WEBVTT - The Not-So-Genius Killer 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:09.605 School of Humans. 0:00:11.725 --> 0:00:14.285 So I didn't necessarily want to make American filth a 0:00:14.325 --> 0:00:17.325 true crime podcast, but we're going to do a hint 0:00:17.365 --> 0:00:18.685 of true crime today. 0:00:18.725 --> 0:00:20.885 Okay, we're going to talk about a murderer. 0:00:21.405 --> 0:00:25.445 That's exciting, And shout out to the listener who suggested 0:00:25.445 --> 0:00:30.405 this guy. His name is Edward Ruloff, and he's really 0:00:30.445 --> 0:00:33.885 fucked up but also a bit of a nerd. And 0:00:33.965 --> 0:00:35.605 also I do want to say up top that he 0:00:35.925 --> 0:00:39.605 is technically he is Canadian, okay, but he lived here 0:00:39.645 --> 0:00:41.805 in the United States and that's where he did all 0:00:41.845 --> 0:00:45.965 of his murdering. You know, maybe he came here to 0:00:46.005 --> 0:00:50.525 live the American dream and instead became an American nightmare. 0:00:52.765 --> 0:00:54.445 And let's get a little sense of this guy. So 0:00:54.525 --> 0:00:58.125 he was finally hanged in eighteen seventy one, what spoiler. 0:00:59.165 --> 0:01:02.045 And while he was sitting in jail waiting for his execution, 0:01:02.445 --> 0:01:07.245 here's how another prisoner described him. Rulloff is now fifty 0:01:07.285 --> 0:01:10.445 one years old, about five feet nine inches in height. 0:01:10.525 --> 0:01:13.965 He weighs about one seventy to one eighty pounds. He 0:01:14.045 --> 0:01:18.565 has an extremely large head, small and delicate hands, which 0:01:18.605 --> 0:01:21.965 do not show hard labor. His eyes are black, and 0:01:22.005 --> 0:01:25.725 when he is animated in conversation, they shine like diamonds. 0:01:26.485 --> 0:01:28.925 He has heavy dark hair and whiskers, but none on 0:01:28.965 --> 0:01:32.885 his upper lip. They are slightly silvered from his advancing gears. 0:01:33.165 --> 0:01:36.645 His voice is sweet and musical, and his manners those 0:01:36.685 --> 0:01:40.685 of a perfect gentleman. As a conversationalist, he has no 0:01:40.845 --> 0:01:44.765 superior He is fascinating and possesses a power of personal 0:01:44.845 --> 0:01:48.725 magnetism that quickly draws to him the hearts of all 0:01:48.805 --> 0:01:55.525 with whom he comes closely in contact. So I guess 0:01:55.565 --> 0:01:59.125 he has that riz as the kids say. If you're 0:01:59.205 --> 0:02:00.925 one of those kids, let me know if I use 0:02:00.965 --> 0:02:05.405 that word correctly. And the thing is in this description, 0:02:05.645 --> 0:02:08.965 the prisoner did mention how big his head was, and 0:02:09.085 --> 0:02:12.925 Ruloff had an enormous head, like a big ass head 0:02:12.965 --> 0:02:17.645 ahead you'd never seen a bigger head, honestly. In order 0:02:17.685 --> 0:02:20.885 to pay for his burial expenses, they actually gave his 0:02:20.925 --> 0:02:23.965 head to science because they're like, we know you want 0:02:23.965 --> 0:02:27.285 this head, give us some money for it. And it 0:02:27.325 --> 0:02:29.645 turned out that his brain was like ten ounces heavier 0:02:29.685 --> 0:02:32.405 than the average brain, and also it was just thick 0:02:32.565 --> 0:02:33.845 and juicy as hell. 0:02:34.045 --> 0:02:37.685 That's right, a thick ass brain. But the thing is. 0:02:37.685 --> 0:02:41.045 While Ruloff could present as a nice, intelligent, interesting man, 0:02:41.565 --> 0:02:42.885 let's not forget. 0:02:42.645 --> 0:02:45.925 That he is a criminal. Hell yeah. 0:02:46.205 --> 0:02:48.445 When he finally did hang for his crime, the Ithaca 0:02:48.525 --> 0:02:52.085 Journal said this about him. Seldom and our civilization has 0:02:52.125 --> 0:02:55.765 the combination of high gifts with low brutality been found 0:02:55.805 --> 0:02:59.645 in one person. His mind was misdirected and allowed to 0:02:59.685 --> 0:03:04.205 grow in the rankest weeds of crime and villainy. Not 0:03:04.285 --> 0:03:06.885 only did this article say he was an evil man, 0:03:07.645 --> 0:03:10.885 it also said something that would have offended Ruloff to 0:03:10.925 --> 0:03:15.805 his core, because some people had dubbed him the Genius Killer, 0:03:17.045 --> 0:03:20.125 but the article said he was no such profound and 0:03:20.405 --> 0:03:28.885 erudite scholar. Wow roasted. So let's learn about some murder. 0:03:28.965 --> 0:03:37.725 Cue the theme song, This is American Filth. I'm Gabby Watts. 0:03:37.725 --> 0:03:40.885 Every week I tell you a filthy story from American history. 0:03:41.805 --> 0:03:57.565 This week's episode at the not so Genius Killer. So 0:03:57.845 --> 0:04:00.485 Edward Ruloff was born in Canada in eighteen nineteen or 0:04:00.525 --> 0:04:04.245 eighteen twenty, and his two main passions in his life 0:04:04.565 --> 0:04:08.365 were philology, which is the study of language through a 0:04:08.445 --> 0:04:12.805 historical lens, and his other passion was committing crimes and 0:04:12.845 --> 0:04:15.845 being in prison. And the thing is, it seemed like 0:04:15.925 --> 0:04:19.645 he had a pretty normal childhood with normal parents and siblings. 0:04:20.565 --> 0:04:22.645 He was pretty smart, he was able to read by 0:04:22.645 --> 0:04:26.805 the age of four. But his nefarious ways came on 0:04:26.925 --> 0:04:31.765 quick as well, like when he was a young rascal. 0:04:31.965 --> 0:04:34.245 He worked at a clothing store and while he was 0:04:34.285 --> 0:04:39.125 employed there, the store burned down twice, and a lot 0:04:39.125 --> 0:04:39.845 of people got to. 0:04:39.845 --> 0:04:42.645 Thinking, I think Edward might be burning it down. 0:04:43.285 --> 0:04:46.005 Why maybe he's trying to cover up the fact that 0:04:46.045 --> 0:04:50.525 he's stealing merchandise, But there was never any evidence for that. 0:04:53.085 --> 0:04:56.565 After the second time the store burned down, Edward ended 0:04:56.645 --> 0:04:59.445 up being caught red handed. He was also working as 0:04:59.445 --> 0:05:02.045 a clerk for a law firm, and he had broken 0:05:02.045 --> 0:05:03.525 into the house of one of the lawyers. 0:05:03.925 --> 0:05:05.045 And then they just saw him. 0:05:04.885 --> 0:05:08.165 Struting around town wearing that lawyer's nice ass suit. 0:05:09.005 --> 0:05:11.365 They're like, you stole that. He's like me, what, I 0:05:11.445 --> 0:05:12.085 just found this? 0:05:14.605 --> 0:05:16.685 And so he had his first stint in prison. He 0:05:16.725 --> 0:05:23.405 was sent to a juvenile prison for two years. After 0:05:23.445 --> 0:05:26.685 his juvenile prison stay, we don't exactly know what was 0:05:26.725 --> 0:05:29.725 going on, but by eighteen forty two, he had moved 0:05:29.725 --> 0:05:32.765 to New York State to a town called Dryden in 0:05:32.885 --> 0:05:36.125 Tompkins County. He was around twenty two or twenty three 0:05:36.165 --> 0:05:39.005 at the time, and that's when he really started getting 0:05:39.085 --> 0:05:45.245 up to no good in Dryden. You know, everyone was 0:05:45.325 --> 0:05:49.565 so impressed by his intelligence, and he started teaching school. 0:05:50.645 --> 0:05:52.605 One of his students was seventeen. 0:05:52.165 --> 0:05:56.325 Year old Harriet Shoot and whoops, I guess they had 0:05:56.325 --> 0:05:58.925 feelings for each other because they wanted to get married, 0:05:59.525 --> 0:06:04.445 but Harriet's family didn't approve, not because Edward was older 0:06:04.485 --> 0:06:06.725 and also her sipipe he or you're in the classroom, 0:06:06.765 --> 0:06:08.445 so there was a weird power imbalance. 0:06:08.765 --> 0:06:10.605 Oh no, that was fine. 0:06:10.725 --> 0:06:14.525 They disapproved because yuck, he was a teacher, ergo, not 0:06:14.605 --> 0:06:20.645 a suitable husband of means and status. Disgusting, But despite 0:06:20.685 --> 0:06:24.485 her family wishes, Harriet and Edward did get married, and 0:06:24.525 --> 0:06:27.765 then they moved to a nearby town called Lansing, and 0:06:27.805 --> 0:06:31.045 their rule off began working as a doctor, despite not 0:06:31.165 --> 0:06:35.005 having any doctor experience. That's right, kids, don't go to 0:06:35.045 --> 0:06:40.125 med school. Just start doctoring, You're fine. The couple had 0:06:40.165 --> 0:06:43.205 a baby that they named Priscilla, and then it was 0:06:43.245 --> 0:06:46.205 the summer of eighteen forty five when everything got pretty 0:06:46.725 --> 0:06:51.365 suss because on the night of June twenty second, eighteen 0:06:51.485 --> 0:06:55.525 forty five, a neighbor, Miss Robertson, saw Harriet and Priscilla 0:06:55.765 --> 0:07:00.245 walking around outside, but then after that no one ever 0:07:00.285 --> 0:07:05.685 saw them ever again, Dad dud da, was I a 0:07:05.685 --> 0:07:06.725 good true crime read? 0:07:06.805 --> 0:07:07.205 I don't know? 0:07:10.885 --> 0:07:13.845 Okay? So yes, basically what happened June twenty second, Miss 0:07:13.965 --> 0:07:17.165 Robertson sees them, But then the next day, June twenty third, 0:07:17.925 --> 0:07:20.845 Edward rule Off goes over to the Robertsons and asks 0:07:20.925 --> 0:07:23.685 Tom Robertson if he can borrow their horse and wagon. 0:07:24.205 --> 0:07:25.805 He's like, I got a bunch of stuff in. 0:07:25.765 --> 0:07:28.085 This crate that I need to take over to a relative, 0:07:28.685 --> 0:07:31.285 so please give me your horse and buggy, and Tom 0:07:31.365 --> 0:07:33.845 was like, yeah, no problem, Yeah, for sure borrow it. 0:07:35.165 --> 0:07:36.125 Then Tom saw. 0:07:36.045 --> 0:07:41.085 Edward struggling with a large wooden box, presumably filled with 0:07:41.205 --> 0:07:44.725 tools and supplies, and Tom was like, hey, you want 0:07:44.725 --> 0:07:45.725 a little bit of help. 0:07:45.485 --> 0:07:47.445 With that, and Edward was like yeah, thanks. 0:07:48.885 --> 0:07:52.205 So then with this crate slash wooden box, Edward drove off. 0:07:53.325 --> 0:07:57.725 But then the next day Edward came back and he 0:07:57.805 --> 0:08:00.845 pulled that same box off of the wagon, but it 0:08:00.845 --> 0:08:04.125 looked pretty light, so everyone was like it must be 0:08:04.165 --> 0:08:08.205 empty now. But meanwhile the neighbors and the people in 0:08:08.245 --> 0:08:13.765 the town, they're like, where's your wife And Edward was like, oh, yeah, 0:08:13.765 --> 0:08:15.885 she just went on vacation at the lakes with her 0:08:15.925 --> 0:08:19.565 family and the baby. And yet we're actually moving to 0:08:19.645 --> 0:08:22.045 Ohio and so that's where we're gonna be. So like, 0:08:22.085 --> 0:08:27.845 don't worry if no one is home ever. Again, I'm 0:08:27.845 --> 0:08:30.725 just saying, guys, if anyone ever says I'm moving to Ohio, 0:08:30.885 --> 0:08:33.845 you know something suspicious is going on, because. 0:08:33.525 --> 0:08:37.005 No one would do that by choice. Anyway. 0:08:39.845 --> 0:08:42.845 A day or two later, Edward left, but then weirdly 0:08:43.165 --> 0:08:47.245 he came back. But by that time people were already 0:08:47.285 --> 0:08:50.405 thinking that he had done something to Harriet and Priscilla, 0:08:50.805 --> 0:08:55.325 maybe even murdered them. Apparently he was also just laughing 0:08:55.365 --> 0:08:58.005 at people being like you murdered your wife and child. 0:08:58.045 --> 0:09:00.725 He was just like, gffa, gufaw, that's so silly. I 0:09:00.765 --> 0:09:04.525 would never But then Harriet's brother, Ephrium, was like, you 0:09:04.565 --> 0:09:07.205 better show me where they are, and Edward was like, Okay, 0:09:07.405 --> 0:09:09.365 come with me to Ohio. I'll show you where my 0:09:09.405 --> 0:09:11.925 wife and child are. You silly goose, You're freaking out 0:09:11.925 --> 0:09:15.325 for no reason. So Ephriam was like, yeah, I'm gonna 0:09:15.325 --> 0:09:17.245 go with you. But then when they got to Buffalo 0:09:17.285 --> 0:09:20.725 to catch a boat to Cleveland. After Ephriam boarded the boat, 0:09:20.885 --> 0:09:26.005 Edward ran away and disappeared into the crowd sus But 0:09:26.085 --> 0:09:27.325 again he did a weird thing. 0:09:27.765 --> 0:09:28.125 Edward. 0:09:28.165 --> 0:09:31.285 Instead of going rogue, what he did was he took 0:09:31.365 --> 0:09:34.725 the next boat to Cleveland, where Ephriam was waiting for him, 0:09:34.725 --> 0:09:37.525 being like, my sister and my niece aren't here you sicko. 0:09:38.245 --> 0:09:40.885 And then Ephriam got him arrested and brought him back 0:09:40.925 --> 0:09:48.765 to New York. But the problem was no one could 0:09:48.765 --> 0:09:52.085 find a body, not of the wife, not of the baby. 0:09:53.565 --> 0:09:57.165 Everyone in Tompkins County had been searching for them. They 0:09:57.245 --> 0:10:04.205 even searched the bottom of the nearby lakes. So technically 0:10:04.245 --> 0:10:06.325 the only thing that they could the rest Edward for 0:10:06.845 --> 0:10:12.245 was for the abduction of his wife. There was a trial, 0:10:12.285 --> 0:10:14.845 and he was convicted, and he was sentenced to ten 0:10:14.925 --> 0:10:22.765 years at a state prison in Auburn, New York. But 0:10:22.845 --> 0:10:25.045 the thing with this, it didn't seem like prison was 0:10:25.085 --> 0:10:27.405 that much of a punishment, because Edward seemed to be 0:10:27.405 --> 0:10:29.445 having a pretty good time. He had a lot of 0:10:29.485 --> 0:10:32.685 time to study the classics, which he loved, and then 0:10:32.685 --> 0:10:35.965 there were these Sunday lectures that guest professors and clergymen 0:10:36.005 --> 0:10:40.005 would give, and Edward would just dazzle his fellow inmates 0:10:40.005 --> 0:10:42.645 with his mastery of Greek and Latin. And at one 0:10:42.685 --> 0:10:44.725 point an inmate was like, Wow, do you have a 0:10:44.805 --> 0:10:48.205 Latin dictionary? You're so good at it, and Edward was like, no, 0:10:48.245 --> 0:10:56.645 I don't need one. I am a Latin dictionary. 0:10:56.685 --> 0:10:58.765 Ten years later, Edward was released. 0:11:01.925 --> 0:11:05.045 But the thing is, everyone in Tompkins County still hated 0:11:05.085 --> 0:11:08.685 his but so he was immediately arrested for the murder 0:11:08.685 --> 0:11:12.645 of his wife once he came out of prison. But 0:11:12.685 --> 0:11:14.485 then he was like, you can't arrest me because of that, 0:11:14.565 --> 0:11:17.765 remember the double jeopardy rule. You can't charge me with 0:11:17.805 --> 0:11:21.405 two crimes related to my wife. And the district attorney 0:11:21.445 --> 0:11:24.565 was like, actually, Edward, rule off is right on this account. 0:11:24.765 --> 0:11:27.725 How about instead, let's indict him for the murder of 0:11:27.805 --> 0:11:34.525 his child. Haha, God is ass But again, so many 0:11:34.565 --> 0:11:37.325 people in the county felt passionately about this case that 0:11:37.405 --> 0:11:40.645 they couldn't find an unbiased jury, so then they had 0:11:40.645 --> 0:11:45.405 to move the trial to a different county. Edward's lawyer 0:11:45.565 --> 0:11:49.045 Joshua Spencer was like, Hey, you can't convict him. 0:11:49.085 --> 0:11:50.245 There's no body. 0:11:50.565 --> 0:11:53.045 There's not even a little portion of a body, not 0:11:53.125 --> 0:11:56.525 even an inch. You can't say the baby's dead just 0:11:56.565 --> 0:12:00.725 because of circumstantial evidence. Find me a dead baby, and 0:12:00.805 --> 0:12:05.365 maybe you have a case. But instead of being convicted, 0:12:06.165 --> 0:12:12.645 Edward decided to skidaddle. It seemed like he was in 0:12:12.685 --> 0:12:14.925 cahoots with one of the guys who worked at the jail. 0:12:15.045 --> 0:12:20.045 His name is Albert Jarvis. And Albert Jarvis he unlocked 0:12:20.165 --> 0:12:25.765 edward cell door. Then a carriage driven by several black 0:12:25.805 --> 0:12:29.005 horses rode up to the jail and Edward jumped inside 0:12:29.005 --> 0:12:32.885 and was taken away. Once the carriage and horses reached 0:12:32.885 --> 0:12:44.005 the hills, Edward and the driver jumped out and ran away. 0:12:46.125 --> 0:12:49.765 Edward made it to Pennsylvania, and there under a pseudonym, 0:12:49.805 --> 0:12:53.245 he got a teaching job by impressing the faculty. 0:12:52.725 --> 0:12:53.445 Of a college. 0:12:53.805 --> 0:12:56.845 They're like, Wow, you know so much about classical literature 0:12:56.965 --> 0:12:57.605 and words. 0:12:57.605 --> 0:12:58.445 That's so cool. 0:12:58.685 --> 0:13:01.445 Why don't you just be a professor here at Southern State. 0:13:02.005 --> 0:13:03.245 You're so smart. 0:13:03.445 --> 0:13:10.885 Not a criminal, for sure, But while he was there, Edward, unfortunately, 0:13:10.965 --> 0:13:13.645 he did not have any money really, you know, he 0:13:13.685 --> 0:13:16.485 had been too busy murdering his wife and child and 0:13:16.525 --> 0:13:19.445 being in prison that he didn't really have anything saved up. 0:13:21.125 --> 0:13:23.525 And one day he got a letter from Albert Jarvis, 0:13:23.565 --> 0:13:26.845 remember the jailer who let him out, And Albert was like, hey, 0:13:26.925 --> 0:13:28.885 me and my mom don't have any money, so if 0:13:28.885 --> 0:13:30.965 you don't find us some, we're gonna tell on you. 0:13:32.325 --> 0:13:35.245 So what did Edward decide to do? Get a job, 0:13:35.365 --> 0:13:41.565 work hard? No, he robbed a jewelry store. He got 0:13:41.605 --> 0:13:44.125 all the jewels, put them in a satchel, and as 0:13:44.125 --> 0:13:47.085 he was skirt skirting away from the robbery, he saw 0:13:47.085 --> 0:13:49.165 a man with some horses and he was like, hey, 0:13:49.165 --> 0:13:50.685 can I ride one of your horses? 0:13:50.805 --> 0:13:52.845 And the guy was like, hell, yeah, for sure, hop on. 0:13:55.005 --> 0:13:58.045 But then when they got to their destination, the guy 0:13:58.125 --> 0:14:01.525 with the horses got arrested because apparently this guy was 0:14:01.565 --> 0:14:05.285 actually a horse thief and they were riding on stolen horses. 0:14:06.285 --> 0:14:09.445 So Edward got arrested again, and the cops were like, 0:14:09.525 --> 0:14:10.805 what's up with this jewelry? 0:14:10.845 --> 0:14:12.765 And He's like, I don't know, it was already here. 0:14:12.845 --> 0:14:13.885 I have nothing to do with it. 0:14:13.925 --> 0:14:16.525 These aren't my horses, I swear to God and they 0:14:16.525 --> 0:14:18.605 were like, okay, fine, we believe you, and he was 0:14:18.645 --> 0:14:21.165 released on bail that someone at the college paid for. 0:14:26.045 --> 0:14:30.125 Some time later, Edward went back to Ohio, but unfortunately 0:14:30.205 --> 0:14:32.725 for him, a man who had been in prison with 0:14:32.845 --> 0:14:36.645 Edward in Auburn saw him and was like, Wow, there's 0:14:36.685 --> 0:14:39.245 that guy with a huge head. The reward for him 0:14:39.285 --> 0:14:41.525 is really high. I'm going to go tell on him 0:14:41.525 --> 0:14:45.845 and get him arrested. So alas for Edward, he was 0:14:45.885 --> 0:14:49.605 caught again and brought back to Ithaca to restart the trial. 0:14:54.045 --> 0:14:57.645 So Edward Rolloff was back in jail waiting for his trial, 0:14:58.445 --> 0:15:02.325 and unfortunately for him, his lawyer, John Spencer, had died, 0:15:02.845 --> 0:15:05.165 so he was looking for a new one. But then 0:15:05.205 --> 0:15:07.445 there's his other lawyer who went to his jail cell 0:15:07.565 --> 0:15:10.405 just to get some background info on him, And this 0:15:10.485 --> 0:15:13.965 guy wrote, I expected to see a monster in human form. 0:15:14.245 --> 0:15:16.605 In fact, I was a little timid about going at all. 0:15:16.925 --> 0:15:19.245 It was a long time before I could be convinced 0:15:19.245 --> 0:15:22.205 that this gentle manly and mild mannered man that I 0:15:22.245 --> 0:15:25.605 saw in the cell was rule Off the murderer. One 0:15:25.645 --> 0:15:27.965 thing impressed me. It was the way in which he 0:15:28.045 --> 0:15:31.365 carried his head, A little to one side and not 0:15:31.405 --> 0:15:35.405 a KOI but a gentle, winning and winsome manner, while 0:15:35.445 --> 0:15:40.925 his voice was gentleness itself. Wow, sounds like someone's trying 0:15:40.965 --> 0:15:47.525 to fuck Rule off. Anyway, that guy didn't end up 0:15:47.525 --> 0:15:52.685 being Edward's next lawyer. Instead, this younger man named F. M. 0:15:52.725 --> 0:15:58.245 Finch took over the duties. Finch took a different approach 0:15:58.245 --> 0:16:01.365 in the courtroom. He was like, yeah, I don't actually 0:16:01.405 --> 0:16:05.765 think you need a dead body to prove that someone's dead. Like, 0:16:05.845 --> 0:16:10.445 I think you can definitely use the circumstantial evidence. Everyone 0:16:10.485 --> 0:16:13.085 in the courtroom was shook by this argument because it 0:16:13.165 --> 0:16:17.165 was the opposite of what Spencer had argued. But then 0:16:17.245 --> 0:16:20.285 Finch was basically like, yeah, but I also don't think 0:16:20.325 --> 0:16:24.965 you have enough circumstantial evidence. He said, quote, I assert 0:16:25.005 --> 0:16:28.685 that the circumstance of mere absence in and of itself 0:16:28.765 --> 0:16:32.645 is not sufficient in a criminal case to establish death 0:16:33.005 --> 0:16:39.005 en quote. In this argument, apparently it was good enough 0:16:39.005 --> 0:16:42.445 to get Edward Ruloff off on all charges. They're like, 0:16:42.485 --> 0:16:44.405 I mean, I guess we can't charge him with anything 0:16:44.405 --> 0:16:46.925 because we can't find any evidence at all, and also 0:16:47.005 --> 0:16:49.205 it's been fifteen years since all of that happened. 0:16:49.605 --> 0:16:50.165 Alas, so, I. 0:16:50.125 --> 0:16:56.005 Guess we have to let him go. The public, though, 0:16:56.285 --> 0:17:00.725 was really pissed off about this decision. They're like, Edward 0:17:00.805 --> 0:17:04.125 Ruloff is a fucking murderer, and now you're just letting 0:17:04.205 --> 0:17:10.165 him go about in Blick. Some folks distributed a pamphlet 0:17:10.205 --> 0:17:14.285 that said, shall this monster be turned loose to glut 0:17:14.325 --> 0:17:17.085 his tiger appetite for revenge and blood? 0:17:17.405 --> 0:17:20.845 Shall the end of justice be defeated? We trust not, 0:17:21.325 --> 0:17:22.045 we hope not. 0:17:22.485 --> 0:17:26.125 We implore you, citizens of Tompkins County, Let it not 0:17:26.285 --> 0:17:28.405 go out to the world that there can be no 0:17:28.725 --> 0:17:32.485 justice had in our midst. In the name of humanity, 0:17:32.725 --> 0:17:35.245 in the name of the relatives of the murdered wife, 0:17:35.405 --> 0:17:39.685 whose heartstrings have been lacerated by this fiend in human shape, 0:17:40.165 --> 0:17:42.765 in the name of the murdered wife and child, whose 0:17:42.805 --> 0:17:46.205 pale ghosts calls you from the silent tomb to do 0:17:46.325 --> 0:17:50.325 your duty, we ask you. Shall the murderer go unpunished? 0:17:50.605 --> 0:17:54.245 Shall we let this convicted felon escape? Will you allow 0:17:54.605 --> 0:17:57.645 Edward H. Wool Off to breathe the same pure air 0:17:57.725 --> 0:18:01.365 of freedom we enjoy? Will you allow this man who 0:18:01.365 --> 0:18:04.125 bears the mark of Cain upon his brow to go 0:18:04.245 --> 0:18:07.925 forth in this community and add fresh victims to the grave. 0:18:08.485 --> 0:18:15.005 No, you will not, you cannot. Wow. The people were 0:18:15.005 --> 0:18:15.765 so pissed off. 0:18:17.205 --> 0:18:19.205 In fact, they were so pissed off that they were 0:18:19.245 --> 0:18:22.885 constructing their own gallows because they were planning on having 0:18:22.965 --> 0:18:29.725 a public lynching of Edward rule off. The sheriff in 0:18:29.805 --> 0:18:32.245 Tompkins County was like, damn, this is annoying. 0:18:32.405 --> 0:18:33.005 I might have to. 0:18:33.045 --> 0:18:36.005 Hire some more deputies to protect this guy from this mob. 0:18:36.885 --> 0:18:38.885 So what the sheriff did instead, he was like, I 0:18:38.925 --> 0:18:43.485 gotta get Edward back to Auburn so everyone will simmer down. 0:18:45.645 --> 0:18:47.365 And so he was like, hey, Edward, I'm gonna take 0:18:47.405 --> 0:18:49.325 you somewhere else. But Edward was like, I don't want 0:18:49.325 --> 0:18:51.325 to go somewhere else. I'm safer in the jail. They're 0:18:51.325 --> 0:18:53.605 gonna get me if I step one foot outside of 0:18:53.605 --> 0:18:56.765 this jail cell. But the sheriff was like, bitch, I'm 0:18:56.805 --> 0:18:58.885 gonna take you to Auburn or I'm just gonna let 0:18:58.885 --> 0:18:59.445 you get lynched. 0:18:59.485 --> 0:19:00.565 Okay, do what I say. 0:19:02.285 --> 0:19:05.445 So a couple of days before the lynching of Edward, 0:19:05.565 --> 0:19:07.805 what the sheriff did is he got in a coach 0:19:08.805 --> 0:19:11.565 and drove away and at the time. There were a 0:19:11.605 --> 0:19:14.005 lot of citizens guarding the jail just to keep their 0:19:14.005 --> 0:19:17.045 eyes on Edward, and once they saw the sheriff leaving, 0:19:17.085 --> 0:19:19.045 they're like, oh, it's probably a good time to take 0:19:19.085 --> 0:19:22.725 a lunch break. But then right as they left, the 0:19:22.805 --> 0:19:26.685 coach came back and Edward was thrown into the carriage. 0:19:26.325 --> 0:19:28.565 As well, and they drove away. 0:19:28.965 --> 0:19:32.405 The sheriff then took him to a steamboat landing, and 0:19:32.565 --> 0:19:35.045 Edward got on the boat and made it to Auburn. 0:19:40.805 --> 0:19:43.525 The mob was super mad at the sheriff. They were like, 0:19:43.565 --> 0:19:47.405 I wanted to have a lunching, But the thing is 0:19:47.525 --> 0:19:50.085 Edward is still going to die by hanging, so let's 0:19:50.125 --> 0:20:01.885 see what happened to get him there after these soothing advertisements. 0:20:03.125 --> 0:20:05.365 So I remember that lawyer who visited Edward rule Off 0:20:05.525 --> 0:20:08.285 in jail and sounded really horny for him. Well, that 0:20:08.285 --> 0:20:11.365 guy wrote a whole story about Rulof's case, and he 0:20:11.405 --> 0:20:14.405 made this amazing roast that really doesn't have that much 0:20:14.445 --> 0:20:16.325 to do with the story, but it is hilarious to me. 0:20:16.645 --> 0:20:21.405 So he said, I believe that criminals, like poets, are born, 0:20:21.885 --> 0:20:25.125 not made. No amount of punishment could prevent rule Off 0:20:25.165 --> 0:20:28.405 from continuing his criminal life, and I sometimes think that 0:20:28.485 --> 0:20:31.325 no amount of punishment will prevent some people from writing 0:20:31.365 --> 0:20:38.165 poetry lol boo poetry anyway. Based on that quote, though, 0:20:38.205 --> 0:20:40.245 I don't know if that guy was really into restorative 0:20:40.405 --> 0:20:42.245 justice of being like, oh, if you're a criminal, you're 0:20:42.245 --> 0:20:45.165 always a criminal, But it did seem that that was 0:20:45.205 --> 0:20:48.325 true for Edward rule Off, because you would think, after 0:20:48.365 --> 0:20:50.605 all the stuff he went through in Tompkins County, he 0:20:50.685 --> 0:20:55.885 might stop doing crimes, but no. After he left Auburn, 0:20:55.965 --> 0:20:58.405 he moved to New York City with Albert Jarvis, his 0:20:58.605 --> 0:21:02.285 jailer buddy, and while he was there, Edward did another 0:21:02.365 --> 0:21:05.405 burglary and was sentenced to two more years in prison 0:21:05.685 --> 0:21:08.765 at sing Singh. After he served that, he was in 0:21:08.845 --> 0:21:12.205 Connecticut and was caught with some stolen goods, so he 0:21:12.245 --> 0:21:16.165 was sentenced to another year of imprisonment, but somehow he 0:21:16.205 --> 0:21:18.725 was able to get a pardon from the governor of Connecticut, 0:21:19.165 --> 0:21:24.405 so he only served about two months of that. Then 0:21:24.485 --> 0:21:26.845 he was in New Hampshire and he went to this 0:21:26.885 --> 0:21:29.565 one college and was like, Hey, I'm a graduate from 0:21:29.605 --> 0:21:34.485 Oxford and a retired episcopal minister, and the people at 0:21:34.485 --> 0:21:36.605 the college were like, oh my god, that's awesome, You're 0:21:36.645 --> 0:21:39.765 so talented. Why don't you be a serious scholar at 0:21:39.765 --> 0:21:41.525 our college? 0:21:41.765 --> 0:21:44.005 And he was like, wow, I thought you would never ask. 0:21:45.645 --> 0:21:47.685 But then when he was at that college posing as 0:21:47.685 --> 0:21:51.125 a serious scholar, he was actually working with a little 0:21:51.165 --> 0:21:55.565 gang on a bank robbery. And now, while Edward might 0:21:55.565 --> 0:21:59.045 have not participated in that robbery, he did get caught 0:21:59.125 --> 0:22:02.405 with stolen goods from the bank. So again he was 0:22:02.485 --> 0:22:06.205 convicted and was sentenced to another ten years in prison. 0:22:11.885 --> 0:22:14.765 But Edward rule off, He's pretty prison savvy at this point, 0:22:14.805 --> 0:22:19.285 and three months into his sentence he escaped, most likely 0:22:19.405 --> 0:22:21.925 because the jailers were bribed by the gang that he 0:22:21.965 --> 0:22:24.605 was working with, so he in this game. They did 0:22:24.645 --> 0:22:27.965 some other robberies, some other crimes. But let's take a 0:22:28.005 --> 0:22:30.085 little pause for a second, because, of course, while he 0:22:30.125 --> 0:22:33.845 was doing all these robberies, committing crimes, etc. He was 0:22:33.925 --> 0:22:38.565 still very much invested in Latin and Greek and the languages. 0:22:39.445 --> 0:22:43.045 He wanted to be a serious philological expert so bad. 0:22:44.525 --> 0:22:45.765 In fact, he had written. 0:22:45.445 --> 0:22:49.245 A whole book about his theory on the origin of languages, 0:22:50.365 --> 0:22:53.885 but unfortunately, even with his robbing, he never made enough 0:22:53.925 --> 0:22:57.685 money to publish it. So in eighteen sixty nine, he 0:22:57.765 --> 0:23:01.205 went to a philological conference and submitted his manuscript to 0:23:01.245 --> 0:23:03.565 a panel and they were all like, wow, this is 0:23:03.605 --> 0:23:06.685 actually pretty good. But also this this guy is really 0:23:06.885 --> 0:23:10.525 freaking weird. So they went back to him and we're like, oop, sorry, 0:23:10.525 --> 0:23:14.165 we can't publish it. We don't have any money. Also, 0:23:14.205 --> 0:23:16.605 I want to say, during this time, most people who 0:23:16.645 --> 0:23:18.765 knew Edward rule Off, they thought he was just a 0:23:18.845 --> 0:23:21.165 normal guy. You know, he lived in a little house 0:23:21.205 --> 0:23:24.405 in a respectable neighborhood. He paid his rent on time, 0:23:24.485 --> 0:23:28.765 he didn't do anything crazy like drinking and having sex yuck. 0:23:29.245 --> 0:23:31.885 He didn't have that many visitors. And his landlady was like, yeah, 0:23:31.885 --> 0:23:34.765 he's a nice dude. He's definitely not someone who would 0:23:34.765 --> 0:23:38.165 burgle anyone. But you know, Edward Rulloff. He was still 0:23:38.205 --> 0:23:42.445 doing plenty of crimes, robberies, but his luck ran out 0:23:42.885 --> 0:23:55.285 when he did a robbery in Binghampton, New York. So 0:23:55.325 --> 0:23:59.485 Binghampton at the time was a bustling little town getting 0:23:59.565 --> 0:24:00.565 bigger and more. 0:24:00.405 --> 0:24:01.765 Commercial by the day. 0:24:03.405 --> 0:24:06.605 And what happened was in the wee hours of August seventeenth, 0:24:06.645 --> 0:24:10.125 eighteen seventy, between one and two in the morning, three 0:24:10.165 --> 0:24:14.725 burglars broke into a dry goods store called Halbert bros. 0:24:15.685 --> 0:24:19.525 Edward was one of the burglars, another was his frequent accomplice, 0:24:19.565 --> 0:24:24.565