1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised. 2 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: By the spring of eighteen seventy one, the gallows had 3 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: been built, the hood had been sown, and the people 4 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: of upstate New York were anxious to see Edward Ruloff 5 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: with a noose around his neck. The Civil War had 6 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: just ended six years earlier, but the nation was still 7 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: in mourning. Historian Gerald Smith says that many people in 8 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: Binghamton were angry at the war, at the South, and 9 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: at the man in their jail who had murdered at 10 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: least five people. 11 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 2: At least they just are beginning to acclimate back into 12 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 2: a peaceful coexistence with life and rule. Off comes along 13 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 2: and breaks it, And I think to them, it's sort 14 00:00:57,680 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 2: of like they couldn't go and kill all the Confederate 15 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 2: that killed their young, but they could get Ruloff. 16 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: Edward's execution day was two months away, but he just 17 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: seemed oblivious that he would soon die. Instead, he spent 18 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: every moment in that jail cell writing his manuscript. He 19 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: was determined to finish it before his death. It was 20 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:23,119 Speaker 1: the only thing that mattered at this point. The news 21 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: didn't unnerve him, but he was terrified of dying before 22 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: cementing his academic legacy, and he knew he didn't have 23 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: much time left. Just days earlier, a jury had convicted 24 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: Edward of murdering Frederick Merrick, and his defense attorney immediately appealed. 25 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: Journalist Hamilton Freeman even helped. He was becoming more attached 26 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: to Edward each day. Ham was actually advocating for him. 27 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 3: Now. 28 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: The attorney argued that the two clerks had attacked Edward, 29 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: Jarvis and Dexter. As they tried to escape. They filed 30 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: one appeal out after another, each was denied. There were delays, 31 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: and March past without a hanging in Binghamton, and so 32 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: Edward Bruloff wrote by sunlight and candlelight. One day, a 33 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: reporter from the New York Sun newspaper in Manhattan stood 34 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: near his cell. The journalist understood linguistics, Edward smiled, and 35 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: the pair talked for hours about his complicated theory and 36 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: how it could help anyone learn a new language. And 37 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: soon the reporter started filing sympathetic stories, hinting that Edward 38 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: had been unfairly treated. He printed excerpts of Edward's manuscript, 39 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: alongside lengthy interviews with a killer, and eventually public opinions 40 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: seemed to sway Edward's direction, particularly in New York City. 41 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: Readers offered an opinion on Edward in the city's newspapers. 42 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,959 Speaker 1: Some thought he was crazy and said executing him would 43 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: be wrong. Others believed that capital punishment didn't belong in 44 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:05,519 Speaker 1: modern society. But the most interesting and controversial argument was 45 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:10,399 Speaker 1: that Edward's linguistics work was valuable, and so was he. 46 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: He shouldn't be put to death because the world needed 47 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 1: his manuscript. Craig Scott says, the family was shocked and furious. 48 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: Once again. 49 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 4: They thought he was such a brilliant man that he 50 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 4: probably shouldn't be put to death. 51 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: It is putting the lives of two women and two 52 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: children below. 53 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 4: Put some of the level lower like under him. Yeah, 54 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 4: he did these awful things, but he's so brilliant we 55 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 4: shouldn't put him, shouldn't hold him accountable for it. 56 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: And that's exactly what some influencers in Manhattan thought. The 57 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: first prominent person to come to Edward's defense was Republican 58 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: presidential hopeful Horace Greeley. Historian Esther Crane says that he 59 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: was a savvy politician, but he had an even more 60 00:03:57,640 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: important position in Manhattan. 61 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 5: He was the owner of the one of the city's 62 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 5: biggest newspapers, so he had a big platform. 63 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: Greeley owned the New York Tribune, a powerful media company 64 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: that influenced culture and politics throughout the city, and Greeley's 65 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: editorial on April twenty fifth seemed to almost praise Edward Ruloff. 66 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: He wrote, in the prison at Binghamton, there is a 67 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: man awaiting death who is too curious an intellectual problem 68 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 1: to be wasted on the gallows. He is one of 69 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: the most industrious and devoted scholars our busy generation has 70 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: given birth to. And then the politician made an incredible statement. 71 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: He murdered the shopkeeper in the interest of philology. Philology 72 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: was a sub field of linguistics. Philologists studied the history 73 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: and adaptations of language, but it really isn't in use now, 74 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: So Greeley was saying that Frederick Merrick's murder was justified 75 00:04:54,279 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: because of Edward's academic research in philology. And then the 76 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 1: debate became even stranger when author Mark Twain submitted a 77 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: satirical piece to the Tribune requesting that someone else take 78 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,559 Speaker 1: Edward's place on the gallows. He was too intelligent to kill. 79 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: Twain wrote, what miracles this murderer might have wrought and 80 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: what luster he might have shed upon his country if 81 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: he had not put a forfeit upon his life so foolishly. 82 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: But what if the law could be satisfied and the 83 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: gifted criminals still be saved. At the end of the piece, 84 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: Twain suggested that he himself would take Edward's place. While 85 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: the opinion piece was clearly tongue in cheek, Twain privately 86 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: felt that Edward's sentence should be commuted to life in prison. 87 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: The author believed that the killer could still contribute to society. 88 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: More people wrote in, including high ranking religious leaders. One said, 89 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: I still think that the lack of evidence of intent 90 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: to kill ought to weigh strongly on his behalf. Another 91 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: reader asked, have we so many learned men among us 92 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: that we will see this one hung up like a ham. 93 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: A linguistics expert in Washington, d c. Praised Edward for 94 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,359 Speaker 1: his theory on the origin of languages and said it 95 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 1: would be a pity to hang rule off. Clearly the 96 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: press was helping Edward's case. Some very important people wanted 97 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: a convicted killer to live even for just a few 98 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: months longer, because of his discovery of a way to 99 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: effectively teach languages. History in hw Brands says that a 100 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: stay of execution might have actually been appropriate if Edward's 101 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: discovery really was remarkable. 102 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 6: That doesn't strike me as unreasonable, although if I remember 103 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 6: the family, I might feel that his work was being 104 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 6: placed above the lives of my kin. But on the 105 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 6: other hand, from the standpoint of if he is in 106 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 6: fact going to hang at the when he finishes his manuscript, 107 00:06:57,440 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 6: then what really does six months matter? 108 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 1: Of course, the Scuts would hear none of that. Edwards 109 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: should have no mercy, they insisted. Edward, for his part, 110 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: was desperate for more time, so he called in his attorney, 111 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: Ham Freeman, and Edward's lawyer drew up a petition to 112 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: delay his execution so he could finish the manuscript, and 113 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: then Ham invited scholars from across the country to Binghamton Jail. 114 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: The scholars would test Edward's depth of knowledge and his 115 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: theory on human language. It would prove the value of 116 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: Edward's work and of Edward himself once and for all. 117 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: More than a dozen academics arrived over the next few days, 118 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: including a professor of Greek and German from Amherst College. 119 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: Linguistics professor Michael Weiss says that Richard Henry Mather was 120 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: astounded by Edward's intelligence. 121 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 3: He said, let's discuss some passages. He started with Xenophon's 122 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 3: memorabilia and Ruloff was able to site large chunks of 123 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 3: it by heart, and then he went on to homer, En, Soophocles, etc. 124 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 3: He was able not only to have memorized these things, 125 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 3: but also to comment on their interpretation critically in a 126 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 3: way which math or professional classes thought was pretty pretty impressive. 127 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: Mather found that Edwards showed a depth of understanding that 128 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: was remarkable. 129 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 3: So he was hoping for validation from the authorities at 130 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 3: the time. 131 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:32,079 Speaker 1: The scholars spent hours with Edward inside the Binghamton jail cell. 132 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: They quisdom on languages, philosophy, and history. They were in 133 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:41,319 Speaker 1: awe of his intelligence and his incredible memory. Edward smiled 134 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: at each expert. The men read passages from his manuscript 135 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: that incredible theory of the origin of language, and as 136 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: they left his jail cell, Edward's defense attorney handed each 137 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: one the petition to save Edward Rulolph's life. All they 138 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: needed to do was sign. Each expert replied with the 139 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: same answer. Now they refused to sign. One remarked that 140 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 1: Edward was incredibly intelligent, brilliant, but his system of unlocking 141 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 1: human language was ludicrous. His theory was worthless according to 142 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: the real experts and linguistics. Michael Weiss explains exactly where 143 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: he went wrong. 144 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:29,079 Speaker 3: Ruloff was working in a pre modern mode, so he 145 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 3: was just completely in a long, long tradition going all 146 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 3: the way back to Plato and beyond. But he hadn't 147 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 3: basically kept up with the nineteenth century. 148 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: The experts were bewildered by Edward's conclusions. Most of them 149 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: did believe there might have been something to his theories, 150 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: that perhaps they might have had some promise if only 151 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: he would be willing to collaborate with more experienced academics. 152 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 1: Too late for that. Now, Edward Rulof had spent decades 153 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: on that manuscript, an idea. Born inside one of the 154 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: countries worst prisons, he had created a crime ring just 155 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: to live near New York City's great libraries. He had 156 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: escaped the news numerous times, he had murdered people who 157 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: threatened to stop him, and ultimately it was all for nothing. 158 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff was an utter failure, a joke in the media. 159 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 3: It seems not coincidental to me that the guy's name 160 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 3: was Ruloff with an R and L. That R and 161 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 3: L in particular play a kind of key role in 162 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 3: his analysis. So I think it really comes back to 163 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:36,959 Speaker 3: his kind of narcissism. I mean, he was nuts, which was. 164 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: A shame, says Weiss, because Edward did have a brilliant mind. 165 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 3: I think he could have actually had an impact. I 166 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:47,439 Speaker 3: think he could have been a classicist, as someone who 167 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:50,599 Speaker 3: studies Greek and Latin language and literature. He seems to 168 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 3: have been a very talented a choir of information. But 169 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:55,440 Speaker 3: once he got that information, he didn't know what to 170 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 3: do with it. 171 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: When the committee of experts refused to sign the petition, 172 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:04,080 Speaker 1: newspaper readers suddenly turned on Edward. They felt cheated, and 173 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 1: they were outraged because they had been duped. They called 174 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: him a fraud, a swindler. Esther Crane says that she's 175 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 1: not surprised by that reaction because people living in the 176 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: Gilded Age were quite easily fooled. 177 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 5: Hoaxes were huge at the time. I mean they were 178 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 5: always saying that, like, you know, all the lions got 179 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:25,320 Speaker 5: out of Barnum's museum, Oh my god, run for your lives, 180 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:26,679 Speaker 5: and it was all just a hoax. It would be 181 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 5: in the newspaper, the front page. 182 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: But Mark Twain and Horace Greeley weren't your average Americans. 183 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 1: They were literady in New York, two of the country's 184 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: most important people. It seems a little unlikely to me 185 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:40,200 Speaker 1: that either would have fallen for a fraud. 186 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 3: If you think about someone like Mark Twain or Horace 187 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 3: Greeley living at that time, they wouldn't have known what 188 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 3: was cutting edge in linguistics, right. It basically was very 189 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:56,360 Speaker 3: specialized knowledge, and mainly in German they simply can't tell 190 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,680 Speaker 3: what's genuine versus what's not genuine. 191 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 1: And Esther Crane believes that Horace Greeley might have believed 192 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: in Edward's work, but there was also likely another motive. 193 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:12,199 Speaker 5: It probably sold newspapers. I think that Greeley got taken in. 194 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:13,199 Speaker 5: It sounds like. 195 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 1: The language committee was useless to him. So Hamilton and 196 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: the defense attorney begged the governor to assign a lunacy 197 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: committee without Edward's permission. His attorney, George Becker was hoping 198 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 1: to have his client declared insane, sparing him from the 199 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,559 Speaker 1: gallows once again. A committee of experts reported to the 200 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: Binghamton Jail, but Edward's reaction to this group was quite 201 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: different from the previous committee. He ignored them. He later 202 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: berated his attorney for the decision. He didn't want to 203 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: be declared mentally ill. It would discredit his entire body 204 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: of research. Edwards still believed in his manuscript. No, He'd 205 00:12:54,559 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: rather die than be declared insane. Edward continued to furiously 206 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: write day and night. A New York Tribune editorial begged 207 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: the governor to delay the execution until Edward could finish 208 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 1: his work, but Governor Hoffmann refused. Edward's execution date was 209 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: set for May eighteenth, eighteen seventy one, but before he 210 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: walked onto the gallows, he was determined to finish his book, 211 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: to smooth out his theory, to leave a legacy for 212 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: future generations that he hoped would be a little more astute. 213 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,440 Speaker 1: That would certainly happen, but it wasn't the legacy he 214 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:43,080 Speaker 1: had hoped for. Three days before his execution date, Edward 215 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:48,839 Speaker 1: reflected on his life, and he became extremely depressed. His 216 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: book was complete, but it had been ridiculed by the 217 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: same scholars he had hoped to impress throughout his career. 218 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: Edward argued that the experts spent too little time with 219 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: him and his theories. They were all wrong, he insisted 220 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: to him. He cursed constantly as he paced in his 221 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:10,319 Speaker 1: small cell. He told dirty jokes that made even hardened 222 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:15,600 Speaker 1: jailor's wins. He verbally abused his attorneys, and then something 223 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 1: made him scoff a request from a pair of familiar visitors. 224 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: His wife's brothers, William and Ephram Scutt, wanted to see him, Actually, 225 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: they demanded to see him. This seemed to be the 226 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: finale of a really long journey for the scut family, 227 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: and the brothers still had questions about the fate of 228 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: Edward's daughter. 229 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 4: I'm sure they wanted to know where she was. That's 230 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 4: why they wanted to talk to him. Wanted to know what, 231 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 4: you know, Is she in Cuba league, I'm sure that 232 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 4: would have been one of their questions. But he wouldn't 233 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 4: talk to him, so I'm sure that would have given 234 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 4: them even more closure if they at least could have 235 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 4: had an answer. 236 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 5: I tend to think there are multiple levels of closure. 237 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, Edward. 238 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:05,760 Speaker 1: Ruloff declined the scut's request not surprising, and he refused 239 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,479 Speaker 1: to tell them anything about his wife, Harriet or Priscilla. 240 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: He never again mentioned his sister in law Amelia or 241 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: his niece Emil as far as he was concerned, they 242 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: could all go to hell. Three days before the execution, 243 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: Edward wrote one last letter to his distinguished pen pal 244 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: Julius Hawley Seely was now a professor at Amherst College 245 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: in Massachusetts. They had exchanged ideas for decades, ever since 246 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: Edward had been in Auburn State prison Edward's final letter 247 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: was pathetic and painful. 248 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 3: In the whole history of human race, no more remarkable 249 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 3: instance of blind and stupid malignity can anywhere be shown 250 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 3: than that which closes its eyes to the value of 251 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 3: my discovery and denies the time necessary to place it 252 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 3: in available form. 253 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 7: What does that mean? 254 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 3: I think he believed that his breakthrough is being suppressed 255 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 3: because no one is as brilliant as Ruloff can understand 256 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 3: you know what a great discovery this is. 257 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: Just days before his execution, Mark Twain penned a dedication 258 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: to Edward in his new manuscript, roughing it for the 259 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,920 Speaker 1: late Cain, wrote Twain not because of his noble character, 260 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: but out of a mere humane commiseration for him, in 261 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: that it was his misfortune to live in a dark 262 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: age that knew not the beneficent insanity plea. It was 263 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: clear to some that Edward should not die. As his 264 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: execution day grew closer, Edward became sullen. His dream of 265 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: being a legitimate academic had vanished. There was nothing to 266 00:16:47,400 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: live for. Meantime, the townspeople in Binghamton and visitors from 267 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: Tompkins County were absolutely giddy. The press coverage locally and 268 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: internationally was enormous. Rule Off Swings tomorrow was one headline. 269 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 2: I mean, you got an engraved invitation to the execution 270 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 2: if you were invited, But that's almost like family fair day. 271 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,719 Speaker 2: Let's let's have a picnic on the ground waiting for 272 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 2: the body to be dragged out. But you know, it's 273 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 2: almost it's that need to drive by the car accident. 274 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 1: Reporters chronicled Edwards. Every movement, men, women, children, everyone gathered 275 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: outside the gallows that afternoon. Even an escaped prisoner joined 276 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:44,160 Speaker 1: the crowd. Journalists David Wrenn and historian Gerald Smith say, 277 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: public executions were massive events for small towns. 278 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,199 Speaker 7: With such a tradition. I mean it was not just 279 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 7: here in New York State, but that was sort of 280 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 7: the general thing that was done. It was pack a 281 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 7: picnic basket and go out. And it actually didn't matter 282 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,640 Speaker 7: the way. The execution went off rain or shine and 283 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 7: drew huge, huge crowds. 284 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 2: You've got the masses outside. First of all, they want 285 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 2: to be inside. They're noisy, the clamorous. This is not 286 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 2: the upper echellence of society huddled around that fenced in area. 287 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 2: These are the working classes. Is the lower to probably 288 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:23,640 Speaker 2: lower middle class. 289 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:28,679 Speaker 1: His lawyer suggested filing more appeals, but Edward was resolute. 290 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:32,719 Speaker 1: His manuscript was finished, and he hoped one day that 291 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: scholars would validate his theory and prove his critics wrong. 292 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:41,159 Speaker 1: He told his attorney, no letter rip. The sheriff arrived 293 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,640 Speaker 1: and asked Edward what should be done with his corpse. 294 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 1: You can do what you damn please with it, was 295 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: his current response. Edward burned all of the papers in 296 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,879 Speaker 1: his cell except the manuscript. A Tribune reporter visited, and 297 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 1: the killer left him with foreboding words, insisting that his 298 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: theory was valid, he said, if I could have had 299 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,920 Speaker 1: more time. He then grabbed his neck and made choking sounds. 300 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,120 Speaker 1: It was a horrid joke. He still insisted that more 301 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: time would have allowed him to prove that his theory 302 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: really wasn't bunk. Visitors looked at him with disgust. Hamilton 303 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,959 Speaker 1: Freeman was the only person whom Edward had confided in 304 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,720 Speaker 1: over the past few months. As the two men sat 305 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: in Edward's jail cell, the details of his life had 306 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: spilled out. He had even confessed to killing his wife 307 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: Harriet in eighteen forty four. But now it was time 308 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:45,560 Speaker 1: for Hamilton to help him. A few days earlier, Edward 309 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: had ordered him to do something. Now it was time 310 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 1: to see how compliant the journalist really was. As Edward 311 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: prepared to leave his cell for the last time, he 312 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,119 Speaker 1: embraced the reporter with an intimate, open mouth kiss. Yes, 313 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,439 Speaker 1: Edward had told him to hide a cyanide pill in 314 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: his mouth so he could take his own life death 315 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: on his own terms, but the journalist backed out. He 316 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: refused to help him die. Hamilton was enamored with Edward Ruloff, 317 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:23,440 Speaker 1: but not totally seduced. When Edward found no pill. He 318 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: angrily pushed ham away, the final scene in their complicated relationship. 319 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,200 Speaker 1: This would be the last time Hamilton Freeman would see 320 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff alive. The area outside the gallows was chaotic 321 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: as thousands cheered his arrival. Howard ordered the sheriff to 322 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 1: remove any clergyman who might pray for him. He had 323 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 1: dedicated his life solely to science. Religion would have no 324 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: role in his death. As he stepped onto the platform, 325 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: Edward looked across the crowd. William and Ephraim Scutt stood 326 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 1: just below him and peered up. They had been waiting 327 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: for more than two decades to watch this. 328 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 4: Why do you think that would be important to know 329 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 4: for sure that he was gone and he wasn't a 330 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 4: threat to them anymore. So, I'm sure it was. It 331 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,879 Speaker 4: was for Harriet, but also and maybe was kind of 332 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 4: for their own peace of mind and their own families, 333 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 4: knowing that he was gone, and they wanted to see it, 334 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 4: you know, for themselves. 335 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,160 Speaker 1: The hangman placed the white hood over his head. Edward 336 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:57,679 Speaker 1: had his hands in his pockets, a habit he had 337 00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 1: picked up as he strolled along the banks of the 338 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 1: river year earlier. There are many myths about Edward Ruloff's 339 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: final words. Historian Gerald Smith told me a few of them. 340 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:09,879 Speaker 2: I mean, it's the whole thing about the marching up 341 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:11,360 Speaker 2: and do you want a hood? Do you have any 342 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 2: last words? Now? The apocryphal words which we've all assured 343 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 2: you know, to the hangman to hurry up so I 344 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,359 Speaker 2: can be hell in time for lunch or dinner, depending 345 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,880 Speaker 2: which meal it was, which I wouldn't doubt he would 346 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,879 Speaker 2: have said, just from his attitude. 347 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 1: But every reliable account says that Edward Ruloff's last words 348 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:36,400 Speaker 1: were quite simple. I cannot stand still. The sheriff gave 349 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 1: the signal and a large weight dropped to the ground 350 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: and Edward was jerked three feet into the air. He 351 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 1: was being executed using an upright jerker, a contraption designed 352 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,120 Speaker 1: to deliver a quick death by swiftly snapping the prisoner's neck, 353 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:57,679 Speaker 1: but in this case it didn't work. Edward began to 354 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: gasp for breath and shrug his shoulders. The jerk forced 355 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: his hand from his pocket. The crowd watched horrified as 356 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: he shoved it back inside. His neck wasn't broken, only dislocated, 357 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 1: so he didn't die immediately. His neck was so thick 358 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,959 Speaker 1: that he was essentially strangled over more than twenty minutes. 359 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: It was excruciating, and it even repulsed those townspeople who 360 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: had begged to see him die. Of course, they still 361 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 1: clamored to see his corpse. 362 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 2: Right afterward, after the execution, they take the body down 363 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 2: and lay it out for estimates of five to ten 364 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 2: thousand people to come by and look at the body. 365 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:43,960 Speaker 2: I think the level of retribution needed here was like 366 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 2: closure for the Dryden people, closure for the people here. 367 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: Finally the Scott family could conclude that horrible chapter in 368 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:55,919 Speaker 1: their history. 369 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 4: Her brothers would have felt some closure that worked on 370 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 4: that for like you said, so many years to finally 371 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 4: get him, and they went to the execution, so I 372 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,880 Speaker 4: would only assume it had to give them some sort 373 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 4: of closure on it. 374 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: Edward Rulolf's hanging was the last public execution in New 375 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,199 Speaker 1: York State. Some thought it was a fitting end to 376 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: a life filled with brutality. Others thought it was an 377 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:27,920 Speaker 1: illustration of the inhumanity of capital punishment. But Edward wasn't 378 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:37,680 Speaker 1: quite through with academia just yet. Thirty six hours after 379 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:43,639 Speaker 1: Edward Rulolf's execution, Binghamton pathologist, doctor George Burr unceremoniously sought 380 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 1: off his head. He was going to study his brain, 381 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 1: and it was pretty difficult because the net cords were 382 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: so incredibly thick. Edward's skull wouldn't crack easily. It was 383 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 1: twice the thickness of ordinary skulls, about half an inch. 384 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: The surgeons struggled for almost an hour. Doctor Barbara Finley 385 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 1: is a psychology professor at Cornell University in Ithaca. 386 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 8: If you're charged with getting a brain out of a 387 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:15,199 Speaker 8: very hard skull without hurting, it's it's not easy, so 388 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 8: you haven't got much leverage because it's this nice circular 389 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:22,760 Speaker 8: structure with a thing you don't want to damage inside. 390 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,879 Speaker 1: Doctor Burr was methodical as he examined Edward's brain. He 391 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,919 Speaker 1: measured the length and depth of every fissure and fold. 392 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:34,359 Speaker 1: He searched for abnormalities like pools of blood or obvious damage. 393 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,800 Speaker 1: The surgeon's final report was full of data, but it 394 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: was also peppered with odd statements about a warped mind. 395 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: Brain imaging analysis from the nineteenth century. The report read 396 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: an examination of Rulolph's brain showed the animal portion of it. 397 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: The cerebellum to be unusually large in proportion to the 398 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: upper portion the cerebrum, which is supposed to cause the 399 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: moral and religious sentiments. Scientists now know there is no 400 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: moral section or animal section of the human brain. Burse 401 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:09,199 Speaker 1: analysis was similar to phrenology, except instead of examining the 402 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,680 Speaker 1: bumps on a skull, the surgeon looked at the brain structure. 403 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,679 Speaker 1: He concluded that the wiring of Edward's brain had doomed 404 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:21,199 Speaker 1: him from birth. He wasn't responsible for his crimes, but 405 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 1: well regarded alienists disagreed. They believed Edward was brilliant and troubled, 406 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:32,120 Speaker 1: but he was in sound physical health and entirely sane. Yes, 407 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: his execution was morally just. Experts in eighteen seventy one 408 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: couldn't agree. Should his abnormal brain have saved him? If 409 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:46,159 Speaker 1: alienists had just known about psychopathy, wouldn't an asylum have 410 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: been a more appropriate option to the news And actually 411 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,639 Speaker 1: we still ask those questions For the past ten years. 412 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 1: The brain scan has crept into American criminal courts through 413 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: a phenomenon called the brain defense. A Duke University study 414 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,880 Speaker 1: found that between two thousand and five and twenty twelve, 415 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:10,119 Speaker 1: roughly twenty five percent of death penalty trials used neurobiological 416 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: data to argue for life in prison. Doctor Frederica Coppola 417 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: teaches at Columbia University about the intersection between neuroscience and law. 418 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,400 Speaker 1: Is this an area of frustration for the families of victims? 419 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 9: Well, I am afraid that neuroscience has created a lot 420 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 9: of meath of the brain. People really think that the 421 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 9: brain can justify behavior, and this is totally mistaken. It's 422 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 9: worrisome that this kind of information is so overused in 423 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:43,760 Speaker 9: crimino trios. 424 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: In one example, a PET scan of a murder suspect's 425 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,320 Speaker 1: brain showed abnormally low neuron activity in his frontal lobe. 426 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 1: Scientists say that often causes an increased risk of aggressive, 427 00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: even violent behavior, but prosecutors argue that other differing from 428 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: that same condition haven't committed crimes. The brain defense is 429 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,880 Speaker 1: a dangerous precedent because the human brain is still a mystery. 430 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:14,400 Speaker 1: It's also incredibly controversial. Even the country's most well respected 431 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: neuropsychologists can't agree if the brain can predict criminal behavior. 432 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: Doctor Valerie Renne researches brains and behavior at Cornell University. 433 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,760 Speaker 10: It doesn't necessarily add anything good. It can just mislead 434 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,959 Speaker 10: people if they believe it. Just mentioning the word neuroscience 435 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 10: in one study, for example, made people believe the same 436 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,919 Speaker 10: evidence more without even the pictures. The pictures didn't add anything. 437 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 10: It was just the mention of the word neuroscience because 438 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 10: people have you know, it's a kind of blind faith. 439 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: Coppola says, the use of neuroscience in courtrooms as evidence 440 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 1: is unlikely to go away anytime soon, and that's troubling. 441 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 9: I foresee good things and bad things about neuroscience courtroom 442 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:57,560 Speaker 9: at the solution, I don't know, actually didn't see good scenes. 443 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 9: I didn't see any positive effect of using your science 444 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 9: in a courtroom. 445 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,640 Speaker 1: After his execution, Edward's brain was sold for fifteen dollars 446 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,720 Speaker 1: to one of the world's foremost brain anatomists, Bert Greenwilder, 447 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:20,719 Speaker 1: at Cornell University. It became, in fact, the very first 448 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: acquisition in the very first brain collection in America, one 449 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: of the most important developments in medical science. Doctor Barbara 450 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:33,160 Speaker 1: Finley is the collection's curator. What is the brain collection? 451 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: Just in the grand scheme of things, it's more than 452 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,880 Speaker 1: a cabinet of curiosities. What does it represent? 453 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 8: This is the first step in understanding cognition and experience 454 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,120 Speaker 8: in all the physical terms. This is just a world 455 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 8: changing difference in point of view about how we think 456 00:29:53,720 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 8: about about brains. This time in science was when these 457 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 8: things that seemed so disembodied became embodied. And I think 458 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 8: it's right up there with understanding evolution in terms of 459 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 8: its significance. 460 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: Doctor Wilder's brain collection had competition in America. Other anatomists 461 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: wanted to dissect the brains of well regarded men like themselves, 462 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:24,440 Speaker 1: white and elite. They wanted to use the brain to 463 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: prove the superiority of civilized men. They had no interest 464 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: in researching intelligence. Surely their brains would be far bigger 465 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 1: and much heavier than those of criminals, or women or minorities. 466 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,760 Speaker 1: This was the racist and sexist ideology that dominated nineteenth 467 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: century science. And Developmental neurology professor David Price says that 468 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,920 Speaker 1: scientific racism still exists. 469 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,880 Speaker 11: The danger as it feeds into people believing that there 470 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 11: are differences between different sets of people. You know, I 471 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,200 Speaker 11: mean not so all being discredited because differences between race 472 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 11: and so minimal genetically anyway, now that we're sequenced the genome. 473 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 11: But I think these ideas are still there, and they 474 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 11: still possessed. People are still believed these things. 475 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:15,480 Speaker 1: These nineteenth century brain collections marked the beginning of neuroscience. 476 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: For the first time, neurologists could actually compare brains their 477 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 1: size and structure, and with Edward Ruloff's help, they came 478 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:27,360 Speaker 1: to some shocking conclusions. So we can't say for sure 479 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:31,080 Speaker 1: if any abnormality in Edward's brain caused him to kill, 480 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: we do know that it made history. In eighteen seventy one, 481 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,760 Speaker 1: doctor Burr looked at his lab scale and wrote weight 482 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: fifty nine ounces. Edward's brain was the heaviest and largest 483 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: Burr had ever seen, and it was devastating for some 484 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:56,760 Speaker 1: of the nation's most respected neurologists. When doctor Wilder declared 485 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: it the second largest on record, more than thirty percent 486 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: bigger than the average man, it discredited all of those 487 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: prejudice theories. Modern scientists say Edward's brain now belongs in 488 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 1: the top one percent, still an incredible mark. But as 489 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: we now know, and as doctor Wilder soon learned, size 490 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:21,360 Speaker 1: doesn't matter. It's no indication of intellect or of belonging 491 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: to a privileged group with claims on superior intelligence. Wilder 492 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,560 Speaker 1: discovered that a criminal and a minister can have really 493 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: similar brains. He was also the first person ever to 494 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:36,120 Speaker 1: declare that the brains of people of color, the brains 495 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 1: of criminals, the brains of women, were not inferior in 496 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: size or quality to those of elite white men. Edward's 497 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 1: brain became one of Wylder's prize specimens, like one of 498 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: Charles Darwin's Finch's the Birds, used to illustrate his theory 499 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,800 Speaker 1: of natural selection. And then doctor Wilder drew even more 500 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: startling conclusions. He suggested that the structure of Edward's brain 501 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 1: was actually similar to that of a gifted white philosopher 502 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 1: and mathematician. It was also similar to the brain of 503 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:11,560 Speaker 1: a person of mixed race. The three brains were almost identical. 504 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 1: Wilder's critics tried to discredit his claims, but it was 505 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 1: too late. His findings were documented in medical history books. 506 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: A murderer had changed everything we knew about human brains. 507 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff was Wilder's first case study, the avatar for 508 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:35,160 Speaker 1: all criminal brains in the eighteen hundreds, and the only 509 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 1: one specifically mentioned in American medical journals for years. His 510 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: brain received a full course of phrenological, psychological, and neurological assessments, 511 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,640 Speaker 1: a complete, first of its kind profile of a genius 512 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,920 Speaker 1: and a criminal. Doctor Wilder even carried Edward's thick skull 513 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,320 Speaker 1: to a conference in New York. Later that year, Edward 514 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,760 Speaker 1: Ruloff's brain was scanned at least the eighteen hundreds version 515 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 1: of Skins. His was the very first criminal brain in 516 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 1: America to be officially analyzed, studied, and publicly presented. That's 517 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:12,399 Speaker 1: what modern brains cans do today. Just a few years ago, 518 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: the Welcome Center in London declared Edward's brain the most 519 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:20,280 Speaker 1: notorious brain in US history, and it's still being referenced 520 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:25,920 Speaker 1: by medical journals today, an exceptional example of genius poisoned 521 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,840 Speaker 1: by malevolence. If doctor Bert Wilder had been a modern 522 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,919 Speaker 1: day neurologist, he might have spotted those same abnormalities within 523 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,960 Speaker 1: an image of Edward Ruloff's brain, and those results might 524 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,239 Speaker 1: have been a mitigating factor in his death sentence. But 525 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 1: even today, scientists have so much more to discover about 526 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,640 Speaker 1: our brains, and David Price says that we still wonder 527 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 1: why a man with so much potential decided to be 528 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:52,320 Speaker 1: a killer. 529 00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:55,040 Speaker 11: I mean adapt of ignorance about how the brain works 530 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 11: is staggering. 531 00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,759 Speaker 1: Journalist David Wrenn says that Edward Ruloff's story is a 532 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,319 Speaker 1: cationary tale and we still have things to learn from him. 533 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,959 Speaker 7: I think that is one of those things where there's 534 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:11,520 Speaker 7: more to be revealed. I can't imagine that we've discovered 535 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:15,239 Speaker 7: all the lessons that we could learn from Ruloff, especially 536 00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:21,880 Speaker 7: when it comes to mental health and personality disorders, and 537 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:23,719 Speaker 7: I think that that's one of the reasons that we 538 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:33,840 Speaker 7: should invest in mental health in our country. 539 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:39,680 Speaker 1: Craig Scott and I have returned to the cemetery where 540 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,440 Speaker 1: so many of his family members are buried, John, Hannah, 541 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 1: William Ephraim. Of course Harriet's name is listed there too, 542 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 1: even though they never did find her body or Priscillas. 543 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,120 Speaker 1: Still it's a reminder of how much the Scuts valued 544 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:55,960 Speaker 1: one another. 545 00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:59,480 Speaker 4: Just going to that grave site and seeing how much, 546 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,560 Speaker 4: admit they all meant to each other. That all the 547 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:07,319 Speaker 4: names around that big headstone, all the children and you 548 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:11,320 Speaker 4: know others buried right on the family plat there, But there. 549 00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:14,600 Speaker 1: Was still one gravestone missing, the one meant for William's 550 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:18,600 Speaker 1: wife and child, Emelia and Emil Craig thinks he might 551 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:22,560 Speaker 1: know where it is. We walked down to an underground 552 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,840 Speaker 1: stone vault inside the hill of the cemetery. There's a 553 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:32,040 Speaker 1: steel door with a broken lock. It feels like a 554 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:36,480 Speaker 1: creepy catacomb from an Edgar Allan Poe novel. There are 555 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:40,560 Speaker 1: broken headstones frozen to the ground. That's it. 556 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,360 Speaker 4: What does it say, waif of Williams gut. 557 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:48,359 Speaker 1: Died June fifth, eighteen forty five. 558 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:50,000 Speaker 4: That's it right there. 559 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:54,560 Speaker 1: So that's the gravestone, that's the top part of it, 560 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,600 Speaker 1: and I'm sure on the bottom part said something about 561 00:36:57,600 --> 00:36:58,880 Speaker 1: the child. 562 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,360 Speaker 4: That's it. Yeah, because it's ten days old. 563 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't believe you found it. 564 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:04,880 Speaker 4: That's amazing. 565 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:11,000 Speaker 1: Well to me, it's sad because you know, now there's. 566 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:11,520 Speaker 7: Where are they? 567 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:12,360 Speaker 5: There's no marker. 568 00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:12,919 Speaker 11: Yeah. 569 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:18,879 Speaker 1: When you read about Edward's victims, Amelia and Emil are 570 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:22,640 Speaker 1: only briefly mentioned, and they've been lost in this cemetery 571 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:25,759 Speaker 1: for more than a century. It's such a sad ending. 572 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:30,360 Speaker 1: Edward Rulolf's body had a similar fate. He was buried 573 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: in an unmarked grave, but without his head. Of course, 574 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,399 Speaker 1: Craig Scutt believes that his ending was fitting this guy 575 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:38,920 Speaker 1: thought he was so great, and look where. 576 00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 4: He ended up. I mean, why wouldn't you feel that way? Yeah, 577 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:47,400 Speaker 4: his brain ended up floating in a container at Cornell. 578 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:51,719 Speaker 4: And he was a failure, and he was everything he 579 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:57,040 Speaker 4: thought he knew has been proved really to be bogus. 580 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:04,320 Speaker 1: Hamilton Freeman was forever haunted by his time with Edward Ruloff. 581 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,719 Speaker 1: He had been the closest person to Edward, perhaps the 582 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:10,840 Speaker 1: one who knew him the best. I see him in 583 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:15,080 Speaker 1: my dreams, wrote ham There was a magnetism about the 584 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:19,320 Speaker 1: man that irresistibly drew me to him. But he was duped, 585 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:23,360 Speaker 1: taken in by a charming psychopath. And even after the 586 00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:27,080 Speaker 1: genius killer dismissed him for not helping him, Hamilton was 587 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:31,759 Speaker 1: conflicted in him. There was no repentance, ham wrote. He 588 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:35,040 Speaker 1: petitioned to be saved for the benefit of science. Like 589 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:38,880 Speaker 1: Ponts de Leon, He chased a fleeting phantom to the grave. 590 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:43,520 Speaker 1: Edward was fond of quoting poets. Right before his execution, 591 00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:48,319 Speaker 1: he quoted James Russell Lowell. Edward said, right forever on 592 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:52,440 Speaker 1: the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. That means that 593 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 1: he could die knowing that he was an honorable man. 594 00:38:55,880 --> 00:39:00,000 Speaker 1: Edward's confidence bolstered him on the scaffold until his last breath. 595 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,399 Speaker 1: As Hamilton Freeman remembered the killer's final hours, he thought 596 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:10,080 Speaker 1: about what made Edward a murderer. Ham wrote, if not insane, 597 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:16,440 Speaker 1: he was the incarnation of all that is wicked. But 598 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,120 Speaker 1: Michael Weiss believes that Edward was just a man with 599 00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:22,480 Speaker 1: a misguided theory. And here's something that was surprising to me. 600 00:39:23,239 --> 00:39:25,560 Speaker 1: He thinks that Edward would have never succeeded at a 601 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:30,040 Speaker 1: university because his fixation with the question of meaning led 602 00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:30,880 Speaker 1: him nowhere. 603 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:34,000 Speaker 3: He was obsessed with the question of meaning, and that 604 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:36,520 Speaker 3: was part of his character. I don't think any kind 605 00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:39,240 Speaker 3: of formal training would have knocked that out of him. 606 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:44,520 Speaker 1: Edward Rulolf represented an inherent contradiction in our country. How 607 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:47,320 Speaker 1: could a man translate the original language of the Bible 608 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:51,399 Speaker 1: but not be swayed by its tenants. Why would God 609 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:55,800 Speaker 1: intertwine both evil and genius inside the mind of one man. 610 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,279 Speaker 1: It was Edward Rulolf's brain that was the impetus so 611 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:05,360 Speaker 1: long ago to explore the criminal mind, and even today 612 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:09,520 Speaker 1: his story draws us into a fascinating, chilling world that 613 00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:13,840 Speaker 1: will likely never fully understand. His case was the first 614 00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:18,680 Speaker 1: to make neuroscientists look for biological reasons for why someone kills. 615 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:22,480 Speaker 1: The mark of Satan was no longer a good enough excuse, 616 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:26,399 Speaker 1: and in a way, Edward Ruloff helped create the brain 617 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 1: defense for the Scuts. The terrible story of Edward Ruloff 618 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:35,239 Speaker 1: now serves mostly as a grim reminder of why they're 619 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:39,160 Speaker 1: so proud of their family. They never gave up. 620 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,680 Speaker 4: That says a lot about their parents, how their parents, 621 00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:46,120 Speaker 4: They had been brought up with that kind of family 622 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:48,680 Speaker 4: loyalty and commitments. 623 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,399 Speaker 1: You know, just the strength and the perseverance of your 624 00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 1: family is what I take away from it. 625 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,719 Speaker 4: Oh yeah, I think so too. I mean, they kept 626 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:02,239 Speaker 4: their values, they were persistent, and you know, they had losses, 627 00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:10,239 Speaker 4: but in the end they got him. 628 00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:13,320 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed season one of tenfold More Wicked. 629 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,400 Speaker 1: Season two starts on January twenty fifth. It's about a 630 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:21,000 Speaker 1: pair of serial killers in nineteenth century Scotland. If you 631 00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:23,680 Speaker 1: love historical true crime, be sure to order my book 632 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:27,279 Speaker 1: American Sherlock. It's about a real life Sherlock Holmes who 633 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,480 Speaker 1: solved some of the most gruesome murders in the nineteen twenties. 634 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:33,840 Speaker 1: This has been an exactly right and tenfold more media 635 00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:38,760 Speaker 1: production producers Jason Whaling and Laura Soble, sound designer Eric Friend, 636 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:44,640 Speaker 1: composer Curtis Heath, artwork Nick Toga. Executive producers Georgia Hardstark, 637 00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:49,120 Speaker 1: Karen Kilgarriff and Danielle Kramer. Follow us on Instagram and 638 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:53,120 Speaker 1: Facebook at tenfold more Wicked and on Twitter at tenfold more. 639 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:56,320 Speaker 1: If you're an advertiser interested in advertising on our show, 640 00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:59,799 Speaker 1: go to midroll dot com slash ads, and if you 641 00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:02,240 Speaker 1: know of a historical crime that could use some attention, 642 00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:09,400 Speaker 1: email us at info at Tenfoldmoorwicked dot com. So please listen, subscribe, 643 00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:13,280 Speaker 1: leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Ditch, or wherever 644 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:14,520 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts,