1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. We're fascinated 3 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:23,799 Speaker 1: by true crime. Psychologists say it's normal. We're drawn to 4 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: good versus evil. True crime gives us a glimpse into 5 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: the minds of people who commit taboos against society. We 6 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: want to know who did it and why. We look 7 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: for the red flags, hoping we might ward off future danger. 8 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: But mostly we're hardwired for the story. It's the equivalent 9 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: of gathering around a campfire, and if you hear one 10 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: well told story, you'll want another. Of all crime stories, 11 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: we are most obsessed with murder, from serial killers to 12 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: unsolved homicides. We want those tails. We want to be 13 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: scared from the safety of our own homes or cars 14 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: or earbuds. We tell ourselves it can't happen to us, 15 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: or that we saw it coming all along. But the 16 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: cases where life seemed safe and normal, those terrify us 17 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: the most. Take New Orleans at the end of World 18 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: War One, for example, in late nineteen eighteen, Americans felt 19 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,960 Speaker 1: at peace again, optimism for the future. Sword in celebration, 20 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 1: a new type of upbeat music swept the nation jazz. 21 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: At the heart of the jazz age was New Orleans, 22 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: where a combination of swing and blues with a big 23 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: band sound kept people dancing at nightclubs throughout the French Quarter. 24 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: The city was growing and people found New Orleans a 25 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: welcome place to earn a living. In less than a decade, 26 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: there had been the edition of an amusement park, libraries, 27 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: as zoo, and several large businesses. The now world famous 28 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: Our Nose restaurant opened. Life was Good. On May twenty 29 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: third of nineteen eighteen, Jake and Andrew Maggio went to 30 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: their brother's home on the corner of Upperline and Magnolia, 31 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: like they did every morning. They had let themselves in 32 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: and called to their brother, Joseph and his wife Katherine. 33 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: When the couple didn't answer, they searched the home and 34 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:21,799 Speaker 1: stumbled across a gruesome discovery. Joseph and Katherine lay in 35 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: their bed. Some one had slashed their throats with a 36 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: straight razor, then struck their heads with an axe. Catherine's 37 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: throat had been cut so deep that her head had 38 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: practically been severed. Joseph clung to life, but died before 39 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: his brothers could summon help. Police searched the home, finding 40 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: a pile of bloody clothes. The killer had cleaned up 41 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: and changed into Joseph's clothing while the couple bled out 42 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: jewelry and money sat in plain sight. There had been 43 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: no sign of struggle or vandalism. The killer had had 44 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: a single focus. By August, four more people had been 45 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: killed and others left for dead. All had been attacked 46 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,959 Speaker 1: by a man with an axe, and all the victims 47 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 1: were Italian immigrants. Dubbed the axe Man, the killer terrorized 48 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: the city. Men in the Italian community began trading shifts, 49 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: taking up watch from their porches to protect their families. 50 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: In nineteen nineteen, he crossed the river and struck again, 51 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: this time in the town of Gretna. He badly injured 52 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: a husband and wife before taking the axe to their 53 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: two year old daughter. Police and Gretna initially believed neighbors 54 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: were to blame. They ran a competing grocery business. Detectives 55 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: visited the couple in the hospital, often asking if the 56 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: two men who lived next door were the ones who 57 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: attacked them. After the wife, Rosie, left the hospital, police 58 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: arrested her as a material witness. They refused to let 59 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: her go until she signed an affidavit naming her neighbors 60 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: as the killers. After a brief trial, the men were convicted, 61 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: one faced a life sentence and the other was set 62 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: to hang. Rosie walked to the local newspaper office and 63 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: signed another appadavit stating she had been coerced into her confession. 64 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: The police threatened her with perjury, but she didn't back down. 65 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: Her neighbors were released in December. On March fourteenth, nineteen nineteen, 66 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: the Times Picayune received an open letter from the Axe 67 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: Man to the people of New Orleans. He promised to 68 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: leave the city the following Tuesday at twelve fifteen am 69 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 1: if the citizens would play jazz at that time. On 70 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: March nineteenth, at a quarter past midnight, the sound of 71 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: jazz filled homes and dance clubs, and just like that, 72 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: the Axe Man of New Orleans vanished. The police believed 73 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: the crimes were racially motivated. Prejudice towards those with Italian 74 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 1: heritage was common. Police choked up the killings as a 75 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: vendetta over perceived American jobs lost to Italian immigrants. Other 76 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: detectives suggested that the attacks had been mafia related, though 77 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: no evidence supported that theory. It was the first time 78 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: the Italian community had been accused of inciting violence in 79 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 1: New Orleans. All that stood between life and death for 80 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: Italian American citizens and the Axe Men killings was time 81 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: and apparently jazz. In the late eighteen eighties, though that 82 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: line was held by an Irish cop with a talent 83 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:27,280 Speaker 1: for solving crimes and for making enemies. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, 84 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to American shadows. Depending on which side of the 85 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: law they were on, the people of New Orleans either 86 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: loved or hated David Hennessy Jr. What was agreed on, though, 87 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: is that he made a name for himself in law 88 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: enforcement right from the start, and by all accounts, he 89 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: had got his tenacity from his father, David Sr. Who 90 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: returned from the Civil War and joined the New Orleans 91 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,720 Speaker 1: Metropolitan Ease. It was the only place that would hire him, 92 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: considering his mix of Union support and Irish heritage of 93 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: complete with some stereotypical heavy drinking. But the police force 94 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:13,919 Speaker 1: there had supported the Union's efforts during the war, which 95 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: meant the local citizens who had prospered from slavery weren't 96 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: supportive of their police department. Like many on the force, 97 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 1: David Hennessey Senior was a big man, and he spent 98 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: plenty of time with his fellow officers at the local bars, 99 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: drinking and occasionally getting into fights. One night in eighteen 100 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: sixty six, one such fight got out of hand. A 101 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: man identified only as a Grouper hurled racial insults, especially 102 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: toward the Irish American officers. During the ensuing fight, Grouper 103 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: was stabbed fatally, and in the aftermath every officer in 104 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: the bar was arrested. The case went to trial, and 105 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: a few of the officers were released when the prosecution 106 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,479 Speaker 1: couldn't provide solid evidence that they had been the ones 107 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: who had stabbed Grouper. David Sr. Was among them. Some 108 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: people didn't believe he was innocent, though. On Christmas Eve 109 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: of eight sixty eight, Hennessy smelled smoke in his house. 110 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: An arsonist had set the home on fire, hoping to 111 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: catch the family asleep. They all got out just in time. 112 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: Three months later, Hennessy sat with one Mister Gayron, a 113 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: former cop turned underworld hitman, at a bar near the courthouse. 114 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: Garron had been arrested for his crimes, but had walked 115 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: free every time. As the two men drank, they began 116 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: to argue. Geron suggested they paused the discussion long enough 117 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: to order another round of drinks. Hennessy rose to get them, 118 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: and that's when Gayme drew a gun and shot three 119 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: rounds into his chest. Garon claimed it was self defense. 120 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: He was arrested, of course, just two weeks later, though 121 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: he walked free. The court decided that Hennessy's reputation was 122 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: all the proof they needed to buy the self defense plea. 123 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: One of Hennessy's fellow officers gave a eulogy at his funeral. 124 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: He said David had been an honorable cop and pointed 125 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: out all the good he had done for the city. 126 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: But those kind words were small consolation for his widow 127 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: and young son, David Jr. There were no pensions set 128 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: aside for officers laying outside of the line of duty. 129 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: Margaret and David Junior had nowhere to go except the poorhouse. 130 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: Two years later, in eighteen seventy, Hennessey's former boss hired 131 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: twelve year old David Junior as a messenger for the 132 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: Metropolitan Police. Despite his young age, he proved to be 133 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: a reliable and diligent worker. Like father, like son. As 134 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: a teen, he confronted two adult thieves in the act. Unarmed, 135 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,719 Speaker 1: he not only subdued them both, but hauled them to 136 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: the police department single handedly. The superintendent immediately hired Hennessey 137 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: as the youngest cop on the force. In two years, 138 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 1: David Hennessey Junior became a detective. The superintendent was so 139 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: taken by his work ethic and polite many inner, but 140 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: when he retired in eighteen seventy eight, he fired everyone 141 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: on his team except for the young detective. That left 142 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:12,359 Speaker 1: a lot of department openings and angry former cops. Hennessy's 143 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: cousin Mike, joined the force, and the two frequently teamed 144 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: up to solve the city's toughest cases. Then, in eighteen 145 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,840 Speaker 1: eighty one, an Italian diplomat presented Chief of Police Thomas 146 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: Boylan with a photograph. In it he pointed to a 147 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: middle aged man with dark hair, eyes, and mustache. The 148 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: Italian government wanted to find him with the utmost discretion. 149 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 1: The man, Giuseppe f Posito, had kidnapped an English clergyman 150 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 1: who had been traveling in Italy. Esposito had committed the 151 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: crime in broad daylight. He had forced Reverend Rose to 152 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: write his own ransom note demanding a thousand pounds for 153 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: his safe return, and Esposito had included an incentive with 154 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: the letter, one of the reverend's ears. When the Rose 155 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: family couldn't come up with the money, they received the 156 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:02,439 Speaker 1: other ear. The British government didn't take the crime lightly. 157 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: They sent military troops to rescue Reverend Rose and capture 158 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: as Posito. The mission was successful and the case was 159 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: awaiting trial when Esposito escaped, had been trapped as far 160 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: as New Orleans, but the Metropolitan Police and the Italian 161 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: and British governments weren't the only ones interested in finding Esposito. 162 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 1: A hotshot New York detective by the name of James 163 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: Mooney was also looking for the escaped convict. Believing the 164 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: Italian government already had as Posito in custody, he barged 165 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: into the Italian consulate, demanding that they hand him over. 166 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: Chief Boilingen handed the complicated case to the department's star 167 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:44,680 Speaker 1: Detective Hennessy, was determined es Posito wouldn't escape justice, but 168 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: he had to find him quick. Mooney's arrest paperwork hadn't 169 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: been properly filed, and if the New York detective captured 170 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: him first, the Italian kidnapper would walk free on a technicality. 171 00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: It would make a better story if the man hunt 172 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 1: had been drawn out dramatic, but Hennessy and his cousin 173 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 1: made it look easy. They knapped Esposito in the middle 174 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: of the night, and that's not to say their prisoner 175 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: went willingly, though he fought the entire way to the 176 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,200 Speaker 1: awaiting police carriage. He was transported to a ship and 177 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: taken back to Italy for his crimes overnight. David Hennessey Jr. 178 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: Became a local hero, but that faded just as quickly 179 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:27,560 Speaker 1: when a dark scandal within the force suddenly came into focus. 180 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: A rift developed between the Chief of Police and the 181 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: new Chief of Detectives that year, Thomas Devereaux, had no 182 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: experience had been appointed politically. The power struggle between the 183 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: two men quickly made headlines, with each side accusing the 184 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: other of corruption, favoritism, and deteriorating the force. Hennessey Junior 185 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: and his cousin, Mike, didn't like Devereaux, and the feeling 186 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: was mutual. The new chief charged Mike with insubordination after 187 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,080 Speaker 1: a couple of arguments. The police board reviewed the incidents 188 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: and censored Devereaux. The chief's career began to tank, and 189 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: he was determined to take the Hennessey cousins down with him. 190 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: He had Mike charged with drunken assault at a brothel 191 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: on Basin Street. He claimed Mike had pointed his gun 192 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: at a man and used language unbecoming of an officer. 193 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 1: Then he charged David with abandoning his post. Serious accusations, 194 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: but neither solidly based in fact. Mike presented a letter 195 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: to the Police Board of Commissioners from the brothels Madame, 196 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: saying had been well behaved. When the board called for 197 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: the victim and witnesses to step forward, none did. All 198 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 1: the board had on Mike was visiting a brothel, which 199 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: wasn't precisely legal, but the case was dropped. The Board 200 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: of Commissioners also dropped the charges against Tennessee, he hadn't 201 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: abandoned his post, had been sick, and had sent a 202 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: messenger to the station informing his boss. The mayor suspended Devereaux. Then, 203 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: on October twelfth of eighteen eighty one, the Chief of 204 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:09,839 Speaker 1: Detectives was fired. The next day, Devereaux was at a 205 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 1: shop on the corner of Gravier and Charles Avenue when 206 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: he spotted Mike standing on the sidewalk outside Clerks dough 207 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,439 Speaker 1: for cover as a hail of bullets shattered the windows 208 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: from the inside. Mike took a bullet to the face, 209 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 1: breaking his teeth and jaw before lodging in his neck. 210 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: As he lay bleeding on the sidewalk, Devereux stepped outside 211 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,719 Speaker 1: and aimed once more. He never saw David running toward him, 212 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: gunn drawn. Moments later, the former chief was dead by nightfall. 213 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: Devereux's friends were insisting Mike and David had staged an ambush. 214 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: Mike survived the shooting and was resting comfortably at the hospital, 215 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: while his cousin slept in a jail cell. The case 216 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: went to court in April of eighteen eighty two. Witnesses 217 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: for both sides presented their testimony, but in the end 218 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: the Henesses were acquitted. Though they were free, their careers 219 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 1: were over. Mike and his wife relocated to Texas. David 220 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,439 Speaker 1: found success working in private security. Corruption and turmoil within 221 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 1: the city made sure there was plenty of work, and 222 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: wealthy citizens paid handsomely. Chief Boylan quit the Metropolitan Force 223 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty two and joined the private security business 224 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: as well. In eight eight former Mayor Shakespeare was reelected 225 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: and asked David to come back to the police department, 226 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: this time as the chief of Police. The department had 227 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: seen a decade of corruption, and David thought he might 228 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: do some good by cleaning it up. Officers who were 229 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: trustworthy and had the best interest of the city at 230 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: heart he supported in every way. He asked for safety 231 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: gear in higher wages. His effort became the top of 232 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: the town. People described Hennessey as a handsome man, though 233 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 1: quick to anger, like his father, playing into their stereotype 234 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: of the Irish, but unlike his dad, they admitted, he 235 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 1: never touched a drop of alcohol. By eighteen ninety, Hennessy 236 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: had cleaned up a lot of the corruption inside the 237 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: Metropolitan Police. However, criminal activity, especially committed against Italian immigrants, 238 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: plagued him. Violence within the Italian community flourished as well. 239 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: That year, a string of vendetic killings made headlines. In 240 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: his attempt to stop the violence, Hennessy found himself in 241 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: the middle of two families believed to be involved in 242 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: the city's criminal underworld, the Matranga and Provenzano families were 243 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: business rivals on the waterfront. One night, the two families 244 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: ended up in a shootout, with fatalities on both sides. 245 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: While the case awaited trial, Hennessy investigated both families. He 246 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: learned the Patrongas had ties to the Italian crime syndicates. 247 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: The headlines weren't kind to either family, claiming that both 248 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: sides were bugs and part of the mob. In turn, 249 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: talk began around town that Hennessy was protecting criminals instead 250 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: of fighting them. Once he testified on behalf of the 251 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,480 Speaker 1: Provenzano family, rumors flew that the police chief was siding 252 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: with the mafia. On October fift of eighteen ninety, the 253 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: cold rain had been relentless. It was late and attired, 254 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: Hennessey headed home after a long police board meeting. He 255 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: bit his friend Billy O'Connor good night on the corner 256 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: of Rampart and Gerard. Then, with only the rain to 257 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: keep him company, he made his way home. A block over. 258 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: Just as he passed his neighbor's house, the gunfire erupted, 259 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: bullets striking the buildings lodging in the plaster and wood. 260 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: O'Connor heard the shots and ran back When the gunfire stopped, 261 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: neighbors hurried outside. Someone had shot David Hennessey Jr. O'Connor 262 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: knelt next to him, and seeing the bullet wounds and 263 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: the amount of blood, he knew time was short. Who 264 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 1: did this to you? He asked? Some say Hennessy told 265 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: O'Connor that the Italians did it. Other reports dispute that, 266 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: saying he was too injured too possibly name his assailants. 267 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: Either way, As the chief of police, looking to eliminate 268 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: crime both inside and outside of his department, he had 269 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: plenty of enemies. Hennessy died shortly after arriving at the hospital. 270 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: Had accomplished a lot in his short career. He was 271 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: just thirty two years old. O'Connor's report that the Italians 272 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 1: had killed him spread through the department like wildfire. Police 273 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: rounded up every Italian American they could find. Before long, 274 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 1: the cells were crowded. They searched homes for weapons without warrants. 275 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:44,679 Speaker 1: After questioning, some of the arrested immigrants were released. The 276 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: next morning, two paper boys arrived at the police station 277 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: to turn in a sawed off shotgun that found in 278 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: the gutter near Basin and Julia Street. The police noticed, 279 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: and had been redesigned in a way that allowed the 280 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: weapon to fold up. Most likely, the killer had hidden 281 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 1: it under oat. The police followed the boys back to 282 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: the location where they had found the gun. A quick 283 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: search turned up another shotgun. By noon, the whole town 284 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 1: had heard about the murder. People showed up at the 285 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: police station with information, regardless of whether they had witnessed 286 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: the murder or not. Some tipsters claimed the Matrongas had 287 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 1: killed Hennessy out of revenge. Others thought the mafia had 288 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: killed him in retaliation for putting away Esposito years ago. 289 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: Whatever the motive behind the murder, most of the town 290 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: agreed the Italians were to blame and demanded aggressive action 291 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: against them. Hennessy's portrait sat on easels at the courthouse. 292 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: Black crape hung from the walls and courtrooms, and at 293 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: central station. The morbidly curious flocked to look at the 294 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: bloodstained street and bullet riddled buildings. Hennessy had lived with 295 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: his ailing mother, too, better care for her than the 296 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: constant stream of people outside, upset her. Undertakers brought his 297 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: body to his mother's home and giving her the chance 298 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:03,120 Speaker 1: to view her son's body privately without the prying eyes 299 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: of the public. She had lost her husband and now 300 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: her son. Flowers and telegrams of sympathy poured in from 301 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: across the country. Mrs Hensey opened her home to the 302 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: public for viewing on October and starting at six am, 303 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 1: people came by to pay their respects. At ten am, 304 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 1: police pallbearers carried the casket out to the waiting horse 305 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: drawn hearse. The police escorted the hearse to City Hall, 306 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,679 Speaker 1: where Henessey's body lay in state while the city mourned. 307 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: A man named Thomas Duffy arrived at the Orleans Parish 308 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,200 Speaker 1: Prison bullpen. He asked to speak with a man named Scaffty. 309 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: When guards brought the prisoner out, Duffy drew a pistol 310 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: and shot him. Duffy insisted that Scaffity, one of the 311 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:52,119 Speaker 1: men recently rounded up, had been Hennessy's assassin. He ranted 312 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:54,399 Speaker 1: that if he had to say, every Italian would be 313 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: run out of town. Duffy was taken to jail, though 314 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,920 Speaker 1: hit only serve a six month sentence, and that wasn't 315 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: the only violence, though fights broke out. By the time 316 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: the police had thanked Missus Hennessey for her son's service 317 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: and taken her home. A hundred more Italian Americans were arrested. 318 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: No one looked further than the Italian community. On October eighteenth, 319 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: Mayor Shakespeare stood at City Hall before a large crowd 320 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: and railed against the Italians. He shouted that something had 321 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: to be done about the problems that brought to New Orleans. 322 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: The crowd cheered and echoed the mayor's sentiments. Nineteen more 323 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: men were dragged into the station on suspicion that they 324 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,639 Speaker 1: were affiliated with the Metroangas and the mafia, though no 325 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: evidence supported the claims. In newspapers continued to carry the 326 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: headlines that Hennessy's death had been a vendetta, painting the 327 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,120 Speaker 1: entire Italian community as violent. It was a powder quet 328 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: for an anti Italian riot, making matters worse. Some of 329 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: the defendants received mysterious funding for their legal fees, and 330 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,719 Speaker 1: instigations soon revealed that Lionel Adams, a non Italian lawyer, 331 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 1: had fronted the money, but residents speculated that the money 332 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 1: had come from the Italian community, who in turn had 333 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 1: gotten it from the mafia. The Italian prisoners remained in 334 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 1: jail until February six of eight. Slowly, some of the 335 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 1: men were released four lack of evidence, leaving nine defendants. 336 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 1: As the trial dragged on, so called witnesses could hardly 337 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: get their stories straight. The defense pointed out the chaos, 338 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: but surely the jurors couldn't be beyond reasonable doubt. After 339 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: two weeks, the jurors remained deadlocked and the judge declared 340 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,920 Speaker 1: a mistrial. As the defendants were escorted out of the courtroom, 341 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: shouts and jeers rippled through the crowd gathered outside. A 342 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: few shouted that the mayor had been right. Something had 343 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: to be done, and if the law couldn't or wouldn't 344 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 1: do it, then they would. They called themselves the Committee 345 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 1: of fifty from the lowest wage or two prominent business men. 346 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,920 Speaker 1: The group handed out leaflets calling on every non Italian 347 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 1: resident to show up for a meeting the next day. 348 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 1: A great miscarriage of justice had been done, and as 349 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: concerned citizens, it was their duty to set things right. 350 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: The next morning, speakers from the group fired up the crowd. 351 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: It was all up to the citizens, They said. They 352 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: needed to make the city safe again and carry out 353 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 1: proper justice. They said the police force and judicial system 354 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,400 Speaker 1: were corrupt that the mafia had gotten to them. Ten 355 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:36,159 Speaker 1: thousand people marched towards the parish prison. Shopkeepers and business 356 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,920 Speaker 1: owners cheered as they passed, fueling the crowd sense of righteousness. 357 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: The Italian consuls repeated pleas for assistance against the crowd, 358 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,920 Speaker 1: were ignored. The prison sheriff made a few last minute 359 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: efforts to secure the prison, but nothing could stop the 360 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: thousands of rioters. The angry crowd broke past the gates 361 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: and forced their way inside. They overtook any guard in 362 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,640 Speaker 1: their path to the holding cells. Nine Italian men were 363 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: shot on sight, one of them forty two times. Then 364 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: they dragged the bodies outside, along with two other Italian 365 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,120 Speaker 1: men still alive. They hung them from lamp posts, along 366 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 1: with the corpses from the nine other men. It was 367 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:20,439 Speaker 1: one of the worst lynchings in America. Oddly enough, the 368 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 1: crowd had left two men who were considered ringleaders of 369 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: the French Quarter mafia alive and unharmed inside the prison, 370 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: making some contemplate the real motives behind the lynching. The 371 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,640 Speaker 1: mayor never took responsibility for his suggestions that something had 372 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: to be done with the Italians. Ethnic hatreds spilled into 373 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: other states, where more violence against Italians was reported. The 374 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: following morning, newspapers praised the crowd for the lynchings. The 375 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 1: people convinced themselves their actions had been justified. It hadn't 376 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: been of vendetta, they told themselves, and that was for 377 00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:59,679 Speaker 1: the mafia. What they had done was justice. Hennessy's killers 378 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:04,120 Speaker 1: would walk free, but they might have been wrong about that. 379 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: It wasn't over quite yet. Although the public had applauded 380 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 1: the crowd's decision to lynch the men, a grand jury 381 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: convened to investigate on March sevent to get to the 382 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: root of the story, they also had to reopen Hennessy's 383 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,120 Speaker 1: murder case as well. Weeks went by as the city 384 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: waited for the verdict. On May five, the jury announced 385 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,400 Speaker 1: that the crowd had stormed the prison, had formed spontaneously 386 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: and had not initially set out to harm anyone. Though 387 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: they had been swept up in the moment and eleven 388 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 1: men were killed, it was more than understandable, it was praiseworthy. Further, 389 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:48,920 Speaker 1: they claimed that the mafia had bribed members of the 390 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,720 Speaker 1: jury and the Hennessy trial who had voted against conviction. 391 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 1: No action would be taken against them because the court 392 00:24:55,160 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: claimed the unnamed jurors feared retaliation. The Committee of fifty 393 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,879 Speaker 1: released their own report, stating that they had acted on 394 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: the Mayor's speech that something be done. They also said 395 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 1: had permitted them to investigate all Italians. In their report, 396 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,240 Speaker 1: they named several Italian families, stating they often gave substantial 397 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,200 Speaker 1: money to the criminal underground in New Orleans. They also 398 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,959 Speaker 1: claimed the Italian consul Corte admitted to knowing a purely 399 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:27,120 Speaker 1: Italian criminal class operated in the city. Facts and evidence 400 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: were vague. They strongly suggested that the city refused to 401 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 1: accept Italian immigrants or anyone who even looked Sicilian, and 402 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,919 Speaker 1: their suggestion fueled the bias that anyone with an olive 403 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: complexion and dark hair and eyes must be a criminal. 404 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: By the late eighteen eighties, other Americans became fascinated with 405 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:52,159 Speaker 1: what they perceived to be secret Italian societies where crime flourished. 406 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 1: Even Harper's Weekly promoted ethnic hatred while reporting the Hennessey murder, 407 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: stating the attack had been made by quote a murderous 408 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,960 Speaker 1: society long formidable in Sicily and transplanted to this country 409 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 1: by Sicilian immigrants. Hennessy had been a first generation American, 410 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,400 Speaker 1: had witnessed how the Irish had been blamed for crimes 411 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:16,360 Speaker 1: simply because of stereotypes. Although the Committee of Fifty believed 412 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: the men that had lynched that day were mafia assassins 413 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 1: and therefore deserved to die, no evidence has ever been 414 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: found that associated them with the mafia. With the evidence 415 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: or black thereof, it's hard to say whether Hennessy's assassination 416 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: was an inside job or not. Had racial Divide been 417 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: a smoke screen, or did the mafia have him killed 418 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,680 Speaker 1: for capturing us Posito. It might have been any number 419 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 1: of men had put away crooked cops, disgruntled officers, or 420 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: even one of Devereaux's connected friends. And Sadly, although Hennessy 421 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,440 Speaker 1: had a reputation for buttoning up the toughest of crimes, 422 00:26:54,040 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 1: his own murder has yet to be solved. There's more 423 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,640 Speaker 1: to this story. Stick around after this brief sponsor break 424 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: to hear all about it. Locked room Mysteries. They're the 425 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: perfect impossible crime. They've been a favorite of detective story 426 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:22,480 Speaker 1: fans for decades, so it's hard to believe that in 427 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds the genre had all but faded 428 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: into obscurity, that is, until Joseph Elwell. On the morning 429 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:34,920 Speaker 1: of June eleventh of nineteen twenty, the milkman dropped off 430 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:38,240 Speaker 1: the daily delivery at a large New York brownstone. The 431 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: gates outside were closed and locked, as he expected. At 432 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,479 Speaker 1: eight thirty a m. Marie Larson, l Well's maid, arrived 433 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: for work. Pink women's lingerie lay strewn on the floor. 434 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,679 Speaker 1: After picking it up, she looked for her employer. She 435 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: found the living room door locked from the inside, which 436 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,400 Speaker 1: was unusual, and she fished the key from her pocket. 437 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,439 Speaker 1: Upon entry, a cursory glance told her el Well was 438 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: at his desk, back toward her in his tall wingback chair. 439 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: When he didn't respond to several greetings, she drew closer 440 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,639 Speaker 1: and discovered a toothless, balding man gasping for breath with 441 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: a bullet wound in his head. In her shock, it 442 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: took a moment before she realized the man was el Well, 443 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: without his dentures and wig. Naturally, she called the police, 444 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,679 Speaker 1: but not before hiding the lingerie in the clothes hamper. 445 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: Elwell was still alive when police showed up, but died 446 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,680 Speaker 1: shortly after arriving at the hospital. The police debated how 447 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: he could have been shot at close range inside a 448 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:44,280 Speaker 1: locked room. El Well's brownstone was a virtual fortress, according 449 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: to those who knew him. No one gained entry unless 450 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 1: they were expected. A pile of half opened mail sat 451 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,360 Speaker 1: on his desk. No one except Elwell had been seen 452 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:55,840 Speaker 1: entering the home during the last hours of his life. 453 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: Given the lack of dentures and hair piece, detective's surmise 454 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: had known his killer, So who shot him Well? There 455 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: were plenty of suspects, nearly a thousand according to police reports. 456 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: In the nineteen teens, Elwell was living the American dream. 457 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: He had started life as an insurance salesman and found 458 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: the charm worked wonders at making deals. It worked so 459 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,080 Speaker 1: well that he used his charisma to gain access to 460 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: an elite men's club reserved for the sons of the 461 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: rich upper class. The club revolved around Bridge. The game 462 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,720 Speaker 1: had taken the country by storm, and the better players 463 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: earned quite a bit of money. For forty three year 464 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:40,040 Speaker 1: old Elwell, though, the club provided the perfect opportunity to 465 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 1: make wealthy connections with business tycoons and politicians. Elwell was 466 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: an exceptionally good player, and his ruthlessness at the table 467 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: earned him the nickname the bridge King of Manhattan. His 468 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: prowess attracted the best of partners. Harold Sterling Vanderbilt, grandson 469 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: of the railroad executive, He introduced Elwell to another socialite 470 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 1: and bridge player, Helen Derby. Being the social climber he was, 471 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: it didn't take Elwell long to find that Helen's connections 472 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,800 Speaker 1: would be beneficial. Her cousin, Richard Derby, was married to 473 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,560 Speaker 1: Franklin D. Roosevelt's daughter Ethel Not to mention the young 474 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 1: socialite came from money as well. Their courtship was quick, 475 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 1: and before long the two married with his wealthy young 476 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,080 Speaker 1: wife and wins at the bridge table. Elwell left the 477 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,840 Speaker 1: insurance business and spent his time either socializing, playing bridge, 478 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: or teaching affluent students how to play the game. Now 479 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 1: part of the upper class, he purchased a second home 480 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: in Palm Beach, Florida, along with twenty racehorses, five cars, 481 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: and a yacht. Helen was simply a means to acquire wealth. 482 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,959 Speaker 1: Then he immediately embarked on multiple affairs. He had so 483 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: many that Derby left in nineteen sixteen, taking their five 484 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: year old son with her. Free of his wife and child, 485 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:59,040 Speaker 1: but still living off her money, Elwell took his womanizing 486 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 1: to a new level. He engaged in numerous encounters with 487 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: bridge students, cocktail waitresses, and the wives of very prominent 488 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,400 Speaker 1: business and political associates, as well as those of his 489 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:14,640 Speaker 1: fellow players. Married women seemed to be his favorite. Between 490 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:18,120 Speaker 1: gambling enemies, a host of angry husbands, and his demands 491 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: in the divorce settlement, Elwell had become the most despised 492 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: man in New York. He didn't care, though. He was 493 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: determined to have a good time, even at the expense 494 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: of those who helped him along the way. On June 495 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,880 Speaker 1: tenth of nineteen twenty, Elwell wined and dined Viola Krauss, 496 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: who had just recently divorced her wealthy husband. The couple 497 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: enjoyed a lavish dinner and a night of dancing at 498 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:46,280 Speaker 1: the Ritz Carlton. Afterward, they attended a Zigfeld midnight frolic 499 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,400 Speaker 1: show in Times Square that ended around one thirty a m. 500 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: Viola took a taxi home, while Elwell said he preferred 501 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 1: to walk. Times Square was a good two and a 502 00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: half miles from Elwell's brownstone on East Sandieth though he 503 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: didn't head home. He made a stop, probably a planned 504 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,960 Speaker 1: one that he hadn't told Viola about, at a cafe 505 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: on Broadway. Witnesses said he spent some time with two 506 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 1: men and another woman. They said he left with the 507 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 1: trio in a flashy roadster. Phone records show Viola called 508 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 1: Elwell at two thirty a m. She later told police 509 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: that he never answered. His neighbors said a noisy roadster 510 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: pulled up outside the brownstone at three forty five, but 511 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: only Elwell exited the vehicle. A search turned up the lingerie, 512 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:38,440 Speaker 1: and they questioned the maid. Then they questioned Viola, who 513 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 1: admitted the lingerie was hers and that she had been 514 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,360 Speaker 1: intimate with Elwell on multiple occasions in the past, but 515 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,560 Speaker 1: denied being with him the knight of his murder. Her 516 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 1: ex husband had an air tight alibi. L Well's estranged 517 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: wife wasn't in town and was also removed as a suspect. 518 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 1: Elwell kept photographs and lingerie from his conquests, all of 519 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 1: whom were much younger than him. He also kept a 520 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 1: list that included names, phone numbers, and explicit notes. Now 521 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 1: detectives had a dizzying number of suspects and theories. Some 522 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: speculated that had had a woman at his home before 523 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 1: leaving her for his date, and the angry woman shot 524 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 1: him upon his return, but it could have been any 525 00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:25,960 Speaker 1: of the boyfriend's, husband's or jilted women. The case remained unsolved, 526 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 1: and Elwell became more famous for his death than his life, 527 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:33,840 Speaker 1: reviving the appeal of locked room mysteries. If anything, were 528 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,320 Speaker 1: as obsessed with unsolved murders as we are with solved cases, 529 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 1: because in the end, it's terrifying to know a killer 530 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: still walks among us. American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. 531 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 1: This episode was written by Michelle Muto, researched by Ali Steed, 532 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,200 Speaker 1: and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive 533 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:08,920 Speaker 1: producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn 534 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:11,880 Speaker 1: more about the show, visit Grim and Mild dot com. 535 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:15,239 Speaker 1: From more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 536 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.