1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised. 2 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 2: The idea of the water burial I find very spooky. 3 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 3: She has rather become the lady of our lake. 4 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: It had been more than a month since Edward Rulolf 5 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: beat his wife to death with a marble pestle. He 6 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: had propped up Harriet's body to examine the wound, and 7 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: he told Hamilton Freeman. I tried to bring her back 8 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: to life. I administered every restorative I had at hand, 9 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: dressed the wound carefully, and did all I could to 10 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: restore her. He drugged his daughter to stop her crying. 11 00:00:49,479 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: He emptied the trunk into Cayuga Lake before sunrise. The 12 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: afternoon of August second, eighteen forty five, Harriet's older brothers, 13 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: Ephraim and William Scott were sitting inside Hail's store in Ithaca. 14 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: It was a hot and sticky day. Sweat beads dripped 15 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: down their temples. They hadn't seen their younger sister or 16 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: her two month old baby for six weeks. That was 17 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: just too long to have no contact, and Edward had 18 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: gone missing too. He was last seen at William's house 19 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: the day after he returned from Cayuga Lake. 20 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 2: What was going on? 21 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: Craig Scutt says the family asked a neighbor to go 22 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: inside Rulolph's house if. 23 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 4: Somebody actually went up there and checked, and they said, no, 24 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 4: she hasn't been here. We haven't seen anything ever him 25 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 4: heard from her. 26 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: The brothers were convinced that something terrible had happened, so 27 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: they decided to go see it for themselves. That same day, 28 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: they traveled to Lansing, less than five miles away, and 29 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: they brought along a group of a fifty men, including 30 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: a sheriff. That seems a little bit like overkilled to me, 31 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: but that's how concerned they were about their sister and niece. 32 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: They searched Harriet's home, no blood and no evidence of 33 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: a struggle, but there were also no signs that Harriet. 34 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 2: Had packed for a journey. 35 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: There were still piles of dirty clothes on the floor, 36 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: diapers on the counter, and dishes in the sink. The 37 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: Scuts were deeply worried about their disappearance. Rumors quickly spread 38 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: across the county, and many feared the worst. Villagers whispered 39 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: that perhaps Edward Ruloff, the charming intellectual, was actually a 40 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: killer William and Ephraim returned to Ithaca that afternoon with 41 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: no answers, and as they sat in the store, they 42 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: discussed their search of Edward's house. Is he really wicked? 43 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: Suddenly Edward appeared at the door. The brothers might finally 44 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,279 Speaker 1: get an explanation, so they were elated to see him. 45 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: At first, How are you, doctor, they asked? 46 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:17,359 Speaker 2: Where have you been? Where is your wife? 47 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: Edward told them that Harriet and Priscilla were between the 48 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:28,679 Speaker 1: lakes near Geneva. Where in Geneva, the brothers asked. Edward panicked, 49 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: he quickly revised the tale. He told Ephraim and William, No, 50 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: they're not in Geneva, actually Pennsylvania. 51 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 2: Wait wait, they're in Ohio. 52 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: Harriet's elderly mother, Hannah, grew uneasy and suspicious he's lying, 53 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: she whispered to her sons. Edward really disliked Hannah. Her 54 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: command over her two sons seemed to intimidate him. Edward said, 55 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: when I was alone with the old lady, I was 56 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: about to tell her all about it, but before I 57 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: had recovered enough courage to do so, she commenced to 58 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: scold me and talk hard to me. This might sound unbelievable, 59 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: but Ephraim and Williams still weren't convinced that he was lying. 60 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: So the brothers came up with an interesting plan. They 61 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: ordered Edward to write Harriet a letter and mail it 62 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: to Ohio. Edward would remain with them in Ithaca until 63 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,679 Speaker 1: she wrote him back. That would confirm that their sister 64 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: and niece were safe, and it would exonerate their brother 65 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: in law. The family suspicion was at a tipping point, 66 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: and they needed some kind of evidence, any kind of evidence. 67 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 2: Edward appeared shocked and then hurt. 68 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: He agreed and penned a note he wanted to put 69 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: an end to this too. Edward smiled and asked Jane 70 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: for directions to the postmaster. He wanted to deliver it personally. 71 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:06,359 Speaker 1: Once again, the Scots trusted him far too much. Within minutes, 72 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,799 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff vanished for a second time. Craig Scutt says 73 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: that when William and Ephram finally realized he wasn't returning, 74 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: they felt sickened. 75 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,039 Speaker 4: He killed them, you know, they came to the conclusion 76 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 4: that he must have killed them. 77 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 2: So this was kind of an oh my god moment, I. 78 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 4: Think, yeah, yeah, it was awful that they lost Harriet, 79 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 4: but then to come to the conclusion that they lost 80 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 4: other family members to his hand probably made her brothers 81 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 4: even more determined to bring him around bring him to justice. 82 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: The scot brothers began to make a plan. William secured 83 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: a warrant from a local magistrate, paperwork that would allow 84 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,359 Speaker 1: them to arrest Edward Ruloff themselves and return him to 85 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,119 Speaker 1: Ithaca in shackles. They would chase him down no matter 86 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: where he went. The plan seemed impossible, how would they 87 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: ever find him when he could be literally anywhere, But 88 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: the brothers were committed, and they knew that if they 89 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: didn't try, Edward Ruloff would be gone forever, and so 90 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: would Harriet and Priscilla. They clung to the desperate hope 91 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 1: that their sister and niece might still be alive. In 92 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 1: those days, a suspect could simply hop on a train 93 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: and travel almost anywhere. There was no way to track 94 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: him down or even prove his real identity. Historian HW 95 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: Brands told me about the challenges facing lawmen pursuing a 96 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: criminal in the eighteen hundreds. 97 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,599 Speaker 5: You could very easily just drop out of sight for 98 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 5: a while. There's no systematized method of identification. It was 99 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 5: difficult to communicate over distance. It's easy to ignore a letter. 100 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 5: There were no telephones yet. Photography is not at all common, 101 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 5: and so if somebody is on the run from the law, 102 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 5: almost nobody has a picture of it, and so there 103 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 5: might be a written description. But if you shave your 104 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 5: beard and you cut your hair, then you can pass 105 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 5: yourself off as somebody else. 106 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: Nevertheless, Ephraim hired a private horse drawn carriage to take 107 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: him to the train station in Geneva, about fifty miles 108 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: north of Ithaca. Edward had mentioned that Harriet and Priscilla 109 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: might be there, but when he arrived, his brother in 110 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: law wasn't there. Ephim rode the train another fifty miles 111 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: to Rochester, and there, in what seemed like divine intervention, 112 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: Ephim spotted him standing in the depot entrance. Edward panicked 113 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: and tried to run, but Ephim snatched him by the 114 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: collar and dragged him to another car. They're in Ohio, 115 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: Edward pleaded, I'll take you to them. Ephram glared at Edward, 116 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: but then, perhaps out of fear and hope, or maybe 117 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: just desperation to find his sister and his niece. He 118 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: made another decision. He agreed to travel west with a killer. 119 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: The men boarded a train together and soon arrived in Buffalo. 120 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: They planned to take a steamer on Lake Erie that 121 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: would eventually lead them to Ohio. They spent the night 122 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: on board the boat. Edward showed Ephraim his swollen and 123 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: blistered feet. 124 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 2: He had been walking quite a long. 125 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: Way from Ithaca to the train station. His brother in 126 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: law felt a bit of empathy, but no trust. Edward 127 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: slept as Ephraim stood outside his door all night keeping watch. 128 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,680 Speaker 1: The next day, Edward stumbled alongside Ephraim as they waded 129 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: through a large crowd boarding the steamer. He would not 130 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: stop complaining about his feet, but Ephram just stopped listening. 131 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 2: He dragged him along by his collar. 132 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: The gangplank was crowded with people desperate to find a 133 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: spot on the ship, and they were having problems staying 134 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: on the path. At first, Ephram had a hand on Edward, 135 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: holding him tight, but then he lost his grip. Edward 136 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: vanished in an instant. Ephraim frantically searched the crowd, but 137 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: it was hopeless and he was overcome with sadness. He 138 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: finally accepted the truth about his sister and his niece. 139 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: They were most certainly dead, and Edward Ruloff had killed them. 140 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: Ephraim Scutt quickly pulled out some money and hired several 141 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,680 Speaker 1: men to help him search the ship, but it was 142 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:40,440 Speaker 1: no use. He should have hauled Edward back to Ithaca immediately, 143 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: but he needed to find Harriet and Priscilla, even if 144 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: they were dead. Ephraim tried to think, like his sneaky 145 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: brother in law, where would he go next? 146 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 2: The steamer would be. 147 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: Making several stops. He traveled to Pennsylvania, where another Scot 148 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:04,319 Speaker 1: brother lived, but he wasn't there. Ephram hired a livery 149 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: team and rushed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he hoped to 150 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: find his brother in law. Edward had once bragged that 151 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: he was offered a prestigious job there. He actually beat 152 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: the ship there. Ephraim tried to stay calm as he 153 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: stood on the wharf watching two steamers pull in. He 154 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: asked if one of the boats carried German immigrants. Yes, 155 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: was the answer the second boat. Ephraim was hopeful. He 156 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: guessed that Edward would be there because he could blend 157 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: in easily by feigning a German accent. Ephram found a 158 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: law enforcement officer and showed him the warrant. They searched 159 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: both boats and spoke to the immigrants crammed into the 160 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: different rooms. Then Ephraim looked inside an old, cheap dining 161 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: saloon on the boat and pointed he found the illustrious 162 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: academic hiding there eating lunch. 163 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,679 Speaker 2: Is your name Ruloff? The officer asked, no, sir. 164 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: Was his meek reply, yes, it is, snapped out from 165 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 1: the officer arrested Edward, and Ephraim walked him into a 166 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: strong room inside a steamboat on Lake Erie, heading back 167 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: to New York. It had taken several days, but the 168 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: Scuts had finally caught him. Kathy Chadwick, Ephraim's great great niece, 169 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: says she has always been amazed by that bit of 170 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: family history. It always surprises me that at that time, 171 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: how could they trace somebody to Ohio. Yeah, it was 172 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:37,679 Speaker 1: out of love and desperation, I think, well, certainly commitment. 173 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 4: They obviously were a very tight knit family and it 174 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:55,319 Speaker 4: was devastating to lose any of them. 175 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 1: As the steamer chugged toward New York, Ephram scutt eyed Edward. 176 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 2: He refused to say anything. 177 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,720 Speaker 1: Other than insisting that Harriet and Priscilla were still alive. 178 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,080 Speaker 1: Edward told Ephraim through the door that he would tell 179 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: him everything, just let me out. Ephram scoffed and then agreed. 180 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 1: They silently sat on the deck together, looking across Lake 181 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: Erie as the steamer chugged along. Ephraim suddenly turned and 182 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: decided to appeal to his brother in law. 183 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 2: One last time. 184 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: You came into our family in poverty and distress, said Ephraim. 185 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: You were kindly, very kindly received. I was the last 186 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: one to believe you guilty of murder. I am now 187 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: entirely satisfied that you are guilty. 188 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 2: What can you say for yourself? Edward was quiet. 189 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: It was over and he knew it. And then he 190 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:59,559 Speaker 1: made his brother in law an offer. He would jump overboard. 191 00:12:59,080 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 2: To his death. 192 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: Ephraim smirked. He knew what Edward was capable of. Fine, 193 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: he replied snidely, but you're too much of a coward. 194 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: Edward stayed silent. Ephraim quickly walked him back to the room. 195 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: The lock on the door turned. By this time, everyone 196 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: on board knew that the ship was carrying a murderer. 197 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: The captain scolded Ephraim in front of everyone on the steamer, 198 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,840 Speaker 1: that damned wretch has murdered your sister, my friend. If 199 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: this was my case, I would hang him to the 200 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: yard arm till he is dead. Some passengers agreed and 201 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: began searching for a rope. Others wanted to throw Edward 202 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: into the water, but Ephram Scutt stopped them. He wanted 203 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 1: Edward to die for killing four members of his family. 204 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: He wanted it more than any of them, but visualante. 205 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 2: Justice wasn't enough. 206 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: Ephraim really wanted to keep his brother in. 207 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 2: Law alive for the trial. He actually believed in American law. 208 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 4: They were a close knit family, and they were determined. 209 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:15,120 Speaker 4: And you know, they didn't take him out and hang him, 210 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 4: or they didn't shoot him, but they went through the 211 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 4: legal system. 212 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 1: Ephram wanted Edward Ruloff punished quickly, and so he saved 213 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: his brother in law from being killed aboard that steamship. 214 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: It was yet another decision he would regret for the 215 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: rest of his life. Four months after Ephram Scutt captured 216 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 1: his brother in law in Ohio, Edward Ruloff appeared in 217 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,840 Speaker 1: court in Ithaca, New York. The prosecutor gave them two choices. 218 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: They could convict him of murdering his wife or kidnapping her. 219 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: A kidnapping conviction would mean a decade in prison, but 220 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: a murder conviction would assure Edward a trip to the gallows. 221 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: It's a hard choice. It was January eighteen forty six 222 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: when the tr trial began, and it was no surprise 223 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: when Edward chose to represent himself. It was the narcissist 224 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: in him. He cross examined witnesses, He conversed with the 225 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: judge politely, and thanks to the training he had received 226 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: from a prominent attorney in Canada, he argued brilliantly. Edward 227 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: was passionate about his innocence. He insisted to jurors that 228 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: his wife and daughter were still alive. Historian Gerald Smith 229 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: isn't surprised at all by Edward's courtroom performance. 230 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 6: He desees himself as a man who's been You know, 231 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 6: life has treated him unjustly. He should be treated better. 232 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 6: I'm a brilliant man and these oaths are all around me. 233 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 2: And Edward was wise not to testify. 234 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: He hoped the lack of evidence would give the jury 235 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: reasonable doubt. The prosecutor's case had some problems. There was 236 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: no body, no physical evidence, and really no circumstantial evidence, 237 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: just a lot of suspicion from a worried family and 238 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: intense discuss All of the Scuts were in court throughout 239 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 1: the trial while witnesses described Edward's abusive behavior and violent jealousy. 240 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: The jurors discussed the evidence for days, and then they 241 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: finally convicted Edward of kidnapping his wife, not murdering her. 242 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: The Scuts were stunned, and apparently so was the judge 243 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: because he quietly asked each juror about the verdict. They 244 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 1: all said they were sure that Edward was a killer, 245 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,360 Speaker 1: but the judge asked, how then could you find him 246 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: guilty of abduction. Well, we did not know if we 247 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: should ever get a chance at him, again, replied one juror. 248 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: And we were bound to convict him of something they 249 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: since he was evil, but there just wasn't enough evidence 250 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: for murder. Gossips spread across Tompkins County in the aftermath 251 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 1: of the trial, and all of the lies terrified the Scuts. 252 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,240 Speaker 1: There were rumors that the bodies were actually sold to 253 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: a nearby medical college for anatomy classes. There were reports 254 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,400 Speaker 1: that a woman and a child matching their descriptions were 255 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:14,399 Speaker 1: brought there. A newspaper in Vermont reported that recent flooding 256 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:19,880 Speaker 1: in Ithaca had exhumed a trunk from Cayuga Lake. When 257 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: it was opened, officials discovered the mangled bodies of what 258 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:29,199 Speaker 1: looked like a woman and child, but neighbors said that 259 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: Edward had returned to his home with his trunk. 260 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 2: Another false lead. 261 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: The attorney who advised Edward during his kidnapping trial started 262 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: his own rumor. He claimed that Edward told him that 263 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: he had cut the throats of both his wife and daughter. 264 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,680 Speaker 1: He wrapped the bodies with wires so they could never 265 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 1: be unfastened. He attached a heavy iron mortar to Harriet 266 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: and a flat iron to Priscilla. That story seemed to 267 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 1: actually have more merit than most, but still, cutting a 268 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,119 Speaker 1: victim's throat would we ate quite a lot of blood, 269 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: probably more than a head wound, and there was little 270 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,399 Speaker 1: evidence of a cleanup in the house, and there is 271 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: a rumor about little Priscilla that still persists. Edward refused 272 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,400 Speaker 1: to talk about her fate, even after he was vague 273 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: about her death. Years later, journalist Hamilton Freeman gently pressed 274 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 1: him further, but Edward quickly snapped that is no one's business. 275 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: She is living and is well enough. Off Ham asked 276 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: for some more details. 277 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:28,360 Speaker 2: Who has her? 278 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: Then Edward replied, you must think I'm a damn fool 279 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 1: Ham to ask me such questions. Do you suppose that 280 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: I would expose anything about her? I would die first. 281 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: I had plenty of time to take care of her, 282 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: and I did it well. Newspapers reported that Priscilla had 283 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: been spirited off alive to Edward's younger brother's house. His 284 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:54,719 Speaker 1: closest friend, Rulof Rululfsen, was now a wealthy timber merchant 285 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania and he was raising his own large family. 286 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: Priscilla was supposed and adopted daughter. Local reporter David Wren 287 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: hopes that was actually what happened. 288 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 7: I would love to know if his daughter survived and 289 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 7: actually went to Pennsylvania and was reared by a family there. 290 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 7: That would be very heartwarming to me if I knew 291 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 7: that he had not murdered his own daughter. Heartwarming in 292 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 7: the sense that she had a life. 293 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 3: And so I would love to know the answer to that. 294 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: But Craig Scott and I don't think that's what happened. Yeah, 295 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: I don't know about that. No one saw anyone come 296 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,640 Speaker 1: and pick her up. Nobody heard anything, right, Yeah. 297 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:41,640 Speaker 4: Baby would have been crying on the way and would 298 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 4: have been not an easy task. 299 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,159 Speaker 2: I agree. Yeah, that's a good point too. 300 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: People saw him leave and then return with the trunk, 301 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: but I just nobody witnessed anything. Ham tried to ask 302 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 1: Edward another question about Priscilla, but he snapped again. Ham 303 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:01,719 Speaker 1: backed away. The journalist was conflicted. Was he telling the truth? 304 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: He might have been enamored with Edward, but he could 305 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:09,679 Speaker 1: occasionally be realistic about the killer. Ham wrote, Ruloff was 306 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 1: a very proud man, and his pride, his personal self 307 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,399 Speaker 1: respect would never allow him to acknowledge that he murdered 308 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: a sweet little infant. Sadly, Priscilla Ruloff never appeared again, 309 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: dead or alive. After Edward was convicted of kidnapping Harriet, 310 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 1: he became a vicious monster in the national media. The 311 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: mystery of his wife and daughter's disappearance in thralled newspaper 312 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 1: reporters across the country. The Milwaukee Daily Sentinel described him vividly. 313 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: He has a large, broad forehead, eyes remarkably far apart, 314 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: is an educated man convers as fluently, is in the 315 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,960 Speaker 1: habit of writing shorthand is very quick in his movements 316 00:20:58,000 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: and quick tempered. 317 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 2: It's ptty detailed. 318 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,920 Speaker 1: In the nineteenth century, alienists began documenting that some of 319 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: their patients, who appeared outwardly normal, had what they called 320 00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: a moral depravity or a moral insanity. 321 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 2: They seemed to. 322 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:17,359 Speaker 1: Possess no sense of ethics or empathy. Psychopathy falls under 323 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: a category of mental health disorders called anti social personality disorder, 324 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: but that condition wouldn't be recognized for more than a century, 325 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,399 Speaker 1: and the word psychopath would not be used until the 326 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 1: turn of the century. Instead, Edward Ruloff was presented to 327 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 1: America as a lunatic without a conscience or remorse. People 328 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: felt the explanation for his murderous behavior must lie in 329 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,639 Speaker 1: his nature, his race, his blood, even the diameter of 330 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: his face, and Ham had no better answers. He called 331 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:55,480 Speaker 1: Edward's violent nature the demon within him. Modern psychiatrists have 332 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: a little less difficult time pinpointing Edward Ruloff, and devils 333 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: or demons are not on the assessment exam. Psychopathy is 334 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: now diagnosed with a standard checklist that scores various traits 335 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 1: on a scale. Doctor Nigel Blackwood teaches forensic psychiatry at 336 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: King's College, London. He spent his career observing psychopaths and 337 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:18,360 Speaker 1: their characteristics tell me about the traits that make this 338 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: guy a psychopath. 339 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 8: The density of defending, the different typees offenses, the seeming 340 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 8: lack of remorse, the lack of empathy, the narcissistic traits, 341 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 8: the arrogance, the desective interpersonal behaviors. 342 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 1: Doctor Blackwood and his team study the MRI brain scans 343 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:42,199 Speaker 1: of normal people, sociopaths, and psychopaths and how they're different. 344 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: He's hoping his discovery can be used to find better 345 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: ways to treat violent psychopaths. 346 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,399 Speaker 2: He figured out that they. 347 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: Don't respond to punishment the way most people do. Prison 348 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: might keep them off the streets, but it doesn't seem 349 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: to reform them. Psychopaths can be very successful and nonviolent. 350 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: They just likely won't be like everybody else. But one 351 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: key might be found in their brains, the way they're 352 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: physically different from other people. Doctor Blackwood and his team 353 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:14,399 Speaker 1: conducted MRI scans of the brains of twelve violent criminals, 354 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,479 Speaker 1: men convicted of crimes like murder and rape. They compare 355 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: those scans to thirty eight people without psychopathy. The study 356 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: found that the psychopaths have reduced gray matter volume in 357 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: the anterior rostral prefrontal cortex and the temporal polls. Doctor 358 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,320 Speaker 1: Blackwood says those areas both help process two important things 359 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: in healthy people, remorse and social stigma. 360 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,680 Speaker 9: So classically, the psychopaths will struggle to have a sense 361 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 9: of remorse or a sense of embarrassment about some of 362 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,120 Speaker 9: the things that they've done in the past. They are 363 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 9: more likely to use violence in an instrumental way to 364 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:53,160 Speaker 9: get what they want. 365 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: Doctor Blackwood says that remorse and embarrassment helps stop most 366 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:01,720 Speaker 1: people from killing, but not psycho paths. He says his 367 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:06,639 Speaker 1: study proves that psychopaths have structurally different brains from everyone else. 368 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: Blackwood hopes that new medications might help, but there's still 369 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: so much more to discover, and the consensus among experts 370 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 1: today is that Edward Ruloff was a psychopath, and that's 371 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: significant because psychopaths make up only about one percent of 372 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:28,159 Speaker 1: the general population, so they're rare but not in prison. 373 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: As many as twenty five percent of incarcerated male offenders 374 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: are psychopaths. William Winslade is a nationally known psychotherapist who 375 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:41,199 Speaker 1: is testified in numerous criminal cases. He says Edward Ruloff 376 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: was the classic example of a psychopath. 377 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,360 Speaker 10: He had no empathy for the people that he killed. 378 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 10: He was delusional about his intelligence. Because he was smart, 379 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:54,679 Speaker 10: he could do whatever he wanted. 380 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 1: Winsley believes that only prison or death would stop someone 381 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,080 Speaker 1: like Edward from killing again. He just could never be 382 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:05,639 Speaker 1: cured even today. 383 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 11: Why are we so scared of the word psychopath Because 384 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 11: they're dangerous and psychopaths are people that'll do things that 385 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,640 Speaker 11: nobody else would do, and they do it out of 386 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:28,120 Speaker 11: some delusional, grandiose sense of autonomy that they can do anything. 387 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:33,159 Speaker 1: So if Edward Ruloff was a psychopath, could prison really 388 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 1: change him? Might he be one of those rare people 389 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,960 Speaker 1: with psychopathy who could be reformed? It would take a 390 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: decade to find out. In eighteen forty six, a judge 391 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: sentenced him to ten years in Auburn State prison, the 392 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 1: maximum punishment allowed for kidnapping. The entire scut family was outraged. 393 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,400 Speaker 1: He should have been hanged by his neck, they screamed 394 00:25:58,400 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: in court. 395 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 6: I think they felt totally unsatisfied because they didn't get 396 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 6: him for the murders. He destroyed their view of their 397 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:11,959 Speaker 6: quiet little city and brought some level of violence to 398 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,240 Speaker 6: it that they'd never really seen. And I think they 399 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 6: just they demanded quick and just retribution. 400 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:27,159 Speaker 1: Ephraim Scutt was silent during the sentencing and remorseful. He 401 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 1: should have let Edward Ruloff jump overboard the steamer before 402 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:34,360 Speaker 1: they reached Ithaca that day. He wished the other passengers 403 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,919 Speaker 1: had overpowered him, broken down that door and wrapped a 404 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:42,280 Speaker 1: rope around his brother in law's neck. Ephraim refused to 405 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:46,120 Speaker 1: make that mistake again. The law had failed him and 406 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: his family. The Scuts raised a lynch mom hoping to 407 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,919 Speaker 1: break into the Ithaca jail before his transfer to prison. 408 00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: They would hang Edward themselves to save other families from heartache. 409 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:09,200 Speaker 1: They had no doubts that he would kill again. They 410 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 1: sawed down a large tree to build a battering ram 411 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: to knock that door down. It was so heavy that 412 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 1: it took twenty men just to pick the thing up. 413 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: They were too late. The sheriff had already taken Edward 414 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 1: away to protect him. He had been saved by the 415 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:29,959 Speaker 1: law once again. Edward Rulolph became the newest inmate at 416 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: the Auburn State Prison, forty miles north of Ithaca. Edward's 417 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: new home was this imposing building designed to resemble a 418 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: medieval English castle. Its grim exterior would inspire fear in 419 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,919 Speaker 1: those who passed by it and terror in those who 420 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,679 Speaker 1: were confined in it. Gerald Smith says that Auburn was 421 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: a terrible place to do time. 422 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 6: That's hard time. That's like maximum security type penitentiary. First 423 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,439 Speaker 6: of all, it's dark, it's dank, It's something out of 424 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 6: a Dickens novel. It's manual labor, it's hard labor. 425 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: The prison was a dreadful home for most inmates, and 426 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:16,840 Speaker 1: yet Edward seemed to thrive as once again he was 427 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:21,160 Speaker 1: able to reinvent himself. He became a proficient carpet designer 428 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,960 Speaker 1: part of his work program inside the prison, and he 429 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 1: was even hired by a contractor. In fact, Edward's designs 430 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: were worth about five thousand dollars a year, and he 431 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:32,920 Speaker 1: saved everything he earned. 432 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 2: He also received money in the mail. 433 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: From his younger brother, William, who is now a famous 434 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 1: photographer in San Francisco. William refused to visit, but he 435 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,520 Speaker 1: would always be grateful for Edward's guidance when they were younger. 436 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: Edward ordered dozens of books for his cell, some from 437 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 1: sources overseas, and of course, even in prison, he remained haughty, 438 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:54,520 Speaker 1: not humble. 439 00:28:55,040 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 6: You know, he's very aloof to most people. I dare say, 440 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 6: I bet he didn't have much interaction with the jailers 441 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 6: as well. 442 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: Alone in his cell, Edward began to read about philosophers, 443 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 1: especially Plato. He perfected Greek and learned Sanskrit, which is 444 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:18,479 Speaker 1: quite a complicated language, and he wrote especially on a 445 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 1: theory he developed about language. He believed he had discovered 446 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: how it started and why it developed the way it did. 447 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,960 Speaker 1: He claimed he had detected a pattern that would allow 448 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 1: him to teach all languages to the Rubes in Tompkins County. 449 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 2: Or really anywhere else. 450 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:39,680 Speaker 1: Cornell University linguistics professor Michael Weiss explains the theory. 451 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 12: A lot of education in the nineteenth century was based 452 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 12: upon the study of Greek and Latin, and that's actually 453 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 12: rather challenging thing to master. So yeah, if there was 454 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:53,240 Speaker 12: a kind of magical key to understanding the worship it 455 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 12: sound and meaning in these languages, then that would have 456 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 12: made a lot of people's lives a lot easier. 457 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: In that period, Edward's theory was still in its early stages. 458 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: As he toiled by candlelight on his manuscript inside his cell, 459 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: He described his discovery almost like someone who would recount 460 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 1: a religious experience, a moment of clarity that blotted out 461 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: all of the horrible things he had done. He told Ham, 462 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: no other man lived with a higher or nobler ambition 463 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: than I. Both linguistics and his discovery would become his obsession. 464 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: As far as he was concerned, nothing was going to 465 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:38,080 Speaker 1: stop him from making history. His manuscript would change his destiny, 466 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:42,000 Speaker 1: alter the course of his life, and it would also 467 00:30:42,080 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: be his downfall. In prison, Edward made an unusual pen pal, 468 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: a Wright seminary student named Julius Hawley Seely. Seely would 469 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,720 Speaker 1: eventually become an author, a congressman, and the president of 470 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: Amherst College. The pair exchanged numerous letters, each delving deeper 471 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,880 Speaker 1: into Edward's evolving theory about where languages come from. Michael 472 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: Wise has read Edward's letters to Sealy, now housed at 473 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,560 Speaker 1: Cornell University. He says, they give you real insight into 474 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 1: the way Edward's mind worked. 475 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 12: It's pretty clear that Ruloff was an extraordinarily able person. 476 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:40,480 Speaker 12: He recited all sorts of passages from Greek at heart 477 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,400 Speaker 12: and was able to discuss them, so he clearly know 478 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 12: a lot. 479 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 1: Weiss says that Edward had many theories, some more sound 480 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: than others. He speculated about the language of Homer, the 481 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 1: Greek poet who penned the Iliad and the Odyssey, and 482 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: Edward had an unusually insightful theory for a nineteenth century linguist. 483 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,280 Speaker 12: Can actually quote the line here. He said he was 484 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 12: the center of a system which was perfected under that name. 485 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 12: I believe with others that no one man was the 486 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 12: author of all that is ascribed to Homer. He was 487 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 12: saying that the Homeric language is not the work of 488 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 12: a single individual, and this is actually something which we 489 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,640 Speaker 12: definitely know is true today. So that was a kind 490 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,240 Speaker 12: of unusually key insight on his part. 491 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 1: Weiss says that while he's impressed with certain ideas in 492 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: the letters, he's actually alarmed by others. Edward just couldn't 493 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 1: hide his violent nature even on paper. When Seally criticized 494 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,720 Speaker 1: his theories, the imprisoned academic did not react. 495 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 10: Well. 496 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,960 Speaker 12: He's talking about his discoveries and whether people will appreciate them. 497 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,720 Speaker 12: And this is when he's in jail. I think I 498 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 12: perceived that you regard my discovery in language as of 499 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 12: trifling or doubtful importance. And it may now be that 500 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 12: you will never live to see reasons for correcting this impression. 501 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 12: I thought this was kind of threatening. 502 00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: Weiss says that the tone of Edward's letters reflected his 503 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,080 Speaker 1: personality volatile. 504 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 12: He's very hostile to people who don't appreciate his own genius. 505 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:11,840 Speaker 12: He's a scary, scary person as you come to know 506 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 12: him from his ratings. 507 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 1: Aside from languages, Edward honed other skills in prison. He 508 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:24,040 Speaker 1: became fascinated by the emerging science of phrenology. This was 509 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: the detailed study of the size and shape of a 510 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 1: person's skull. It's all bunk, there's no science to it 511 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: at all, but phrenology was big business in the nineteenth century. 512 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 1: Just placing your hands on a man's skull and feeling 513 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:40,760 Speaker 1: the bumps would reveal his character, traits and intellectual capacity, 514 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,400 Speaker 1: whether he was a saint or a sinner, a devout 515 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 1: minister or a killer. David Price is an expert in 516 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,280 Speaker 1: phrenology at the University of Edinburgh. He rattled off a 517 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 1: variety of predictions about a skull inside his office in Scotland. 518 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 13: You could draw lines on the skull, you'd split it 519 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:02,800 Speaker 13: into thirty forty regis and you would say, this region 520 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:06,400 Speaker 13: here is associated with this property of your personality. So 521 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 13: if it's large, it means you have a lot of 522 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:09,799 Speaker 13: that in your personality. 523 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:12,799 Speaker 1: So you can see how phrenology would be worrisome for 524 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: some people. You might be labeled a deviant just because 525 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,080 Speaker 1: of the mumps on your head. It was kind of 526 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:20,120 Speaker 1: like fortune telling, a parlor trick. 527 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 13: The instinct to love was apparently situated in the brain 528 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 13: beneath the back of your skull, back here at the 529 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:31,640 Speaker 13: top of the neck. Other you know, violet progressiveness. I mean, 530 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:33,480 Speaker 13: these are words that you know, you know if they're 531 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 13: in the dictionary, honest to the instinct to take care 532 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:37,160 Speaker 13: of your offspring. 533 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 1: Phrenology leaned on the nineteenth century belief that a man's 534 00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:44,799 Speaker 1: appearance mirrored his integrity. A wicked man would certainly look 535 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:47,320 Speaker 1: like the devil, not a genteel academic. 536 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 2: Right. 537 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,040 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff had other phrenologists examine his skull. He was 538 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,239 Speaker 1: remarkably intelligent, of course, according to those experts, he was 539 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:01,080 Speaker 1: certainly a moral man, except that they had examined him 540 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 1: before he committed all of those murders. I'm sure their 541 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:11,560 Speaker 1: assessments would have changed after his trial. Edward's time in 542 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:16,320 Speaker 1: Auburn illustrated the contradictory nature of his personality his Jeckyl 543 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:17,320 Speaker 1: and Hyde behavior. 544 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:18,719 Speaker 2: He was a model. 545 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:22,239 Speaker 1: Inmate, with newly gained skills and a deep knowledge of languages, 546 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,200 Speaker 1: and his theory about the pattern of languages had the 547 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:28,760 Speaker 1: potential to change people's lives for the better. Gerald Smith 548 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:30,960 Speaker 1: says that prison might have actually been a blessing. 549 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:33,680 Speaker 6: It's life in your cell by yourself to come up 550 00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:37,759 Speaker 6: with these ideas or his theories of language and human existence. 551 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,040 Speaker 6: And I think the Auburn prison was probably good for 552 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 6: him in the fact that kept him oul society. 553 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:47,360 Speaker 1: Despite the horrid conditions, Edward stayed out of trouble, and 554 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:50,680 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty six he prepared for his release. He 555 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,880 Speaker 1: was optimistic about his future as he added more details 556 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:57,759 Speaker 1: to his manuscript. After his freedom from prison, things might 557 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 1: just change for Edward. Journalists David Wrenn told me that 558 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,560 Speaker 1: there was reason to be hopeful about his future if 559 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:07,760 Speaker 1: he was willing to change, and that's a big if. 560 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:11,560 Speaker 3: And we do love a good redemption story. In my 561 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:15,560 Speaker 3: past as a journalist, I've interviewed a lot of inmates, 562 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:20,319 Speaker 3: particularly on the Texas Death Row, and one thing that 563 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,040 Speaker 3: they all have in common is that they really can't 564 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,319 Speaker 3: seem to get out of their own way, and I 565 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:27,320 Speaker 3: see Ruloff as the same sort of person. 566 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:31,400 Speaker 1: William Winslade says that Edward Ruloff had ten years to 567 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,560 Speaker 1: think about his crimes, maybe he could be rehabilitated. 568 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:39,920 Speaker 10: I think people that have committed serious crimes could have 569 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,439 Speaker 10: a change of mind, a change of heart, a change 570 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:47,680 Speaker 10: of behavior. So some people that do bad things do 571 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:55,120 Speaker 10: something to redeem themselves. Many people don't. 572 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:02,120 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff would soon leave prison after a decade of 573 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:05,480 Speaker 1: being a respected and productive inmate, He was in a 574 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:07,200 Speaker 1: position to turn his life around. 575 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:08,239 Speaker 2: Finally. 576 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:12,239 Speaker 1: Years later, Hamilton Freeman would listen as Edward wept over 577 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:17,279 Speaker 1: his feelings of hope and his humility. Ham thought, who 578 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:21,080 Speaker 1: could contemplate this wretched picture and not drop a tear 579 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 1: or at least heave a sigh of pity for a poor, 580 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 1: frail human nature. He felt sorry for him, his life 581 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:33,960 Speaker 1: was like one long tragedy. Ham wrote, a blow struck 582 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,239 Speaker 1: in a moment of ungovernable passion, blasted forever all there 583 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:40,680 Speaker 1: was of early promise of Edward H. 584 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:41,200 Speaker 2: Ruloff. 585 00:37:41,719 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 1: It deprived him of his first and only love and 586 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,920 Speaker 1: branded him as a monster in the sight of God 587 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:54,920 Speaker 1: and man. In eighteen seventy one, Edward studied Hamilton. He 588 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,680 Speaker 1: was drawing the journalist closer. He had honed his skills 589 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:02,640 Speaker 1: and manipulation over the past three decades. Edward could tell 590 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:06,239 Speaker 1: that ham was feeling sympathy for him, the only one 591 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 1: in the world who did at this point. But Edward 592 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:15,120 Speaker 1: Rulof was duplicitous, cunning, and he was fixated. Edward had 593 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:19,080 Speaker 1: convinced Ham that he was a victim of circumstance. None 594 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,879 Speaker 1: of this was his fault. Their friendship was deepening, and 595 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:26,160 Speaker 1: the killer was clearly the one in control, and there 596 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:32,399 Speaker 1: was still so much of his story to share. Back then, 597 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:36,360 Speaker 1: the other residents of Tompkins County hadn't forgiven or forgotten 598 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:40,600 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff. Over the previous ten years. The Scuts hostility 599 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:44,880 Speaker 1: had hardened into hatred. In eighteen fifty six, they demanded 600 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:49,160 Speaker 1: to see Edward hanged for four murders. They demanded justice 601 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:53,160 Speaker 1: and they were infuriated that the killer would soon walk free. 602 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:56,400 Speaker 4: So it shows what kind of character they had as people, 603 00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,560 Speaker 4: you know, as a family, and I think they showed 604 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:03,560 Speaker 4: a lot of strength and character through the whole thing. 605 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,560 Speaker 1: Harriet's brothers threatened the sheriff that if the courts wouldn't 606 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,080 Speaker 1: execute Edward rule off, then they would. 607 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:12,960 Speaker 6: He killed two of our own, especially a little baby. 608 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:15,759 Speaker 6: You know. Yeah, he got convicted, but he didn't really 609 00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:16,959 Speaker 6: service time. 610 00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,120 Speaker 1: After his release, Edward planned to move to New York 611 00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:26,759 Speaker 1: City and away from the Scuts forever. He vowed to 612 00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:30,399 Speaker 1: himself that he would control his rage better from now on, 613 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 1: that he would never kill again. Of course, if that 614 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:42,040 Speaker 1: were true, we wouldn't have three episodes left on the 615 00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:44,920 Speaker 1: next episode of tenfold more wicked. 616 00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:50,680 Speaker 4: No epathy, No, he just he would do anything he 617 00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:51,960 Speaker 4: wanted to destroy that family. 618 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:55,719 Speaker 6: Yeah, he broke their innocence. He brought evil. This is 619 00:39:55,760 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 6: the devil incarnate has just struck. You know, it's almost 620 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:01,480 Speaker 6: so Lynch Bob mentality. 621 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:05,960 Speaker 10: People that have no self restraint are dangerous. He was 622 00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:06,840 Speaker 10: pretty crazy. 623 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:10,239 Speaker 1: If you love historical true crime, be sure to order 624 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:13,680 Speaker 1: my book, American Sherlock. It's about a real life Sherlock 625 00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:16,440 Speaker 1: Holmes who solved some of the most gruesome murders in 626 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:19,640 Speaker 1: the nineteen twenties. This has been an exactly right and 627 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:24,000 Speaker 1: tenfold more. Media production producers Jason Whaling and Laura Soble, 628 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:28,960 Speaker 1: sound designer Eric Friend, composer Curtis Heath, artwork Nick Toga. 629 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:35,040 Speaker 1: Executive producers Georgia Hartstark, Karen Kilgarriff and Danielle Kramer. Follow 630 00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:38,200 Speaker 1: us on Instagram and Facebook at tenfold more Wicked and 631 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:42,040 Speaker 1: on Twitter at tenfold more. If you're an advertiser interested 632 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,080 Speaker 1: in advertising on our show, go to midroll dot com 633 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:48,160 Speaker 1: slash ads, and if you know of a historical crime 634 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:51,719 Speaker 1: that could use some attention, email us at info at 635 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:57,080 Speaker 1: tenfoldmorewicked dot com. 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