EP 70: Horse Thief PT 2

Mar 27

In this second part of a two-parter, Paul and Kate return to 1846 upstate NY where a suspect is apprehended. The ensuing court case becomes one that changes US law forever in its implementation of a first-time defense strategy.

Sources:

“The trial of William Freeman for the murder of John G. Van Nest: including the evidence and the arguments of counsel, with the decision of the Supreme Court granting a new trial, and an account of the death of the prisoner, and of the post-mortem examination of his body by Amariah Brigham, M.D., and others.” (1848)

https://archive.org/details/trialwilliamfre01courgoog/page/n11/mode/2up

“People V. William Freeman” (Historical Society of the New York Courts)

https://history.nycourts.gov/case/people-v-freeman/

“People V. William Freeman” (Cornell Law School)

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/people_v._william_freeman_(1847)

“In the Shadow of the Gallows: Race, Crime, and American Civic Identity” by Jeannine Marie DeLombard

https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fj0kq?typeAccessWorkflow=login

“America's First M'Naghten Defense and the Origin of the Black Rage Syndrome” by Kenneth J. Weiss and Neha Gupta (Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry) 2018.

https://jaapl.org/content/46/4/503

“Crazy Bill Had a Down Look” by Louis C. Jones (American Heritage) 1955.

https://www.americanheritage.com/crazy-bill-had-down-look

“Owasco Lake” (World Lake Database)

https://wldb.ilec.or.jp/Display/html/3419

“Owasco Lake” (Visit Finger Lakes)

https://www.visitfingerlakes.com/plan-your-trip/finger-lakes-facts/owasco-lake/

“The Insanity Plea in Early Nineteenth Century America” by AD Spiegel and MB Spiegel (Journal of Community Health) 1998.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9615297/

“The Story Behind Each of the Eleven Finger Lakes” (Life in the Finger Lakes) 2019.

https://www.lifeinthefingerlakes.com/the-story-behind-each-of-the-eleven-finger-lakes-part-3/

“The Horrible Murder in Cayuga” New-York Tribune (1846)