William McKinley: Murder of a Popular President

Last week’s crime, the murder of four teenage girls in a Texas yogurt shop, was especially tragic. So, too, is this week’s case, the murder of an American president. In the fall of 1901, President William McKinley visited the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. An assassin shot him, and he died eight days later.

William McKinley

William McKinley was riding high in the late summer of 1901. He had started his second term as President of the United States earlier that year in March after a convincing win over William Jennings Bryan the previous November. Three years earlier, he was at the helm when the United States trounced Spain in the brief Spanish-American War and became a global imperial power.

President William McKinley photographed in 1900, the year before his assassination (McKinley Memorial Library)
William McKinley, Twenty-fifth President of the United States, photographed in 1900, the year before his assassination (McKinley Memorial Library)

McKinley, the last veteran of the American Civil War to serve as president, was popular with the American people, and he looked forward to a comfortable second term in office.

William McKinley was the last Civil War veteran elected President of the United States. During the Battle of Antietam, he served as sergeant for Company F of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry (Ohio History Connection)
William McKinley was the last Civil War veteran elected President of the United States. During the Battle of Antietam, he served as sergeant for Company F of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry (Ohio History Connection)

William McKinley Goes to the Fair

The Pan-American Exposition Company was formed in 1897 to stage a world’s fair in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area. The Spanish-American war put the project on a brief hold, but planning resumed once the war ended.

The Pan-American Exposition opened on May 1, 1901, on 350 acres in the western part of Buffalo, New York. President McKinley planned to visit on June 13 as part of an extended tour of the United States. However, First Lady Ida McKinley fell ill in California, causing the president to modify his schedule and cancel several public appearances.

The Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition (Photo by C. D. Arnold, Public Domain)
The Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition (Photo by C. D. Arnold, Public Domain)

McKinley rescheduled his visit to the Exposition for early September 1901. On September 5, he delivered a speech from an open platform without incident. The following day, September 6, the president held a reception in the Temple of Music, shaking hands with well-wishers as they passed.

An Assassin Strikes

McKinley had been shaking hands for about ten minutes when Leon Czolgosz (pronounced CHOL-gosh), a laborer from Detroit and an avowed anarchist, reached the head of the line. A handkerchief covered his right hand like a bandage. As the president prepared to shake his left hand, Czolgosz fired two shots from an Iver Johnson .32 caliber revolver hidden underneath the handkerchief. The first shot ricocheted off a coat button, but the second wounded McKinley in the stomach. Czolgosz prepared to fire a third shot for the coup de grâce while the crowd looked on in horror. James Parker, an African-American man from Georgia next in line, slammed into the shooter, trying to take the gun away. Soon, Czolgosz disappeared underneath a pile of men punching and kicking him.

This portrait of Leon Czolgosz by the Wiendenthal Photo Company of Cleveland, Ohio, was found in the bag he took with him to Buffalo (Public Domain)
This portrait of Leon Czolgosz by the Wiendenthal Photo Company of Cleveland, Ohio, was found in the bag he took with him to Buffalo (Public Domain)

After the second bullet struck him, McKinley lurched forward a step before aids helped him into a chair. Seeing the pummeling Czolgosz was taking, he ordered it stopped. Then he told Treasury Secretary George Cortelyou, “My wife—be careful, Cortelyou, how you tell her—oh, be careful.”

Treating McKinley’s Wounds

Any student of presidential history will marvel at the poor quality of medical care our past chief executives have received. William McKinley was no exception. An electric ambulance took the wounded president to the Exposition hospital. Although the hospital did have an operating room, it did not have a surgeon on duty. The first physician on the scene was Herman Mynter, who injected McKinley with morphine and strychnine to ease pain. When a second doctor, Matthew B. Mann, arrived, it was decided to operate.

Inside the Temple of Music. The "X" is where President McKinley stood at the head of the receiving line (Photo by C. D. Arnold, Public Domain)
Inside the Temple of Music. The “X” is where President McKinley stood at the head of the receiving line (Photo by C. D. Arnold, Public Domain)

Although the exteriors of most of the Exposition buildings were covered with thousands of light bulbs, the hospital operating room had no electric lighting. Instead, the doctors relied on the rapidly fading sunlight reflected by a metal pan to illuminate McKinley’s wounds. Dr. Mann, a noted gynecologist without experience with abdominal wounds, repaired the entrance and exit wounds from the bullet that perforated the stomach. He then covered the area with a bandage but failed to provide for any drainage from the wound.

The operating room at the Exposition Hospital (Robert L. Brown History of Medicine Collection, Health Sciences Library, University at Buffalo SUNY)
The operating room at the Exposition Hospital (Robert L. Brown History of Medicine Collection, Health Sciences Library, University at Buffalo SUNY)

An electric ambulance took McKinley from the Exposition hospital to the home of James G. Milburn, the Exposition president.

The Death of William McKinley

At first, McKinley seemed to be on his way to recovering from the gunshot. Saturday, September 7, found him relaxed and conversational. Cabinet members and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, who had hurried to Buffalo upon receiving word of the shooting, began to leave on September 9. Roosevelt took off for a vacation in the wilderness of the Adirondack Mountains.

A few days later, on September 13, McKinley suffered a collapse. His apparent recovery had been a mirage. Gangrene was growing on the walls of his stomach and flooding his body with toxins. At 2:15 a.m. on September 14, 1901, President William McKinley died.

Epilogue

Justice for Leon Czolgosz was swift. On September 16, a grand jury indicted him with one count of first-degree murder. Although he chatted freely with his guards, he refused to have anything to do with Robert C. Titus and Loran L. Lewis, the judges-turned-lawyers assigned to defend him.

This photograph of Leon Czolgosz in jail first appeared in Leslie's Weekly, McKinley Edition, published September 9, 1901 (Public Domain)
This photograph of Leon Czolgosz in jail first appeared in Leslie’s Weekly, McKinley Edition, published September 9, 1901 (Public Domain)

Czolgosz’s trial began on September 23, 1901, nine days after McKinley died. Prosecution testimony took two days and consisted principally of the doctors who treated McKinley and various eyewitnesses to the shooting. Defense attorney Lewis called no witnesses but praised McKinley in his twenty-seven-minute closing argument to the jury. The jury deliberated less than half an hour before returning a guilty verdict.

Czolgosz died in the electric chair at New York’s Auburn Prison on October 29, 1901, forty-five days after President McKinley’s death. Unrepentant to the end, his last words were, “I shot the president because I thought it would help the working people and for the sake of the common people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am awfully sorry because I could not see my father.”

You can read more about President McKinley, Leon Czolgosz, and the assassination in The President and the Assassin by Scott Miller.

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Barbara Graham: Robbery Complete Fail Makes for Murder

In my blog post last week, Green Beret doctor Jeffrey MacDonald murdered his wife and two daughters. The case generated tremendous public interest. This week’s blog details the murder for which Barbara Graham, dubbed “Bloody Babs” by the press, went to the California gas chamber.

Barbara Graham

Barbara Graham, born Barbara Elaine Ford in 1923 in Oakland, California, didn’t have much chance in life. Her mother, Hortense, was an unmarried teenager who supported herself through prostitution. When Barbara was two, her mother, still in her teens, was sent to reform school, and Barbara went into foster care. Hortense was able to leave Ventura State School for Girls when she turned 21, but she refused to let Barbara live with her.

Extended family and strangers raised Barbara. Although intelligent, she had little formal education. Arrested for vagrancy, she ended up in the same institution where her mother had been.

After reform school, Barbara tried marriage and a traditional lifestyle, but it was not to be. Married and divorced three times, she became a sex worker like her mother. During World War II, She ran with a crowd that included gamblers, drug addicts, ex-convicts, and career criminals.

Barbara Graham
Barbara Graham

Barbara eventually served a five-year prison term for perjury at the California Women’s State Prison at Tehachapi. She had given false alibis to a pair of petty criminals.

After prison, she moved briefly to Nevada before returning to Los Angeles and prostitution. She married Henry Graham, a bartender at one of her hangouts. But Graham was a drug addict and a hardened but low-level criminal. Through him, she met the people that ultimately caused her conviction and execution.

Barbara Graham and the Mabel Monohan Murder

Mabel Monohan was 64, a widow, and a retired vaudeville performer. Her former son-in-law, Luther Scherer, was a mover and shaker in Los Vegas gambling circles and suspected of having mob ties. Even though Mabel’s daughter had divorced Scherer and married another man, he and Mabel remained close. Somehow, this led to a rumor that Scherer kept $100,000 ($1,142,730 in 2023) of Scherer’s money in a safe in Mabel’s home.

Mabel Monahan's home at 1718 Parkside Drive in Burbank looks much as it did in 1953 (lamag.com)
Mabel Monahan’s home at 1718 Parkside Drive in Burbank looks much as it did in 1953 (lamag.com)

Henry Graham’s friends, Jack Santo and Emmett “The Weasel” Perkins, both career criminals, heard the rumors. Together with Barbara, John True, and Baxter Shorter, a safecracker, they planned to steal the stash of cash from Mabel’s home.

Mabel Monohan (lamag.com)
Mabel Monohan (lamag.com)

On the evening of March 9, 1953, Barbara Graham knocked on the Monohan door. She asked to use the phone, saying she had car trouble. When Mabel admitted her, Perkins, Santo, and True pushed in after her. In his subsequent confession, Shorter claimed he entered the home later and saw Mabel moaning and bleeding on the floor. After the five left and Shorter was alone, he claimed he dialed “O” and requested an ambulance (there was no 911 in 1953). However, he neglected to tell the operator that the Monohan house was in Burbank instead of Los Angeles. It was two days before Mabel’s gardener found her body.

The robbery was a complete bust. Mabel had no safe and no $100,000. The “robbers” found little of value.

Barbara Graham Tried and Convicted

On March 26, 1953, police arrested and questioned five men. Three were known associates of L.A. gangster Mickey Cohen, and one was Baxter Shorter. Although police released the five for lack of evidence, Shorter decided to confess and get a deal rather than face the gas chamber.

Barbara Graham mugshot
Barbara Graham mugshot

Shorter made a complete confession. However, news of it leaked out, and when police released him, he was kidnapped and murdered.

Baxter Shorter mugshot
Baxter Shorter mugshot

Enter William Upshaw. Upshaw testified before the grand jury, claiming to have been in the car with Graham, Perkins, Santo, True, and Shorter the night before the murder. The six were casing Mabel’s home. He said he dropped out of the robbery, fearing retribution from Luther Scherer.

Jack Santo (L), Emmet Perkins (C), and Barbara Graham (R) (murderpedia.org)
Jack Santo (L), Emmet Perkins (C), and Barbara Graham (R) (murderpedia.org)

Besides Upshaw, John True agreed to testify for the prosecution in exchange for immunity. He testified against Barbara, who continually proclaimed her innocence.

Barbara Graham in court
Barbara Graham in court

Barbara had no alibi. She doomed her case by offering to pay $25,000 ($285,683 in 2023) to another inmate and a “friend” to provide a false alibi. However, the inmate was out to reduce her own sentence, and the “friend” was a police officer. The “friend” recorded the conversation between the three and got Graham to admit she’d been at the murder scene. This attempt to suborn perjury and her previous perjury conviction torpedoed Barbara’s credibility in court.

Graham was convicted, while the informant had her sentence reduced to time served and was released.

Epilogue

Barbara Graham died in the California gas chamber on June 3, 1955. Joe Feretti, one of the men assisting in the execution, told her to take a deep breath, and it would go quicker and easier for her. Barbara responded, “How the hell would you know?”

In 1958, a sympathetic and highly fictionalized version of Barbara’s story, I Want to Live!, earned Susan Hayward an Academy Award for Best Actress. Lindsay Wagner portrayed Graham in a 1983 television movie of the same name.

Over the years, anti-death penalty advocates have used Barbara Graham’s case to promote their agenda. Proof of Guilt: Barbara Graham and the Politics of Executing Women in America by Kathleen A. Cairns examines this phenomenon.

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Jeffrey MacDonald: Horrific Murder is a Big Media Case

In my last blog post, a doctor poisoned his wife, Rosemarie “Rosie” Essa, with cyanide, then fled the country. This week, I examine the case of Jeffrey MacDonald. MacDonald was an Army doctor accused (and convicted) of murdering his wife and daughters.

Jeffrey MacDonald

The Jeffrey MacDonald case is one of America’s most perplexing and controversial criminal cases. The brutal murders on February 17, 1970, shocked the nation and led to a long, convoluted legal battle. Jeffrey MacDonald, a Green Beret doctor, stood accused of killing his pregnant wife, Colette, and their two young daughters, Kimberly and Kristen, in their Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home. The case received widespread media attention, sparking debates about MacDonald’s guilt or innocence. Decades later, the MacDonald case continues to intrigue and divide people.

Captain Jeffrey MacDonald in October 1970 (The Fayetteville Observer)
Captain Jeffrey MacDonald in October 1970 (The Fayetteville Observer)

Jeffrey MacDonald was a respected Army officer and physician. He claimed that a group of intruders, whom he described as “hippies” and “drug-crazed individuals,” broke into their home and attacked his family while he was asleep on the living room couch. MacDonald himself was injured in the alleged assault. However, investigators began to suspect MacDonald’s involvement due to inconsistencies in his story and evidence at the crime scene.

Colette MacDonald with daughters Kristen and Kimberly
Colette MacDonald with daughters Kristen and Kimberly

Forensic evidence argued strongly against MacDonald’s account. Investigators discovered that the murder weapon, a knife, belonged to the MacDonald household and showed no signs of anyone else using it. Also, bloodstains suggested that someone had staged the crime scene to look like a violent intruder attack. These factors led to MacDonald’s arrest and subsequent trial.

Jeffrey MacDonald on Trial

Jeffrey MacDonald went on trial in 1979, nearly a decade after the murders. The prosecution argued that MacDonald had killed his family in a fit of rage. They pointed to inconsistencies in his story, his motive due to marital issues, and forensic evidence seemingly contradicting his account.

Ft. Bragg MPs stand guard as workers prepare to leave the site of the MacDonald murders at 544 Castle Drive on Fort Bragg on June 7, 1984. The apartment was being cleaned out and repaired.  (Cramer Gallimore/The Fayetteville Observer)
Ft. Bragg MPs stand guard as workers prepare to leave the site of the MacDonald murders at 544 Castle Drive on Fort Bragg on June 7, 1984. The apartment was being cleaned out and repaired. (Cramer Gallimore/The Fayetteville Observer)

MacDonald maintained his innocence throughout the trial, asserting that intruders were responsible for the murders. He claimed that the Manson family, a notorious cult, may have been involved. MacDonald’s defense team suggested that the initial investigation was flawed and failed to pursue alternative suspects adequately.

Jeffrey MacDonald is led out in handcuffs after being found guilty of murdering his family in 1970 at the federal courthouse in Raleigh on August 29, 1979 (Cramer Gallimore/The Fayetteville Observer)
Jeffrey MacDonald is led out in handcuffs after being found guilty of murdering his family in 1970 at the federal courthouse in Raleigh on August 29, 1979 (Cramer Gallimore/The Fayetteville Observer)

After a lengthy trial, the jury found MacDonald guilty of murder, resulting in three consecutive life sentences. However, the case did not end there. Over the years, numerous appeals and legal proceedings followed, highlighting the many controversial aspects of the trial.

Critics argue that the prosecution relied heavily on circumstantial evidence and failed to establish a clear motive. They claim that investigators mishandled the forensic evidence and, therefore, it was unreliable. MacDonald’s defense team maintains his he did not kill his family and contends that prosecutors either ignored or suppressed crucial evidence supporting his innocence

Prison photo of Jeffrey MacDonald (U.S. Bureau of Prisons)
Prison photo of Jeffrey MacDonald (U.S. Bureau of Prisons)

The MacDonald case received renewed attention in the 1980s, thanks to journalist Joe McGinniss’ bestselling book, Fatal Vision, which presented a damning portrayal of MacDonald. However, subsequent investigations and interviews raised doubts about the book’s accuracy and alleged bias.

Legacy of the Jeffrey MacDonald Case

The MacDonald case remains a subject of intense debate and analysis within true crime circles. The case has inspired numerous books, documentaries, and podcasts, each presenting different perspectives on the events and raising questions about the validity of the conviction. The case’s enduring legacy underscores the complexities of the criminal justice system and the impact media can have on public perception and legal proceedings.

In recent years, new DNA testing techniques have emerged, offering the possibility of reevaluating crucial evidence from the crime scene. MacDonald’s legal team continues to fight for a new trial, arguing that advancements in forensic science could exonerate him.

Epilogue

Decades after the murders, the question of MacDonald’s guilt or innocence continues to haunt those familiar with the case. With ongoing legal battles, emerging scientific advancements, and a passionate community of supporters and skeptics, the MacDonald case serves as a constant reminder of the complexities and uncertainties that can surround high-profile criminal trials.

There are many books about the MacDonald case. The best-known is Fatal Vision, published in 1983 by journalist Joe McGinniss. MacDonald hired McGinniss to write a book proving his innocence. However, his research led McGinniss to conclude that MacDonald was guilty, and Fatal Vision reflects that conclusion. McGinniss also authored Final Vision as a rebuttal to the writers who contend MacDonald is innocent.

In 1997, Jerry Allen Potter and Fred Bost published Fatal Justice, a critical response to Fatal Vision. Also firmly in the “MacDonald is innocent” camp is A Wilderness of Error by filmmaker Errol Morris.

Janet Malcolm’s The Journalist and the Murderer studies MacDonald’s lawsuit against Joe McGinniss for breach of contract. In it, she accuses McGinniss of “betraying” MacDonald and excoriates the entire journalism profession.

Today (July 2023), Jeffrey MacDonald is 79 years old and resides at the Cumberland Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland.

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George Joseph Smith: Bridegroom Makes for Unusual Serial Killer

Last week, I told you about Annie Le, a Yale graduate student whose promising career was cut short by murder. This week, I have a classic crime from across the Atlantic. It’s the story of George Joseph Smith and the notorious “Brides in the Bath” case.

George Joseph Smith

Crime was an integral part of George Joseph Smith’s life from his early years. Born in London in 1872, he ended up in a reformatory at Gravesend by the age of 9. Later, he served time for theft and fraud. In 1896, he convinced a woman to steal from her employers, which earned him 12 months in prison.

George Joseph Smith in 1915 (Police Gazette, 1915)
George Joseph Smith in 1915 (Police Gazette, 1915)

Two years later, in 1896, he married Carolyn Beatrice Thornhill in Leicester. Despite many subsequent marriages, this was the only one that was legal. Soon after the wedding, the couple moved to London.

Carolyn worked as a maid for several employers, stealing from all of them at Smith’s behest. Eventually caught, she served 12 months and, upon her release, outed her husband. He went to prison for two years in January 1901.

Carolyn departed for Canada when Smith got out of prison. Unfazed, Smith married Florence Wilson in June 1908. A month later, he left her, but not before taking £30 (about $1,126 in 2023) from her savings account. He also sold the contents of their Camden Town residence in London.

George Joseph Smith during his murder trial
George Joseph Smith during his murder trial

Smith continued to marry and steal from women. Between 1908 and 1914, he contracted seven marriages, all of them bigamous. For a time, as with Florence Wilson, he stole what money they had and disappeared. But that was about to change.

George Joseph Smith Turns to Murder

In December 1910, Smith married Beatrice “Bessie” Mundy (using the name Henry Williams) in Weymouth, Dorset. The couple rented a house at 80 High Street. The house had no bathtub, so Smith rented one seven weeks later.

The new couple consulted a physician, Dr. Frank French, where Bessie complained of headaches. Smith told French a different story, that his wife suffered from epileptic seizures, even though she had no memory of them afterward.

The 'Brides in the Bath' murderer George Joseph Smith (1872 - 1915) standing in front of a painted backdrop with the first of his murder victims, Beatrice "Bessie" Mundy, (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The ‘Brides in the Bath’ murderer George Joseph Smith (1872 – 1915) standing in front of a painted backdrop with the first of his murder victims, Beatrice “Bessie” Mundy, (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

On July 12, 1912, Smith called Dr. French to attend to his wife, saying she’d had another seizure. The doctor gave her some medicine and promised to check on her in the afternoon. However, Smith informed the doctor the next morning that Bessie had drowned in the bathtub during an epileptic seizure.

French found Bessie in the tub, her head underwater, her legs stretched straight, and her feet protruding from the water. With no visible trace of violence, he attributed her death to epilepsy. The inquest jury awarded “Williams” £2,579 13s 7d (almost $461,000 in 2023) as dictated by her will. She’d drawn up the will a mere five days before her death.

George Joseph Smith Arouses Suspicion

In January 1915, Division Detective Inspector Arthur Neil received a letter from one Joseph Crossley. Crossley owned a boarding house in Blackpool, Lancashire, and enclosed two newspaper clippings in his letter. One was from News of the World, dated Christmas 1914, which recounted the death of Margaret Elizabeth Lloyd (née Lofty). Mrs. Lloyd died at her home in Highgate; her husband and their landlady found her in the bathtub.

Margaret Elizabeth Lofty
Margaret Elizabeth Lofty

The second clipping, dated December 13, 1913, recounted the coroner’s inquest into the death of Alice Smith (née Burnham) in Blackpool. Her husband found her dead in the bathtub. In addition to her savings, Alice had a £500 ($78,487 in 2023) life insurance policy.

Alice Burnham (findagrave.com)
Alice Burnham (findagrave.com)

Crossley’s letter, dated January 3, expressed his and his wife’s suspicions over the striking similarity of the two deaths. He urged the police to investigate.

The Investigation Begins

DI Neil visited the house where Margaret Lloyd died. He found it difficult to believe a healthy adult woman had drowned in such a small tub. Investigating further, he found Margaret had made a will on December 18, 1914, three hours before she died.

Neil contrived to have the coroner, Dr. Bates, issue a favorable report to the insurance company. Expecting Lloyd/Smith to contact his lawyers, he had their offices watched. On February 1, a man matching Smith’s description appeared. After a few questions, the man admitted to the inspector that he was Lloyd and Smith. Neil promptly arrested him for bigamy.

By now, news of the “Brides in the Bath” case had begun to appear. On February 8, the police chief of Herne Bay, Kent, notified Neil of another death similar to Margaret’s and Alice’s. That was, of course, the death of Bessie Mundy.

The Solution

The question that needed an answer was, how did the two women drown? Neil asked the eminent Home Office pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury to find a solution.

Spilsbury began by exhuming Margaret Lloyd’s body and conducting a second autopsy. He confirmed drowning as the cause of death, although the evidence was not extensive. He then ruled out poisons or diseases.

Home Office pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury in his laboratory
Home Office pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury in his laboratory

Given the dimensions of the tub and the size of the women, Spilsbury concluded that they couldn’t have drowned during a seizure. The muscular activity during an episode would have pushed them out of the tub.

Spilsbury suspected someone had grabbed the women by the feet and pulled them underwater. The sudden influx of water into the nose and mouth might cause shock and unconsciousness.

Reconstruction of the Brides in the Bath murders in Madam Tussauds Chamber of Horrors, London
Reconstruction of the Brides in the Bath murders in Madam Tussauds Chamber of Horrors, London

To test this theory, DI Neil hired several experienced female divers similar in size and build to the victims. Try as he might, he could not force the women underwater without leaving signs of a struggle. Then without warning, he pulled the feet of one of the divers. Her head glided under the water before she knew what was happening. Neil pulled the diver from the tub when she failed to get out of the water. It took him and a doctor more than half an hour to revive her. It was a close call, but it confirmed Spilsbury’s theory.

Trial and Conviction

Smith’s trial for murder at London’s Old Baily on June 22, 1915. Under English law, prosecutors could only try him for Bessie Mundy’s death. However, prosecutors used the other two murders to establish the pattern of Smith’s crimes. Smith’s counsel, the noted barrister Sir Edward Marshall Hall, protested, but Mr. Justice Scrutton allowed it. Smith decided not to testify in his own defense.

Handwritten note by George Joseph Smith to his counsel, Edward Marshall Hall, indicating that he did not wish to give evidence in his own defense
Handwritten note by George Joseph Smith to his counsel, Edward Marshall Hall, indicating that he did not wish to give evidence in his own defense

It took the jury about 20 minutes to convict Smith, and Mr. Justice Scrutton sentenced him to death.

Epilogue

Marshall Hall appealed the verdict on grounds that Mr. Justice Scrutton improperly admitted evidence of a “system.” Lord Chief Justice Lord Reading dismissed the appeal.

Sir Edward Marshall Hall
Sir Edward Marshall Hall

George Joseph Smith went to the gallows at Maidstone Prison on August 13, 1915.

The Smith case is significant because it was the first instance of introducing past crimes to prove a system or pattern. Although some have criticized the technique, it is a feature of many modern criminal cases.

The “Brides in the Bath” case appears in several biographies of Spilsbury and anthologies of famous crimes. Among these are The Father of Forensics by Colin Evans and Robin O’Dell’s Landmarks in 20th Century Murder. George Joseph Smith: Brides in the Bath, a book in the True Crimes series, and Jane Robins’ The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in the Bath also chronicle the case.

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