker 1: a neurologist on the stand, William Krause. He had examined 664 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:22,440 Speaker 1: Sadie a couple of days after the murder she was 665 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:27,239 Speaker 1: in jail, and he says it is epilepsy, which was 666 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:30,080 Speaker 1: considered a mental illness in the eighteen hundreds. And at 667 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,080 Speaker 1: the trial he reads aloud this paper that he had 668 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:37,240 Speaker 1: written which detailed Sadie's childhood and this condition. He says 669 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:39,840 Speaker 1: that in some forms of epilepsy, a person can be 670 00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,520 Speaker 1: in a state of what he calls double consciousness for 671 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:46,040 Speaker 1: days at a time. This is a state where he 672 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:48,759 Speaker 1: thinks Sadie was when she killed Nelly and tried to 673 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:52,800 Speaker 1: kill Delilah. So Kraus says that she was acting automatically 674 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:57,160 Speaker 1: without real consciousness of what she was doing. He says, 675 00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:00,239 Speaker 1: it's really common with people with a specific form form 676 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,200 Speaker 1: of epilepsy. And in this state, you know, a person 677 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:06,600 Speaker 1: wouldn't have any memories of these kinds of past events, 678 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:10,439 Speaker 1: so automatic, you know, this is just something she did 679 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:12,880 Speaker 1: in a fog. Have you heard of this before? 680 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:15,759 Speaker 2: No, Yeah, this is this is a new one for me. 681 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:21,520 Speaker 2: She enters in this I guess mental zone that epileptics 682 00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:29,120 Speaker 2: can sometimes involuntarily go and then purposely take two young girls, 683 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,600 Speaker 2: buy the hand out to a railroad trestle, throw them off, 684 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:35,920 Speaker 2: go back to the house, and then go to a 685 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,680 Speaker 2: bridge and throw that off. Now the memory side, I 686 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:43,880 Speaker 2: don't know, but it sounds like she is still showing 687 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,879 Speaker 2: a level of cognitive ability. 688 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:49,640 Speaker 1: He says. She wrote the letter in an automatic state. 689 00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:52,080 Speaker 1: That's why she wrote in a different sort of hand, 690 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:54,680 Speaker 1: you know. And I will say, Paul, in one of 691 00:40:54,719 --> 00:40:58,239 Speaker 1: our cases with Oscar Heinrich, where the killer turns out 692 00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:01,759 Speaker 1: to be someone with schizophrenia. He wrote a letter in 693 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:04,799 Speaker 1: a handwriting that it didn't match the exemplar of the 694 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:08,960 Speaker 1: man's handwriting. And he also wrote beautifully in one hand 695 00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:11,680 Speaker 1: and did block letters in another, and it was all 696 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:14,560 Speaker 1: so bizarre, and Heinrich just said he was in a 697 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:18,320 Speaker 1: certain state of mind. It's unpredictable. But Kraus is pretty 698 00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:21,040 Speaker 1: convinced that this is what's going on with her. And 699 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,440 Speaker 1: then we have the dad take the stand and explains 700 00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:27,279 Speaker 1: some really really sad, weird stuff that happened with her 701 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:28,960 Speaker 1: delusions when she was a kid. 702 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:32,080 Speaker 2: Uh Like, what kind of delusions? 703 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:36,880 Speaker 1: Well, okay, let's start with something unpleasant. The family members 704 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:39,840 Speaker 1: testify that she had a history of singing in her sleep, 705 00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:42,920 Speaker 1: which is not the unpleasant part. There is a family 706 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:47,280 Speaker 1: history of what they call hereditary sin and morbid propensities 707 00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:52,200 Speaker 1: that spring from congenital marriage. They say that Sadie's grandparents 708 00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:55,920 Speaker 1: were first cousins and this caused some big genetic issues 709 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,359 Speaker 1: down the line. Is that even an argument in any 710 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:00,160 Speaker 1: way today? 711 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:04,480 Speaker 2: Well, we know when you have close relatives have kids 712 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:07,680 Speaker 2: have offspring, they have a higher they have higher risk 713 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:10,960 Speaker 2: for some genetic conditions. For sure, you know, and I'm 714 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:14,040 Speaker 2: sure some of these genetic conditions could potentially result in, 715 00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:16,120 Speaker 2: you know, different types of behaviors. 716 00:42:16,719 --> 00:42:18,640 Speaker 1: Well, let me tell you what the dad says, and 717 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:21,080 Speaker 1: we're going to couch this by saying, this is her dad. 718 00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:24,080 Speaker 1: He was a crappy dad, and we don't know what 719 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:25,799 Speaker 1: he's trying to do if he's trying to save her 720 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:27,800 Speaker 1: on the stand, I mean, lord knows how many families 721 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,879 Speaker 1: have tried to do that. Sure, but if we believe him, 722 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:33,319 Speaker 1: he is the one with the very most amount of 723 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:37,240 Speaker 1: context to her mental health going back years. So Sadie's 724 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:40,440 Speaker 1: dad says that her mom before she died of fright 725 00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:44,080 Speaker 1: had bad spells, which probably just means, you know, some 726 00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:47,640 Speaker 1: mental health issues, and talks about her having been frightened 727 00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:50,560 Speaker 1: to death with that encounter with the bear, and Sadie 728 00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:54,440 Speaker 1: saw that the encounter. She eventually will talk about that 729 00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:56,759 Speaker 1: that that was one of the times when she felt like, 730 00:42:57,480 --> 00:43:00,719 Speaker 1: you know, she remembered it, but it was one of 731 00:43:00,719 --> 00:43:03,719 Speaker 1: the more traumatizing times in her life. He said that 732 00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:06,799 Speaker 1: her first epileptic seizure had been when she was a 733 00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:10,720 Speaker 1: small child in Chicago and she had seen some dogs 734 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:14,759 Speaker 1: attacking some rats, and that was traumatizing. He said. Over 735 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:18,560 Speaker 1: the years, Sadie sometimes threatened to drown herself, and he 736 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:21,279 Speaker 1: said she would show up at home soaking wet, and 737 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:23,880 Speaker 1: she was clueless about where she was. He said this 738 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:27,239 Speaker 1: was a thing for her. She takes the stand and 739 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:30,520 Speaker 1: she says, of course, I was absolutely traumatized by seeing 740 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:34,479 Speaker 1: my mom die of fright when there's a bear there. 741 00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:36,839 Speaker 1: She also talks about some of the other delusions that 742 00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:40,279 Speaker 1: she had from childhood. One that was a little disturbing too, 743 00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:43,400 Speaker 1: was that she had a delusion that she was growing 744 00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:47,400 Speaker 1: uncontrollably bigger. She couldn't stop growing. She said, I have 745 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:50,080 Speaker 1: zero memory from what happened on the thirty first. The 746 00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:53,280 Speaker 1: last thing I remember is leaving the store without butter, 747 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:56,440 Speaker 1: and then the next thing is I'm on the couch 748 00:43:56,600 --> 00:44:00,760 Speaker 1: soaking wet in Simon's house. She doesn't remember writing the letter. 749 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:05,279 Speaker 1: And the prosecutor just essentially said, you know, here are 750 00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:08,360 Speaker 1: the events. Do you remember each one? And she says, no, 751 00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:11,719 Speaker 1: to the events that happened on October thirty first, And 752 00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:13,920 Speaker 1: that is the summary of the trial. You've got the 753 00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:18,520 Speaker 1: dad saying she has this history, and she's saying, I 754 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:21,960 Speaker 1: don't remember anything, and then the prosecutor is just kind 755 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:26,240 Speaker 1: of confirming she doesn't know anything. So it's an interesting 756 00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:27,479 Speaker 1: trial three days long. 757 00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:30,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know. And of course she's talking about or 758 00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:33,719 Speaker 2: the defense is putting on her history, right, trying to 759 00:44:33,760 --> 00:44:38,560 Speaker 2: show she has this in her past. But you have 760 00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:43,400 Speaker 2: to show her mental state at the time of the crime, 761 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:45,840 Speaker 2: you know. And this is where I go back to 762 00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:50,920 Speaker 2: my argument based on her actions. Is this somebody who 763 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:54,800 Speaker 2: looks like they are moving through the world without any 764 00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:58,960 Speaker 2: type of conscious thought, or does this look like somebody 765 00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:05,520 Speaker 2: who is moving towards committing this homicide and is demonstrating 766 00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:11,640 Speaker 2: that type of cognitive thought. That's where I'm really struggling 767 00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:15,680 Speaker 2: with this idea that she was mentally insane at the 768 00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:20,360 Speaker 2: time she committed this homicide. I think she's showing the 769 00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:24,120 Speaker 2: necessary wherewithal in order to be able to get those 770 00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:28,239 Speaker 2: two girls out to the railroad trestle. She's probably not 771 00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:31,319 Speaker 2: tossing them off the trestle at the same time, she 772 00:45:31,400 --> 00:45:33,640 Speaker 2: has to toss one off and then get the other 773 00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:39,840 Speaker 2: one off, you know, so she's having to do purposeful acts. Now, 774 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:44,160 Speaker 2: whether or not she remembers, it's interesting that she doesn't 775 00:45:44,239 --> 00:45:47,400 Speaker 2: remember committing these homicides. But then I've got cases in 776 00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:49,920 Speaker 2: which the offenders who we know committed the homicides. That's 777 00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:52,760 Speaker 2: what they say in their interview. I remember meeting the woman, 778 00:45:52,840 --> 00:45:56,000 Speaker 2: but I don't remember killing her. You know, it's this 779 00:45:56,160 --> 00:46:01,479 Speaker 2: minimizing right. They may kind of give statements showing that, yeah, 780 00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:04,400 Speaker 2: you'd say that these are admissions to committing the crime, 781 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:08,120 Speaker 2: but they just coincidentally can't remember the actual act of 782 00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:10,759 Speaker 2: committing the crime. And that's where, Okay, you know, in 783 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,840 Speaker 2: most of those instances, I think they're lying. With Sadie, 784 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,719 Speaker 2: I think she's possibly lying, you know, but I'm a 785 00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:21,600 Speaker 2: little bit unsure. But I right now I think, no, 786 00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:25,400 Speaker 2: you know what, she hasn't reached the bar from my 787 00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:28,800 Speaker 2: perspective where she's mentally incompetent to stand trial. 788 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:32,800 Speaker 1: Well, she reached the bar for the jury in her case. 789 00:46:33,760 --> 00:46:37,880 Speaker 1: Three day trial, they find her not guilty due to insanity. 790 00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,759 Speaker 1: She is committed to the Buffalo State Hospital and she 791 00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,400 Speaker 1: is there for three years under the care of doctor Kraus, 792 00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:48,960 Speaker 1: who wrote this wonderful, really in depth piece who said 793 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:52,560 Speaker 1: she is not responsible. She has epilepsy, she has seizures, 794 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:55,120 Speaker 1: she doesn't remember things, I can tell you that I've 795 00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:59,400 Speaker 1: examined her, I'm treating her. She's discharged after three years. 796 00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:03,000 Speaker 1: We don't know really what happens to her after that. 797 00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:06,960 Speaker 1: There are some newspaper reports that say, listen to this. 798 00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:11,280 Speaker 1: That's say she got married right after being discharged. Okay, 799 00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:14,680 Speaker 1: Doctor Kraus, the man who went to bat for her, 800 00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:17,200 Speaker 1: you know, who treated her for three years, when he 801 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,200 Speaker 1: found out that she got married right after she was discharged, 802 00:47:20,239 --> 00:47:23,759 Speaker 1: he said, I don't think this is a very good idea. 803 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:26,120 Speaker 1: I don't think that was a good idea at all 804 00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:26,920 Speaker 1: for her to do that. 805 00:47:27,160 --> 00:47:31,719 Speaker 2: Gosh, is she going to go back into this unconscious 806 00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:33,960 Speaker 2: zone and kill somebody else? Right? 807 00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:35,960 Speaker 1: And you know, when it's all said and done, you're 808 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:38,840 Speaker 1: looking at a little girl who I'm sure has extensive injuries. 809 00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:41,520 Speaker 1: I'm broken arms and broken legs, and how those would 810 00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:44,719 Speaker 1: have been treated in eighteen ninety. I'm sure she would 811 00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:47,520 Speaker 1: have had problems walking or doing multiple things, you know, 812 00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:52,279 Speaker 1: or doing anything over her lifetime. And then Nellie who 813 00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:57,520 Speaker 1: was dead. Just so much what happens with the mind 814 00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:01,840 Speaker 1: and what we believe and what we learned over the 815 00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:04,800 Speaker 1: decades and the centuries about the way the mind works. 816 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:07,600 Speaker 1: It's still so mysterious, and it's like a case by 817 00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:10,440 Speaker 1: case basis, you know, if you read articles about Aaron 818 00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:14,440 Speaker 1: Hernandez and why he committed his crimes and doesn't have 819 00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:16,960 Speaker 1: to do with football, and with the multiple injuries, and 820 00:48:17,239 --> 00:48:20,000 Speaker 1: there's just so much out there. Sure that I'm sure 821 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:23,280 Speaker 1: it's confusing to juries, but I'm sure that this jury 822 00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:27,440 Speaker 1: looked at this pretty young petitue girl with a history 823 00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:30,600 Speaker 1: of seizures, whether her dad is telling the truth or not, 824 00:48:31,239 --> 00:48:33,440 Speaker 1: and the man in the three piece suit who is 825 00:48:33,440 --> 00:48:36,719 Speaker 1: a neurologist saying this isn't her fault and said she 826 00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:39,840 Speaker 1: shouldn't be executed because that was really their only other choice. 827 00:48:39,880 --> 00:48:41,440 Speaker 1: There was probably no in between. 828 00:48:41,920 --> 00:48:45,920 Speaker 2: Well, and I think it's I mean, she's seventeen, you know, 829 00:48:46,040 --> 00:48:50,600 Speaker 2: so during this era, it sounds like they didn't differentiate 830 00:48:50,719 --> 00:48:54,920 Speaker 2: her as a juvenile versus adult for trial purposes. Now, 831 00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:58,200 Speaker 2: so she was tried as an adult. I also think, 832 00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:00,560 Speaker 2: I mean, she's a teenager, and we know the teenage 833 00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:05,359 Speaker 2: brains are still forming, right, you know, and some of 834 00:49:05,440 --> 00:49:08,719 Speaker 2: the actions, you know, my suspicion is is that she 835 00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:14,400 Speaker 2: she was heartbroken because she's recognizing that she probably would 836 00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:18,000 Speaker 2: never be able to have her love Simon. She wants 837 00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:23,760 Speaker 2: his attention. Maybe she has angst against Nelly and Delilah, 838 00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:27,080 Speaker 2: you know, or in her mind, you know, she wants 839 00:49:27,120 --> 00:49:30,600 Speaker 2: to eliminate the girls that are competing for Simon's attention. 840 00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:33,560 Speaker 2: You know, I kind of go towards that, you know, 841 00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:36,359 Speaker 2: this is I'm looking at this more from a traditional 842 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:39,880 Speaker 2: What would Sadie's motive be to commit, you know, to 843 00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:45,680 Speaker 2: kill Nellie and Delilah. Yeah, the mental competency side again, 844 00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:49,279 Speaker 2: the mind is fascinating, The brain is fascinating, and I'm 845 00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:54,800 Speaker 2: sure there's going to be so many psychiatrists and psychologists 846 00:49:54,840 --> 00:50:00,239 Speaker 2: that have studied this epileptic state over the last you know, 847 00:50:00,239 --> 00:50:02,680 Speaker 2: what is it now, the century, one hundred and thirty 848 00:50:02,760 --> 00:50:05,960 Speaker 2: years since this case happened, you know, And maybe there 849 00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:11,920 Speaker 2: is a pattern there that I've never heard of, you know, 850 00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:14,439 Speaker 2: And I most early in my case work, I've never 851 00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:18,120 Speaker 2: run across a case in which this was something that 852 00:50:18,200 --> 00:50:19,800 Speaker 2: was being offered as a defense. 853 00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:24,320 Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I know that her neurologists thought getting married 854 00:50:24,400 --> 00:50:26,719 Speaker 1: was not a great idea, So you know, I wish 855 00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:28,239 Speaker 1: we knew what happened a little bit more. And I 856 00:50:28,239 --> 00:50:31,560 Speaker 1: certainly wish we knew a little bit more what happened 857 00:50:31,600 --> 00:50:34,440 Speaker 1: with the Brown family and with Nelly's family, because it's 858 00:50:34,480 --> 00:50:38,279 Speaker 1: such a sad ending. But I am always interested in 859 00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:41,239 Speaker 1: messy cases, and this was a messy case. We've had 860 00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:43,800 Speaker 1: cases where we have killers that are just bastards and 861 00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:46,400 Speaker 1: it's straightforward and we're just kind of looking at motive 862 00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:49,480 Speaker 1: and criminal profiling and we know what's happening. This is 863 00:50:49,680 --> 00:50:53,000 Speaker 1: a little bit different, you know, and the law and 864 00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:57,480 Speaker 1: how we prosecute people and you know, put people in prison, 865 00:50:57,600 --> 00:51:00,399 Speaker 1: how long, where they go, how they get treated, has 866 00:51:00,400 --> 00:51:02,399 Speaker 1: so much nuance and I think it's important to talk 867 00:51:02,440 --> 00:51:05,480 Speaker 1: about all of that. So thank you for going on 868 00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:08,480 Speaker 1: the journey to eighteen ninety, dipping into the eighteen hundreds 869 00:51:08,520 --> 00:51:11,160 Speaker 1: just so briefly, and then we'll pop back out another time. 870 00:51:12,080 --> 00:51:15,120 Speaker 2: No, really appreciate it as alwaysy. You did a great 871 00:51:15,200 --> 00:51:17,520 Speaker 2: job talking about the case and telling the story. So 872 00:51:17,520 --> 00:51:18,839 Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to the next one. 873 00:51:19,080 --> 00:51:19,959 Speaker 1: We'll see you next week. 874 00:51:20,280 --> 00:51:20,799 Speaker 2: Sounds good. 875 00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:27,959 Speaker 1: This has been an exactly right production for our. 876 00:51:27,920 --> 00:51:31,560 Speaker 2: Sources and show notes go to Exactlyrightmedia dot com, slash 877 00:51:31,600 --> 00:51:33,000 Speaker 2: Buried Bones sources. 878 00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:35,600 Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Alexis Emrosi. 879 00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:40,080 Speaker 2: Research by Maren mcclashan, Ali Elkin, and Kate Winkler Dawson. 880 00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:42,600 Speaker 1: Our mixing engineer is Ben Tolliday. 881 00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:45,160 Speaker 2: Our theme song is by Tom Bryfogel. 882 00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:47,440 Speaker 1: Our artwork is by Vanessa Lilac. 883 00:51:47,719 --> 00:51:51,880 Speaker 2: Executive produced by Karen Kilgariff, Georgia hard Stark and Daniel Kramer. 884 00:51:52,160 --> 00:51:55,520 Speaker 1: You can follow Buried Bones on Instagram and Facebook at 885 00:51:55,640 --> 00:51:56,760 Speaker 1: Bared Bones pod. 886 00:51:57,239 --> 00:51:59,760 Speaker 2: Kate's most recent book, All That Is Wicked, a Gilded 887 00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:01,840 Speaker 2: Age story of murder and the race to decote the 888 00:52:01,840 --> 00:52:03,560 Speaker 2: criminal mind, is available now 889 00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:08,200 Speaker 1: And Paul's best selling memoir Unmasked, My life solving America's 890 00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:10,239 Speaker 1: Cold Cases is also available now