Episode 138: Unusual Suspect
In this week's episode Paul and Kate head to late 1800s Massachusetts where a husband returns home to find his wife slain. Through some thorough investigating a suspect is brought to court but this becomes anything but an open and shut case.
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Sources:
Commonwealth vs. Stearns K. Abbott, 1881 Middlesex County, 130 Mass. 472 (1881), http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/130/130mass472.html
Cruz, Beth. “Stearns Kendall Abbott.” The National Registry of Exonerations, Pre-1989. Newkirk Center for Science & Society at University of California Irvine, the University of Michigan Law School and Michigan State University College of Law. Accessed on June 8, 2025. https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetailpre1989.aspx?caseid=1
Green, Samuel Abbott. Groton Historical Series: A Collection of Papers Relating to the History of the Town of Groton, Massachusetts. Vol II, No. 1. University Press: John Wilson and Son, 1890.
“Groton Murder: Examination of the Alleged Murderer.” Fitchburg Sentinel. February 9, 1880, 1 and 4.
“Murder at Groton.” Fitchburg Sentinel. January 19, 1880, 2.
“Murder Will Out: Startling Developments in the Famous Abbott Case.” Boston Globe. January 28, 1885, 1. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/430690151/
“Right a Wrong.” Boston Globe. June 27, 1895, 4. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/430808761/
Short, Michelle. “The 1880 Murder of Maria Crue: Wrongfully Convicted Man Pardoned Decades Later.” HubPages. Last modified on January 18, 2024. https://discover.hubpages.com/politics/the-1880-murder-of-maria-crue-wrongfully-convicted-man-pardoned-decades-later
“The Strange Case of Stearns Kendall Abbott, Victim of Environment.” The Davis News. August 23, 1906, 6. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/612336553/
Wilhelm, Robert. “The Groton Tragedy.” Last modified September 2, 2023. https://www.murderbygaslight.com/2023/09/the-groton-tragedy.html
“A Woman Brutally Murdered.” New York Times. January 19, 1880, 1. https://www.nytimes.com/1880/01/19/archives/a-woman-brutally-murdered-the-terrible-fate-of-maria-l-crew-a.html
“A Very Doubtful Confession.” New York Times. January 28, 1885, 1. https://www.nytimes.com/1885/01/28/archives/a-very-doubtful-confession-one-which-if-true-would-relieve-a-man.html