1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised. 2 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 2: We know people do evil things, but we don't really 3 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 2: understand the many faces of evil. 4 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy one, it took journalist Hamilton Freeman just 5 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: a few minutes to figure out that Edward Ruloff was 6 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: not a spiritual man. The journalist told himself, this man 7 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: praised to science, not God. Freeman was sitting knee to 8 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 1: me with a killer who had ignored so many tenets 9 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: of the Bible for decades. But Edward Ruloff did believe 10 00:00:55,240 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: in one biblical theme, vengeance. His real began almost thirty 11 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: years earlier, when he was still a member of the 12 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: scut family. In the spring of eighteen forty five, there 13 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: didn't seem to be a need for vengeance yet, because 14 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff was actually happy for once. After a year 15 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,759 Speaker 1: and a half of marriage. He and his eighteen year 16 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: old wife, Harriet weren't fighting quite as much as they 17 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: used to. They had bigger priorities. On April twelfth, Harriet 18 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: gave birth to a little girl they named Priscilla after 19 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: his mother. Edward had made up with his brother in 20 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: law after their last argument over doctor Henry Bull. William 21 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: prayed that parenthood would somehow give Edward some peace, maybe 22 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: more grounding. He might actually be a good father. And 23 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: there was more promising news. Edward planned to move his 24 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: little family out west to Ohio for a new start. 25 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: He had been offered a position as the principal of 26 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: a prestigious boys academy there. It was a step toward 27 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:13,639 Speaker 1: the distinguished academic career he coveted. It meant professional prestige, 28 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: but with little financial gain. Historian HW Brands says that 29 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: being a professor in eighteen forty five wasn't particularly lucrative. 30 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 3: Professors were poorly paid in those days, and you pretty 31 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 3: much had to do it for the love of learning, 32 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 3: and within particular college towns there was a kind of 33 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 3: difference in respect paid to you. 34 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: Luckily, Edward never wanted to be wealthy, just independent. He 35 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: demanded respect from everyone in his life. The money actually 36 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: didn't matter. He craved the notoriety. Shortly after Priscilla was born, 37 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: the rule Offs brought her to visit Uncle William and 38 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: aunt Amelia in Ithaca. 39 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 4: William's wife was pregnant. 40 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: And their little girl was due in two months. The 41 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: men had been growing closer thanks to more frequent visits 42 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: between the two families and fewer visits from their amorous cousin, 43 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: doctor Bull. But today was different. Doctor Bull was expected 44 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: to visit, and William saw signs of Edward's dangerous paranoia 45 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: once again. Williams said, Rulof sat at the window looking 46 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: out and took up the child and told Harriet to 47 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: go with him. He didn't want her to meet doctor Bull. 48 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: Edward's insecurities were exhausting to everyone around him. Ham Freeman 49 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: listened as Edward complained constantly about his wife and her cousin. 50 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: Edward said, doctor Bull an ass was always lolling around 51 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: the girls for no good purpose. I smothered my rage. 52 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: Harriet was young and a giddy, light headed girl. She 53 00:03:54,400 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: was easily influenced. Ham watched Edward closely. He could turn 54 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: so vile so quickly, Particularly when Ham asked about the Scuts, 55 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: he wouldn't stop insulting them. Journalist David Wrenn wonders why 56 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: Harriet didn't just leave Edward and returned to her family. 57 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: Wouldn't that have been easier than living with such a 58 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: horrid man with her? 59 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 2: It reminds me today, how could she not be terrorized 60 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 2: by him. You know, when he was in that sort 61 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 2: of rage, did she really love him? And I'm thinking 62 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 2: perhaps because they had this child, which of course she adored, 63 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 2: But staying with him must have been like being on 64 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:41,600 Speaker 2: ice with no skates. 65 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: William Scutt pleaded with Edward, and he threatened to eject 66 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,840 Speaker 1: him from the family farm once again. William said, I said, 67 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: I was tired of hearing these troubles, and if he 68 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: couldn't omit the subject, I didn't want him to come. 69 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: He was so tired of giving his and law second chances. 70 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 1: William issued Edward an ultimatum. If he couldn't resolve his 71 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: problems with doctor Bull, he would no longer be welcomed 72 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: inside any Scut home. Ever, he would be banished, not 73 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 1: their cousin. Edward looked down and grew quiet. William Scutt's 74 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: declaration was a significant turning point in the family's history. 75 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: His relationship with Edward would never be the same. Hamilton 76 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: soon learned that all of Edward's anger seemed to originate 77 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 1: from one brutal lesson from his youth, and that he 78 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: had been lying to the Scuts ever since he stepped 79 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: off that packet boat in eighteen forty two. Edward Rulolph's 80 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: real name was John Edward Howard Rulofsen, and he was 81 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: from Canada, not Germany. Ten years before, Edward stared down 82 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,160 Speaker 1: at his younger brother, who his given name was actually Ruloff. 83 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: Of course, that's the name Edward would later use as 84 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: his own last name. The first of many lies he 85 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: told thirteen year old Ruloff was lying on the bed 86 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: with his eyes screwed shut. He was bloodied and bruised 87 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: from a severe thrashing. Sixteen year old Edward wept from 88 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: fear and rage and perhaps regret. He was the eldest 89 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: of the three boys. William and Ruloff both looked up 90 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: to him. Edward was the one tasked with protecting them, 91 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: and he had failed. The three brothers all attended an 92 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: exclusive private academy in Saint John on the eastern tip 93 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: of Canada. Edward had already graduated with honors, a huge accomplishment. 94 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: Ruloff was years younger, and they were extraordinarily close. Their 95 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: other brother, William, was five years behind. Each of them 96 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: was gifted. While he was in school, Edward took a 97 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: lot of classes like advanced mathematics, and bell letters. That 98 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: was the art of writing beautifully and artistically. But his 99 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: favorite classes were the language courses, and by sixteen he 100 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: had mastered Latin and Greek. These were essential languages for 101 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: any serious academics in nineteenth century America. Cornell University linguistics 102 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: professor Michael Weiss says Edward was certainly ambitious. 103 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 5: He says at one point that his goal was always 104 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 5: to be top class from a very very young age, 105 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 5: and I think he decided that somehow this language investigation 106 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 5: would be his ticket to being really great or famous. 107 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: But the school they attended was challenging. In even Brood, 108 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: the professors believed that public humiliation would mold boys into men. 109 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: The Ruloffs and brothers sat for hours listening to strict 110 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: instructors who used severe teaching techniques like rulers on knuckles 111 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: or lashes on backs. Edward had already endured his public 112 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:25,239 Speaker 1: examinations and actually conquered them, but today it was Rulof's turn. 113 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: At first, Ruloff calmly responded to complicated academic questions, but 114 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: when the boy didn't answer quickly enough, a particularly harsh 115 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: teacher stepped forward. The instructor began viciously beating Ruloff with 116 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: closed fists, and the team was left limp on the ground. 117 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 4: He had to be carried home. 118 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: Edward was incinsed. He spent weeks convinced that his little 119 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:03,680 Speaker 1: brother would die. He tended to rule Off's wounds, never 120 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:09,119 Speaker 1: leaving his side. The teacher later came to Ruloff's bedside, 121 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: threw himself on the floor, and begged for the boy's forgiveness. 122 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: Edward looked at the man pathetic. 123 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:19,439 Speaker 4: He thought the. 124 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: Trauma made Edward and Ruloff even closer. They were brothers 125 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: and now best friends. 126 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:29,960 Speaker 4: So Edward Ruloff. 127 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: Did indeed cherish family, his own family. He would never 128 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: forget that vile teacher never had Edward witnessed that measure 129 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: of violence or power. 130 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 6: City dwellers can't be trusted, No, because they're there dwells. 131 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: Duplicity was distressing to most people in Victorian America, at 132 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: least in rural villages. People in the countryside held a 133 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,599 Speaker 1: widespread belief that a man's good character was synonymous with innocence. 134 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 1: A strong handshake and earnest eye contact were good enough. Really, 135 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: the impression I get is that it was a time 136 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: period where you shook a man's hand and his word 137 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,199 Speaker 1: was all you really needed. 138 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 3: Yeah. Actually, I'm going to take a little bit of 139 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 3: issue with what you said. His handshake wasn't necessary all 140 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 3: you needed, but it was all you got. 141 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: HW Brands means it was difficult to verify a stranger's 142 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: story in the nineteenth century, so it was easy for 143 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff to rewrite the narrative of his life and 144 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: no one would ever know the truth. You know, if 145 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: you look at his history, he was constantly trying to change. 146 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 7: Who he was. 147 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:59,359 Speaker 3: This was a time when it was not particularly uncommon 148 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 3: people to carry on double lives. John D. Rockefeller's father, 149 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 3: William Rockefeller, had two families in towns that weren't that 150 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 3: far apart. Bill Rockefeller was a traveling salesman, and he 151 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 3: would tell wife number one and family number one, OK, 152 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 3: I'm going to be gone for the week, and he'd 153 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 3: disappear into the other town and hang out with wife 154 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 3: number two and family number two. 155 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,959 Speaker 1: Edward rule Off had a promising start in life. He 156 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,079 Speaker 1: was born on July ninth, eighteen nineteen, on a farm 157 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: in the British province of New Brunswick, Canada. His father 158 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: William Roloffson was a well to do farmer, and his 159 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 1: mother was a homemaker named Priscilla Howard. Edward described his 160 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: father as a respectable, honorable man, but he was ordinary, 161 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: particularly compared with his mother. She was a brilliant, clever thinker, 162 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: and Edward absolutely worshiped her. Both of his parents were 163 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: members of the Episcopal Church, and the boys spent eight 164 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: years in the Sabbath School, learning the lessons of the Bible. 165 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 1: Edward even became a Sunday school teacher after graduation. But 166 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: his luck turned after his father died when Edward was 167 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,559 Speaker 1: just five. The boy's mother was left to raise her 168 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: three sons alone, although his uncle would sometimes offer some 169 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: financial advice. Priscilla Rolofsen was perhaps the most potent influence 170 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: on Edward's life, the person who cultivated his love for 171 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: academia and his ego. Edward remembered her fondly. She was 172 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: a woman of more than ordinary intellect, he said, and 173 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: I presume that whatever genius for study that any of 174 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: us boys ever had. 175 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 4: We inherited from her. 176 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: When Edward returned home to the farm during vacations, he 177 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: devoured books at night. He actually only slept when his 178 00:12:55,960 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: mother extinguished. His lamp books were the only innert he 179 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,200 Speaker 1: could afford. He had few friends, just as his younger brothers. 180 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 1: When he became an adult at sixteen, he still attended church, 181 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: but it was simply as an intellectual study. The Bible 182 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,719 Speaker 1: fascinated him, and he worked on translating it from its 183 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:27,320 Speaker 1: original language. He studied the Greek Testament, marveling over its beauty. 184 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: He viewed all languages as works of art. He believed 185 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 1: they were perfected by men who could command means and time, 186 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 1: and who had the skill in industry to study and 187 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: perfect the philosophy of language. Edward envied those men, and 188 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: as a young student, he fell in love with philosophy 189 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: with words and ideas. He left school at sixteen with 190 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:55,559 Speaker 1: a certificate but no chosen career. He dreamed of publishing 191 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 1: the etymology of every word in the Greek Testament. He 192 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: believed he was destined to be a student at a 193 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: prestigious university. Edward requested a meeting with his uncle, the 194 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: person who would dictate where the family savings could be used. 195 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: The teenager requested some money for college tuition. No was 196 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: the response. If Edward refused to commit to a conventional 197 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: profession like printmaking. Then he would have to fund his 198 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: own college tuition. His uncle accused him of having impractical dreams. 199 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: Edward was crustfallen. He wallowed in self pity. He said, 200 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: I should have gone to a university had I had 201 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: the opportunity. My father was dead, I was alone in 202 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: the world. I wanted to be a gentleman. 203 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 4: What else could I do? 204 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: And now he faced life with no real direction, dangerous 205 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: circumstances for a driven young. 206 00:14:57,920 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 4: Man with no role models. 207 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: His intelligence earned him a job as a clerk in 208 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: a well known legal office in Saint John, and he 209 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: paid special attention to books on criminal law. Edward soon 210 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 1: moved on to a job as a dry goods store clerk, 211 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: but as he watched wealthy customers come in and out 212 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: of the store, he felt bitterness. And that's when troubling 213 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: episodes began, the start of a lifetime of problems for 214 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff. In eighteen thirty nine, when he was twenty, 215 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: someone set fire to the dry goods store. The store 216 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: moved to a new location, and soon after another fire 217 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: burned down that store. He was never a suspect. Why 218 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: would such a bright young man ever do that. The 219 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: store was moved once more, and then items began to 220 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: go missing, including expensive cloth, and then the merchant spotted 221 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: Edward wearing a posh suit made from the stolen material, 222 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: and he was convicted of theft. Edward was sent to prison, 223 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: the first of many future visits, and it seemed like 224 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: the trajectory of his life had suddenly shifted. Linguistics professor 225 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: Michael Weiss says Edwards seemed almost doomed from childhood. 226 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 5: I think it goes back to his starting social status. 227 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 5: His father died when he was very young. He doesn't 228 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 5: seem to have had access to the institutions of the time, 229 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 5: which would have made him into a kind of respectable 230 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 5: professor type. I think if he had come from a 231 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 5: slightly different socioeconomic background, he could very well have become 232 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 5: professor at Chapel Hill. 233 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: Edward spent two years in prison, and when he was 234 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: released in the fall of eighteen forty one, he left 235 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: his family and Runswick and travel to America. Perhaps he 236 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: should have stayed in Canada, close to his family. He 237 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,919 Speaker 1: might have actually saved enough money for university tuition, but 238 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: his life had taken a new direction. Of course, there 239 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:16,400 Speaker 1: were no passport requirements back then. 240 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 4: It was time for a new identity. 241 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: John Edward Howard Rolofson, the promising young student, was dead. 242 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:30,679 Speaker 1: In his place was Edward Ruloff, arsonist and thief and 243 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: eventually killer. Soon he traveled upstate, penniless and hateful, desperate 244 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: to reinvent his life and become a different man. 245 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 4: And historian H. W. 246 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: Brands says there was one innovation in the eighteen hundreds 247 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: that helped Edward and many others reinvent themselves. 248 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 3: Now this is the beginning of the time when railroads 249 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 3: make it possible to move around more than had been 250 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 3: possible before. There was still great difficulty in tracking down 251 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,680 Speaker 3: somebody and checking on the story that they told. And 252 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,640 Speaker 3: so it was a great age for snake oil salesman 253 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 3: and for con men of various sorts. 254 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: Less than a year later, Edward Rulolph stepped onto that 255 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: passenger boat more than Syracuse and introduced himself to Harriet's brother, 256 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: and soon the feud with his wife's family would turn deadly. 257 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 4: For so many of. 258 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:58,440 Speaker 1: The Scuts, the noise was appalling, a guttural, violent cough 259 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: that seemed to drag on for hour. Amelia Scutt was 260 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: a petite, meek woman. Today she sounded like a wounded animal, 261 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:14,160 Speaker 1: begging for the suffering to end, and she was frantic 262 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: over her newborn daughter, Emil, who was born just a 263 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:22,320 Speaker 1: few days earlier. It was June eighteen forty five, and 264 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:27,360 Speaker 1: Harriet Rulolph's eldest brother, William, was desperate. Sickness and death. 265 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: In the late nineteenth century were mysterious. Childbed fever, as 266 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,760 Speaker 1: they called it, was actually a common bacterial infection. It 267 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: was a dreaded and often fatal affliction of new mothers. 268 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: He raced on horseback toward Dryden to Brookfield Farm, searching 269 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: for his mother. 270 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 4: Edward. 271 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: Harriet, and little Priscilla were there for a three week visit. 272 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 1: Despite their problems with Edward, the Scuts were trying to 273 00:19:55,960 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: remain optimistic about Harriet and her daughter's future with him. 274 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: William flung open the farmhouse's door and grabbed Edward's hand 275 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,639 Speaker 1: come help them. He begged Edward, remember that Edward was 276 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: a botanical physician and a really well respected one. Edward 277 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:18,360 Speaker 1: smiled at his brother in law and agreed. William's mother 278 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:20,920 Speaker 1: assured him that she and Edward would come to Ithaco 279 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:28,639 Speaker 1: tomorrow on horseback. He seemed so relieved. William actually believed 280 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: that their problems were behind them now. Hannah scutt eyed 281 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: her son in law. She didn't trust him, and really 282 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: she loathed him. Her daughter's misery with her marriage was 283 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 1: hard for a mother to ignore. Hannah said, I saw 284 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: that she was unhappy. 285 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 4: Her husband. 286 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: John said little as his wife complained about Edward Ruloff, 287 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:01,600 Speaker 1: and she apparently complained loudly when a crumb seems to 288 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: be a spitfire. It seemed to me like she might 289 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:05,920 Speaker 1: have worn the pants. 290 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 4: And that family. 291 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 8: Maybe Harrett was more like John, more, a little more 292 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:10,560 Speaker 8: laid back. 293 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 4: Despite her feelings. 294 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 1: The next day, she and Edward traveled together on horseback 295 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: to help her son's sick wife. Edward tried to make 296 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 1: small talk. Hannah said, he supposed that I felt anxious 297 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: for her to get well, but she squirmed in her saddle. 298 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: She was not easily intimidated, but he had always made 299 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: her really uncomfortable. After a bit of silence, Edward leaned 300 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: over to his mother in law. She recognized the look 301 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: on his face anger, and then he said something horrible 302 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:52,640 Speaker 1: about William's dying wife. It was wholly indifferent to him 303 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 1: whether she got well. William had misused him about doctor Bull, 304 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,359 Speaker 1: and that thing would yet amount to the show shedding 305 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 1: of blood. 306 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 4: It was clearly a threat. 307 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,800 Speaker 1: Edward didn't care if William's wife died, and he was 308 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,119 Speaker 1: about to treat Amelia and her newborn as their doctor. 309 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 1: But here's the odd part. Hannah didn't seem alarmed. I 310 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: guess it was because she had grown accustomed to Edward's melodramatics. 311 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 4: She had little. 312 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: Reason to believe that he would harm a weak, sick 313 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: woman or her baby. So Hannah just ignored him and 314 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 1: they continued on to Ithaca. When they arrived at William's home, 315 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: Amelia was nearly unconscious. Edward quickly pulled out his bag 316 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: of botanical medicines and fed them to her. Suddenly a 317 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:52,439 Speaker 1: meal made noises. The baby convulsed. Her little body jerked, 318 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: and Edward fed her some herbs too. Both mother and 319 00:22:56,359 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: daughter quickly became sicker. William was frantic, but Edward told 320 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:11,919 Speaker 1: him to keep calm. They began to slip away. The 321 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: baby died on June third, and then her mother passed 322 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:19,919 Speaker 1: away two days later. Edward Ruloff, the petty criminal and 323 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 1: habitual liar was now a killer. The grief was just 324 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 1: too much for William. He was inconsolable. After a few days, 325 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: the reality of their death settled, and Hannah told William 326 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:37,359 Speaker 1: about the disturbing conversation she had had with Edward on 327 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: the way to Ithaca. Then she confronted her son in 328 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:47,159 Speaker 1: law searching for answers. Craig Scott describes another upsetting conversation 329 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,679 Speaker 1: between Edward and Hannah. 330 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 8: He told Hannah that she was going to cry over 331 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 8: many of her children before he was done. Pretty strong 332 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 8: threat against the whole family, so very cold. Planned to 333 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:07,919 Speaker 8: take a woman and a small child, killed them like 334 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:12,880 Speaker 8: that poison. They had been ill, and he was doctoring them, 335 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 8: but they just kept getting worse until they died. 336 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,879 Speaker 1: But incredibly, the Scuts, including Harriet, still didn't suspect that 337 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:27,240 Speaker 1: Edward had poisoned Amelia and Emil. In the nineteenth century, 338 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:31,560 Speaker 1: mothers and infants died in great numbers. Murder just didn't 339 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 1: seem feasible. Hannah watched him closely as Edward wondered aloud 340 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:41,400 Speaker 1: why she hadn't lost any children at her age. William's 341 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: wife and child have gone, Edward told her with a sneer, 342 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: who will go next? 343 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 4: Harriet and her babe will go next? 344 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:55,360 Speaker 1: No one took him seriously, and now Edward was threatening 345 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: to murder his own wife and daughter. Most of us 346 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:04,480 Speaker 1: would have intervened somehow, but that didn't happen, and Craig 347 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: Scutt explains. 348 00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:09,400 Speaker 8: Why they really didn't suspect him right off the bat. 349 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,280 Speaker 8: They might have just said, oh, he's just, you know, 350 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 8: just a blow hard. He's just blowing off steam. He's 351 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 8: not gonna do anything. He would nackt on that. 352 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: Imagine how theatrical life must have been with Edward Ruloff. 353 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: The Scots figured he was just trying to provoke them 354 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 1: as usual, but it was likely more than that, because 355 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 1: in the eighteen hundreds, people in rural communities leaned on 356 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:35,919 Speaker 1: a man's appearance to reveal his personality. Historian Gerald Smith 357 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: says that a killer looked like a killer. 358 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 6: The evil stranger, the ones you have to be wary of, 359 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:45,679 Speaker 6: the one you don't embrace, must be different somehow. If 360 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 6: it's different, it's easier for our brain to accept it. 361 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,399 Speaker 6: You know, Oh, he doesn't dress right, his front coats 362 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 6: got full of holes, he's dirty, he smells. That's somehow, 363 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 6: I think easier for us to than a charming, dressed, 364 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:08,879 Speaker 6: regular man, well groomed, seemingly intelligent. 365 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 1: And because villagers depended on one another so much, they 366 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: trusted people more than neighbors in big cities. Might Craig 367 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: Scott and Kathy Chadwick say that's been the case in 368 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: Dryden for decades. 369 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 7: People then were more welcoming to strangers. 370 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:27,719 Speaker 8: Oh, I think than we are today. 371 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 7: There's a fear that they have bad intentions. 372 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,960 Speaker 8: Don't you think a lot of that change at the 373 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 8: time of the Harris murders. 374 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 6: I could be. 375 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:43,200 Speaker 8: I think people became a lot more cautious and suspicious 376 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 8: because that was such an awful thing. 377 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: Kathy and Craig are talking about something much more recent. 378 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff would not be the only killer to haunt Dryden. 379 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: Almost one hundred and fifty years later, the area endured 380 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:03,200 Speaker 1: a series of horrible murders, ten killings in seven years. 381 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: Outsiders call it the Village of the Damned. It's a 382 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,119 Speaker 1: nickname the locals really dislike, and actually many of the 383 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: murders happened just outside of Dryden, But for almost a 384 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:19,400 Speaker 1: decade the residents did seem cursed in nineteen eighty nine, 385 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: four members of the Harris family were killed inside their 386 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 1: home just three days before Christmas. The murderer had simply 387 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,320 Speaker 1: knocked on the door asking for help. 388 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,280 Speaker 7: The whole family was kill. Mother, father, and two children 389 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:35,399 Speaker 7: were killed. 390 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 8: That was the So that was just down the road. Yeah, 391 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:40,680 Speaker 8: if you go to the other end of the Herd road. 392 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:45,200 Speaker 7: It's road turned the corner. 393 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,440 Speaker 1: After the Harris murders, residents began dead bolting their doors, 394 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:54,439 Speaker 1: applications for gun permits dramatically increased, and people began buying 395 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: more security systems. The killer died just a few days 396 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 1: later in a shootout with leaving the community stunned and frightened. 397 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: But there was almost no time to mourn because the 398 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:11,119 Speaker 1: next tragedy came just two months later. In February of 399 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,919 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, a young mother claimed that her toddler was kidnapped. 400 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: After a massive search, investigators discovered that she had killed 401 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,040 Speaker 1: her two year old daughter and buried her in the 402 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:26,000 Speaker 1: nearby woods. And then four years later, a high school 403 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:29,880 Speaker 1: student fatally stabbed a teenage friend over a lover's triangle. 404 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,960 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety four, another high school student shot to 405 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 1: death his ex girlfriend's father the high school football coach. 406 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: Two years later, a man killed his supervisor at work. 407 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 8: People are like, what's going on here? Little dried. 408 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: But perhaps the most shocking event came in the next 409 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 1: month of October nineteen ninety six, two Dryden High School 410 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:57,880 Speaker 1: cheerleaders were kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and dismembered. The suspect was 411 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: a neighbor and he killed himself in prison and before 412 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: he could stand trial. Craig Scott's daughters went to Dryden 413 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,840 Speaker 1: High School and they were friends with both girls. 414 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 8: One of my daughters actually had lunch at schooled the 415 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 8: day before with one on. It was awful. They'd come 416 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 8: home from school and slip on the TV and that's 417 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 8: all that was on. It took a lot of those students' 418 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 8: childhood away. They had to grow up so fast. They 419 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 8: became very suspicious, and they still are to this day. 420 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: What does that tragedy due to a village or a 421 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: small town. 422 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 8: Oh, it had. It had a big impact here in Dryden. 423 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 8: Like I said, it's not a huge school, so everybody 424 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 8: know m You know, they were cheerleaders, they were popular girls. 425 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 8: It had a profound impact. 426 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,600 Speaker 1: I would say those tragedies compounded over the years, leaving 427 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 1: many residents of Dryden shaken and mistrustful of strangers. And 428 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: that includes Kathy Chadwick, especially if one shows up at 429 00:29:57,920 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: her door. 430 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 7: I might call the police or whomever and say, you know, 431 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 7: you can go out in the barn or something of 432 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 7: that nature. But I don't think I would welcome them 433 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 7: into the house. 434 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 1: But back in eighteen forty five, the Scuts in their 435 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 1: neighbors were more trusting, so when Edward Rulof showed no 436 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:21,760 Speaker 1: signs of a guilty conscience, they believed him. Even the 437 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:26,480 Speaker 1: most skilled alienist, a nineteenth century psychiatrist, would have struggled 438 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 1: to label him as guilty or innocent, and accidents involving 439 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: inept physicians happened a lot in the eighteen hundreds. Edward 440 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: Ruloff might have been blameless or a psychopath. Craig Scutt 441 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 1: says he was certainly not innocent and absolutely calculating. 442 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 8: The charisma that man had, he had everybody full it 443 00:30:49,000 --> 00:31:00,120 Speaker 8: for a long time, a sort of like a Ted Bundy. 444 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: On June twenty third, eighteen forty five, Edward Ruloff watched 445 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 1: his wife Harriet, as she tidied up their house in Lancing. 446 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 1: There were loads of books stacked in every corner, the 447 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: personal library of a genius honing his craft. Edward's two 448 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: month old daughter, Priscilla cooed nearby. The twenty six year 449 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,600 Speaker 1: old braced himself for yet another argument with his young bride. 450 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: She was still on edge because her sister in law 451 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,800 Speaker 1: and niece had died less than three weeks earlier. 452 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:37,720 Speaker 4: Edward felt like he. 453 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: Had always been an outcast, treated like a common peasant 454 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 1: when it suited the family. He complained that he was 455 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: languishing in a sad little town with no prospects for 456 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 1: academic work. Harriet stubbornly refused to leave New York's countryside 457 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,320 Speaker 1: and abandoned her ten brothers and sisters and her elderly parents. 458 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,760 Speaker 1: Edward glanced beneath the d diaper line draped across the kitchen. 459 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:08,720 Speaker 1: Priscilla was lying in a crib, wiggling around. He took 460 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: a breath and told Harriet about leaving New York for Ohio. 461 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 1: He was so pleased about his new job as principal 462 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 1: at a prestigious academy. He explained that he wanted to 463 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: stop practicing medicine and to become in time, either a 464 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:27,160 Speaker 1: college professor or a lawyer. He suggested that she stay 465 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,760 Speaker 1: behind with Priscilla and keep the house, and then he 466 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:34,000 Speaker 1: would return for them later. His young wife glared at him. 467 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: She seemed exasperated. No, she yelled, Harriet would never go 468 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: to Ohio with him, or anywhere else for that matter. 469 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: If he left, she would not wait for him. She 470 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,440 Speaker 1: threatened to pack up their things and borrow a horse 471 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,600 Speaker 1: and cart. She and Priscilla would return to her family's 472 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: farm and Dryden immediately. This was the night their marriage 473 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 1: would end. It was a remarkable story for any journalist. 474 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: Confession of the Wife Murderer, Hamilton wrote in pencil as 475 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 1: he braced himself for the horrible story. This would certainly 476 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:19,080 Speaker 1: be the climax of his tell All book, at least 477 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:22,360 Speaker 1: that was his hope. But it was more upsetting than 478 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 1: him expected. Edward told him she was tired of living 479 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,040 Speaker 1: with me. Anyhow, her mother was anxious for her to 480 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:35,400 Speaker 1: return home. Edward stared at Harriet. He was enraged. He 481 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:38,360 Speaker 1: didn't know what to do, how to stop her from leaving. 482 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: He tried to make her realize that his medical career 483 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 1: amounted to nothing, and he hated quack medicine. He told Ham, 484 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 1: I was poor and too proud to have the neighbors 485 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:54,440 Speaker 1: know how poor I really was. They screamed at each other. 486 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,680 Speaker 1: He accused Harriet of having an affair with doctor Bull. 487 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 1: His face turned red, loose a string of horrible profanities. 488 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,040 Speaker 4: Then he glanced at his daughter and turned to Harriet. 489 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:10,479 Speaker 1: Edward told Ham I said she might go to hell 490 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,600 Speaker 1: if she chose to, but that she should not take 491 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 1: the child, that I would take care of that. Harriet 492 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:22,239 Speaker 1: snatched up Priscilla and backed away from her husband. He 493 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,839 Speaker 1: lunged at her and tried to strip the baby from 494 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:29,400 Speaker 1: his wife's arms, but she clung too tightly. Priscilla was wailing. 495 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 1: Edward frantically looked around and spotted a heavy marble pestle. 496 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:38,719 Speaker 1: He flung it at Harriet. He told Ham, I must 497 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:43,360 Speaker 1: have struck her very hard. The peszel broke her skull 498 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:49,040 Speaker 1: and sunk into her brain. She never spoke a word 499 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:56,239 Speaker 1: after she was struck. Ham watched Edward's face as he 500 00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:00,720 Speaker 1: described the murder. Sweat dripped down his forehead. He stopped 501 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 1: talking suddenly, and then something changed. Edward seemed to realize 502 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,400 Speaker 1: that the journalist was now a witness of sorts. 503 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:10,160 Speaker 4: Ham sat back. 504 00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:14,040 Speaker 1: In his book, Ham wrote, he fixed upon me a 505 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: fiendish glare which made me shudder, and wished that I 506 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: was a mile away from him. Perhaps no one knew 507 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:26,560 Speaker 1: Edward Rulolf better than Ham Freeman. He spent hours telling 508 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:30,720 Speaker 1: the journalist about his life, his crimes, all to try 509 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:31,720 Speaker 1: and draw Ham. 510 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,920 Speaker 4: Closer to him, to recruit him for help. Later on. 511 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,640 Speaker 1: Ham was gullible, a hometown boy who rarely left upstate 512 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:44,880 Speaker 1: New York, and unfortunately he was falling for Edward's charms, 513 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 1: just like so many others. The journalist listened as Edward 514 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 1: described how he looked at Priscilla, who was crying over 515 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:59,279 Speaker 1: her mother's body, now soaked in blood. Edward told Ham, 516 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:01,840 Speaker 1: I took the child and lay it upon the bed. 517 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:11,200 Speaker 1: I gave it a narcotic to stop its crying. The 518 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:30,560 Speaker 1: humble house was silent. Now Edward could hear the ducks 519 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:34,120 Speaker 1: on the pond nearby. He sat on his bed all 520 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:39,160 Speaker 1: night and fretted he could call the neighbors, or he 521 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:44,600 Speaker 1: could take his own life. He closed each of the 522 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:49,239 Speaker 1: shutters in the house, cutting off all sunlight. Edward resolved 523 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,279 Speaker 1: to die. He wrote a letter detailing what happened that day. 524 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: He stood up and fingered the vials of various poisons 525 00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:03,640 Speaker 1: he kept for his medical practice. He stirred up his 526 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:10,160 Speaker 1: deadly concoction, brought it to his lips, and then paused. No, 527 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:16,000 Speaker 1: suicide was not the solution. Edward told him. I had 528 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:19,840 Speaker 1: my reasons for not committing suicide as I intended. I 529 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:24,880 Speaker 1: had ambition to live for and responsibilities. And Edward Ruloff's 530 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,799 Speaker 1: life was valued in the nineteenth century because he was 531 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:32,520 Speaker 1: so intelligent. As America continued to develop its large cities, 532 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,760 Speaker 1: the farmers that Edward called rubes were all being left behind. 533 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:39,440 Speaker 3: These were the folks of the past. These are the 534 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,600 Speaker 3: values of a bygone era. Farmers had long considered themselves 535 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 3: to be the pillars of American democracy, the pillars of 536 00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:50,480 Speaker 3: the American Republic, but they increasingly saw evidence that they 537 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,160 Speaker 3: were being scorn, that they were being looked down upon 538 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:53,760 Speaker 3: by the city. 539 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:58,840 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff began to plot. He looked around the bedroom 540 00:37:58,880 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 1: and pulled. 541 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:01,120 Speaker 4: Out his large chest. 542 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:07,400 Speaker 1: An hour later, he knocked on his neighbor's door, requesting 543 00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,840 Speaker 1: the loan of a horse and timber cart. The farmer agreed, 544 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,799 Speaker 1: though reluctantly. It was a sweltering day and he was 545 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:16,880 Speaker 1: concerned about the health of his horse. But Edward was 546 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,480 Speaker 1: a fine neighbor, so he agreed to meet him at 547 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:25,320 Speaker 1: his house in the early afternoon. Soon he was pushing 548 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:27,960 Speaker 1: the chest through the front door, trying to drag it 549 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,040 Speaker 1: onto the wagon. Shall I help you load it, asked 550 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:36,640 Speaker 1: the farmer. The men struggled. The farmer guessed that the 551 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:41,360 Speaker 1: trunk weighed more than one hundred pounds. Edward soon snapped 552 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:43,520 Speaker 1: his whip and the horse pulled away from the house. 553 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:48,799 Speaker 1: He drove slowly, listlessly toward the southern shore of Cayuga Lake. 554 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:54,080 Speaker 1: He could hear metal clank in the back from the heavy, 555 00:38:54,080 --> 00:39:00,920 Speaker 1: flat irons inside the trunk. He took windings that seemed 556 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:04,680 Speaker 1: to make no sense. He imagined that everyone he encountered 557 00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:07,680 Speaker 1: knew he was a killer. He would later tell him. 558 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:11,560 Speaker 1: I was so completely confused and overcome by the horror 559 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:14,160 Speaker 1: with which I was filled that had anyone charged me 560 00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:16,920 Speaker 1: at the time with the crime or arrest me, I 561 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:24,560 Speaker 1: would instantly have confessed. All that is ridiculous. I've spent 562 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:29,000 Speaker 1: years researching Edward Ruloff, and never once did he express remorse. 563 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:33,440 Speaker 1: For anything he had done. But he was gifted at manipulation, 564 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,680 Speaker 1: and I believe he hoped to convince ham Freeman that 565 00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:41,080 Speaker 1: he was a victim of circumstance. Edward told lies to 566 00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:45,200 Speaker 1: his closest friends, and then others told lies about him. 567 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:48,480 Speaker 1: One of the most complicated things about Edward Ruloff is 568 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:51,920 Speaker 1: that his history is riddled with lore, tainted by all 569 00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:56,280 Speaker 1: these unconfirmed rumors. Historian Gerald Smith told me one of them, 570 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:59,279 Speaker 1: and you'll recognize a phrase that many people used to 571 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:00,640 Speaker 1: describe at Ruloff. 572 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:03,360 Speaker 6: In a way, he's sort of like a Ted Bundy type, 573 00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,600 Speaker 6: the audacity of offering boys a ride on the wagon 574 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:08,920 Speaker 6: while he's taking the bodies over to the lake, saying, 575 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:11,920 Speaker 6: come on, you know, don't mind the smell. 576 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:17,839 Speaker 1: It's a horrible story and probably not true. Edward was brazen, yes, 577 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:24,279 Speaker 1: but certainly not stupid. When he finally reached the shore 578 00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:27,120 Speaker 1: of Cayuga Lake just before dawn, he hopped down from 579 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:34,319 Speaker 1: the wagon and opened the trunk. Within thirty minutes, Edward 580 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,760 Speaker 1: Ruloff was rowing a small stolen boat toward the middle 581 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:41,760 Speaker 1: of the lake. He was sweating, he was red faced, 582 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,840 Speaker 1: He could hardly control his breathing. He told ham Freeman. 583 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:49,000 Speaker 1: I rode a long way until I found a spot 584 00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:52,680 Speaker 1: where I thought the water was deepest. I then carefully 585 00:40:52,719 --> 00:40:56,040 Speaker 1: placed what I had with me in the water. It 586 00:40:56,200 --> 00:41:03,960 Speaker 1: sank rapidly to rise no more, and now he began 587 00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:06,800 Speaker 1: to panic. He needed to quickly get back to Lancing 588 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,760 Speaker 1: so he could return his neighbor's horse and wagon. Edward 589 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,000 Speaker 1: climbed onto the driver's seat, snapped his whip, sped back 590 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,600 Speaker 1: to the house, and soon thanked the farmer for his help. 591 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:25,040 Speaker 1: And then he did something audacious and psychotic. He ate 592 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:26,879 Speaker 1: breakfast at William Scott's home. 593 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:27,680 Speaker 4: The next day. 594 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,560 Speaker 1: Jane was there, Harriet's sister. She handed Edward a pile 595 00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:36,719 Speaker 1: of baby clothing that little Emial wore. William said that 596 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:39,200 Speaker 1: Priscilla should get some use out of them, since his 597 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:43,200 Speaker 1: daughter had died. He had no idea that Edward had 598 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:47,759 Speaker 1: just killed Harriet and the little girl. Edward pulled out 599 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,400 Speaker 1: one of Harriet's rings from his pocket, a ring her 600 00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:53,600 Speaker 1: brother had given her. He asked William if he wanted it, 601 00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:57,680 Speaker 1: and his brother in law seemed confused. No, give it 602 00:41:57,719 --> 00:42:02,360 Speaker 1: back to your wife, he told him. Edward was so odd, 603 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:09,040 Speaker 1: and William was becoming nervous. Where have you been, William asked, 604 00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:16,200 Speaker 1: pointedly between the lakes. Edward calmly replied, that's how locals 605 00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:21,320 Speaker 1: described the area between Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake. Harriet's 606 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:27,760 Speaker 1: brother stood closer. Where's your wife and child? Edward smiled 607 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:37,239 Speaker 1: between the lakes, and within hours, Edward Ruloff had vanished. 608 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:47,080 Speaker 1: On the next episode of tenfold More Wicked, He's. 609 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:50,680 Speaker 5: Very hostile to people who don't appreciate his own genius. 610 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:53,480 Speaker 5: He's a scary, scary person. 611 00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:58,960 Speaker 6: He destroyed their view of their quiet little city and 612 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,600 Speaker 6: brought some level of violence to it that they'd never 613 00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:07,680 Speaker 6: really seen. And I think they just they demanded quick 614 00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:09,000 Speaker 6: and just retribution. 615 00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:13,279 Speaker 7: It was a terrible tragedy, something you never and they 616 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:14,200 Speaker 7: totally got over. 617 00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:16,080 Speaker 6: No, I don't. 618 00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:19,560 Speaker 1: If you love historical true crime, be sure to order 619 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:22,960 Speaker 1: my book, American Sherlock. It's about a real life Sherlock 620 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:25,799 Speaker 1: Holmes who solved some of the most gruesome murders in. 621 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:26,800 Speaker 4: The nineteen twenties. 622 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:30,160 Speaker 1: This has been an exactly right and tenfold more media 623 00:43:30,239 --> 00:43:35,080 Speaker 1: production producers Jason Whaling and Laura Sobole, sound designer Eric Friend, 624 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:41,000 Speaker 1: composer Curtis Heath, artwork Nick Toga. Executive producers Georgia Hardstark, 625 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:45,440 Speaker 1: Karen Kilgariff, and Danielle Kramer. Follow us on Instagram and 626 00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:49,440 Speaker 1: Facebook at tenfold more Wicked and on Twitter at tenfold more. 627 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:52,640 Speaker 1: If you're an advertiser interested in advertising on our show, 628 00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:56,200 Speaker 1: go to midroll dot com slash ads, and if you 629 00:43:56,239 --> 00:43:58,560 Speaker 1: know of a historical crime that could use some attention, 630 00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:05,759 Speaker 1: email us at info at tenfoldmorewicked dot com. So please listen, subscribe, 631 00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:09,640 Speaker 1: leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever 632 00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:10,839 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts