1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,800 Speaker 1: You are listening to History on Trial, a production of 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: iHeart Podcasts. Listener Discretion Advised, Hello, History on Trial listener. 3 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: This is the second part of a two part series. 4 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: If you haven't listened to part one yet, you'll want 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:23,799 Speaker 1: to begin there. Thank you for listening. Last time on 6 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: History on Trial, we met Roland Molineux, the highly polished 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:33,199 Speaker 1: middle son of General Edward Malaneu, a Civil War hero. Roland, 8 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:38,599 Speaker 1: a talented gymnast and professional chemist, didn't play well with others. 9 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: In late eighteen ninety eight, two of his nemeses, his 10 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: romantic rival Henry Barnett, who had once wooed Roland's wife Blanche, 11 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: and his personal rival Harry Cornish, who had battled Roland 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,639 Speaker 1: for status at the Knickerbocker Athletic Club, and one received 13 00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: mysterious anonymous packages, each containing what looked like ordinary medicine. 14 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: Henry Barnett took a bit of his and died two 15 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: weeks later. Harry Cornish brought his home, where his relative 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: Catherine Adams took some and died in minutes. Both Barnett 17 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: and Adams were found to have been killed by cyanide 18 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:21,479 Speaker 1: of mercury. Detectives quickly locked in on Roland Molineux as 19 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: a suspect, but were only able to build a circumstantial 20 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: case against him. They eventually managed to wrangle a handwriting 21 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: sample from Roland after handwriting experts agreed that Roland's handwriting 22 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,960 Speaker 1: matched the writing on the poison package sent to Harry Cornish. 23 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: The DA's office charged Roland with Catherine Adams's murder at 24 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,559 Speaker 1: the trial, which began in November eighteen ninety nine. Prosecutor 25 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: James Osborne also submitted evidence from the Henry Barnett case, 26 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: although Roland was not charged with this crime, using it 27 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: to weave a complicated tale of envy and revenge. Osborne's case, 28 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: the longest murder prosecution in New York history to the point, 29 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: finally concluded on February fifth, nineteen hundred. We're picking up 30 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: the story the next day, Tuesday, February sixth, as Roland's 31 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: lead defense counsel, Bartow Weeks stands to begin his eagerly 32 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: anticipated defense case. Will Roland take the stand? What about 33 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 1: his wife Blanche? Or does the defense have something else 34 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: entirely up their sleeve. You're listening to history on trial. 35 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Mira Hayward. This week New York v. 36 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: Roland Malineux. A hush fell over the courtroom as Bartow 37 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: Weeks rose to speak. The thirty nine year old Weeks 38 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: had a commanding physical presence. He was nearly as well 39 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: known for his involvement with athletics as he was for 40 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: his legal acumen. But today he looked pale and drawn. 41 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: He was suffering from a mild case of laryngitis, true, 42 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: and the month's long trial had no doubt worn on him. 43 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: But there was something else too, an undercurrent of uneasiness, 44 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: even fear. And for good reason, it would turn out, 45 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: Bartow Weeks was about to shock all of New York 46 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: by announcing a decision that he and his legal team 47 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: had agonized over. May it please the court, Weeks began, 48 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: after a careful consideration of the case, We believe that 49 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: the prosecution has utterly failed to make a case against 50 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: this defendant, and that he has not been proved guilty, 51 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: and the jury should not find him so. Believing this 52 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: as we do, we rest upon the case made by 53 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: the prosecution. The lead prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney James Osborne, 54 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: looked astounded. The crowd briefly shocked into silence, began to 55 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: murmur only Roland Molineux, smiling enigmatically at the jury, seemed 56 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: to the decision to not present a defense, which both 57 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: Roland and his father had agreed to, was meant to 58 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: deliver a symbolic message that the state had presented such 59 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: a weak case that the defense had no need to 60 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: rebut it with witnesses of their own. In his closing argument, 61 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: Weeks detailed what he called quote the missing links in 62 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,720 Speaker 1: the evidence. Take the silver bottleholder, which had been sent 63 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: to Harry Cornish along with the poisoned Bromo Seltzer. The 64 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: police hadn't proved that Roland bought the silver bottleholder. They 65 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,239 Speaker 1: had only proved that a shop that Roland had once 66 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: been seen near had once sold a silver bottleholder. Roland 67 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: worked down the street from this shop. Was it really 68 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: so damning that he had been seen near it? Weeks 69 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: next turned to the handwriting analysis. The prosecution's experts claimed 70 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: that Roland's handwriting matched the writing on the poison package. 71 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: But could these experts really be so sure of their conclusions? 72 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: Weeks brought up the Dreyfus affair, an infamous contemporary miscarriage 73 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: of Justice in France. In that case, Weeks told jurors, quote, 74 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: a man spent five years in jail because the handwriting 75 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: experts were mistaken. Next, he questioned the identifications made by 76 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: Joseph Coche and Nicholas Heckman, owners of the private letter 77 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 1: boxes that Roland had allegedly rented in Henry Barnett and 78 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: Harry Cornish's names. Weeks reminded jurors that both men had 79 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: initially refused to identify Roland, and that Heckman had even 80 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: tried to get payment for his statement. About the testimony 81 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: presented by Blanche's former maids who discussed the love triangle 82 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: between Blanche Roland and Henry Barnett, Weeks was contemptuous. This 83 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: was just an underhanded attempt by the prosecution to insult 84 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: the defendant's wife. James Osborne, ever confrontational, loudly asked Weeks 85 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: why he had denied the maid's claims. Weeks wheeled on 86 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: Osborne with what The New York Times called quote the 87 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: ferocity of a tiger. Why did we not deny it, 88 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: Weeks asked, incredulously, because we were not called upon to 89 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 1: deny it. It was not necessary to deny it called 90 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: upon to deny such infamous lies, How dare you to 91 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: produce it when you could not connect it with this case? 92 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: Osborne did not respond. Besides being a moment of high drama, 93 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: this exchange reminded jurors that Roland was not on trial 94 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: for Henry Barnett's murder, and the prosecution hadn't produced a 95 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: compelling motive for Roland to murder Harry Cornish. Roland and 96 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: Cornish had squabbled. Weeks acknowledged, but he asked, quote, would 97 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: the defendant imperil his life, ruin his family, drag them 98 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: to dishonor and disgrace for such a trifling motive? As 99 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: that it mattered that the evidence was rock solid, Weeks 100 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,720 Speaker 1: told jurors because it was upon that evidence that they 101 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: would be sentencing a man to death, the mandatory punishment 102 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: for first degree murder in New York at the time. 103 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: Weeks did not spare them the graphic details of what 104 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: Roland would endure if executed, describing the effect of the 105 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: electric chair on the human body. In the audience, Blanche 106 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:27,679 Speaker 1: Molineux wept loudly by the end of his closing argument, 107 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: which spanned more than eight hours over two days. Weeks 108 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: was visibly exhausted. His voice was hoarse and ragged, but 109 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: this only made his plea more poignant, as he asked 110 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: the jurors to quote Air on humanity's side. The wrong 111 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: you do, he said, can never be restored. Gentlemen, in 112 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: a case of doubt, when the scales are oscillating, let 113 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: them turn in favor of the prisoner. It is a 114 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,239 Speaker 1: terrible thing to destroy the temple of an immortal soul. 115 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: On Thursday, February eighth, James Osborne delivered the prosecution's closing arguments. 116 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: Osborne was a born showman, and he brought all of 117 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: his passion to this final performance. Before getting to the 118 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: facts of the case, Osborne attacked the defense's strategy. Looking 119 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: right at Bartow Weeks, Osborne shouted, quote, if you knew 120 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: of a single witness who could have aided the theory 121 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: of the defendant's innocence and did not call him, you 122 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: have violated your oath as a counselor. Your action is 123 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: a plea of guilty. Week subjected to this attack, but 124 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: Judge John Goff allowed it. Osborne would return to this 125 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: point over and over, calling the defense's choice unnatural. Quote 126 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: it is one of the prime evil principles of human 127 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: nature to say, when you are accused of a crime, 128 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: I am not guilty. See here are my witnesses. But 129 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: Osborne wasn't surprised to see Roland Molineux behaving abnormally. Throughout 130 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: both the press coverage and the prosecution of the case, 131 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: Roland's strangeness had been a theme. People had speculated on 132 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:20,439 Speaker 1: his behavior, his associates, and his sexuality. Poisoning was seen 133 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: to be a woman's crime. What kind of man would 134 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:28,079 Speaker 1: use poison as opposed to say, his fists to kill? 135 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: And then there were the numerous impotence cures that Roland 136 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: had allegedly ordered to the private letterboxes. The prosecution was 137 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: quick to play up these themes, insinuating that a lack 138 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: of virility made Roland less of a man and thus 139 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: more likely to kill with a womanly method. This murder, 140 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: Osborne said, was quote an outre strange, abnormal crime. We 141 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:59,079 Speaker 1: must therefore look for a man who is outre strange abnormal. 142 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: These attempts at criminal profiling were based on contemporary gender 143 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: norms and stereotypes, and though they are obviously offensive, they 144 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:12,199 Speaker 1: were likely compelling to jurors. They also weren't the only 145 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: character based arguments Osborne made. He brought up Roland's behavior 146 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: during the trial, describing how, quote, when reference was made 147 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: to the death of Missus Adams and the death agonies 148 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: of Barnet, you have seen the defendant laughing, coolly laughing. 149 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 1: It is this attitude, gentlemen, which shows that the defendant 150 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: has an entire absence of soul. Osborne's closing was an 151 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,200 Speaker 1: entirely personal attacks though he reviewed all of the evidence, 152 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: pointing out that even if it was circumstantial, every single 153 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: piece of it pointed back to Roland Molineux. Like a 154 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: bloated spider in his web, Osborne said, the poisoner spun 155 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: out his filaments to the outer world. We must trace 156 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: for the end of the filaments back to the center. 157 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: Here's a line running out to Barnett. We trace it back, 158 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: and at the other end is the mind of Molineux. 159 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 1: A line running out to Cornish. Tracing it back to 160 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:16,960 Speaker 1: the web center, we find the mind of Molineux. A 161 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: line stretching to the blue crested paper, a line stretching 162 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: to Heckman's letter box, and at the center of the 163 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: web to which all these lines extend, we find spinning 164 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: its deadly plots the mind of Molineux. Osborne agreed with 165 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: Weeks that the stakes were high, but not for Roland. 166 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,440 Speaker 1: The stakes were high for the community, who would not 167 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:44,200 Speaker 1: be safe should Roland be set free. Ending his nearly 168 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: six hour summation, his voice raised to full volume, Osborne thundered, 169 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: I say that the evidence from every direction points to 170 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: that conclusion, and I leave this case in your hands, 171 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: knowing that you will find your verdict in the sight 172 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: of God, in the sight of man, without fear and 173 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 1: without favor. The next day, Judge goth summarized the evidence 174 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: and charged the jury at three twenty three p m. 175 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: The jurors were dismissed to deliberate. Outside the courtroom, bookmakers 176 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: were laying odds on the verdict. The odds favored acquittal. 177 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: In his cell in the tombs, Roland Molineux was not 178 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: so confident. He began chronicling his feelings in a journal 179 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: while he waited. I am very tired, he wrote. For 180 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: full three months. I have been under a physical strain 181 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 1: and a mental tension. I have been falsely accused. I 182 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: am innocent. An hour later, with no news from the jury. 183 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: He reflected, I am chemist enough to love an experiment. 184 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:55,239 Speaker 1: The jury is the unknown substance, the testimony, the reagent. 185 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: My case is in solution. What will precipitate? It would 186 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: take more than seven hours for the jury to reach 187 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: a verdict. At ten forty eight pm, the jurors filed 188 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: back into the courtroom. Roland Molineu came in next. His 189 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: face was dead white, a reporter recorded, and his dark 190 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 1: eyes shone like live coals. The court clerk asked the 191 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,679 Speaker 1: jury foreman to announce their findings on the charge of 192 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,680 Speaker 1: murder for the death of Catherine J. Adams. The defendant, 193 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: Roland Molineux was found guilty. There is no good place 194 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 1: to contemplate your impending execution, but Sing Singh's death House 195 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: was especially grim. Built in eighteen ninety to hold condemned prisoners, 196 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,079 Speaker 1: the death house contained both cells and the execution chamber itself. 197 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: Each prisoner was kept in a windowless, stone walled cell. 198 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 1: From behind these walls, they could not see one another, 199 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: but they were constantly surveilled by others. The lights stayed 200 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: on all night, allowing the wardens, who walked incessantly up 201 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 1: and down the corridor to watch the inmates. The men 202 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 1: were not allowed outside and they could only bathe once 203 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 1: a week. The worst part of the death House was 204 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: the sounds. Because the execution chamber neighbored the cells, inmates 205 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: could hear every step of the grisly process, the slow 206 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: walk to the chamber, the administration of last rites, the 207 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: sickening thrum of the electric chair, and the appalling sounds 208 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: of the autopsy conducted after Roland. Molneux, who entered the 209 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: death House on February sixteenth, nineteen hundred, called execution days 210 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: quote the greatest horror we are called upon to bear. 211 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: Roland had done his best to avoid the death House. 212 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: At his sentencing, he had delivered a powerful, moving statement 213 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: to Judge Goff, proclaiming his own inn an sc since 214 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 1: many wondered, given how well Roland did, why Barto Weeks 215 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: had not put him on the stand during his trial. Now, 216 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: his words, however compelling, meant nothing. New York mandated the 217 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: death penalty for first degree murder. Judge Goff sentenced Roland 218 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: to be put to death during the week of March 219 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: twenty sixth, nineteen hundred. He was transported to sing Sing 220 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: only hours later. Roland's projection of calm optimism, which he 221 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: had maintained for months now, did not falter. On the 222 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: journey to sing Sing, he joked with passengers on the 223 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,520 Speaker 1: train to Austening, many of whom had bought tickets just 224 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: to see him, and admired the scenery of the Hudson Valley. 225 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: But the oppressive atmosphere of the Death House quickly took 226 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 1: a toll on Roland. When Blanche visited him less than 227 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: a week after his arrival, she found Roland a shell 228 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: of his former self. His eyes, she later wrote, they 229 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: were dead and expressionless, set in a stone mask that 230 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: was immovable. The soul of him was dead. It had 231 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: gone out of him. During his trial, a journalist had 232 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: called Roland a man in a mask, but that had 233 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: been a mask he had chosen to wear. This mask 234 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: did not seem voluntary. He seemed finally to have accepted 235 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: the reality of his situation and had become, Blanche observed, 236 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: obsessed with freeing himself. Back in New York City, Roland's 237 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: lawyers were working hard on his behalf. In early March, 238 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: bartow Weeks and George Gordon Battle filed a notice of 239 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: appeal Roland's execution was put on hold as the appeal 240 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: was prepared. Weeks in Battle decided to engage another lawyer 241 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: to argue the case, landing on John G. Milbourne. Milburn 242 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 1: was an accomplished attorney and a leading citizen of Buffalo, 243 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: where the New York Court of Appeals was based. There 244 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: were a number of delays in the process, but Roland's 245 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: appeal was finally scheduled for June seventeenth, nineteen oh one. 246 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: David Hill, a former governor of New York and ex 247 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,400 Speaker 1: US Senator, had been retained by the Manhattan District Attorney 248 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 1: to represent the States case at the appeal. On Monday, 249 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: June seventeenth, the seven judges of the New York Court 250 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: of Appeals seated themselves to hear arguments in Roland's case. 251 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: John Milburn, for the defense, spoke first. The main thrust 252 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: of his argument quickly became clear. Milburn believed that it 253 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,159 Speaker 1: had been an error on Judge Goff's part to admit 254 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:40,360 Speaker 1: any evidence about the Henry Barnett case. When your honors 255 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:44,080 Speaker 1: read the court record, Milburn said, it will require an 256 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: effort of your mind to convince yourselves that you are 257 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 1: reading a record of an attempt to poison Harry Cornish, 258 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: and not a record of the alleged murder of Henry C. Barnett. 259 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: Seven tenths of the evidence in this record relates to 260 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: the death of Barnett. The Barnet case was irrelevant. Milburn argued, 261 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,520 Speaker 1: if Barnett were murdered and if Missus Adams were murdered, 262 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: they were two separate and distinct crimes. He said, and 263 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:14,639 Speaker 1: thus quote the admission of evidence of one crime on 264 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: an indictment charging the other was improper and incompetent, and 265 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: its admission was clearly an error. Towards the end of 266 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: his argument, which spanned five hours over the course of 267 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 1: two days, Milburn made a grave charge. The admission of 268 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: the Barnet evidence, he claimed, had not been a simple 269 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:38,639 Speaker 1: mistake on Judge Goff's part. It had been part of 270 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: a larger pattern of bias against the defendant. The judge 271 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 1: in this case, Milburn stated, took the side of the 272 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:50,960 Speaker 1: prosecution from the very beginning to the very ending. Milburn 273 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: acknowledged that accusing a judge of impartiality was a serious matter, 274 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: but he believed that the record backed his accusation up. 275 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 1: He claimed that quote every piece of testimony which seemed 276 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: to be damaging to the defendant was freely and welcomingly admitted, 277 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: while everything which seemed to be in the prisoner's favor 278 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:14,480 Speaker 1: was hampered and repressed, battered, and cross examined by the court. 279 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: He pointed out the insults Judge Gough had aimed at 280 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 1: defense attorney Bartow Weeks, including when Gough admonished Weeks for 281 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: his quote fatal and ungovernable habit of talking, an insult 282 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: I probably would never recover from. Milburn brought up a 283 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,760 Speaker 1: variety of other points. He criticized the admission of testimony 284 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: relating to Blanche, Judge Goth's charge to the jury, which 285 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: he claimed was also biased, the lack of proven motive, 286 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:47,400 Speaker 1: and the reliability of handwriting analysis. But to observers, according 287 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: to the Buffalo Inquirer, it was clear that Quote Milburn 288 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: rests his case upon the alleged error of Judge Goth 289 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: in admitting the evidence relating to Barnett's death. Once Milburne 290 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: finished on the afternoon June eighteenth, David Hill presented the 291 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: state's argument. Hill argued that the Barnet evidence was admissible. 292 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: The Barnet case was introduced, he said, in order to 293 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 1: quote make the chain of evidence complete and prove the 294 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: theory of the prosecution in the Adams case. Hill rebutted 295 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: Milbourne's argument that the two cases had nothing in common, saying, quote, 296 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: there is the same hiring of private letter boxes in 297 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,879 Speaker 1: the names of the intended victims, the same writing for 298 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: samples of medicine in the names of the victims, the 299 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 1: same plan of assassination, the same drug cyanide of mercury used. 300 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: Though Hill acknowledged that quote in the prosecution of one crime, 301 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: you cannot prove another, he said that this case was 302 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 1: an exception to the rule. It was an abnormal crime 303 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,199 Speaker 1: by an abnormal man, Hill argued, echoing Osborne's closing, and 304 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: as a consequence, it produced an abnormal condition on the trial. 305 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: Hill also cited another poisoning case in which the court 306 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: had ruled that it defend its history of attempted poisonings 307 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: could be discussed in his trial for poisoning his wife. 308 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 1: After briefly addressing Milbourne's other claims, Hill said that the 309 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: handwriting analysis had been properly conducted, that the judge's charge 310 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: was fair, and that the prosecution had provided a compelling motive. 311 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: Hill finished by saying, quote, no substantial error was made 312 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: upon this trial. No real, genuine evidence was excluded. Nothing 313 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 1: that was immaterial or irrelevant, incompetent, or improper of any 314 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: consequence was admitted. After a series of questions from the judges, 315 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: the appeal concluded on the afternoon of June nineteenth. Four 316 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 1: months later, on October fifteenth, the Court of Appeals published 317 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: its ruling on the Malinu case. Though the opinion, which 318 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: was not unanimous, addressed several points, including the admissibility of 319 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: handwriting analysis, the majority of the opinion focused on whether 320 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: the Barnett evidence was inadmissible. Judge William E. Werner began 321 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: by reviewing why discussion of or bad acts, whether charged, uncharged, 322 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: or resulting in a conviction, is generally not allowed at trial. 323 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,639 Speaker 1: This rule, Werner wrote, is the product of that same 324 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:16,200 Speaker 1: humane and enlightened public spirit, which, speaking through our common law, 325 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 1: has decreed that every person charged with the commission of 326 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 1: a crime shall be protected by the presumption of innocence 327 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 1: until he has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 328 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,080 Speaker 1: Werner cited a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 329 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: Schaffner v. Commonwealth. Logically, the commission of an independent offense 330 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,679 Speaker 1: is not proof in itself of the commission of another crime. 331 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,159 Speaker 1: Yet it cannot be said to be without influence on 332 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,439 Speaker 1: the mind. For certainly, if one be shown to be 333 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,919 Speaker 1: guilty of another crime equally heinous, it will prompt a 334 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: more ready belief that he might have committed the one 335 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: with which he is charged. It therefore predisposes the mind 336 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 1: of the juror to believe the prisoner guilty. Because of 337 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,199 Speaker 1: the enormous weight this kind of evidence could carry, Werner 338 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: explained there were only rare instances in which it was admissible. 339 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:12,880 Speaker 1: Werner described these instances as falling into five categories. If 340 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 1: evidence of prior bad acts established motive or intent, or 341 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,959 Speaker 1: the absence of mistake or accident, or a common scheme 342 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,119 Speaker 1: or plan, or the identity of the person charged with 343 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: the commission of the crime on trial, then this evidence 344 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: might be admissible, as long as it was more probative 345 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 1: than prejudicial. Werner then examined the Malnu case to see 346 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:41,639 Speaker 1: if any of these exceptions applied. Motive was irrelevant, Werner 347 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: said because the alleged motives for each killing were distinct 348 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: and unrelated intent. Whether or not the person intended to 349 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:53,200 Speaker 1: commit a criminal act was also irrelevant. Whoever had killed 350 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,639 Speaker 1: Catherine Adams had clearly intended to kill someone by sending 351 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 1: them poison disguised as medicine. No additional evidence was needed 352 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: to prove this. The same reasoning applied to the exception 353 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:08,160 Speaker 1: for mistakes or accidents. This crime was clearly not an accident. 354 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 1: The two crimes could also not be said to be 355 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 1: part of a quote single design, as no evidence showed 356 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:17,919 Speaker 1: that they were quote united for the accomplishment of a 357 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:22,440 Speaker 1: common purpose. As to the final exception, identity, Werner said 358 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: that the Barnet evidence would only be allowed for this 359 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: purpose if quote it had been shown conclusively that the 360 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 1: defendant had killed Barnet and that no other person could 361 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 1: have killed Missus Adams, but no such evidence was given. 362 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,639 Speaker 1: The evidence tended to show that the defendant had the knowledge, skill, 363 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,080 Speaker 1: and material to produce the poison which was sent to Cornish, 364 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 1: but he was not shown to be the only person 365 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: possessed of this knowledge, skill and material. Therefore, the naked 366 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: similarity of these crimes proves nothing. David Hill had claimed 367 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,480 Speaker 1: that Roland's case was an exception to the general rule, 368 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,199 Speaker 1: an abnormal propit sus justified by an abnormal crime. The 369 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:07,119 Speaker 1: appeals court did not agree. According to their ruling, the 370 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:12,159 Speaker 1: Barnet evidence was inadmissible. Thus they reversed Roland's conviction and 371 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: ordered a new trial. Early the next morning, Roland received 372 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,639 Speaker 1: news of the decision in his cell in the death House. 373 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,880 Speaker 1: He seemed stunned, then laughed and said it seems too 374 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: good to be true. The following day, October seventeenth, Roland 375 00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:30,679 Speaker 1: was transferred out of Sing Sing and back to the 376 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 1: Tombs in Manhattan, where he would occupy the same cell 377 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 1: he had during his first trial. The city jail was 378 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,919 Speaker 1: no luxury hotel, but anything was better than the death House. 379 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:44,679 Speaker 1: Roland would just have to hope that his second trial 380 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: wouldn't send him right back in the Malinus Fort Green Brownstone. 381 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:55,960 Speaker 1: Blanche Molnu couldn't help but feel that her sentence had 382 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: just been extended. Blanche would later write in her memoirs 383 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 1: that even from the earliest days of the investigation, she 384 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: had begun to draw away from Roland. By the middle 385 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: of his first trial, she was completely repulsed by him. 386 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: She felt misled. She had agreed to marry Roland because 387 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: he'd offered a comfortable life full of the arts and travel. Instead, 388 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:24,399 Speaker 1: she'd gotten relentless public scrutiny. She had attended Roland's first trial, 389 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: putting on the act of devoted wife, only out of 390 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: affection for General Molineux, who she described as a quote 391 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:38,400 Speaker 1: fine and splendid and brave man. By early nineteen oh two, however, 392 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: Blanche's patience had worn thin. She'd been cloistered in the 393 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 1: Fort Greenhouse with limited contact with the outside world for 394 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: three years. Her cabin fever was intense. She missed seeing 395 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: friends and going to concerts and singing in her choir. 396 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: In August, she moved out of the Malinus House into 397 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 1: a residential suite in a Manhattan hotel. General Molineu was 398 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,159 Speaker 1: covering her expenses and giving her an allowance on the 399 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 1: condition that she attended Roland's upcoming trial, But when the 400 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:16,160 Speaker 1: trial began on Monday, October thirteenth, nineteen oh two, Blanche 401 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,600 Speaker 1: was nowhere to be found. He would not attend a 402 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: single day. General Molineu, on the other hand, was a 403 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 1: constant presence, as was Harry Cornish. A number of other 404 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: familiar faces filled the courtroom eighty A. James Osborne was 405 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: once again leading the prosecution. Bar two Weeks was back too, 406 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: but he would not be lead defense council. Weeks's decision 407 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,600 Speaker 1: not to present a defense had been a controversial gamble, 408 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 1: and ultimately it hadn't paid off. After the verdict, one 409 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:52,120 Speaker 1: jer had asked a reporter quote, if Molineux had friends, 410 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,840 Speaker 1: or if his lawyers had witnesses who could have testified 411 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:59,120 Speaker 1: on his behalf, why weren't they called? This time around? 412 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:03,399 Speaker 1: The defense would fight back, led by Attorney Frank S. Black, 413 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: a former United States representative and ex governor of New York. 414 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,359 Speaker 1: John S. Lambert, a justice on the New York Supreme Court, 415 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: presided Lambert ran a tight ship, and it soon became 416 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: clear that this trial would not be as prolonged as 417 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:22,640 Speaker 1: the first jury selection, for example, took only two days, 418 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: not three weeks. Ady A. Osborne delivered an abbreviated opening statement, 419 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: perhaps out of deference for Lambert's preferences, or maybe because 420 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,920 Speaker 1: he had less material to work with. Thanks to the 421 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: appeals court ruling, Osborne could not discuss the Burnett case 422 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: in the same detail as he had before. He kept 423 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,000 Speaker 1: things focused on the Adams case and on Roland Molineux, 424 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: saying that the defendant met all the requirements to commit 425 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: this murder, knowledge of poisons, knowledge of Hartigan's jewelry store 426 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 1: in Newark, which had sold the silver bottle holder, access 427 00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 1: to a private letterbox, and above all quote a strong, continuing, 428 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: deadly hatred of Cornish from there. The trial progressed rapidly. 429 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,560 Speaker 1: Instead of months of testimony, the prosecution presented their case 430 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,080 Speaker 1: in seven days. Most of the major themes were the same. 431 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,719 Speaker 1: Handwriting experts appeared to identify the handwriting on the letters 432 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,480 Speaker 1: and poison package as belonging to Roland. Harry Cornish and 433 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: other Knickerbocker members testified about Roland and Cornish's feud, but 434 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: the prosecution encountered several new obstacles in this trial. Several 435 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: key witnesses were missing. Elsie Gray, the bookkeeper at Cutno's, 436 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: had died in the first trial. She had discussed a 437 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 1: letter her company received requesting a sample of Cutno's improved 438 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: effervescent powder, the product that Henry Barnett had taken shortly 439 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: before his death. The letter, Gray had said was written 440 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:55,680 Speaker 1: on distinctive Robin's egg blue stationary emblazoned with silver crescents. 441 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,360 Speaker 1: It had been signed H. Barnett, but had been dated 442 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: and since several weeks after his death. Justice Lambert allowed 443 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,360 Speaker 1: Gray's testimony from the first trial to be read aloud 444 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: in court, but Lambert would not allow Osborne to read 445 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: the testimony of another missing witness, Mami Milando. In the 446 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: first trial, New York police had tricked Milando into entering 447 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,040 Speaker 1: the state. This time, she went into hiding in New Jersey. 448 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: Detective Joseph Farrell, the New York police officer who had 449 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,960 Speaker 1: testified in the first trial to having seen Roland near 450 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: Hartigan's jewelry store on the day the silver bottleholder was sold, 451 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 1: was similarly absent, having taken a curiously timed vacation right 452 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 1: as the trial started. The prosecution thought that the defense 453 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 1: might have encouraged Milando and Ferrell's absences. Ady A. Osborne 454 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: enlisted his boss, District Attorney William Travers Jerome, to look 455 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: into the matter. As a fun side note, Jerome's predecessor, 456 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: Asa Bird Gardiner, who had supervised Roland's first prosecution, was 457 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: removed from office by Governor Theodore Roosevelt in nineteen hundred 458 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:07,480 Speaker 1: for rampant corruption. Oops Jerome appealed to the Governor of 459 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 1: New Jersey to pressure the Newark Police to help produce 460 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: the missing witnesses. The governor agreed, but neither Milando nor 461 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: Ferrell ever took the stand. These absences were less striking 462 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:23,960 Speaker 1: than the absence of Henry Barnett from the proceedings. No 463 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: longer allowed to discuss the Barnett case, Osborne found his 464 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 1: prosecution hollowed out. He could not bring in many key 465 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:34,480 Speaker 1: pieces of evidence, such as the diagnosis form signed with 466 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: Barnett's name but filled out with Roland Molineu's measurements, which 467 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 1: connected Roland to the private letterboxes. But Osborne didn't give up, 468 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: bringing in every shred of evidence he could before resting 469 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 1: the state's case on October twenty ninth. On October thirty first, 470 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:54,760 Speaker 1: the defense began its case. Frank Black's opening statement took 471 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 1: less than five minutes. He called the evidence against Roland 472 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:03,960 Speaker 1: quote trivial and unimportant, and then, in the most highly 473 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:08,360 Speaker 1: anticipated moment of the trial, he called Roland Molineux to 474 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:12,480 Speaker 1: the stand. By this point, Roland had had nearly three 475 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,320 Speaker 1: years in jail to consider his testimony, and his preparation 476 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: enhanced by his natural composure showed he was extremely polite 477 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:27,360 Speaker 1: and patient even during Osborne's cross examination, refusing to be rattled. 478 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,520 Speaker 1: He readily admitted to disliking Cornish, but dismissed his anger 479 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: at the man as a passing phase. He acknowledged that 480 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,400 Speaker 1: he might once have written a letter on Robin's egg 481 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 1: blue stationary, but denied owning multiple sheets. This testimony did 482 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: give James Osborne a chance to shoehorn in part of 483 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: the missing Mamie Milando's testimony, when he asked, quote, outside 484 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 1: of her statements at the former trial, did you ever 485 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: hear Mamie Milando's state that she saw six sheets of 486 00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: this paper in your desk? But Roland, on ruffled, simply 487 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 1: said no. As a reporter for The New York Times observed, quote, 488 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 1: all of mister Osborne's persistence and the cutting questions he 489 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 1: asked failed to shatter the calmness and courtesy of the witness. 490 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:16,920 Speaker 1: But the reporter also noted that Roland's poise was almost 491 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 1: uncanny writing quote. Many said he was acting, but they 492 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:27,360 Speaker 1: also said that it was remarkably good acting. After Roland's testimony, 493 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: the defense presented a number of handwriting experts of their own. 494 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 1: These handwriting experts didn't add much to the case. Their 495 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:38,360 Speaker 1: testimony was dry, and several of them struggled under cross examination, 496 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,719 Speaker 1: but the defense felt that they had at least placed 497 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:44,960 Speaker 1: the question of the reliability of handwriting analysis into the 498 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: jury's mind. Much more exciting than the experts were the 499 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:53,360 Speaker 1: various new witnesses the defense managed to produce. Chief among 500 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 1: this crop was Anna Stevenson, a Brooklyn resident in her 501 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:01,040 Speaker 1: mid fifties with a surprising story to tell on the stand. 502 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:05,160 Speaker 1: In a nervous voice, Stephenson claimed that on December twenty third, 503 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:09,000 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight, the day the poison package was mailed, 504 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: she had observed a man sending a package addressed to 505 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: Harry Cornish at the Knickerbocker Club, and she was certain 506 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: that the man sending the package was not Roland Molineux. Stephenson, however, 507 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:28,400 Speaker 1: was not the most credible witness. On cross examination, James 508 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 1: Osborne got Stevenson to admit that she could barely read 509 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 1: without her glasses and that she hadn't been wearing her 510 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 1: glasses on the days she claimed to have read the 511 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 1: poison package's label. But other parts of Stephenson's testimony stuck 512 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:45,400 Speaker 1: Her claim that Roland wasn't the sender was backed up 513 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: by another new witness, doctor Hermann Volti, a professor of 514 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 1: chemistry at Columbia University, who claimed that Roland had been 515 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,520 Speaker 1: with him for the entire afternoon of the twenty third, 516 00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:00,320 Speaker 1: and after Stephenson had said that she was certain Lew 517 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:05,000 Speaker 1: hadn't sent the package, Osborne made a mistake. He had 518 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: Harry Cornish stand up and then asked Stevenson, quote, is 519 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 1: that the man you saw with the poison package that day? 520 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 1: Never ask a question you don't know the answer to? 521 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:20,520 Speaker 1: To Osborne's chagrin, Stevenson replied, he looks very much like 522 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:25,879 Speaker 1: that man. The defense was delighted. Throughout their case they'd 523 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: been advancing an alternate theory of the crime, one in 524 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:33,600 Speaker 1: which Harry Cornish, not Roland Molineux, was the real poisoner. 525 00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:38,640 Speaker 1: While cross examining Cornish, Frank Black had discussed Cornish's own 526 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:43,200 Speaker 1: sordid romantic history and highlighted Cornish's connection to Newark and 527 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:47,640 Speaker 1: friendship with a chemist Black also called Louis Jacobson, a 528 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:51,480 Speaker 1: clerk at a drug store near Cornish's former apartment. Jacobson 529 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: testified that Harry Cornish and Florence Rogers, Catherine Adams's daughter 530 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,960 Speaker 1: had once come into his store and ordered pre mixed 531 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,839 Speaker 1: Bromo seltzer drinks from his soda fountain. On several occasions, 532 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 1: Jacobson said he had sold Florence Rogers bottles of Bromo seltzer. 533 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:12,279 Speaker 1: In his closing argument, which began on Monday, November tenth, 534 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:16,360 Speaker 1: Black devoted much of his time to attacking Cornish. First. 535 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: Though Black ripped into the case against Roland of Roland's 536 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 1: alleged motive for killing Cornish, Black dismissively said, quote, there 537 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:28,759 Speaker 1: are plainer motives than that in every church quarrel. He 538 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,080 Speaker 1: questioned why Roland, if he wanted to kill Cornish, would 539 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:35,399 Speaker 1: send poison to him at the Knickerbocker, where Roland had 540 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: friends who could have been hurt. Men do not wreck 541 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:43,040 Speaker 1: a railroad train in order to murder an individual, Black scoughed. Moreover, 542 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:47,120 Speaker 1: Black continued, why would Roland send a package with a 543 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,880 Speaker 1: handwritten address to a club where many people knew his 544 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: handwriting if he were trying to conceal his role in 545 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:57,839 Speaker 1: the crime. Whatever else Molineu may be, Black said, he 546 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:02,240 Speaker 1: is not a fool. Black pointed out the circumstantial nature 547 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:06,000 Speaker 1: of the prosecution's case, saying, the blue paper is all 548 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:10,080 Speaker 1: the tangible evidence the prosecution has in all this contemptible, 549 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,879 Speaker 1: massive testimony. He told jurors that the company who made 550 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:18,080 Speaker 1: the blue stationery had sold more than forty thousand sheets 551 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:21,400 Speaker 1: of it. It was a crime to murder Missus Adams, 552 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:24,640 Speaker 1: Black said, but it would be a bigger crime to 553 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:29,760 Speaker 1: take the life of a man upon such evidence as that. Next, 554 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:33,840 Speaker 1: Black moved on to Harry Cornish. Cornish's motive, which Black 555 00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:36,760 Speaker 1: claimed was a desire to be with the Florence Rogers, 556 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:40,400 Speaker 1: which Catherine Adams stood in the way of, was much stronger. 557 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,880 Speaker 1: In his view. He emphasized Cornish's close friendship with a chemist, 558 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:48,480 Speaker 1: John Yocum, his uncertain alibi on the day the poison 559 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,319 Speaker 1: package was mailed, and the fact that he had not 560 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:56,600 Speaker 1: attended Adams's funeral. In conclusion, Black argued, as one reporter 561 00:37:56,680 --> 00:38:00,440 Speaker 1: put it, quote, that every circumstance in the case pointed 562 00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:03,480 Speaker 1: to Cornish, while not a single fact pointed to the 563 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:07,640 Speaker 1: guilt of Molineux. In truth, Black's case against Cornish was 564 00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 1: mostly smoke and mirrors, but it did put eighty eight 565 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:15,319 Speaker 1: Osborne on the defensive during his own closing argument, Cornish's 566 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:19,440 Speaker 1: so called motive, Osborne said, was an invention. No evidence 567 00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 1: had ever been found of a romantic relationship between Cornish 568 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:27,080 Speaker 1: and Florence Rogers. When Missus Adams died, he said, her 569 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:31,160 Speaker 1: daughter held her in her arms. I ask you, gentlemen, 570 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:34,160 Speaker 1: if it does not stagger belief to suppose that this 571 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:38,320 Speaker 1: woman was in a conspiracy to murder her mother. Osborne 572 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 1: also very sweetly said the Cornish was simply too stupid 573 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:46,640 Speaker 1: to have committed this murder. Look at Cornish, he instructed 574 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:51,360 Speaker 1: the jurors, big, muscular, aggressive and with not much sense. 575 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:53,960 Speaker 1: You can't make a poisoner out of such a man. 576 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:59,360 Speaker 1: With Cornish defended and also probably insulted, Osborne moved on 577 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:04,360 Speaker 1: to Roland Molineux. He reviewed Roland's motive, reminding jurors that 578 00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,799 Speaker 1: it didn't matter if a motive made sense to them, 579 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:10,000 Speaker 1: It only mattered if it made sense to the killer. 580 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:15,320 Speaker 1: He highlighted Roland's relentless campaign against Cornish, which had continued 581 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:17,840 Speaker 1: even after Roland had lost the war and had to 582 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,680 Speaker 1: leave the Knickerbocker. He reviewed the testimony of the handwriting 583 00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:25,800 Speaker 1: experts who had connected Roland's handwriting to the poison package. 584 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 1: At this point, the court adjourned for the day. When 585 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,920 Speaker 1: Osborne resumed the next morning, November eleventh, he spoke for 586 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,840 Speaker 1: a further ninety minutes for The New York Times quote 587 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:40,120 Speaker 1: those who heard the speech said that no element of 588 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:43,440 Speaker 1: the prosecution's case that could possibly count against the defendant 589 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:47,239 Speaker 1: was omitted. In the end, Osborne told the jurors that 590 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:50,160 Speaker 1: they had a duty to stand strong and vote with 591 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:55,160 Speaker 1: their consciences, no matter their quote. Natural indisposition to cause 592 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:59,480 Speaker 1: harm to a fellow being. With closing arguments finished just 593 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,319 Speaker 1: as Lamb began his review of the evidence and his 594 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:07,040 Speaker 1: instruction to the jury. Then at three fourteen pm, he 595 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:11,279 Speaker 1: sent the jury to deliberate. The jury was back at 596 00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:15,640 Speaker 1: three point twenty seven. The short deliberation gave the defense 597 00:40:15,719 --> 00:40:19,400 Speaker 1: cause for hope. As guards led Roland back into the courtroom, 598 00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:24,400 Speaker 1: Barto Weeks told him, quote, the time shows its acquittal. Roland, 599 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:28,600 Speaker 1: ever confident, replied, quote, I've never doubted it. But as 600 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,800 Speaker 1: the minutes dragged on while they waited for Justice Lambert 601 00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:36,440 Speaker 1: to return to the courtroom, the tension built. In Roland's 602 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,960 Speaker 1: first trial. The jurors who had convicted him had refused 603 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:42,680 Speaker 1: to look him in the eye. As he watched these 604 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:48,520 Speaker 1: jurors violin, he noticed them looking away too. Finally Justice 605 00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:52,799 Speaker 1: Lambert arrived. He asked the jury Foreman Edward Young to 606 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:56,720 Speaker 1: stand and deliver the verdict on the charge of murder 607 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:01,440 Speaker 1: in the death of Catherine j Adams. The defendant, Roland Moleneu, 608 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:10,360 Speaker 1: was found not guilty. The courtroom erupted in cheers. The 609 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:14,760 Speaker 1: celebration went on for five minutes before Justice Lambert regained control. 610 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:18,240 Speaker 1: He asked District Attorney Jerome if they had any further 611 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:22,920 Speaker 1: cases against the defendant. When Jerome said no, Lambert ordered 612 00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:28,920 Speaker 1: Roland released. Eighty eight James Osborne looked devastated by the verdict, 613 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:32,520 Speaker 1: so distraught that even the jurors went to comfort him, 614 00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:36,200 Speaker 1: with Foreman Edward Young telling him, we had to go 615 00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:40,560 Speaker 1: against you, but you went down with flying colors. Interviews 616 00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:43,960 Speaker 1: with other jurors expanded on the point. They revealed to 617 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:46,719 Speaker 1: The New York Times that their vote had been unanimous 618 00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:50,000 Speaker 1: on the first ballot even before they had discussed the case, 619 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:54,040 Speaker 1: largely because, in the words of juror John Redner, quote, 620 00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,320 Speaker 1: the prosecution failed to connect the defendant with the cyanide 621 00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,960 Speaker 1: of mercury or with the purchase of the silver holder. 622 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:04,360 Speaker 1: Juror Charles O'Connor explained that though quote I do not 623 00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:08,279 Speaker 1: think the evidence conclusively proved that Molineux was innocent. I 624 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,560 Speaker 1: did not feel that the evidence furnished was sufficient to 625 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:15,680 Speaker 1: warrant taking a man's life. But the jurors felt Osborne 626 00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:18,359 Speaker 1: had done the best he could, with one even telling 627 00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:20,040 Speaker 1: him they would vote for him if he ran for 628 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:24,560 Speaker 1: district attorney. Osborne never became district attorney, but he enjoyed 629 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:28,360 Speaker 1: a successful lock career. In nineteen thirteen, he was appointed 630 00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:32,520 Speaker 1: Special Attorney General to investigate conditions at sing Sing. His 631 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:37,919 Speaker 1: work there prompted massive reforms. Roland Molineu and his father 632 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:41,680 Speaker 1: shared a carriage to Brooklyn, a large crowd following them 633 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:46,120 Speaker 1: through the streets and chanting malin knew, malin knew Yeah. 634 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:49,680 Speaker 1: Not the most catch each year. Arriving at the Fort Greenhouse, 635 00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,759 Speaker 1: Roland ran up the front steps towards his mother, who 636 00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:58,480 Speaker 1: flung her arms around him onlookers cheered loudly. Notably absent 637 00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:03,240 Speaker 1: from this touching scene was Blanche. People were not entirely 638 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:07,960 Speaker 1: surprised cracks in the Malinu's perfect marriage had begun to show. 639 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:12,319 Speaker 1: On November eighth, Blanche had given a revealing interview to 640 00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:15,480 Speaker 1: the New York World. When the reporter asked about her 641 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:21,719 Speaker 1: and Roland's future, Blanche cryptically replied, quote the future. No 642 00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:25,239 Speaker 1: matter what the future may be, nothing can repay me 643 00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:30,319 Speaker 1: for all that I, an innocent woman, have suffered. When 644 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,800 Speaker 1: the verdict was announced, Blanche stayed in her hotel suite. 645 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:37,319 Speaker 1: At the urging of one of Roland's lawyers, she reluctantly 646 00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:40,000 Speaker 1: agreed to come to the Fort Greenhouse later that evening. 647 00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:44,240 Speaker 1: As always, she put on a good show, dramatically rushing 648 00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:47,360 Speaker 1: past General Molineux at the door as if she couldn't 649 00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:51,240 Speaker 1: wait to see her husband. In reality, she would later write, 650 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:54,400 Speaker 1: she ran straight upstairs to her former bedroom and locked 651 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:58,680 Speaker 1: herself in without saying a word to any of the Molinews. 652 00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:01,520 Speaker 1: Early the next time morning, Blanche wrote a note to 653 00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:04,920 Speaker 1: General Molineux, explaining that she could not go on and 654 00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:09,800 Speaker 1: wishing him the best. She did not mention Roland, Placing 655 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:12,720 Speaker 1: her wedding ring on top of the letter, Blanche snuck 656 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:16,360 Speaker 1: out of the house. Roland Molineu would never see the 657 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:21,040 Speaker 1: woman he had allegedly killed over again. One week later, 658 00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:24,960 Speaker 1: news broke that she was seeking a divorce. The divorce 659 00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:28,520 Speaker 1: was finalized in September nineteen oh three. Two months later, 660 00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:32,279 Speaker 1: Blanche married her divorce lawyer, Wallace Scott. She tried to 661 00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:36,160 Speaker 1: resume her singing career, but General Molineu, furious at her, 662 00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:40,360 Speaker 1: used his connections to shut her down. After a tumultuous 663 00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:44,480 Speaker 1: life in which she and Scott divorced and remarried several times, 664 00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:48,799 Speaker 1: Blanche died in Minnesota on March twentieth, nineteen fifty four, 665 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:54,279 Speaker 1: at age eighty. Harry Cornish lived largely in anonymity after 666 00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:57,279 Speaker 1: the Malinu trial. In nineteen oh eight, he married a 667 00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:01,200 Speaker 1: woman named Mary Waite. In July of that year, news 668 00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:04,319 Speaker 1: broke that a body found floating off Coney Island had 669 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:08,200 Speaker 1: been identified as Cornish, but this turned out to be false. 670 00:45:09,120 --> 00:45:12,319 Speaker 1: He would live another twenty nine years, eventually moving to 671 00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:16,560 Speaker 1: Los Angeles and working as a mechanical engineer. Harry Cornish 672 00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:20,399 Speaker 1: died on January eleventh, nineteen forty seven, aged eighty four. 673 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:26,720 Speaker 1: Both Harry and Blanche outlived Roland Molineux. After his release 674 00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:29,600 Speaker 1: from prison, Roland went to work as a chemist at 675 00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:33,719 Speaker 1: his father's paint company and resumed his gymnastics practice, But 676 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:39,600 Speaker 1: while incarcerated he developed a new passion writing. In nineteen 677 00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:42,000 Speaker 1: o three, he published The Room with the Little Door, 678 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:44,640 Speaker 1: a collection of writing he'd done while in the tombs 679 00:45:44,719 --> 00:45:49,160 Speaker 1: and in Sing Sing's death House. Reviews were not great. 680 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:52,480 Speaker 1: The next year he published The Vice Admiral of the 681 00:45:52,520 --> 00:45:58,799 Speaker 1: Blue historical romance. Once again, his work found few fans. Undaunted, 682 00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:02,080 Speaker 1: Roland turned to the age, writing a play called The 683 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:05,960 Speaker 1: Man Inside, which was eventually put on by the prominent 684 00:46:06,040 --> 00:46:11,000 Speaker 1: theater producer David Belasco. Belasco's involvement, however, was not thanks 685 00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:14,240 Speaker 1: to any merit on the play's part, but rather because 686 00:46:14,280 --> 00:46:17,399 Speaker 1: he felt bad for Roland's parents, who had begged him 687 00:46:17,440 --> 00:46:22,880 Speaker 1: to produce the play. Pattie Molineux, Roland's mother, told Belasco, quote, 688 00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:26,279 Speaker 1: if he is disappointed in this, on top of all 689 00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:28,799 Speaker 1: the rest that he has suffered, we fear that he 690 00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:32,839 Speaker 1: will die. If his play should be a success, it 691 00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:36,040 Speaker 1: might open a new life to him. But by the 692 00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:40,120 Speaker 1: time the play debuted two you guessed it poor reviews, 693 00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:43,360 Speaker 1: it was too late for a new life for Roland. 694 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:46,319 Speaker 1: He was deep in the grips of the illness that 695 00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:51,720 Speaker 1: would eventually kill him, syphilis. By nineteen twelve, Roland's behavior 696 00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:55,800 Speaker 1: had become erratic and frightening. His once immaculate grooming habits 697 00:46:55,800 --> 00:47:00,480 Speaker 1: had disappeared. He was disheveled and unkempt. Despite these problems, 698 00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:04,280 Speaker 1: Roland married again, this time to a woman named Margaret Cornell, 699 00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:07,799 Speaker 1: who was twenty years his junior. But shortly after their 700 00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:12,400 Speaker 1: marriage in the fall of nineteen thirteen, Roland's condition deteriorated further. 701 00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:15,800 Speaker 1: His parents sent him to a sanitarium on Long Island. 702 00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:19,960 Speaker 1: In September nineteen fourteen, he escaped from the sanitarium and 703 00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:24,400 Speaker 1: assaulted several men. He was charged with disorderly conduct. The 704 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:27,440 Speaker 1: next day, he was declared insane and committed to the 705 00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:31,799 Speaker 1: State Hospital for the Insane. In January nineteen fifteen, his 706 00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:35,839 Speaker 1: first child, a girl, was born, but Roland Molineu would 707 00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:38,560 Speaker 1: never meet her. He died in the state hospital on 708 00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:44,240 Speaker 1: November two, nineteen seventeen, aged fifty one. By this time 709 00:47:44,440 --> 00:47:48,240 Speaker 1: both his parents were gone had he died on February fifth, 710 00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:53,600 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, aged seventy one or seventy two. General Edward Molineux, 711 00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:55,840 Speaker 1: who had spent most of the last twenty years of 712 00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:59,160 Speaker 1: his life fighting on his son's behalf, a battle which 713 00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:02,000 Speaker 1: seemed to have aged him more than any he'd fought 714 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:06,000 Speaker 1: in in the Civil War. Died on June tenth, nineteen fifteen, 715 00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:11,400 Speaker 1: age eighty one. Today, the Malnu name is most famous 716 00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:14,040 Speaker 1: for the legal rule that emerged as a result of 717 00:48:14,120 --> 00:48:17,400 Speaker 1: Roland's appeal. I'll note here that the family pronounced their 718 00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:21,480 Speaker 1: name Molineux, but the rule is known as the Malineaux rule. 719 00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:26,280 Speaker 1: This rule concerns the admissibility of prior bad acts into evidence. 720 00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:30,480 Speaker 1: As Judge William Warner noted in his opinion in Roland's case, 721 00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:33,919 Speaker 1: the idea that evidence of other crimes should be inadmissible 722 00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:36,880 Speaker 1: at trial was not a new one. There was extensive 723 00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:41,000 Speaker 1: precedent in both English and American law. It existed before 724 00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:45,000 Speaker 1: the Malinu opinion, and it existed after. But where Judge 725 00:48:45,040 --> 00:48:48,840 Speaker 1: Werner's opinion set precedent was into fining the circumstances in 726 00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:53,759 Speaker 1: which prior bad acts could be admissible. These exceptions are 727 00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:58,160 Speaker 1: now known by the acronym mimic for motive intent, mistake 728 00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:02,840 Speaker 1: identity common scheme in New York. The rule that prior 729 00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:06,360 Speaker 1: bad acts are in indisciple except for mimic cases. Is 730 00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:11,680 Speaker 1: known fittingly as the Molineaux rule. In practice, says former 731 00:49:11,719 --> 00:49:15,440 Speaker 1: New York Supreme Court Justice Mark Dwyer, evidence of uncharged 732 00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:19,480 Speaker 1: crimes is quote inadmissible to show that the defendant is 733 00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:23,520 Speaker 1: of bad character or is disposed to commit crimes, but 734 00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:26,520 Speaker 1: the evidence can be admitted if it helps prove an 735 00:49:26,600 --> 00:49:30,160 Speaker 1: element of a charged offense, so long as the uncharged 736 00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:35,120 Speaker 1: crimes are not unduly prejudicial. The Molina rule has made 737 00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:38,280 Speaker 1: news recently in the case of film producer Harvey Weinstein. 738 00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:42,040 Speaker 1: At Weinstein's twenty twenty trial in New York for sexual 739 00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:46,440 Speaker 1: assault and rape, a judge allowed several Molinau witnesses witnesses 740 00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:50,480 Speaker 1: who testified to prior bad acts. Weinstein was ultimately found 741 00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:54,160 Speaker 1: guilty of two felony sex crimes, but four years later, 742 00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:57,040 Speaker 1: in April twenty twenty four, the New York Court of 743 00:49:57,080 --> 00:50:01,759 Speaker 1: Appeals overturned Weinstein's conviction. In a fouri three ruling. The 744 00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:05,680 Speaker 1: majority opinion argued that the Molina witnesses testimony had been 745 00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:10,480 Speaker 1: more prejudicial than probative. The opinion's author, Judge Jenny Rivera, 746 00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:14,960 Speaker 1: calls the Malina rule quote a judicial bulwark against a 747 00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:19,880 Speaker 1: guilty verdict based on supposition rather than proof. In a 748 00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:23,840 Speaker 1: dissenting opinion, Judge Madeleine Singus argues that in sexual assault 749 00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:28,280 Speaker 1: cases where prevailing societal attitudes about sexual assault may cause 750 00:50:28,400 --> 00:50:32,880 Speaker 1: jurors to distrust victims, the additional testimony of Molina witnesses 751 00:50:33,239 --> 00:50:37,560 Speaker 1: may sometimes be necessary to overcome this inherent bias. Judge Rivera, 752 00:50:37,680 --> 00:50:41,680 Speaker 1: in response rites quote, just as rape myths may impact 753 00:50:41,680 --> 00:50:45,600 Speaker 1: the trier of facts, deliberative process, propensity, evidence has a 754 00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:49,040 Speaker 1: bias inducing effect on jurors and tends to undermine the 755 00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:53,520 Speaker 1: truth seeking function of trials. These opinions both point to 756 00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:58,000 Speaker 1: questions of fairness. When is it unfair to defendants to 757 00:50:58,080 --> 00:51:02,080 Speaker 1: allow prior bad acts into evidence, when is it unfair 758 00:51:02,160 --> 00:51:07,160 Speaker 1: to victims to exclude them. In Roland Malinew's case, it 759 00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:10,320 Speaker 1: was clearly unfair to include the Barnett case while trying 760 00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:13,640 Speaker 1: Roland for the murder of Catherine Adams. While it would 761 00:51:13,719 --> 00:51:18,520 Speaker 1: be to my mind highly highly unlikely for Henry Barnett 762 00:51:18,560 --> 00:51:21,600 Speaker 1: and Harry Cornish to have been sent poisoned by anyone 763 00:51:21,719 --> 00:51:24,560 Speaker 1: other than their mutual rival, who just so happened to 764 00:51:24,600 --> 00:51:28,280 Speaker 1: be a chemist with a dangerous temper. It's also clear 765 00:51:28,280 --> 00:51:31,000 Speaker 1: to me that the prosecution didn't have enough evidence to 766 00:51:31,040 --> 00:51:35,080 Speaker 1: prove their case against Roland, especially for a capital offense. 767 00:51:35,880 --> 00:51:39,600 Speaker 1: The prosecutors relied on evidence of a prior bad act 768 00:51:39,880 --> 00:51:43,279 Speaker 1: to fill in the gaps in their case. Where will 769 00:51:43,360 --> 00:51:46,120 Speaker 1: land in the future on the question of the admissibility 770 00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:49,840 Speaker 1: of prior bad acts is unknown, But as Judge Stingus 771 00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:54,880 Speaker 1: points out quote, the Malino rule has never been static. Instead, 772 00:51:55,000 --> 00:51:58,000 Speaker 1: its use has evolved over time to meet the challenges 773 00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:02,879 Speaker 1: of complex criminal prosecution. In the meantime, I know one 774 00:52:02,920 --> 00:52:06,520 Speaker 1: thing for sure. There are better ways to resolve disputes 775 00:52:06,840 --> 00:52:11,600 Speaker 1: than poisoning your enemies. That's the story of New York v. 776 00:52:12,120 --> 00:52:15,520 Speaker 1: Roland Molineu. Stay with me after the break for one 777 00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:19,040 Speaker 1: more tale of a connection between a Malnu defense lawyer 778 00:52:19,280 --> 00:52:23,080 Speaker 1: and a president. Not Richard Nixon this time, I promise. 779 00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:30,400 Speaker 1: Nineteen oh one was a very busy year for John Milburn. 780 00:52:31,120 --> 00:52:34,320 Speaker 1: Besides arguing on Roland Molineu's behalf in the Court of 781 00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:37,960 Speaker 1: Appeals in June, Milbourne was also the president of the 782 00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:42,040 Speaker 1: Pan American Exposition, the nineteen oh one World's Fair, held 783 00:52:42,080 --> 00:52:46,680 Speaker 1: in Buffalo. It was an enormous undertaking several years in 784 00:52:46,719 --> 00:52:51,400 Speaker 1: the making. The Exposition's infrastructure occupied three hundred and fifty 785 00:52:51,440 --> 00:52:55,880 Speaker 1: acres and cost approximately seven million dollars close to a 786 00:52:55,960 --> 00:52:59,680 Speaker 1: quarter of a billion dollars today, more than eight million 787 00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:04,200 Speaker 1: visitors attended between May and November nineteen oh one. As 788 00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:07,360 Speaker 1: President of the Exposition, John Milburn had the honor of 789 00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:10,560 Speaker 1: hosting President William McKinley on his visit to the Fair 790 00:53:11,239 --> 00:53:14,040 Speaker 1: on September three, a little more than a month before 791 00:53:14,040 --> 00:53:17,360 Speaker 1: the appeals Court announced its decision in the Malnu case. 792 00:53:17,719 --> 00:53:22,320 Speaker 1: McKinley arrived at Milburn's Buffalo mansion on the sixth. Milburn 793 00:53:22,320 --> 00:53:25,600 Speaker 1: accompanied McKinley to a reception in the President's honor at 794 00:53:25,600 --> 00:53:29,040 Speaker 1: the Fairs Temple of Music. At four h seven p m. 795 00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:33,279 Speaker 1: John Milburn was standing beside the President when a young 796 00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:37,560 Speaker 1: man named Leon Shahgosh pulled out a revolver and shot 797 00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:42,400 Speaker 1: McKinley twice. After McKinley was treated in a hospital, the 798 00:53:42,440 --> 00:53:47,319 Speaker 1: President returned to Milburn's house to recuperate. Unfortunately, as in 799 00:53:47,360 --> 00:53:51,200 Speaker 1: the case of President James Garfield, infection introduced by a 800 00:53:51,239 --> 00:53:55,719 Speaker 1: bullet lingering in the President's body began to spread on 801 00:53:55,760 --> 00:54:00,200 Speaker 1: September fourteenth, nineteen oh one, in a bedroom in the 802 00:54:00,280 --> 00:54:06,160 Speaker 1: house of one of Roland Malinu's lawyers, President William McKinley died. 803 00:54:07,640 --> 00:54:10,120 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to History on Trial. If you 804 00:54:10,239 --> 00:54:13,560 Speaker 1: enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating or review. 805 00:54:13,920 --> 00:54:16,680 Speaker 1: It can help new listeners find the show. My main 806 00:54:16,719 --> 00:54:21,360 Speaker 1: sources for this episode were Harold Scheckter's book The Devil's Gentlemen, Privilege, 807 00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:24,160 Speaker 1: Poison and The Trial That Ushered in the twentieth century, 808 00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:26,880 Speaker 1: as well as newspaper coverage of the trial and the 809 00:54:26,880 --> 00:54:31,120 Speaker 1: appellate opinion in People v. Molineux. For a complete bibliography, 810 00:54:31,320 --> 00:54:33,680 Speaker 1: as well as a transcript of the episode with citations, 811 00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:39,600 Speaker 1: please visit our website History on Trial podcast dot com. 812 00:54:39,880 --> 00:54:43,760 Speaker 1: History on Trial is written and hosted by me Mira Hayward. 813 00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:47,440 Speaker 1: The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with 814 00:54:47,520 --> 00:54:53,160 Speaker 1: supervising producer Trevor Young and executive producers Dana Schwartz, Alexander Williams, 815 00:54:53,560 --> 00:54:57,200 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick, and Mira Hayward. Learn more about the show 816 00:54:57,280 --> 00:55:01,279 Speaker 1: at History on Trial podcast dot com and follow us 817 00:55:01,280 --> 00:55:05,479 Speaker 1: on Instagram at History on Trial and on Twitter at 818 00:55:05,800 --> 00:55:11,000 Speaker 1: Underscore History on Trial. 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