What Fall River Murder Really Led To America’s Trial Of The 19th Century?

Quick: What notorious 19th century murder in Fall River, Massachusetts so transfixed the American public that poems, songs, and even theatrical productions were created to portray the grisly crime? You wouldn’t be wrong by answering “Lizzie Borden,” but to do so would suggest that you’ve never heard of Sarah Marie Cornell, a 30-year-old weaver who was found strangled to death on the edge of a farm in that same mill town in December of 1832. No autopsy was performed and Cornell was buried quickly as an indigent, but her body was later exhumed and she was found to be four months pregnant. According to historian Richard Behrens, the physical evidence at the crime scene, as well as incriminating but unsigned letters found among Sarah’s possessions, led to the arrest of the Reverend Ephraim Kingsbury Avery, a Methodist minister residing in nearby Bristol, Rhode Island. His trial became a major newspaper sensation and was, up to that point, the longest, and most complex in American history. Authorities and townspeople believed his conviction to be a slam dunk, but after deliberating for 16 hours, the jury found the preacher not guilty. Several months later,in the fall of 1833, the play Sarah Maria Cornell: or, The Fall River Murder, opened at the Richmond Hill Theater in Manhattan to rave reviews, and attracted spectators for weeks to come. Note: As with the Borden murders of 1892, the Cornell case was never solved and remains a matter of great controversy.

BTK Killer Is A Suspect In The Death

Of 16-Year-Old Oklahoma Girl

Decades-old personal writings from Dennis Rader, the self-proclaimed BTK serial killer, have led local Oklahoma law enforcement to consider him the “prime suspect” in a missing persons case from 1976. Since January, Osage County Sheriff’s Office investigators have poured over Rader’s written works, which were first found when he was arrested in 2005, looking for links to local unsolved crimes. Rader is known to have labeled his criminal endeavors as "projects," and in a 1976 journal mentioned one called “Bad Wash Day,” where he noted that “Laundry Mat were a good place to watch victims and dream. The Brunette was the target.” [Sic] Undersheriff Gary Upton believes the entry references the death of 16-year-old Cynthia Dawn Kinney, who was last seen at a laundromat in June 1976 in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, because it's mentioned in a chapter of an unpublished manuscript in which he describes those murders he viewed as “successful.” During their prolonged search, authorities also uncovered “trophies” from at least one woman in a “hiding hole,” including chains apparently used for bondage, along with C-clips that can shorten chains or be used to secure a person’s legs or feet. The prolific killer, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to 10 murders committed in the Wichita area from 1974 to 1991, is serving 10 life sentences in prison. Note: Rader’s self-proclaimed nickname, BTK, is an acronym for Bind. Torture. Kill.

BOOK PREVIEW:

“Flamethrower” Of A Novel, Elroy’s

The Enchanters Is Out Tomorrow

The “demon dog of American letters” bounds back into view with James Elroy’s The Enchanters, a follow-up to 2021’s Widespread Panic. I have not yet had a chance to read it, but the storyline follows Freddy Otash, an ex-LAPD cop-turned private eye-turned extortionist-turned-violent goon-turned informant-turned cop again. This time, the spotlight falls on the death of Marilyn Monroe, the glamorous conspiracies around it, and the often-not-so-glamorous people who circled her. As Malcolm Mackay wrote in Air Mail this week, “There are no nice guys here, no heroes to support. Looking for a plucky underdog overcoming the odds and neatly saving the day, providing optimism and comfort? James Ellroy isn’t your man. Nothing so easy here. We’re all born sinners, every human soul full of stains that can’t be removed. Everyone exploits everyone else, plays angles, searches for advantages. Likability can be boring, and Ellroy is a modern master of making his characters interesting instead of nice. The pace is hold-onto-your-hat fast, and contempt drips from most pages, not only for the characters but for the environments they created for themselves, and for any who would think them elite.” The Enchanters goes on sale tomorrow, and you can pre-order a copy here. [Note: Indigo Road, my fifth Jack Connor mystery, also launches tomorrow. Pre-order it here, and get two for the price of two.]

DNA COLD CASE

Killer Of The “Lady Of The Dunes”

Is Finally ID'ed: The Husband Did It

To update a BunzelGram story that appeared in the November 7, 2022 issue, the killer of Ruth Marie Terry, Cape Cod’s infamous “Lady of the Dunes,” has been identified as Guy Rockwell Muldavin, her husband. The pair were married sometime in 1973 or 1974, and they apparently had stopped in to see Terry's cousin in Tennessee shortly after their wedding before heading off on their honeymoon. When Muldavin returned home from his travels without her, he explained to Terry's brother that they had gotten into a fight, and he didn't hear from her again. According to the Cape Cod Times, her body was discovered by then-12-year-old Leslie Metcalf and her parents on July 26, 1974, a mile west of Race Point Road in Provincetown. An autopsy showed she died from blunt force trauma to the head, and was found nearly decapitated and handless. Over the years, the her skull was DNA tested to no avail, until 2021, when a portion of Terry's jaw was sent for further testing at a forensics lab and a match was found. Terry, who was 37 at the time of her death, was determined to be the infamous “Lady of the Dunes” in 2022 and a death certificate was issued by the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in 2023. Guy Rockwell Muldavin died in 2002; in addition to killing Terry, he also is considered a suspect in the deaths of a previous wife and stepdaughter in 1960.

Seven Intriguing Word Origins

For Fans of Crime Novels

We’re all familiar with the scandals, heists, malfeasance, and murders in the pages of our favorite mysteries and thrillers, but have you ever wondered about the origins of some of the most commonly used terms used in crime fiction? Author Jess Zafarris recently addressed the subject in an article for Novel Suspects, and turned up some interesting etymological facts. For instance, the word assassin comes from Hashishin, a sect of Shia Muslims who lived in a network of mountain strongholds across Persia and Syria from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. Because they were surrounded by enemies, they established a reputation for employing tactics such as psychological warfare and the covert murders—or assassinations—of rival leaders while under the influence of hashish. The term blackmail, on the other hand, originated in Scotland and northern England in the 1500s, when clan chieftains and other officials ran protection rackets against farmers. The practice was called blackmail, with the “black” aspect indicating the evilness of the deed, and "mail" referring to “agreement,” stemming from the Old English word “mal” which, in turn, was adopted from Old Norse. Then there’s the word “heist,” which is a variation on the Middle Dutch word hyssen as in “to lift in the air.”

Coming Tomorrow!

INDIGO ROAD

“Indigo Road is a beautifully wrought, hard-biting story with elements of classic noir presented through a prism of modern sensibilities. A fantastic read.” –S.A. Cosby, bestselling author of Razorblade Tears 

While still slinging drinks fulltime at The Sandbar in Folly Beach, Jack Connor works a side gig as a licensed bounty hunter. One afternoon, as he's transporting his latest bail skip named Willis Ronson back to jail, his SUV is ambushed by a team of gunmen, killing Ronson instantly and seriously injuring his court-appointed attorney, Alisha Dupree. Connor can’t help but poke around the edges of the deadly incident and quickly learns that Ronson was a man of many secrets, including a mysterious woman from his past who has caused him to be sucked into a domestic terrorist fringe group.