The witch of New York : the trials of Polly Bodine and the cursed birth of tabloid justice
Hortis, Alex, 1972-2024
Book
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.
Main title:
Author:
Hortis, Alex, 1972-, author
Edition:
First Pegasus Books cloth edition.
Imprint:
New York : Pegasus Crime, 2024.©2024
Collation:
xx, 315 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour), maps, portraits ; 24 cm.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:
9781639363919 (hbk.)1639363912 (hbk.)
Dewey class:
364.1523
Language:
English
Subject:
Bodine, Polly -- Trials, litigation, etcTrials (Murder) -- New York (State) -- New York -- History -- 19th century -- Case studiesInfanticide -- New York (State) -- New York -- History -- 19th century -- Case studiesTabloid newspapers -- New York (State) -- New York -- History -- 19th century -- Case studiesTrue crime stories
BRN:
2275064