1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: You're listening to History on Trial, a production of iHeart Podcasts. 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Listener discretion advised. Catherine Adams woke up on the morning 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 1: of December twenty eighth, eighteen ninety eight, with a pounding headache. 4 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: It was the wine, she thought. The night before, Catherine, 5 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: a fifty two year old widow, her adult daughter Florence, 6 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: and their tenant, a distant relative of theirs named Harry Cornish, 7 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: had gone to the theater and then to a late 8 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:38,839 Speaker 1: dinner at which they'd enjoyed. Catherine now thought, maybe a 9 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: little too much wine. Well, nothing to be done about it. 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,559 Speaker 1: She got out of bed and began tidying their apartment, 11 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: a cozy second floor space only a block west of 12 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,279 Speaker 1: Central Park on New York's Upper West Side. But an 13 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: hour later, the headache had only gotten worse. Catherine was 14 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: holding a moist washcloth to her head when her daughter 15 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: Florence emerged from her bedroom around nine a m. Florence, 16 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: seeing her mother's suffering, suggested that she take some Bromo seltzer, 17 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: a popular hangover remedy. Harry had brought a bottle home 18 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: only the day before. He'd received it in the mail, 19 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: along with a charming silver bottle holder. Earlier that week, 20 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: the package, addressed to Harry at his office at the 21 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: Knickerbocker Athletic Club had had no return address. Harry and 22 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: his coworkers had assumed it was a practical joke, a 23 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: gag gift reminding him not to drink too much over 24 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: the holidays. Katherine and Florence teased Harry that it had 25 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: come from a secret admirer, but whoever the center, Catherine 26 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: was grateful to them. Now, following the instructions on the bottle, 27 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: Catherine mixed a heaping teaspoonful of the powder into a 28 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: small glass of water and drank It. Tasted awful, so 29 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: bitter that she couldn't finish her water, leaving a mouthful 30 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: at the bottom of the glass. Awful, she said. Harry 31 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: teasingly took the glass and swallowed the remnants, saying, tastes 32 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: all right to me. It's supposed to be bitter. It's medicine. 33 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: But this medicine wasn't just bitter. There was something wrong 34 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: with it. Within minutes, Catherine was seized by a wave 35 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 1: of nausea. She pushed her way into the bathroom where 36 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: Florence was washing up, and began vomiting profusely, groaning in agony. 37 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: At first, Florence thought Catherine had just had a reaction 38 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: to the foul tasting medicine, but then she saw her 39 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: mother's face. It was a terrible blue color. Catherine bent 40 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: over the toilet, raised her hands to her daughter, and 41 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: then collapsed. Florence screamed for Harry in his bedroom. Harry 42 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: himself wasn't feeling so good. He was a strong, healthy man, 43 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: but he was suddenly feeling weak and queasy. When he 44 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: got to the bathroom, he found he couldn't lift Catherine, 45 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: something he should have been able to easily do. With 46 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: the help of their HouseGuest, Fred Hovey, Harry and Florence 47 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: maneuvered Catherine onto the couch and sent for a doctor. 48 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: By the time doctor Edwin Hitchcock arrived only a few 49 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: minutes later, Catherine's breathing was labored, her pulse was faint, 50 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: and her skin was clammy. Hitchcock administered stimulants and gave 51 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: Catherine artificial respiration. Harry Cornish's condition had worsened. Now he 52 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: was throwing up in the bathroom. Florence explained to doctor 53 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: Hitchcock that both Harry and her mother had taken some 54 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: bromo seltzer right before falling ill. The doctor examined the bottle, 55 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: then dipped a pinky finger into the powder, wiping all 56 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: but a single speck off. Hitchcock placed his fingertip to 57 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: his tongue and recoiled. He had tasted bitter almonds. This 58 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: was not medicine. It was cyanide. Harry Cornish, after several 59 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: days of suffering, managed to pull through. Catherine Adams was 60 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: not so lucky. She died shortly after doctor Hitchcock arrived. 61 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: Newspapers quickly jumped on the story. An anonymous poisoner delivering 62 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 1: death through the mail made for a good copy for 63 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: the city's tabloid style yellow papers, and soon enough the 64 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: story got even wilder because it turned out that Catherine 65 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: Adams was not the only person to die from cyanide 66 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: disguised as medicine in eighteen ninety eight. A month earlier, 67 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: a man named Henry Crossman Barnett had died after taking 68 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 1: a dose of Cutno's improved effervescent powder, another supposed hangover Keir. 69 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: Though Barnett's doctor had attributed his death to diphtheria, he'd 70 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: had the powder tested just in case and found cyanide. 71 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 1: And that wasn't the only connection between the two cases. 72 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: Henry Barnett had died in his room at the Knickerbocker 73 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: Athletic Club, the very club that Harry Cornish worked at. 74 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: Terror gripped New Yorkers. Was there a serial poisoner in 75 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: their midst The police would soon zero in on a 76 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: surprising suspect, but proving their case was easier said than done, 77 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: and their investigation would lead to a series of dramatic 78 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 1: courtroom confrontations whose outcomes still echo today. Welcome to History 79 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: on Trial. I'm your host, Mira Hayward. This week New 80 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: York v. Rowland Malineux, Part one. Before the Nightmare began, 81 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: Edward Molineux was living the American dream. Born in England 82 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty three, Edward Kington New York. As a 83 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: small child, those early years were not easy, but Edward 84 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: was disciplined and determined. Soon enough, his hard work saw 85 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: him rise through the ranks of both the paint manufacturing 86 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: industry and the New York National Guard. His bravery and 87 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,119 Speaker 1: compassionate leadership during the Civil War made him a hero 88 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: and earned him the rank of general. After the war, 89 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: he joined a new company, C. T. Reynolds and helped 90 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: turn it into the largest paint manufacturer in the country, 91 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: earning a fortune in the process. He and his beloved wife, Hattie, 92 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: had three handsome, intelligent sons. From the outside, everything seemed perfect, 93 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: but inside the Malnu brownstone on Fort Greene Place, something 94 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: dark was festering. The trouble was Roland, the Molinu's middle son, 95 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: born in eighteen sixty six. There was nothing outwardly wrong 96 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: with Roland. He was clever, well mannered, and exceptionally athletic, 97 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: A national champion in amateur gymnastics. He dressed beautifully and 98 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: was fastidious about his grooming. Roland was a talented chemist. 99 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: He worked first for his father's company, and then was 100 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: recruited away by Morris Herman and Co, another manufacturer, who 101 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: made him the superintendent and chief chemist of their Newark 102 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: paint factory. Roland was dedicated to his work, literally living 103 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: at his job. Herman and Co. Gave him an apartment 104 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: on the second floor of the factory, which Roland filled 105 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: with luxurious furnishings and stocked with dry paints and chemicals 106 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: so he could continue working after hours. Okay, so Roland 107 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: was athletic, clever, and industrious. These are all good things. 108 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: What's less appealing is constantly talking about how athletic, clever 109 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: and industrious you are, which seemed to be Roland's favorite activity. Plus, 110 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: Roland was a snob. He had a way of tilting 111 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: his head back and literally looking down his nose at people, 112 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: a chilly, superior way of speaking. He liked to be 113 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: the smartest person in the room, the strongest, the most powerful. 114 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: He didn't like people who got more attention than him, 115 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: So in a way, it's not surprising that Roland didn't 116 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: like Harry Cornish. The two men first met in early 117 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety six, when Harry became athletic director of the 118 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: Knickerbocker Athletic Club. The newly opened Knickerbocker was a gym 119 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: and social club where New York's elite could play squash 120 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: and smoke cigars. To help boost the club's reputation, its owner, 121 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: Jay Herbert Ballentine, had recruited some of the city's best athletes, 122 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: including his friend Roland Molineu. Roland liked the club so 123 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: much that he'd taken an apartment on its second floor 124 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: and joined several of its management committees. Vallentine also recruited 125 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: a top notch staff, hiring Harry Cornish to be athletic 126 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: director in eighteen ninety six. Harry Cornish was one of 127 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: the most famous sportsman in America. He'd been the athletic 128 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 1: director of the Boston and Chicago Athletic Clubs, written a 129 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: book on physical training for Spalding, and organized the athletic 130 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 1: games at the eighteen ninety three Chicago World's Fair. His 131 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: appearance fit his reputation. At thirty two, Harry looked like 132 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 1: an ideal Victorian athlete, muscular and hyper masculine, with a 133 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: luxuriant handlebar mustache. His arrival at Knickerbocker made the news, 134 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: with The New York Times writing quote, as a mentor 135 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: and promoter of athletics, mister Cornish is without a peer. 136 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: Soon enough, people started calling the Knickerbockers athletes Cornish's men. 137 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:48,839 Speaker 1: That rubbed Roland Molineux the wrong way. In his mind, 138 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: he should have been the star of the Knickerbocker. After all, 139 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:57,479 Speaker 1: he was a national champion. Harry Cornish was just an employee. 140 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: Roland didn't like Harry on a personal level either. He 141 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: thought Harry was vulgar and coarse, and alleged that he 142 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: neglected the club's facilities. Throughout eighteen ninety six and eighteen 143 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: ninety seven, hostilities between the two men escalated. Roland got 144 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: some of Harry's powers removed. Harry spread rumors that Roland 145 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 1: owned a brothel. Tensions finally reached a crescendo in December 146 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:27,680 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety seven, when a squabble between Roland and Harry 147 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 1: got escalated to the club's board. Roland issued the board 148 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: an ultimatum fire Harry Cornish or he would resign from 149 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 1: the club. Alas Roland had overestimated his own importance. Sure, 150 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: Harry was just an employee, but Roland was just a member. 151 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: There were plenty of rich, young athletes to take his place. 152 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: The board told Roland they were keeping Harry. Roland immediately 153 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,040 Speaker 1: resigned his membership and moved out of his apartment, and 154 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: Harry Cornish, delighted, taunted Roland, saying, you son of a bitch. 155 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: You thought you'd get me out and I got you 156 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: out instead. Roland simply smiled at Harry, waved his hand 157 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: and said you win. But inside he was seething and 158 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: wrote letters to friends detailing all of Harry's flaws. Roland's 159 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: departure from the Knickerbocker wasn't the only blow he faced 160 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 1: in late eighteen ninety seven. He had also been bested 161 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,319 Speaker 1: in love. That August, on a yacht in Rhode Island, 162 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: Roland had met a twenty three year old aspiring singer 163 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: named Blanche Cheesebrow. Blanche was a newcomer to Roland's elite set. 164 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: She'd had an unstable childhood, dragged around the country by 165 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: her father, a dreamer with an insatiable appetite for get 166 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: rich quick schemes. Blanche's siblings had all settled down. Two 167 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: of her sisters had married wealthy men, which is how 168 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: Blanche ended up on the yacht that summer. Her sisters 169 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: wanted her to meet a successful man too, but Blanche 170 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: had different dreams. A gifted singer, she wanted to pursue 171 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: a career on the stage. She'd had some success already, 172 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: performing at Carnegie Hall and working as a featured soloist 173 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: in a prestigious Brooklyn Church choir, but she wanted more. 174 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: She wanted to see the world have adventures. When she 175 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: met the thirty one year old Roland that summer, she 176 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: found he shared the same passion for music and traveling. 177 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: Roland immediately besotted with the charismatics. Stylish Blanche fed her fantasies, 178 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: describing trips they could take to see the symphony in 179 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: Paris or the opera in Milan. That autumn, Blanche and 180 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: Roland saw each other regularly in New York. Roland showered 181 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:02,839 Speaker 1: Blanche with gifts and experiences, shows on Broadway, jewelry, from 182 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:09,199 Speaker 1: Tiffany's dinner at Delmonico's. He was devoted, but Blanche was uneasy. 183 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: She enjoyed Roland's company, but something was missing. I wanted 184 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: passion and love in my life, she would write years later, 185 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: I wanted my existence to be fervid and glowing. With Roland, 186 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 1: that passion was lacking, especially physically. In early November eighteen 187 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: ninety seven, Blanche and Roland were at the Metropolitan Opera 188 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: when they ran into a friend of Roland's, Henry Crossman. 189 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:42,840 Speaker 1: Barnett Barney, as he was known, also lived at the Knickerbocker. 190 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: He and Roland had bonded over their mutual dislike of 191 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: Harry Cornish, although Barney, who was not an athlete, was 192 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,439 Speaker 1: more annoyed by Harry's lackluster supervision of the janitorial staff, 193 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: than he was by the man's athletic prowess. Thirty one 194 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 1: years old, Barney joviality. He had a round face, a 195 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: plump build, and twinkling blue eyes. He was a social 196 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: butterfly with a charming, confident attitude that won over men 197 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: and women alike. Blanche was instantly taken by him, writing 198 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 1: later quote, I sensed a hidden strength and a brute 199 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: force in him, and it was as natural as breathing 200 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: that I should capitulate to that. Her fascination with Barney 201 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: was so strong that when Roland got down on one 202 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 1: knee that Thanksgiving, Blanche said no. She told Roland that 203 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: she might change her mind in the future, but that 204 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: hardly softened the blow, especially once rumors spread that she 205 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: had been seen unchaperoned in Barney's apartment at the Knickerbocker. 206 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: Roland was distraught, but again he maintained his outward composure. 207 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: When Blanche again rejected him in January eighteen ninety eight, 208 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: he repeated the same phrase he had used with Harry 209 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: Cornish the month before, saying, quote, tell Barnett the coast 210 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: is clear. He wins and for a while the coast 211 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: did seem clear. Blanche and Barney kept seeing each other. 212 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: Roland drowned his sorrows in the seedy bars of Lower Manhattan. 213 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: He spent time in Europe. He grew a handlebar mustache 214 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: and then shaved it off, typical breakup activities. Then, in September, 215 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: Blanche had a sudden change of heart. She ended her 216 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: relationship with Barney and told Roland she would marry him. 217 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: What motivated this reversal is unknown, but Roland was thrilled. Unfortunately, 218 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 1: Barney proved a hard habit to quit. Soon after she 219 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: agreed to marry Roland, Blanche started reaching out to Barney again. 220 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: He put her off, but eventually agreed to see her 221 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: in late September. The meeting didn't go as Blanche had hoped. 222 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: Barney told her that they were finished. Any hope of 223 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,400 Speaker 1: even a friendship between them had disappeared when she'd agreed 224 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: to marry Roland a month later. On October twenty eighth, 225 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight, Barney summoned the Knickerbocker's night watchman, Joseph Moore, 226 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: and asked him to get a doctor. Barney told Moore 227 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: that he'd woken up with a hangover and taken a 228 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: dose from a sample tin of cutnose improved efferbescent powder 229 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,680 Speaker 1: that he'd received a few months earlier, But the medicine 230 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: wasn't sitting well. He was throwing up and had diarrhea. 231 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: Doctor Wendell Phillips, a fellow club member, came to check 232 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 1: on Barney. After procuring him medicines to calm his stomach, 233 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: Phillips told Barney to get some rest. By the next day, 234 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: Barney's gastro intestinal symptoms had subsided, but his mouth and 235 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: throat were extremely sore. Another doctor, Henry Douglas, examined him 236 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: and diagnosed him with a mild case of diphtheria. Douglas, 237 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: hearing about Barney's fears that his cut nose powder had 238 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: been poisoned, sent the powder in for testing. The medicine 239 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: tested positive for cyanide, but that actually didn't concern Douglas, 240 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: at least not then. Cyanide was at this time a 241 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: common ingredient in medicine, albeit in small doses. Douglas was 242 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: sure that Barney's symptoms were just caused by diphtheria. Barney 243 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 1: took the dip furia medicine Douglas prescribed, but a week 244 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 1: later he was still feeling terrible. He was so weak 245 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: that he required round the clock supervision from nurses. Early 246 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,160 Speaker 1: on the morning of November tenth, one of the nurses 247 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:45,879 Speaker 1: called doctor Douglas. Barney was getting worse. Douglas arrived and 248 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: knew at once that Barney's heart was failing. This could 249 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:55,920 Speaker 1: happen with diphtheria. Later that afternoon, Barney died, aged thirty two. 250 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: His funeral was held on Saturday, November twelve. Blanche attended. 251 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: One week later, Blanche and Roland got married. One month 252 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,640 Speaker 1: after that, Harry Cornish received a bottle of Bromo seltzer 253 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: in the mail. Newspapers started covering Catherine Adams's death the 254 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: very day she died. It took only another twenty four 255 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,400 Speaker 1: hours for reporters at Joseph Pulitzer's paper, The New York 256 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 1: World to draw a connection between Adams's death and Barnett's newspapers, 257 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: like the World and William Randolphurst's New York Journal, thrived 258 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,439 Speaker 1: off publishing sensational crime stories, and the poisoning case was 259 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: especially appealing. In historian Harold Scheckter's book on the Malinu 260 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: case titled The Devil's Gentlemen, Scheckter writes of the public's 261 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 1: fascination with certain crimes often mirrors their larger societal concerns. 262 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 1: At a time when people could never be certain of 263 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: what they were putting into their Checkter says, when medicines 264 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: were made of strychnine and arsenic, bakers preserved their dough 265 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: with sulfur of copper, babies consumed swill milk from cows 266 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: fed on distillery waste, and soldiers received rations of embalmed beef. 267 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:24,400 Speaker 1: The poisoner haunted the imagination of the American public. Reporters 268 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 1: did more than just cover the Great Poison Mystery. As 269 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:31,160 Speaker 1: the case came to be known, they also investigated it. 270 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: Journalists ran parallel investigations with the police, racing to break 271 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,879 Speaker 1: the case before the authorities did. On December twenty ninth, 272 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 1: the day after Catherine Adams died, Hearst's Evening Journal's front 273 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 1: page featured a blown up copy of the handwritten label 274 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: from the package Harry Cornish had received, with the headline 275 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: who knows this writing it was fortunate that this label 276 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: had even survived. When Harry received the package he'd thrown 277 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,360 Speaker 1: the wrap in the trash, but his assistant, Patrick Finneran 278 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: had told him to keep the paper Harry might be 279 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: able to identify the anonymous sender through the handwriting. At 280 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: this point, they had all thought the package was a 281 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,399 Speaker 1: practical joke. No one had realized how high the stakes 282 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: of this identification would turn out to be. A day 283 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: after the Journal published the label, John Adams, another Knickerbocker 284 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: employee with no relation to Catherine Adams, recognized the handwriting 285 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:32,919 Speaker 1: as the Knickerbocker's secretary. Adams conducted the club's correspondence and 286 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: was thus familiar with many of the member's handwriting. To 287 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: confirm his suspicion, he pulled a number of letters from 288 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: the club's files. When he was certain that the handwriting matched, 289 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:48,639 Speaker 1: Adams went to Harry Cornish's office. The handwriting on the label, 290 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,679 Speaker 1: Adams showed Harry looked just like the handwriting in a 291 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: resignation letter written on December twentieth, eighteen ninety seven, a 292 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: letter written by Roland Molineux. Harry Cornish shared Adams's findings 293 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: with Captain George McCluskey, chief of the New York Police 294 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: Department's Detectives Bureau. In a long conversation on December thirty first, 295 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: the men discussed Harry's fraught history with Roland, as well 296 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: as Roland's relationships with Barney and Blanche. This would not 297 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,120 Speaker 1: be the last time that McCluskey heard Roland Molineu's name. 298 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: Though the police denied that they were pursuing Roland after 299 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 1: papers published his name in January. In truth, more and 300 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: more clues were pointing his way. Addie Bates, one of 301 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: the nurses who had cared for Barney during his final days, 302 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: told police about a peculiar gift her patient had received. 303 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: A popular man, Barney had been sent dozens of well 304 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:51,439 Speaker 1: wishes and presents from friends, but only one had seemed 305 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: to really affect him. Bates remembered a bouquet of chrysanthemums, 306 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,159 Speaker 1: accompanied by a note of what Bates called quote an 307 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:06,159 Speaker 1: affectionate nature. The note had been signed Yours Blanche. It 308 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: wasn't hard for detectives to draw a line between this 309 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: note and Blanche Molineux. But this note didn't prove anything. 310 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: It just gave the police a hint at Roland's potential motive. 311 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: They'd have to find something more concrete. Using the remnants 312 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 1: of a partially removed price tag on the silver bottleholder 313 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,199 Speaker 1: that had been sent to Harry Cornish, detectives tracked the 314 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,439 Speaker 1: item first to its manufacturer and then to a retail 315 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 1: jewelry shop called Hartigan and Co. In Newark. Hartigan's was 316 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: very close to the paint factory where Roland lived and worked. 317 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: On the day Hartigan sold the bottle holder, December twenty first, 318 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,880 Speaker 1: Newark police detective Joseph Ferrell, who knew Roland well, had 319 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: seen Roland walking near the Hartigan store. Roland told Farrell 320 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,159 Speaker 1: he had just been dining with his boss, Morris Herman, 321 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,440 Speaker 1: but Hermann denied this to police. However, the clerk who 322 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: made the sale at Hartigan's, Emma Miller, could not identify 323 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: the buyer and claimed that he had a red beard, 324 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:09,920 Speaker 1: which Roland did not. This pattern of tracing a lead 325 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: almost back to Roland, but failing to conclusively tie it 326 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: to the man continuously frustrated at the detectives. It happened 327 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 1: again with the Bromo Seltzer bottle. The police had arranged 328 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: for doctor Rudolph Whitehouse, a prominent toxicologist and forensic medicine 329 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,639 Speaker 1: expert to examine the bottle. Though the dark blue glass 330 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:34,119 Speaker 1: bottle looked like an authentic Emerson's Bromo Seltzer bottle, Whithouse 331 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: discovered it was a forgery. The bottle didn't have the 332 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: company's name embossed on it and was slightly smaller than 333 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,639 Speaker 1: the real thing. Whithouse discovered a manufacturer's mark on the bottle. 334 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:47,679 Speaker 1: The detectives traced to a chemical firm called Powers and 335 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: Weightmen in Newark. Powers and Weightmen had sold ten bottles 336 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: containing cyanide of mercury, the poison that Whitthouse identified in 337 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: the bottle, to another Newark business, the pharmaceutical supplier Ceebee 338 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: Sme and Co. In July eighteen ninety eight. After a 339 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:08,200 Speaker 1: laborious search through thousands of their sales slips, detectives found 340 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:10,920 Speaker 1: that two of those bottles had ended up at Ballboch 341 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 1: and Co. A metal smelting company based only two blocks 342 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: away from the Herman and Co. Paint factory. But again 343 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: detectives couldn't link these bottles to Roland Molineux. The chemist 344 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 1: at Ballbach claimed that he had used up all the 345 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:30,440 Speaker 1: cyanide in experiments. The next swing and a Miss came 346 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: from trying to trace the poison. Henry Barnett had taken 347 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:36,879 Speaker 1: the tin which Barney had received in the fall of 348 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight, purported to be a sample of Cutnose 349 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: improved efferveescent powder. The tin turned out to be legitimate, 350 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: though the contents had likely been tampered with, so the 351 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,480 Speaker 1: police turned to Cutnose to try to identify sample recipients. 352 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: The company sent samples to customers who wrote in requests. 353 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 1: Owner Gustav Cutno explained these request letters were saved for 354 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,399 Speaker 1: future mo marketing. Cutno continued and detectives were welcome to 355 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,439 Speaker 1: look through them. Fortunately, Cutnoe could narrow down the window. 356 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 1: The tin had been sent in to a six month 357 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:14,639 Speaker 1: period thanks to a specific sticker. Unfortunately, during these six 358 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,400 Speaker 1: months alone, the company had received more than one hundred 359 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: thousand letters people have always loved free samples. Three detectives, 360 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:28,679 Speaker 1: with the assistance of Cutnoe's bookkeeper, Elsie Gray, began the tedious, 361 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:35,679 Speaker 1: laborious search. Seven days later, Elsie Gray struck gold. She 362 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,920 Speaker 1: found a letter one written on Robin's Egg blue stationery 363 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,720 Speaker 1: emblazoned with interlocking silver crescents, with handwriting that looked much 364 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: like the handwriting on the poison package addressed to Harry Cornish. 365 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: There were just two problems. First, the letter had come 366 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: in on December twenty third, six weeks after Barney had died. 367 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,760 Speaker 1: And secondly, the signature at the bottom of the letter 368 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 1: read not R. Molineux or even H. Barnett, but confusingly 369 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 1: H Cornish. What could this mean? Following their return address 370 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 1: on the letter, detectives found a private letterbox company owned 371 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: by a man named Joseph Koch. Coke told detectives he'd 372 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,119 Speaker 1: rented box number ten to a man named Harry Cornish 373 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 1: in early December, but when detectives brought Harry Cornish to 374 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: Koch's offices, Coke didn't think this was the man who'd 375 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 1: rented the letterbox. Captain McCleskey wasn't surprised. He would later 376 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 1: say that the use of Harry Cornish's name only further 377 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:45,440 Speaker 1: convinced him of Roland Molineu's guilt. In McCluskey's words, quote, 378 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,919 Speaker 1: the next best thing to killing an enemy is to 379 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 1: have him accused of murder. The post office box gave 380 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: detectives another lead to go on by following up on 381 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: a package that arrived at the box shortly after they 382 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: discovered it. Police found that the box owners had using 383 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: the same Robin's Egg blue stationery as in the cutnos 384 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:11,199 Speaker 1: letter written to multiple medical companies to request samples of 385 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: their cures for mail impotence. One of these companies found 386 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 1: a letter whose handwriting and stationary matched, but had a 387 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:23,200 Speaker 1: different return address and purported this time to come from 388 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: an H. Barnett. Detectives followed this information to another private 389 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,680 Speaker 1: letter box. Maybe this time they could find a real 390 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:36,159 Speaker 1: connection to Molineux. Examining the mail in the second mailbox, 391 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,719 Speaker 1: the police found correspondence with Marston's Remedy Company. When they 392 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:44,560 Speaker 1: contacted Marston's, the owner handed them a diagnosis form that 393 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:48,919 Speaker 1: a customer had filled out using the name Barnett. But 394 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 1: the descriptions in the diagnosis form the patient's age, height, measurements, 395 00:27:54,800 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: and medical history didn't match Henry Barnett. They matched Roland Molineux. Unfortunately, 396 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:07,959 Speaker 1: this lead to fizzled when the box's owner, Nicholas Heckman, 397 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 1: said he wanted payment to make an idea of the 398 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: box's renter and refused to cooperate with police. Joseph Coch, 399 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: owner of the other private box also stopped cooperating, saying 400 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: he was too frightened to get involved. The police were 401 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 1: getting frustrated, and they weren't the only ones. Throughout January, 402 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,919 Speaker 1: the newspaper's coverage of the investigation had become more and 403 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: more critical. In an editorial in early February, William Randolph 404 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: Hurst claimed that the Malnu family's wealth was protecting Roland. 405 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: A little rich coming from the guy who inspired Citizen Kane. 406 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: But anyways, if this had happened among people without influence, 407 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: every person suspected of knowing anything about it would have 408 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: been locked up before morning, Hurst wrote, But when two deliberate, 409 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: premeditated murders have been committed by persons with financial and 410 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: political poll the whole machinery of justice has been paralyzed. 411 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:11,240 Speaker 1: Was there any way to set this machinery back in motion? 412 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: On February ninth, eighteen ninety nine, a coroner's inquest into 413 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: Catherine Adams's death began. Coroner's inquests are rare these days, 414 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 1: but at the time they were called when sudden deaths 415 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 1: occurred in order to determine if the death was natural 416 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: or not. Coroners and their juries did not typically investigate crimes, 417 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: but they did have the power to subpoena witnesses. In 418 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: the Adams case, the press reported the District Attorney's office 419 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: had gotten fed up with the police's failures and decided 420 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 1: to use the coroner's inquest to conduct their own investigation. 421 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: Some people were skeptical of the process's efficacy, especially since 422 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: the District Attorney, Asa Bird Gardiner, happened to be an 423 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: old friend of General Edward ma These suspicions were quickly 424 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 1: confirmed by the conduct of eighty A James Osborne. Osborne 425 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:11,239 Speaker 1: had a reputation as a bulldog in the courtroom, and 426 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: he quickly dug his teeth into the inquest's first witness, 427 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:21,760 Speaker 1: not Roland Molineu, but Harry Cornish. In a ferocious examination, 428 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:26,760 Speaker 1: Osborne all but accused Harry of being the poisoner. Osborne 429 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: brought up Harry's playboy reputation and his arguments with Henry 430 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: Barnett and Roland Molineux. Cornish Da Gardner reminded the press 431 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 1: was the one who had actually given Catherine Adams the poison. 432 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: In contrast, when Roland Molineux appeared on the stand, Osborne 433 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: treated him with gentle politeness, often apologizing for the uncomfortable questions. 434 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: Duty just required him to ask. Roland, Unlike Harry, who 435 00:30:55,800 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 1: had been angry and flustered in court, was cool, calm 436 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 1: and collected. The press took Osborne's approach as proof of 437 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: the justice system's favoritism. A cartoon in the Evening Journal 438 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: depicted Osborne strangling Harry Cornish in one panel and cuddling 439 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 1: a child's size Roland Molineu in the other. But as 440 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:21,720 Speaker 1: Osborne continued to tear Harry apart on the stand and 441 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: brought more witnesses into cast suspicion, even the skeptical press 442 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 1: began to question Harry. Harry published a highly defensive public 443 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: statement hilariously titled quote Cornish says, some things look bad, 444 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: but he can explain. Perhaps people thought they had been 445 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: too quick to jump on Roland Molineu as a suspect, 446 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:46,160 Speaker 1: and thinking on it wasn't Harry Cornish the first one 447 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,479 Speaker 1: to point the police at Roland. Had it all been 448 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: a frame? The Molinews were delighted by this turn of events. 449 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 1: The past two months had been a nightmare for the 450 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,440 Speaker 1: respectability obsessed In general. He had ordered the whole family, 451 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: including Blanche, to retreat into the Fort Green Brownstone, where 452 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: the curtains were always kept drawn to keep the press 453 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:13,120 Speaker 1: from looking in. The lawyers he hired had vigorously protected Roland, 454 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: refusing any requests from the police, such as submitting a 455 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:21,240 Speaker 1: handwriting sample. But with the focus turning away from Roland 456 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,440 Speaker 1: and on to Harry, Roland's lawyers thought it might be 457 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:29,480 Speaker 1: best to change tactics and begin cooperating. On February fourteenth, 458 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:33,400 Speaker 1: Roland produced a handwriting sample under observation in ady A 459 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:38,240 Speaker 1: Osborne's office. The inquest ran for nearly two more weeks, 460 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:44,360 Speaker 1: with evidence against Harry mounting and Roland's delight growing. Even 461 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: the testimony of Nicholas Heckman, the letter box owner, couldn't 462 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:53,280 Speaker 1: shake Roland's assurance. On Monday, February twenty seventh, the inquest's 463 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: final day, Heckman appeared and claimed that Roland had rented 464 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,920 Speaker 1: a letter box from him. Roland called Heckman a liar, 465 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,840 Speaker 1: but seemed to laugh the whole thing off. But then 466 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 1: something happened that shook Roland deeply. When his lawyer, Bartow 467 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:15,880 Speaker 1: Weeks objected to Heckman's further testimony, Dia Gardiner turned on 468 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:20,120 Speaker 1: Weeks and harshly told him to sit down. Up until 469 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: this point, Gardiner had been unfailingly polite, even deferential to 470 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 1: Roland's lawyers. In that instant, Roland Malaneu heard the trap 471 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: spring shut. From being the shielded, protected, coddled, and stroked 472 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:43,200 Speaker 1: friend of the prosecuting officer, reporter Charles Michaelson wrote, Molineux 473 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:46,920 Speaker 1: suddenly found himself exposed to the full broadside of that 474 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 1: officer's artillery. The manhunters came from behind their cover of 475 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: soft words and apologies and attacked their quarry. Lulled into 476 00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:00,000 Speaker 1: a false sense of safety, Roland had lowered his defense 477 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:06,440 Speaker 1: is a fatal mistake of overconfidence. The next witness, William Kinsley, 478 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:11,480 Speaker 1: showed him just how badly he had aired. Kinsley was 479 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:15,600 Speaker 1: a nationally recognized handwriting expert, and he testified that the 480 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:19,960 Speaker 1: handwriting in the sample Roland had provided the ADA matched 481 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 1: the handwriting on the poison package sent to Harry Cornish, 482 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:26,520 Speaker 1: as well as the letters sent to the various medical 483 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:30,839 Speaker 1: companies from the two private letter boxes. Then, to drive 484 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: the point home, Ada Osborne introduced a further six handwriting experts, 485 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:41,440 Speaker 1: all of whom agreed with Kinsley's conclusions. The final blow 486 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:45,759 Speaker 1: was delivered by District Attorney Gardner himself, who presented a 487 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:51,360 Speaker 1: closing summation unusual for a coroner's inquest, Gardner revealed that 488 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:55,799 Speaker 1: the entire inquest had been a carefully plotted trap on 489 00:34:55,880 --> 00:35:00,200 Speaker 1: which the DA's Office and the police had collaborated. It 490 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:04,399 Speaker 1: had been Captain McCluskey's idea, Gardener explained, to use an 491 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,320 Speaker 1: inquest to get Roland, the only suspect who had refused 492 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 1: to provide a handwriting sample, to drop his guard. The 493 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:15,960 Speaker 1: DA's office had made Harry Cornish their scapegoat, but had 494 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 1: never truly believed him guilty. It had been Roland all along. 495 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:24,799 Speaker 1: Roland who had the motive, who had the opportunity, and 496 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: whose handwriting matched all of the incriminating mail. At the 497 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: end of his summation, Gardner asked the coroner's jury to 498 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:38,239 Speaker 1: assign responsibility for Catherine Adams's death to Roland Molineux. The 499 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:41,600 Speaker 1: jury did not take long to do just that. After 500 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: less than two hours of deliberation, they announced that they 501 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:49,360 Speaker 1: believed Roland had sent the poison that killed Adams. Roland 502 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:53,240 Speaker 1: was quickly arrested and sent to the tombs New York's 503 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:57,719 Speaker 1: infamous jail. Four days later, a grand jury formally indicted 504 00:35:57,760 --> 00:35:59,800 Speaker 1: him on a charge of first degree murder for the 505 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:04,160 Speaker 1: day death of Catherine J. Adams. General Molineux vowed to 506 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,839 Speaker 1: fight his son's case till the end, but would his 507 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,359 Speaker 1: good name and his wealth be enough to overcome the 508 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 1: case being built against Roland. Roland Molineu's journey to trial 509 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:23,600 Speaker 1: was long and winding. In late March eighteen ninety nine, 510 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:26,719 Speaker 1: his attorneys managed to get the first indictment against him 511 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:29,840 Speaker 1: quashed on the grounds that it had been improper for 512 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,799 Speaker 1: the DA's office to discuss Henry Barnett's death at the 513 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,360 Speaker 1: grand jury hearing. On May third, a new grand jury 514 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:40,200 Speaker 1: was convened, and this time they didn't bring an indictment. 515 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:44,080 Speaker 1: The press and the DA's office thought they knew why. 516 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:48,520 Speaker 1: Six members of the jury, including the foreman, were members 517 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: of the same veterans organization as General Edward Molineux. Down 518 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:57,239 Speaker 1: but not out. The police immediately arrested Roland on the 519 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 1: charge of assaulting Harry Cornish. When Roland and got out 520 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,760 Speaker 1: on bail for that charge, the police arrested him again 521 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:08,040 Speaker 1: for Catherine Adams's murder in mid July, a third grand 522 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:12,200 Speaker 1: jury was convened. These jurors, who had no connections to 523 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:16,640 Speaker 1: the Molineus, returned an indictment after three days eighty eight. 524 00:37:16,719 --> 00:37:20,520 Speaker 1: James Osborne was so delighted that he telegraphed his wife 525 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:26,040 Speaker 1: the news writing quote the people won. Inside his jail cell, 526 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:30,880 Speaker 1: Roland Molineux seemed just as confident as Osborne. Over the 527 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:34,319 Speaker 1: past five months. He'd maintained his exercise regimen and his 528 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,080 Speaker 1: grooming routine, used his spending money to buy upgraded meals, 529 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:42,919 Speaker 1: and continuously projected an aura of cool certainty. He had 530 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:46,320 Speaker 1: faith in his father and in his lawyers, Bartow Weeks 531 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,960 Speaker 1: and George Gordon Battle, both longtime friends of the family 532 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:55,640 Speaker 1: and skilled attorneys. When Roland's trial finally began on November fourteenth, 533 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,560 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety nine, Weeks and Battle were both by his side, 534 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:04,760 Speaker 1: as was his father. They weren't his only supporters. Dozens 535 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,040 Speaker 1: of besotted women who'd fallen in love with Roland via 536 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 1: newspaper coverage were gathered outside the courtroom, begging the guards 537 00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:15,600 Speaker 1: to let them in. The guards refused, the room was 538 00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:20,480 Speaker 1: already packed. At ten thirty am, Judge John Goff called 539 00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:23,360 Speaker 1: the court to order. The fifty one year old Gough 540 00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:26,040 Speaker 1: had made a name for himself rooting out corruption in 541 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:29,279 Speaker 1: the New York Police Department. As a judge, he was 542 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:34,160 Speaker 1: short tempered and action oriented, regularly cutting lawyers off to 543 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:38,880 Speaker 1: ask witnesses questions of his own. Unconcerned with appearing impartial, 544 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:43,160 Speaker 1: Gough's rulings often revealed his personal beliefs on a given case. 545 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:46,600 Speaker 1: People had predicted that this would be a long trial, 546 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:52,200 Speaker 1: but no one imagined quite how long. Jury selection alone 547 00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:56,400 Speaker 1: took more than two weeks. Both Bartow Weeks and A 548 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:01,200 Speaker 1: DA Osborne claimed they wanted quote of a high order 549 00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 1: of intelligence to be secured as jurors in this case. 550 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:08,759 Speaker 1: Their method of getting such men was to ask bafflingly 551 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:13,359 Speaker 1: phrased questions full of legalise and arcane vocabulary, such as 552 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: this one posed by Osborne to a cab driver named 553 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:20,160 Speaker 1: Hugh Doherty. Quote, do you understand that in order to 554 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:24,359 Speaker 1: justify legal guilt from circumstantial evidence, the inculpatory facts must 555 00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:30,000 Speaker 1: be absolutely incompatible with the innocence of the accused? Doherty, astounded, replied, 556 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:34,400 Speaker 1: I never heard that while driving my cab. Despite multiple 557 00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:38,360 Speaker 1: rapprimands from goth and ridicule in the press. The attorneys 558 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:42,279 Speaker 1: kept this up until finally, on November twenty ninth, they 559 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:46,239 Speaker 1: managed to pull a jury together. James Osborne presented the 560 00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:50,680 Speaker 1: prosecution's opening statement on Monday, December fourth. He set the 561 00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:53,920 Speaker 1: stakes for the trial high, telling the jurors that the 562 00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:58,600 Speaker 1: country was currently embroiled in quote a fight between society 563 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:03,480 Speaker 1: and poisoners. Then he walked the case against Roland Molineux. 564 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:07,520 Speaker 1: When he got to Roland's connection with Henry Barnett, Barto 565 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:11,680 Speaker 1: Weeks objected, saying that the Barnett case was separate. Judge 566 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:15,480 Speaker 1: Goff disagreed, ruling quote, if it is apparent that the 567 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:18,640 Speaker 1: circumstances of one crime are relevant to the other, they 568 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:22,840 Speaker 1: are admissible. As Osborne spoke, reporters kept a close watch 569 00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:26,600 Speaker 1: on Roland, milking every last drop of drama out of 570 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:30,560 Speaker 1: the story. Several papers had actually assigned their theater critics 571 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:33,760 Speaker 1: to cover the trial. One of these critics, the Harolds 572 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:39,120 Speaker 1: Clement Scott, found Roland fascinating. The man he saw, Scott wrote, 573 00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:43,760 Speaker 1: quote is not Roland b. Molineux. It is a false, 574 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:48,000 Speaker 1: unnatural man Behind this actor's mask. I can see the 575 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:51,279 Speaker 1: mind of the wretched man working. He is for the 576 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:55,560 Speaker 1: moment two men, the man as he is and the 577 00:40:55,600 --> 00:41:00,800 Speaker 1: man in the mask. Throughout the trial this mask time slip. 578 00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:04,920 Speaker 1: Roland would burst out in laughter at inappropriate times, or 579 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:07,240 Speaker 1: even be seen playing Tic tac toe in the middle 580 00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:11,520 Speaker 1: of testimony. Roland's manner wasn't the only strange aspect of 581 00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:14,799 Speaker 1: the trial. Observers were baffled by the way that the 582 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:18,560 Speaker 1: prosecution presented their case. The order in which Osborne called 583 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:21,280 Speaker 1: his witnesses, and he would call more than a hundred 584 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:26,520 Speaker 1: of them, seemed random. Notably, Osborne wouldn't actually establish that 585 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:31,000 Speaker 1: a murder had occurred until January second, when coroner's physician 586 00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:34,840 Speaker 1: Albert T. Weston testified that Catherine Adams had been poisoned 587 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:38,799 Speaker 1: with cyanide of mercury. By this point, Roland Molineu's case 588 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:42,560 Speaker 1: had become the longest most expensive murder trial in New 589 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:46,680 Speaker 1: York history. In the first weeks of the trial, Osborne 590 00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:50,920 Speaker 1: mainly focused on handwriting analysis, bringing in multiple experts to 591 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,160 Speaker 1: testify that Roland's writing sample matched the writing on the 592 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:58,360 Speaker 1: medicine request letters and on the poison package. This testimony 593 00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,960 Speaker 1: had been so dry and repartitive that even Osborne had 594 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:05,960 Speaker 1: gotten sick of it, saying aloud, how long, Oh Lord, 595 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:10,040 Speaker 1: how long. At one point there wasn't much the defense 596 00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:13,440 Speaker 1: could do to undermine these witnesses, although Bartow Weekes did 597 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:17,800 Speaker 1: his best attacking the handwriting men on unrelated matters, Daniel 598 00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:22,920 Speaker 1: Ames's atheism, for example, or William Kinsley's passion for raising chickens, 599 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:26,399 Speaker 1: the latter of which made the whole courtroom laugh. There 600 00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:30,719 Speaker 1: were several other interesting moments interspersed throughout. The first came 601 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:34,360 Speaker 1: on Monday, December eleventh, when a young woman named Mamie 602 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:38,480 Speaker 1: Milando took the stand. Milando was described in the press 603 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:42,400 Speaker 1: as Roland's former housekeeper, and that was true, but maybe 604 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,920 Speaker 1: not the full story. Roland had first met Milando in 605 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:48,759 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty seven, when she was a thirteen year old 606 00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:52,440 Speaker 1: working in his father's New Jersey paint factory. When Roland 607 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:55,280 Speaker 1: moved to Hermann and Co. He took Milando with him, 608 00:42:55,560 --> 00:42:58,680 Speaker 1: hiring her as a factory foreman and as housekeeper for 609 00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:02,479 Speaker 1: his factory living quarters. Harold Scheckter believes that the two 610 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:06,640 Speaker 1: may have had a sexual relationship. Milando did not want 611 00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:10,359 Speaker 1: to testify. To avoid the stand, she'd refused to leave 612 00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:12,799 Speaker 1: New Jersey where the New York Police could not get 613 00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:16,080 Speaker 1: to her. She was only here now thanks to some 614 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,439 Speaker 1: highly dubious maneuvering by the NYPD, who had sent two 615 00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:23,960 Speaker 1: undercover officers to take Milando and a friend of hers 616 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:27,200 Speaker 1: out on a date. After getting the two women drunk, 617 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:31,200 Speaker 1: the officers suggested a trip to Patterson, New Jersey, by train. 618 00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:35,680 Speaker 1: On the train trip, Milando fell asleep. When she awoke 619 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:39,880 Speaker 1: and disembarked the train, the lead detectives on Roland's case 620 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:43,000 Speaker 1: were there to greet her and reveal that she was 621 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:46,920 Speaker 1: actually now in New York. Milando tried to fight the 622 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:52,040 Speaker 1: detectives off, but could not. Now on the stand and 623 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:57,440 Speaker 1: looking deeply uncomfortable, Milando explained that once, while visiting Roland 624 00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:00,399 Speaker 1: at his apartment at the Herman and Co. Factory, she'd 625 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:03,520 Speaker 1: seen some paper that she liked. She'd liked it so 626 00:44:03,719 --> 00:44:06,239 Speaker 1: much that she'd taken three of the sheets and three 627 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:11,000 Speaker 1: matching envelopes home with her. She was therefore intimately familiar 628 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:16,040 Speaker 1: with the stationary, a distinctive set tinted Robin's Egg blue 629 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:20,600 Speaker 1: with interlocking silver crescents at the top. This was the 630 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:25,319 Speaker 1: same stationary used to write the forged medicine requests, stationary 631 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:30,160 Speaker 1: that Roland Molineux had denied ever having seen at the inquest. 632 00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:35,120 Speaker 1: Milando's clear reluctance to testify at one point, when asked 633 00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:37,880 Speaker 1: if she was still friendly with Roland, she started to 634 00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:44,080 Speaker 1: sob only made her testimony more believable to onlookers. After 635 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:47,680 Speaker 1: the brief excitement of Milando's appearance, the tedious parade of 636 00:44:47,719 --> 00:44:52,480 Speaker 1: handwriting experts resumed. Eventually, Osborne got around to introducing the 637 00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:56,360 Speaker 1: other circumstantial evidence that connected Roland to the crime. Doctor 638 00:44:56,440 --> 00:44:59,719 Speaker 1: Roland Whitthhouse, the forensic chemist, confirmed that the powder in 639 00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:03,760 Speaker 1: the Romo Seltzer bottle was cyanide of mercury, while Carl Tromer, 640 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:07,560 Speaker 1: a chemical salesman, confirmed that Roland had the raw materials 641 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:10,040 Speaker 1: to make cyanide of mercury in his lab at the 642 00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:14,960 Speaker 1: paint factory. Joseph Coke and Nicholas Heckman identified Roland as 643 00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:19,600 Speaker 1: the man they'd rented private letterboxes to the case's lead detectives, 644 00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:24,240 Speaker 1: explained how they'd trace the silver bottleholder to Hartigans. Newark 645 00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:28,400 Speaker 1: detective Joseph Ferrell testified to having seen Roland near Hartigan's 646 00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:32,240 Speaker 1: on the day the bottleholder was sold. The prosecution submitted 647 00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:36,280 Speaker 1: the diagnosis form sent to Marston's remedy company, signed as Barnett, 648 00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:39,760 Speaker 1: but filled out with details that matched Roland into evidence. 649 00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:44,640 Speaker 1: This was all important information, but for most observers it 650 00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:47,680 Speaker 1: was also boring. They had read about all of these 651 00:45:47,719 --> 00:45:51,480 Speaker 1: things in the papers months ago. By mid January, though 652 00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:54,640 Speaker 1: coverage of the trial was still robust, interest in the 653 00:45:54,719 --> 00:45:59,479 Speaker 1: trial was fading, but on January fifteenth, testimony from two 654 00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:04,400 Speaker 1: new witnesses woke the tired public right back up. The 655 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:07,960 Speaker 1: first new witness was named Rachel Green. For several months 656 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:11,280 Speaker 1: in late eighteen ninety seven and eighteen ninety eight, Green 657 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:13,520 Speaker 1: had worked as a maid in a boarding house on 658 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:17,200 Speaker 1: the Upper West Side. While working there, Osborne asked her, 659 00:46:17,719 --> 00:46:21,759 Speaker 1: did you know the defendant? I knew mister and missus Cheeseborough. 660 00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:27,160 Speaker 1: Green responded. Cheeseborough was Blanche Mollinew's maiden name. Do you 661 00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:31,280 Speaker 1: see this mister Cheeseborough in the courtroom, Osborne asked. Rachel 662 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:35,160 Speaker 1: Green rose from the witness stand and pointed at Roland Molineux. 663 00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:39,680 Speaker 1: That's the gentleman, she said. Roland, for the first time 664 00:46:39,760 --> 00:46:43,120 Speaker 1: in the trial, seemed angry and concerned. Green went on 665 00:46:43,239 --> 00:46:45,719 Speaker 1: to explain how she believed Roland and Blanche to be 666 00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,719 Speaker 1: married during this time because Roland regularly spent the night 667 00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:51,920 Speaker 1: in Blanche's room. In truth, the couple wouldn't marry for 668 00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:56,200 Speaker 1: nearly another year. This testimony was certainly scandalous, but what 669 00:46:56,239 --> 00:47:00,920 Speaker 1: did it mean for Roland's guilt? The next witness, Many Betts, 670 00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:05,280 Speaker 1: connected the dots. Betts was also a maid. She worked 671 00:47:05,280 --> 00:47:09,800 Speaker 1: for Alice Bellinger. Bellinger was Blanche's good friend, and Blanche 672 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:11,640 Speaker 1: had moved in with her after moving out of her 673 00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:16,000 Speaker 1: boarding house. Unlike Green, many Betts had never seen Roland 674 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:20,920 Speaker 1: Molineu visit Blanche at home. She had, however, seen Henry 675 00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:26,440 Speaker 1: Barnett visit regularly. Judge Goff paused Betts's testimony here to 676 00:47:26,480 --> 00:47:30,319 Speaker 1: ask Osborne about the relevance. Osborne explained that he was 677 00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:35,799 Speaker 1: establishing Roland Molinew's motive for killing Henry Barnett jealousy. But 678 00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:38,640 Speaker 1: the defendant is not on trial for the murder of Barnett, 679 00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:43,640 Speaker 1: Gough reminded the prosecutor. No Osborne acknowledged, but I want 680 00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:47,640 Speaker 1: to show that the man who hated Barnett also hated Cornish. 681 00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:51,200 Speaker 1: We find letters for certain remedies in Barnett's name. We 682 00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:55,200 Speaker 1: also find letters in Cornish's name. This shows the workings 683 00:47:55,239 --> 00:47:58,960 Speaker 1: of the defendant's mind. Barnett died of cyanide of mercury, 684 00:47:59,280 --> 00:48:02,160 Speaker 1: just as Cornish was to have died. It's the same 685 00:48:02,200 --> 00:48:05,320 Speaker 1: sort of plot and as such should be allowed in evidence. 686 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:10,879 Speaker 1: Goff mouled over this argument, then told Osborne, you may continue. 687 00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:14,560 Speaker 1: So Osborne did, getting more information from many Bets about 688 00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:20,360 Speaker 1: Henry Barnett's frequent visits and overnight stays. This testimony directly 689 00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:24,600 Speaker 1: contradicted Blanche's testimony at the coroner's inquest. On the stand there, 690 00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:27,520 Speaker 1: she had insisted that her relationship with Barnett had been 691 00:48:27,600 --> 00:48:30,880 Speaker 1: purely platonic. The flowers she'd sent him while he was 692 00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:33,880 Speaker 1: dying had been a simple gesture of friendship. She claimed, 693 00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:38,360 Speaker 1: Roland and Barney had never fought over her, despite Betts's 694 00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:41,799 Speaker 1: evidence to the contrary. Blanche would always publicly maintain that 695 00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:45,240 Speaker 1: she and Burnett were not romantically involved. She would only 696 00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:48,360 Speaker 1: admit to their sexual relationship in her private memoir written 697 00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:51,920 Speaker 1: decades later. Throughout the trial, the defense lawyers made a 698 00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:55,000 Speaker 1: point of bringing Blanche in to see her husband. The 699 00:48:55,120 --> 00:48:59,000 Speaker 1: apparently adoring couple would exchange emotional words and kiss and 700 00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:03,319 Speaker 1: embrace for the world to see. Betts's testimony undermined this 701 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:08,640 Speaker 1: romantic image, and it bolstered James Osborne's case by establishing motive. 702 00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:13,160 Speaker 1: By the time Osborne finally rested his case, observers felt 703 00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:16,960 Speaker 1: the prosecutor had made a strong, circumstantial case against Roland, 704 00:49:17,480 --> 00:49:20,959 Speaker 1: but he had failed to answer a critical question, why 705 00:49:20,960 --> 00:49:25,120 Speaker 1: would Roland want Henry Cornish dead. Osborne had brought in 706 00:49:25,200 --> 00:49:28,120 Speaker 1: some Knickerbocker members to describe the two men's feud, but 707 00:49:28,280 --> 00:49:32,120 Speaker 1: it all seemed so petty, certainly not enough reason to kill, 708 00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:36,480 Speaker 1: so Osborne had injected the Barnet murder in the trial. 709 00:49:37,400 --> 00:49:40,680 Speaker 1: This strategy played to the strengths and weaknesses of each case. 710 00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:44,279 Speaker 1: In the Barnet case, the motive was obvious, but the 711 00:49:44,320 --> 00:49:48,080 Speaker 1: evidence was weaker. Barnett's death had originally been thought to 712 00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:51,200 Speaker 1: be from natural causes, so the police were a month 713 00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:54,719 Speaker 1: behind in investigating it. In the Adams case, on the 714 00:49:54,719 --> 00:50:00,680 Speaker 1: other hand, the motive was murkier, but the evidence was clearer. However, 715 00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:04,880 Speaker 1: Roland Malaneu hadn't been charged with Henry Barnett's murder, and 716 00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:08,680 Speaker 1: some newspapers commented on this. Would this strategy come back 717 00:50:08,719 --> 00:50:12,600 Speaker 1: to bite the prosecution? James Osborne would have to wait 718 00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:16,719 Speaker 1: and see. On February fifth, nearly three months after the 719 00:50:16,719 --> 00:50:22,120 Speaker 1: trial began, he rested the state's case. People eagerly anticipated 720 00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:25,520 Speaker 1: the presentation of the defense case. What witnesses would the 721 00:50:25,560 --> 00:50:29,840 Speaker 1: defense call? Would Roland Malanu testify in his own defense? 722 00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:35,360 Speaker 1: What about his glamorous wife Blanche. On February sixth, defense 723 00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:41,200 Speaker 1: lawyer Bartow Weeks stood to speak. He looked strangely, uneasy, pale, 724 00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:46,120 Speaker 1: and strained. He had good reason, because Bartow Weeks was 725 00:50:46,160 --> 00:50:50,239 Speaker 1: about to say something shocking, something that would change the 726 00:50:50,320 --> 00:50:56,239 Speaker 1: course of the trial and Roland Molineux's life. Just what 727 00:50:56,320 --> 00:50:59,719 Speaker 1: did bartow Weeks say? Well, you'll have to come back 728 00:50:59,760 --> 00:51:02,600 Speaker 1: next week to find out in Part two of New 729 00:51:02,680 --> 00:51:06,759 Speaker 1: York v. Roland Molineu. But before you go, stay with 730 00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:09,640 Speaker 1: me after the break for a surprising connection between this 731 00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:17,239 Speaker 1: trial and a famous political scandal. Although Bartow Weeks with 732 00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:20,920 Speaker 1: the lead defense attorney in Roland Molinu's trial, he didn't 733 00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:24,480 Speaker 1: work alone. Weeks was assisted throughout by his law partner 734 00:51:24,640 --> 00:51:28,719 Speaker 1: George Gordon. Battle. Battle, then thirty years old, was in 735 00:51:28,760 --> 00:51:32,200 Speaker 1: the early years of what would become a distinguished law career. 736 00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:35,640 Speaker 1: Born in North Carolina, Battle had come to New York 737 00:51:35,719 --> 00:51:39,360 Speaker 1: to attend Columbia Law School. After graduating, he joined the 738 00:51:39,400 --> 00:51:42,920 Speaker 1: District Attorney's office, where he worked for five years before 739 00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:46,800 Speaker 1: going into private practice with Bartow Weeks. A brilliant lawyer, 740 00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:50,280 Speaker 1: Battle would win a number of major cases, both civil 741 00:51:50,480 --> 00:51:54,880 Speaker 1: and criminal. Battle was also known for his civic leadership. 742 00:51:55,560 --> 00:51:59,000 Speaker 1: He chaired numerous committees, including the National Committee on Prison 743 00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:02,520 Speaker 1: Labor Reform and New York City's Parks and Playgrounds Association. 744 00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:07,160 Speaker 1: A devout episcopal, Battle also fought for religious freedom. His 745 00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:10,600 Speaker 1: work against anti Semitism was so important that the prominent 746 00:52:10,680 --> 00:52:14,319 Speaker 1: Jewish newspaper, the American Hebrew, awarded him a medal for 747 00:52:15,480 --> 00:52:19,359 Speaker 1: keeping the flame of religious hatred from searing American democracy. 748 00:52:20,080 --> 00:52:23,319 Speaker 1: He raised money for a variety of causes, including the 749 00:52:23,320 --> 00:52:26,719 Speaker 1: Salvation Army and the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebration 750 00:52:26,880 --> 00:52:32,120 Speaker 1: of the American Revolution. Battle's generosity extended to those around him. 751 00:52:32,200 --> 00:52:35,239 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventeen or eighteen, he hired a high school 752 00:52:35,280 --> 00:52:38,879 Speaker 1: student named Seymour as a law clerk. Seymour had had 753 00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:42,880 Speaker 1: a difficult childhood. His hot tempered father had trouble keeping 754 00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:46,760 Speaker 1: a job, particularly after he fell ill with cancer, leaving 755 00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:50,320 Speaker 1: young Seymour to support his parents and older sister. Seymour 756 00:52:50,360 --> 00:52:53,960 Speaker 1: got a job loading freight for a railroad, hard dangerous 757 00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:56,680 Speaker 1: work for a fifteen year old. His co workers at 758 00:52:56,719 --> 00:53:00,480 Speaker 1: the loading docks, recognizing Seymour's intelligence, incur uraged him to 759 00:53:00,520 --> 00:53:04,160 Speaker 1: apply for scholarships. Soon enough, Seymour won a place at 760 00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:07,400 Speaker 1: a preparatory school in Newark. He kept working in the 761 00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:10,920 Speaker 1: loading docks while at school, continuing the job even after 762 00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:13,680 Speaker 1: he was hired as a law clerk by George Gordon Battle. 763 00:53:14,560 --> 00:53:17,920 Speaker 1: Battle was so impressed by Seymour's intellect and work ethic 764 00:53:18,200 --> 00:53:21,560 Speaker 1: that he increased his pay, allowing Seymour to finally quit 765 00:53:21,600 --> 00:53:25,279 Speaker 1: the railroad job. Not long after, Battle offered to pay 766 00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:29,839 Speaker 1: for Seymour's college education. Seymour graduated from Fordham and then 767 00:53:29,960 --> 00:53:34,360 Speaker 1: from Fordham Law. Soon enough, just like his mentor, Seymour 768 00:53:34,520 --> 00:53:38,680 Speaker 1: was a prominent and successful lawyer. When Seymour's first child 769 00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:41,719 Speaker 1: was born, he saw an opportunity to honor all that 770 00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:44,840 Speaker 1: Battle had done for him, so he named his son, 771 00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:49,880 Speaker 1: George Gordon Battle. Battle's namesake would go by Gordon, and 772 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:52,800 Speaker 1: he would one day become more famous than his father 773 00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:57,560 Speaker 1: and his namesake combined, although not necessarily for the right 774 00:53:57,600 --> 00:54:01,160 Speaker 1: reasons for this little baby would grow up to be 775 00:54:01,360 --> 00:54:05,840 Speaker 1: none other than g. Gordon Liddy, best known today for 776 00:54:05,920 --> 00:54:09,200 Speaker 1: his role in organizing the nineteen seventy two burglary of 777 00:54:09,239 --> 00:54:13,000 Speaker 1: the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building. 778 00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:17,000 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to History on Trial. If you 779 00:54:17,080 --> 00:54:20,120 Speaker 1: enjoy this episode, please consider leaving a rating or review. 780 00:54:20,400 --> 00:54:23,120 Speaker 1: It can help new listeners find the show. My main 781 00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:27,680 Speaker 1: sources for this episode were Harold Scheckter's book The Devil's Gentlemen, Privilege, 782 00:54:27,880 --> 00:54:30,760 Speaker 1: Poison and The Trial That Ushered in the twentieth century, 783 00:54:31,120 --> 00:54:35,160 Speaker 1: as well as newspaper coverage of the trial. For complete bibliography, 784 00:54:35,280 --> 00:54:37,640 Speaker 1: as well as a transcript of the episode with citations, 785 00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:43,680 Speaker 1: please visit our website History on Trial podcast dot com. 786 00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:47,920 Speaker 1: History on Trial is written and hosted by me Mira Hayward. 787 00:54:48,480 --> 00:54:51,560 Speaker 1: The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with 788 00:54:51,680 --> 00:54:57,360 Speaker 1: supervising producer Trevor Young and executive producers Dana Schwartz, Alexander Williams, 789 00:54:57,680 --> 00:55:01,360 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick, and Mira Hayward. Learn more about the show 790 00:55:01,440 --> 00:55:05,360 Speaker 1: at History on Trial podcast dot com and follow us 791 00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:09,640 Speaker 1: on Instagram at History on Trial and on Twitter at 792 00:55:09,960 --> 00:55:15,160 Speaker 1: Underscore History on Trial. Find more podcasts from iHeartRadio by 793 00:55:15,239 --> 00:55:19,520 Speaker 1: visiting the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 794 00:55:19,560 --> 00:55:21,520 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.