Published by The History Press
Charleston, SC 29403
www.historypress.net
Copyright 2015 by Christopher Daley
All rights reserved
First published 2015
e-book edition 2015
ISBN 978.1.62585.306.6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015943863
print edition ISBN 978.1.62619.797.8
Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
To my wife, Cathy.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, I would like to thank my wife, Catherine Reusch Daley, not only for her outstanding photographic contributions to this book but also for her patience with me in this endeavor. Many a time I was sequestered with my writing and research and was not available for the things that a husband should be there for. Nonetheless, she was always encouraging and supportive to me.
There were many people who helped in the creation of this bookmost notably Captain Jack Daley (no relation) of the Boston Police Department (retired). His insight into the Giggler Case was indispensable. Others whom I would like to thank are Robert Zinck and Yahau Li of the Widener Library at Harvard University; Ann Swartzell from Patron Services at Harvard University; Dominic Hall, curator of the Warren Anatomical Museum at Harvard University; Lesley Schoenfeld of Historical and Special Collections, Harvard Law School Library; Elizabeth Roscio of the Bostonian Society; and Jane Winton and Tom Blake of the Boston Public Library Print Department.
Lastly, I would like to thank the great team at The History Press: my commissioning editor Tabitha Dulla, my production editor Elizabeth Farry and Leigh Scott, the sales manager at the parent company Arcadia Publishing.
INTRODUCTION
The book Murder & Mayhem in Boston really began when I developed a historical presentation entitled Mass Murder: Massachusetts Most Notorious Murder Cases, which I have been delivering at historical societies, public libraries and various organizations for years now.
The idea for Murder & Mayhem in Boston was put before me by The History Pressto take some of the research that had been already done with respect to murder cases in Boston and expand on that. So, I was able to take some of my previous research from Mass Murder that focused on Boston and combine it with new research on other casessome which are little known to the public.
In the course of my research, I sifted through many casessome of which have already been exhaustively addressed in other works such as the Boston Strangler and the Parkman-Webster Case, which I chose not to include in this volume just for that fact. Of the many others, some just didnt have the outstanding qualities to warrant publication. I wanted to include lesser-known murder cases that had something out of the ordinary, and I was able to put together nine chapters of stories that had some mystery involved, some kind of a twist or something so shocking that the story had to be told.
The chapter The Prostitute and the Somnambulist is about the Maria Bickford case and is a story about which not much is generally knownother than that the case stands out in the annals of criminal law for the unique defense of somnambulism or sleepwalking. This is a story that is descriptive, full and detailed. Several rare and unknown sources were used to document the story of Marias sad descent into a life of vice and dissipationa life that would eventually lead to her death.
The tale of the Bussey Woods murders is another that has been lost in the mists of time; it has been revitalized in the chapter Monster in the Woods. In this chapter, we find that two innocents, a brother and sister, have been brutally murdered while on a picnic in 1865. Several investigations were begun and suspects identified, but no one was ever charged. Still, today, the case remains an unsolved mystery.
In The Boston Barrel Butchery, a dismembered body is found stuffed into two barrelsfloating down the Charles River. When the contents of the barrels and the body parts are examined, some very interesting clues are discovered that lead to one Leavitt Alley. Later, blood is found in Alleys stable and on his clothing. At trial, it all comes down to whether the blood is human or that of a horsea nineteenth-century version of CSI!
The case of The Boston Skull Cracker has been chronicled by other authors in the past and is usually referred to as the Boston Belfry Murder. Through exhaustive research, I was able to bring to light much more information that has not been previously published, and I was able to find an unknown photograph of Thomas Piper, the murderer, in the archives at the Harvard Law School Library. Through the use of old newspaper accounts and archival material, we learn the story of a loner who lived in his own world, drinking whiskey and laudanum and reading dime novelsthe story of a man whose maniacal fantasies turned into homicidal wreckage.
Sadistic Youth, or the Jesse Pomeroy case, is probably the most well-known case in this volume. The case has been chronicled in several books and numerous articles. It is also the most shocking and frightening story, detailing the utter depravity and inhumanity of a boy who has been dubbed Americas Youngest Serial Killer. The tale of his crimes is riveting as is the history of his fifty-eight-year imprisonment and of his numerous escape attempts. The chapter also includes a recently discovered mugshot of Jesse that has never before been published.
The Unrelenting Cop is a wonderful detective story. A woman is found brutally murdered in a Tremont Street hotel room, and soon Officer Thomas Harvey is on the case. We follow him as he turns over every stone and chases down every leaduntil he finds his man. His prisoner is soon charged, indicted and triedbut the ending is very much unexpected and the outcome singular.
In the chapter Death Comes to Prince Street, gangster Joe Fantasia is shot down in the street in the spring of 1927. But its not a gang hit! The questions of motive and identity of the murderer are answered by so many twists and turns that the story would be perfect as the basis for a great crime novel.
In the chapter Dismembered, female body parts contained in burlap bags begin washing up in Boston Harborall except the head. A massive search ensues all over New England to find the identity of the woman. The only thing detectives have to go on is a size-three foot with a small callus on the heel as the only distinguishing feature on the body. The trail leads to a womans bungalow in the town of Weymouth. In the house, police find a bathroom splattered with blood, with one bloody footprint on the tile floor and one bloody handprint found on the side of the tub. When the tub is removed, bits and chunks of flesh are found stuffed into the pipes. After some good detective work between the Boston police, state police and the Weymouth police, the murderer is caughtbut did they get the right man?
