1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. In the 3 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: early eighteen hundreds, the port city of Baltimore had a problem. 4 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: Early American industrialization, along with its prominent place on the 5 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: Atlantic Ocean, had helped the city swell to a population 6 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: of over forty thou Along with the overcrowding and lack 7 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: of public sewers came serious health issues. Yellow fever, dysentery, typhus, smallpox, tuberculosis, 8 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: and cholera outbreaks, just to name a few. A third 9 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: of all newborn's never made it to childhood. Healthcare wasn't 10 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: widely affordable or even available, and while there were a 11 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: few doctors who had studied in prestigious overseas schools, the 12 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: city's growing population needed not just more doctors, they did 13 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: better trained ones. At the time, America had only four 14 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: medical colleges, and none of them were in Baltimore. Recognizing 15 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: this need, a small handful of doctors held classes in 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: their homes. Becoming a doctor in the early eighteen hundreds 17 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 1: also meant to learning how to be a surgeon, but 18 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: students couldn't get a grasp on anatomy from drawings alone. 19 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: That would be like learning to paint masterpieces from visiting 20 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: a museum. It's a dark topic. But to become surgeons, 21 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: students needed to practice, hopefully prior to operating on a 22 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: live individual, and that meant working on cadavers. As you 23 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: might imagine, doctors were a bit reluctant to keep decaying 24 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: bodies in their homes. Dissolve this. Doctor John Beale Davidge 25 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: had a small anatomical theater erected behind his house, which 26 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: he paid for with his own money. Inside, students learned 27 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: about human anatomy and practiced their budding surgical skill on 28 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: the dead. Not all of their cadavers came from donations 29 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: or John does, though, and while it was legal to 30 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: use bodies of executed prisoners, there simply weren't enough to 31 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:15,519 Speaker 1: go around. As you might also imagine, executions didn't always 32 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: happen when schools needed a new corpse. Adding to that, 33 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: or talking about the early eighteen hundreds, they didn't have 34 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: a way to keep bodies cold enough to last through semesters. 35 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: The only viable solution was to raid graveyards. Naturally, neither 36 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: surviving relatives nor the public at large were exactly fond 37 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: of having the dead unearthed and dissected. Cutting up bodies 38 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: was viewed by many as a desecration, which is another 39 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: reason why most schools used executed prisoners. Even then, the 40 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: public still cried out for decency, so after a trip 41 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: to the gallows, the executed were given a proper burial 42 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: in a potter's field, where body snatchers and medical students 43 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: alike rated the graves under the cover of darkness. Everyone 44 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: understood this and looked the other way, but schools still 45 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: didn't have enough bodies to teach students. Something had to give. 46 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,639 Speaker 1: The poorest of graveyards were monitored for new study material. 47 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: They were less likely to have night watchmen, and the 48 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: pine boxes used by the poor were much easier to 49 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: break into than the caskets at The wealthy had their 50 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: loved ones interurred in, often unable to afford burial in 51 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: certain graveyards, the Irish, Native Americans and free Black populations 52 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: suffered the most robberies. While doctors and professors teaching at 53 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: medical schools didn't always partake in or encourage such activities, 54 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: like everyone from the top level lawmakers down to the 55 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: funeral directors, they didn't ask too many questions, but necessary 56 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: for medical students are not. The poor didn't take to 57 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: Dr Davidge's methods of teaching, and on November twenty one, 58 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: eighteen o seven, an angry mob burned the theater to 59 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: the ground. Davage and other doctors took the matter up 60 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: with the state and before long they want approval for 61 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: a more secure and formal training facility. The University of 62 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: Maryland School of Medicine was built and Davage became the 63 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: school's first dean. Soon the school was one of the 64 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: best in the country and boasted that their students had 65 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: ample study material. While they didn't come right out and 66 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: say it, everyone in the field understood exactly what that 67 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: material was. As for body snatching, the soil conditions were 68 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: better in Baltimore than the Midwest or the North, even 69 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 1: in winter. Disease and death rates were high, and with 70 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: the B and O Railroad, moving bodies to other cities 71 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: was easy. Through the years, Baltimore has had several nicknames 72 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: like Charms City and Crabtown, and the eighteen hundreds, though 73 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: it had a darker name, Resurrection City. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. 74 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to American shadows. He didn't have a fancy address. 75 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,039 Speaker 1: It was hardly an address at all. Frank, whose last 76 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: name never made it into the history books, lived in 77 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: an uncomfortably small room beneath the seats at the University 78 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: of Maryland School of Medicine's lecture hall. Being a janitor 79 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: wasn't what landed Frank and said history books though no. 80 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: Aside from his custodial duties, Frank supplied the school with cadavers, 81 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: and he was really good at this part of his job. 82 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: Unlike a lot of body snatchers, he had a method. 83 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: Frank paid close attention to funerals. He followed the procession 84 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: and watched the services and internment. He noted the placement 85 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: of everything, the casket, the height of the mound, even 86 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: the flowers the mourners left behind. Then he'd leave and 87 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: return after dark. He wasted little time getting the job done, 88 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: digging a hole just large enough to smash open the 89 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: head of the casket. After securing a rope to a 90 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: butcher's meat hook, had run the hook through the jaw 91 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: of the deceased, then haul the corpse from the casket 92 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: as casually as if he had been fishing on a 93 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: Saturday afternoon. Carefully, Frank would put everything back exactly as 94 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: it had been before, stuffed the body into a sack, 95 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: and stealthily returned to the school. Once inside, he had 96 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: carked the cadaver through secret passageways to a holding area. 97 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: Frank's methods worked so well that he went undetected even 98 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:39,160 Speaker 1: had he been caught. Maryland merely imposed fines for body snatching. 99 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:44,679 Speaker 1: Other states had stricter laws, including imprisonment. Still, most judges 100 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: tended to look the other way, and the public knew it. 101 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: Seventeen riots erupted over body snatching in America in the 102 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: seventy years between seventeen eighty five and eighteen fifty five, 103 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: and that's not even counting smaller incidents. Increasingly, states tried 104 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,360 Speaker 1: to appease the public by imposing more laws against stealing bodies, 105 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: but with such a need for properly trained doctors, body 106 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: snatching continued to rise. A conflict was brewing. A growing 107 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: population continued to demand more and better trained doctors, but 108 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: with fewer cadavers, competition among schools became fierce and prices 109 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: of available cadavers rose. Not many students had the funds 110 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: and the schools turned out fewer qualified doctors. It was 111 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: a vicious circle, so body snatchers, the better ones like Frank, 112 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: had to be careful. Between Baltimore's high death rate and 113 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: Frank's methods, the university found they had a different issue 114 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: than most schools. The city had a surplus of cadavers 115 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: and began selling the access to other medical schools, shipping 116 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: via the B and O Railroad. Not in coffins, though, 117 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: because body snatching was illegal, so they're shipping methods were 118 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: a bit unusual. Bodies were stuffed into barrels of cheap whiskey. 119 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: The going price was fifty dollars for the bodies and 120 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: thirty five cents a gallon for the whiskey. The alcohol 121 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: not only helped well pickle the cadavers, but it also 122 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: supplied seedy bars and other lesser establishments with liquor bearing 123 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: an appropriate name, rot Gut. Frank the Janitor was effective 124 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: and prolific, but he was hardly the city's best. That title, 125 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: the Resurrection King of Baltimore, went to William Jansen. Unlike 126 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:40,599 Speaker 1: many of his colleagues across the country, Jansen seemed constantly intoxicated. 127 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: Though Jansen used many aliases. Everyone knew who he was 128 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,559 Speaker 1: when he rolled into town, and not because of his 129 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: drinking problem. It wasn't even his rather robust build on 130 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: his five ft eight frame, nor the shock of black 131 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: hair and the leather dark skin that everyone knew upon sight. 132 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: It was his attire. See, he dressed the part as 133 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: the most ghoulish of body snatchers, in a duster lank 134 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: rubber coat, rubber boots, and thick gloves, all speckled with 135 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: cemetery clay. But knowing who he was didn't mean he 136 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: was arrested on site. There was still a need for 137 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: cadavers in medical schools throughout the East Coast, after all, 138 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: and there was also the matter of catching Jansen in 139 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: the act. While he didn't exactly look the part of 140 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: a king in stature or attire, the press found him 141 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,839 Speaker 1: to be just as interesting as Royalty, often writing about 142 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: his exploits. Jansen was said to have raw instincts for 143 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: his line of work and was happiest in the company 144 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: of corpses. During one newspaper interview, he boldly told the 145 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: reporter of his plans to snatch a body on Christmas 146 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: Eve and deposit the corpse on the chief of Police's doorstep, 147 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: all in the name of professional courtesy. William Jansen was 148 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: a braggart, but he also proved an unreliable narrator, telling 149 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: the press had been a medical student, did in Berlin 150 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: or maybe it was Denmark. The facts always seemed a 151 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: bit fluid. A little more was known about where he 152 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: came from, though he did claim had immigrated from Denmark 153 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy seven. Liar and body snatcher aside, the 154 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: press remained enamored. They often presented him as calculating and ghoulish, 155 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: but also rather likable. He appeared calm and cool even 156 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: under the riskiest and most difficult of circumstances, often cheerful. 157 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: Jansen was the ghastly villain that the press and the 158 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: public loved to hate. Frank the Janitor and William Jansen 159 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: had similar methods. Did just the right sized hole, bash 160 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,719 Speaker 1: open the casket, and fish the cadaver out with a 161 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: meat hook. Just like Frank, Jansen was very careful about 162 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: scoping out the intended target and always made sure to 163 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: clean up the area behind him. So what made Jansen 164 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: the body snatching king in Resurrection City? The difference between 165 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: the two was that Jansen didn't bother with Potter's fields 166 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 1: or lower status cemeteries. By his own admission, he preferred 167 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: what he called the high octane cemeteries of the wealthy. 168 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,560 Speaker 1: In a lot of ways, stealing corpses from the rich 169 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: was like a jewel heist to him, and that got 170 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: Jansen plenty of press. And so it was one cold 171 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: winter night that Jansen set out with spade and hook 172 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: in hand and a target on his mind. As it 173 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: turned out, though, he wasn't the only one thinking about 174 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: the recently departed Jane Smith, and snow wasn't the only 175 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: thing about to fall. Elizabeth Joyner tossed and turned, unable 176 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:51,120 Speaker 1: to stop the men in her nightmare from unearthing her 177 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: niece's body and carrying her away. When she awoke, she 178 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:59,199 Speaker 1: was certain it hadn't been just a dream. The wealthy 179 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: and affluent Federal Hill family had buried her niece, Jane 180 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: Smith that very day. Unable to shake her feeling of unease, 181 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 1: she dressed and hurried to the prominent Baltimore cemetery at 182 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:14,319 Speaker 1: the corner of North Avenue and Gay Street. Everything looked 183 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: as it had the day before, the earth still fresh 184 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,560 Speaker 1: atop the grave, site. Relief must have flooded her for 185 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: that brief second before the sun sparkled brightly on something 186 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: in the dirt, catching her eye. She knelt to retrieve 187 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 1: the item, and the realization that followed had to be overwhelming. 188 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: In her hands, she held her niece's cross, the very 189 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: one that had been fastened around her neck when they 190 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,960 Speaker 1: had laid her to rest. The horror didn't stop there. 191 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: Elizabeth noticed fresh dirt on her sister's grave nearby, and 192 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: that just couldn't be. She had died six months ago. 193 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: It seems the body snatchers had mistaken her sister's grave 194 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: for her nieces and had now taken both mother and daughter. Naturally, 195 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: the well to do family complained and loudly. The medical 196 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: school assured the authorities that, to the best of their knowledge, 197 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: they did not have either of the two women's bodies 198 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,320 Speaker 1: in their possession. Satisfied, the police left it at that 199 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: until a mysterious postcard emerged with information about the crime. 200 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: The note was simple. Two black men had taken Jane's 201 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: body to the University of Maryland's Davage Hall, where she 202 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:28,839 Speaker 1: had already been dissected. There was more to the story 203 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: than the notes stated, but the last part was true. 204 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: For their dissection class, the students couldn't believe the condition 205 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: of the cadaver who lay naked before them, her hair 206 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:41,079 Speaker 1: shorn from her scalp. The freckle faced young woman didn't 207 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: resemble any corpse that had come from Potter's Field or 208 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: the poorer class cemeteries. Later, one of the students remarked 209 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 1: to the local paper that Jane's corpse exuded refinement. Jane's mother, 210 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: who had been too far decayed for dissection, had been 211 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: stripped of her flesh so her skeleton could be used 212 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,559 Speaker 1: for instruction. The thieves had indeed taken her by mistake, 213 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 1: and after discovering their error, realized that reburying her would 214 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: be too time consuming. The two men the postcard mentioned 215 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: hadn't acted alone, though there had actually been four people involved, 216 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: and one of them had reportedly been a professor. The 217 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: word at the school was that a professor Jensen, said 218 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 1: to be around forty five years old, had sold corpses 219 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: to schools as far away as Atlanta and Saint Louis, 220 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: often taking advanced orders for the winter. When shipping them, 221 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: he would even label the bodies as pork or other 222 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: food goods to avoid detection. Now, if you're thinking that 223 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: Professor Jensen sounds a lot like the notorious body snatcher Jensen, 224 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: you'd be right. The two men were one and the same, 225 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: although he wasn't a professor at all, a records show 226 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 1: him enlisted as a mere medical student. Police soon arrested Jansen, 227 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: who oddly or perhaps brazenly hadn't tried to skip town 228 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: or member. In the state of Maryland, body snatching was 229 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: usually only punishable by a fine. That is, until the 230 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:09,760 Speaker 1: bodies from one of Baltimore's most prominent families had been stolen. 231 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: Jansen and a white janitor named Emil Wrung, along with 232 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: two black dissection room helpers, William Warren and Ezekiel Williams, 233 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: were indicted by a grand jury. The school, though, stood 234 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: by them. The current dean, Dr. L. McClain Tiffany not 235 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: only bailed them out, but the university hired the state's 236 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: best attorney for their defense, a man named John P. Poe. 237 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: And Poe wasn't just any lawyer. He was on his 238 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: way to becoming the district attorney. Oh and for anyone 239 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: curious about his last name, it does indeed seem that 240 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: He was a distant cousin to the famous writer Edgar 241 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: Allan Poe. It's not clear what defense Poe used for 242 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: his new clients, but Judge Campbell W. Pinkney soon called 243 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: the men to court without a jury. He declared all 244 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: the men innocent, adding that the only ever against them 245 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: had been a guess, not hard fact, which wasn't enough 246 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: to render a guilty verdict. It seems that even the 247 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: Joiner and Smith families, as well off as they were, 248 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: didn't have pockets deep enough to make a difference with 249 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: top city officials. William Jansen, now a freeman, quickly left Baltimore. 250 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: He would return, though with an even bolder theft than 251 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: the last. As well known as his last body snatching 252 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: heist had been, it paled to his next. William Jansen 253 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: returned to Baltimore in the second week of January three. 254 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: He made no attempt to disguise himself, though so everyone 255 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,040 Speaker 1: knew he had returned. Jansen hadn't been in the city 256 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:52,600 Speaker 1: a week before the Post alerted the public to his 257 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: latest daring theft. On January twenty, the paper wrote that 258 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: Jansen had been arrested. It started with the body of 259 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: Charles Shaw, a nineteen year old black youth, found guilty 260 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 1: and hanged for murdering his sister. Like everyone the state executed, 261 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: Shaw was buried in a pine box in a potter's field. Young, healthy, 262 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 1: and easily accessible, no one was surprised that Shaw's body 263 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: was on everybody snatcher's list. Surprise came, and how fast 264 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: and by whom. The grave diggers had barely thrown the 265 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 1: last shovel of dirt onto Shaw's grave when Jansen, who 266 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: preferred to call what he did resurrecting, arrived at the 267 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: graveyard with the sun still shining. Jansen cleared a hole 268 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,199 Speaker 1: near the marker, cracked open the coffin, and hauled Shaw's 269 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: body out of the grave in his usual fashion. Less 270 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 1: than an hour later, Shaw's body lay in a sack 271 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,920 Speaker 1: headed toward the university's doorstep. One Post reporter wrote that 272 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:53,640 Speaker 1: no other man on earth would have had the nerve 273 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: to steal a body with the sun shining. Of course, 274 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: just as before, Jansen hadn't acted. A own accompanying him 275 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: that day had been a Georgetown University physician, appropriately named 276 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: doctor Krook. Together the two men carted Shaw's body to 277 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: the university, where it was promptly auctioned off to several schools. 278 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: It seems that Shaw was parceled out to a number 279 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 1: of buyers, which wasn't entirely uncommon. As gruesome as that 280 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: may sound, his head is sold for six dollars, while 281 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,800 Speaker 1: his arms and legs went for three dollars apiece. All told, 282 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: Jansen's fee for services rendered an acquiring Shaw amounted to 283 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 1: eighteen dollars, which Dr Krook, living up to his surname, 284 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: refused to pay. As you might imagine, Jansen wasn't too 285 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:44,399 Speaker 1: happy about that. Having tied one on Saturday night, a 286 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: still inebriated William Jansen decided to return to the university 287 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,640 Speaker 1: to claim what he was owed. Having found no one 288 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: there and the building locked. It was Sunday, after all, 289 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 1: Jansen proceeded to break down the door, cursing loudly all 290 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 1: the while. A policeman on his beat noticed the commotion 291 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: and arrested Jansen not for attempted robbery but for the profanity. 292 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: Jansen spent that night in a jail cell to sleep 293 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: off the alcohol, and was later released. But during his 294 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,479 Speaker 1: time in the cell, he had gotten an idea if 295 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: Georgetown wouldn't pay him, he'd steal the body back and 296 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 1: sell it to a more appreciative school. And so on 297 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: Monday night, he traveled not to the university, but to 298 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: the Washington Post. There he found two reporters, both of 299 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: whom looked up from their desks when Jansen said, come 300 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,919 Speaker 1: and I'll show you where Shah's body is. The reporters, 301 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: eager for such a newsworthy story, quickly followed Jansen to 302 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: Georgetown's dissection room. This time, Jansen fished a key from 303 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: his pocket and let them all inside. At least that 304 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: was the reporter's account of the events. Without a key, 305 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 1: they'd be guilty of breaking and entering after all. But 306 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: regardless of how they entered, the three men stepped into 307 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,159 Speaker 1: the room, and there before them, on a table, they 308 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 1: found Shaw, still intact. Whether it was the act of 309 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: standing in a dissection room in the dead of night 310 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 1: with a notorious body snatcher or the way Jansen tenderly 311 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: stroked Shaw's arm, both men were driven by fear. Running 312 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:23,679 Speaker 1: from the room. Now alone, Jansen stole Shaw's body for 313 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: the second time. Though he had walked to the university, 314 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,199 Speaker 1: he couldn't lug Shaw's body all the way to the 315 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: next hospital, so he hailed a carriage for hire. The driver, 316 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: a man named Mac, charged Jansen five dollars and some 317 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: whiskey to take the resurrectionist and his quiet friend to 318 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: freedoman hospital known today as Howard University. Highly intoxicated, though 319 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:51,400 Speaker 1: Mac stopped at Columbia University instead, so Jansen took the reins. 320 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:54,959 Speaker 1: The sun was just beginning to rise when they finally 321 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: reached Freedman Hospital. Jansen left Mac with the carriage while 322 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: he searched for someone willing to buy Shaw's cadaver. Things 323 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,680 Speaker 1: couldn't have gone more wrong, though, Mac, now a bit 324 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: more sober, developed cold feet at the thought of carting 325 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: a cadaver around town. Abandoning Jansen, he promptly headed to 326 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: the Second Precinct, where he dropped off Shaw. It was 327 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: one thing to take the body of an executed prisoner 328 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:24,640 Speaker 1: from Potter's Field, but Jansen's crime was a bit different. 329 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,880 Speaker 1: You see, there was a law against transporting bodies without 330 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,280 Speaker 1: a permit. When the police showed up at Jansen's doorstep, 331 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: he welcomed them in, simply stating, I've been expecting you. 332 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: After a search of the premises, the police found a 333 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:42,640 Speaker 1: lancet and syringe filled with arsenic, a well known tool 334 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: of the trade for resurrectionists looking to preserve bodies as 335 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,760 Speaker 1: long as possible. But although he was arrested once more, 336 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,880 Speaker 1: Jensen somehow wasn't charged with the initial crime of illegally 337 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:59,080 Speaker 1: transporting a corpse. No, he was charged with malicious trespass 338 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,719 Speaker 1: for entering the dice section room. After finding him guilty 339 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 1: three days later, Jansen went to prison, where he served 340 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 1: a little less than a year for his crime. By 341 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: the mid eighteen eighties, Jansen had moved on to another career, 342 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,520 Speaker 1: stand up comedy. Not finding his corpse routine very funny, 343 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,640 Speaker 1: he sought out other employment, and this time finding work 344 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: is an attendant at an asylum. But although his career 345 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: as the resurrection King was over, the press still loved him. 346 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,200 Speaker 1: On November six of eight seven, they reported on him again, 347 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:34,919 Speaker 1: The King of Ghouls is dead, the headline for the 348 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: post read, and with all the sincerity of a eulogy. 349 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: They added that Jansen, who had loved his work in 350 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: supplying medical schools with much needed cadavers, had done so 351 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: with an enthusiasm usually reserved for men in more honorable professions. 352 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: It was a long and fitting send off, tastefully and 353 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 1: respectfully written. As it turns out, though Jensen made the 354 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: paper one last time. Today, downtown Baltimore is a busy place. 355 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: It ranks thirty in America for the most populated city. 356 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: Navigating downtown can be challenging with its bustling traffic and 357 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: crowded one way streets. As one would hope with old 358 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 1: historic cities, the buildings there are mostly older. In fact, 359 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: over a third of them are listed with the National 360 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 1: Register for Historic Districts, and like in any well storied city, 361 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: it can be easy to overlook any given detail. For example, 362 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 1: on a tree lined stretch of West Lombard Street, people 363 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: at a bus stop awaiting their connection are probably unaware 364 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,360 Speaker 1: of went on inside three story building behind them, even 365 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 1: though it's been there since eighteen twelve. Today the sign 366 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: says University of Maryland School of Medicine. But the building 367 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: was a key part of William Jansen's story. It's Davage Hall. 368 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,440 Speaker 1: The small article published on the Valentine's Day following Jansen's 369 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,200 Speaker 1: death was another easy to miss a bit of history. 370 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 1: It was really nothing more than a blurb published by 371 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: the police department advertising a sale of items that accumulated 372 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 1: over the years. The advertisement read two spades and a 373 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:23,399 Speaker 1: hook used by Jansen, the body snatcher. The item sold quickly, 374 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: fetching sixty five cents for the lot, oh and one 375 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: more thing. At the time of his death, Jansen was 376 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 1: apparently penniless and alone. There's no record of a proper burial, 377 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: and there had been no one to claim his body. 378 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 1: Since he had been broke. The state had had no 379 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: funds for his burial either. As a pauper. It stands 380 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:45,960 Speaker 1: to reason that he might have been buried in a 381 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: potter's field. Jansen had once said that if he could 382 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,719 Speaker 1: resurrect his own body for dissection, he would. Of course, 383 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: despite the term resurrectionist, Jansen couldn't rise from his grave 384 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: and find his way to the nearest teaching hospital. But 385 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:04,080 Speaker 1: in a twist of fate, I can't help but wonder 386 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:07,919 Speaker 1: if the undisputed resurrection king had found a way to 387 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:14,679 Speaker 1: do the next best thing. There's more to this story. 388 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: Stick around after this brief sponsor break to hear all 389 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: about it. People passing by the woman begging for change 390 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 1: would never have known should come from a wealthy and 391 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:35,479 Speaker 1: respected family in eastern Maryland, While not much is written 392 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,920 Speaker 1: about her parents or the family dynamics, we do know 393 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,400 Speaker 1: that when Emily Brown's sister became a widow, Emily took 394 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: a job as a dressmaker to help support the children. Later, 395 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: after her brother died, Emily found relief from her sorrows 396 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:54,160 Speaker 1: in whiskey and opium, but it didn't work, and thanks 397 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: to her addictions, she lost her job and resorted to 398 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,399 Speaker 1: begging to keep a roof over her head and food 399 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: in her stomach. Her share of the rent was two 400 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: dollars and fifty cents for a room and a cheap 401 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:09,360 Speaker 1: boarding house at Number three pig Alley, and sadly, when 402 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: her addiction called, Emily spent her money on the fix 403 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 1: instead of paying rent. After just six weeks, she owed 404 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:21,280 Speaker 1: fifteen dollars. Her landlady Mary Blockson, also lived at the 405 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:24,160 Speaker 1: boarding house, along with Mary's twenty eight year old son 406 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:28,160 Speaker 1: from a previous marriage, John Thomas Ross, and Mary's fiancee 407 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,959 Speaker 1: Anderson Perry. Perry, who was partially paralyzed, worked as an 408 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:36,360 Speaker 1: assistant janitor at the University of Maryland's School of Medicine. 409 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: While at work, one day, Perry brought up his fiance's 410 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: delinquent boarder to another janitor, Albert Hawkins. Hawkins offered a solution, 411 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: had earned a bit of extra cash selling cadavers to 412 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: the school, and maybe Emily Brown could help them earn more. 413 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: Parry went home and ran the idea past Ross, and 414 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,919 Speaker 1: on December tenth, just five days before the wedding, the 415 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:05,880 Speaker 1: three men put the plan into action. Hawkins stood outside, 416 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: acting as a lookout for Mary. She had been soft 417 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: hearted enough continuing to let Emily stay without paying that 418 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: they felt it best to keep her in the dark. 419 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: It was a Friday night and Emily had been out 420 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: begging that day. She arrived home and, suspecting nothing, went 421 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 1: inside there Perry struck her in the head with a 422 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: large brick. He left her bleeding on the floor and 423 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: went outside to stand watch while Hawkins went in to 424 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: finish the job. After stabbing Emily to ensure she was dead, 425 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: the two men dragged her body into the backyard and 426 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: tossed a mattress over it to conceal it. They waited 427 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:48,440 Speaker 1: until dark, then stuffed Emily's body into a bag. Hawkins 428 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,360 Speaker 1: went back to the university, telling the night janitor. Then 429 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: a man outside wanted to borrow a wheelbarrow. When the 430 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,400 Speaker 1: request was refused, the men borrowed one from a place 431 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: selling coal nearby. Raw returned to the university wheeling in 432 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 1: Emily's body. When asked how he had come across the body, 433 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: Ross claimed he had gotten it from a potter's field. Now, 434 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: the night shift janitor, who had taken part in a 435 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: few graveyard excursions of his own, may not have had 436 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: a problem with the profession, but he was picky about 437 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: how those bodies were acquired. Obviously, a fully clothed body 438 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: that was still warm and more than a little bloody 439 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: raised a few flags. Suspecting foul play, he notified Hiram Woods, 440 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: the assistant anatomy professor, who in turn called upon doctor 441 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: Herbert Harlan to examine the body. Confirming that the woman 442 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 1: had indeed been murdered, Doctor Harlan contacted the police. When 443 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 1: the authorities showed up at the boarding house, Perry confessed 444 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: to the plan, but implicated Ross as the murderer. Ross, though, 445 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 1: told the police that Perry and Hawkins had killed Emily 446 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 1: Brown and that his only involvement had been to sell 447 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: her corpse for fifteen dollars. The corner determined that not 448 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,960 Speaker 1: only had her skull been crushed, but that she had 449 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:06,479 Speaker 1: been repeatedly stabbed, and that her ribs had been broken. 450 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: With the coroner's evidence and the testimony of the suspects, 451 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: the jury took less than twenty minutes to find all 452 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: three men guilty, although university employees Hawkins and Perry were 453 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: set free. While awaiting his death sentence, the following September, 454 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: Ross sent a poem had written to the Baltimore Sun. 455 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 1: In it, he readily admitted to his part in the 456 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: plot to kill Emily Brown and sell her corpse, but 457 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:36,680 Speaker 1: questioned the court and its verdict. Ross contended that in 458 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:39,479 Speaker 1: the land of liberty, how was it just that he 459 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 1: alone paid the price for such a crime while the 460 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: real killers walked free, As was so often the case, 461 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: the university employees were not held accountable. And that night 462 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: shift Janitor you might recognize his name from earlier in 463 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: our story. He too had stood trial and was also 464 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 1: found innocent, and he had been one of the men 465 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,000 Speaker 1: there that night with William Jansen during the theft of 466 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: James Smith and her mother's bodies, none other than Email Wrong. 467 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 1: American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum This episode was 468 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: written by Michelle Muto with researcher Robin Miniter, and produced 469 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 1: by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Minky, 470 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, 471 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: visit grim and mild dot com. For more podcasts from 472 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 473 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.