The witch of New York : the trials of Polly Bodine and the cursed birth of tabloid justice
Hortis, Alex, 1972-2024
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Before the sensational cases of Amanda Knox and Casey Anthony--before even Lizzie Borden--there was Polly Bodine, the first American woman put on trial for capital murder in our nation's debut media circus. On Christmas night, December 25, 1843, in a serene village on Staten Island, shocked neighbors discovered the burnt remains of twenty-four-year-old mother Emeline Houseman and her infant daughter, Ann Eliza. In a perverse nativity, someone bludgeoned to death a mother and child in their home--and then covered up the crime with hellfire. When an ambitious district attorney charges Polly Bodine (Emelin's sister-in-law) with a double homicide, the new "penny press" explodes. Polly is a perfect media villain: she's a separated wife who drinks gin, commits adultery, and has had multiple abortions. Between June 1844 and April 1846, the nation was enthralled by her three trials--in Staten Island, Manhattan, and Newburgh--for the "Christmas murders." After Polly's legal dream team entered the fray, the press and the public debated not only her guilt, but her character and fate as a fallen woman in society. Public opinion split into different camps over her case. Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Whitman covered her case as young newsmen. P. T. Barnum made a circus out of it. James Fenimore Cooper's last novel was inspired by her trials.
Main title:
Author:
Edition:
First Pegasus Books cloth edition.
Imprint:
New York : Pegasus Crime, 2024.
Collation:
xx, 315 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), color maps ; 24 cm.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Partial contents: Part I: A fallen woman -- Part II: The Staten Island trial -- Part III: The Manhattan trial -- Part IV: The Newburgh trial. -- Epilogue: Another prison -- Afterword: Lawyers will not save us.
ISBN:
9781639363919 (hardback)
Dewey class:
364.1523
Language:
English
Subject:
Bodine, Polly -- Trials, litigation, etcTrue crime storiesTrials (Murder) -- New York (State) -- History -- 19th centuryTabloid newspapers -- New York (State) -- New York -- 19th centuryMurder -- New York (State) -- New York -- 19th centuryInfanticide -- New York (State) -- New York -- 19th centuryTrials (Murder) -- New York (State) -- New York -- 19th centuryTrials (Arson) -- New York (State) -- 19th century
BRN:
460989
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penrith | Nonfiction | 364.1523 WIT | Onloan - Due: 20 Nov 2024 |