by Brad Ricca
“spoiled from city life” (p. 129): “Statement of Mrs. Mary Grace Quackenbos,” Hearings Before Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, 61st Congress, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, March 29, 1910.
barber story (p. 129): This dialogue is taken directly from “Statement of Mrs. Mary Grace Quackenbos,” Hearings Before Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, 61st Congress, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, March 29, 1910. The barber’s name was Salvatore Giannangeli. When Grace asked if he could get her workers, he said: “I will get a horse and wagon and go out in the country tomorrow and begin to get the men.” “Can you get a whole hundred?” responded Grace. “Yes,” he said.
“grow like everything” (p. 133): Martha Bensley Bruere, “The Housewife and the Law,” Sunday Magazine, Buffalo Courier, June 11, 1911, 8.
8: THE GIANT AND THE CHAIR
I have reconstructed the Charlie Stielow story largely from George H. Bond, “Report by the Special Deputy Attorney,” New York: New York State Attorney General’s Office, 1917; Frank Marshall, “Where There Are Women There’s a Way,” Good Housekeeping, July 1918, 54; Colin Evans, Slaughter on a Snowy Morn, London: Icon, 2010. Descriptions of Sing Sing are from photographs and firsthand accounts: Denis Brian, Sing Sing: The Inside Story, Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2005; Alfred Conyes, Fifty Years in Sing Sing, Albany: State U of New York P, 2015.
Mazzella case (p. 135): “Mazella to Die,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 28, 1915.
“hold of that” (p. 135): “Woman Who Solved Ruth Cruger Mystery,” New York Sun, June 24, 1917, 42.
Warden Miller (p. 135): Frank Marshall White, “A Function of State,” New Outlook, October 18, 1916, 389.
“house that night” (p. 136): Linda J. Lumsden, Inez: The Life and Times of Inez Milholland, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004, 148. The letter was dated March 31 of that year.
words in the air (p. 136): Colin Evans, Slaughter on a Snowy Morn, London: Icon, 2010, 190.
Nelson Green’s confession (p. 138): Ibid., 359. Charlie initially denied what his brother-in-law was claiming. He just shook his head. Mrs. Green went to the law firm of Coe & Harcourt to represent the two. “They have got to have someone,” she said. But the lawyers turned her case down. “It would cost too much,” they said.
guns in the barn (p. 139): Ibid., 128. Jim Fisher, “Courtroom Charlatan,” jimfisher.edinboro.edu, 2008. They had been given to Charlie by Raymond Green, another brother-in-law. The guns were in the barn laying on the hay. Once the police started to be interested, the guns were locked in a suitcase. A local crime expert and druggist named Albert H. Hamilton persuasively testified that a microscopic scratch on one of the killing bullets matched one of the .22 guns. He was later exposed as a fraud. Grace didn’t put much credence in his theories.
Mazella (p. 139): “Convicts as Pallbearers,” New York Times, August 15, 1920, 23. Mazella died in prison on August 14, 1920, after being a model prisoner for five years. His relatives could not be located, but “he was so well liked by prison employees and inmates a collection was taken up by the Mutual Welfare League.” Inmates served as pallbearers as he was buried in Kensico Cemetery. He died of heart trouble.
Misha Appelbaum (p. 140): “Cult Leader Here,” St. Louis Dispatch, June 11, 1916, 34; advertisement for Humanitarian Cult, New York Evening World, October 2, 1916, 4.
Cult members (p. 140): “Ask Whitman,” Buffalo Courier, July 28, 1916.
Sophie Irene Loeb (p. 140): “Sophie Irene Loeb,” New York Times, January 19, 1929, 1; “Sophie Irene Loeb,” New York Times, January 21, 1929, 4.
complete her housework (p. 141): “What Does It Look Like?” Winfield Daily Free Press, Dec. 17, 1913, 2.
“the weaker victim” (p. 144): “Two Women Saved,” Springfield Republican, August 13, 1916, 3.
“surround the case of Charles Frederick Stielow” (p. 144): Sophie Irene Loeb, “Man Facing Death,” New York Evening World, July 18, 1916, 8.
“shadow of death!” (p. 145): “Ask Whitman to Spare,” Buffalo Courier, July 28, 1916, 1.
“to live in” (p. 146): Alice S. Cheyney, “Inez Milholland Boissevain,” Vassar Quarterly, February 1917, 106.
execution of Becker (p. 146): “Becker Makes Final Plea,” New York Times, July 21, 1915, 1; “Becker Dies in Chair, Middletown Times-Press, July 30, 1915, 1.
“imprisonment instead of death” (p. 147): Colin Evans, Slaughter on a Snowy Morn, London: Icon, 2010, 212.
“to see Papa” (p. 147): “Ask Whitman,” Buffalo Courier, July 28, 1916.
Whitman’s decision (p. 148): “Hangs the Murder,” Buffalo Express, August 12, 1916, 5.
ice-cold strawberry shortcake (p. 148): Colin Evans, Slaughter on a Snowy Morn, London: Icon, 2010, 219.
finding O’Connell (p. 149): “Mrs. Humiston’s Story,” Buffalo Express, August 12, 1916, 5.
O’Connell’s reputation (p. 149): George H. Bond, “Report by the Special Deputy Attorney,” New York: New York State Attorney General’s Office, 1917.
Sophie Loeb convinces Justice Guy (p. 150): Frank Marshall, “Where There Are Women There’s a Way,” Good Housekeeping, July 1918, 54.
pursuit of him (p. 154): “Her Chosen Task,” Boston Post, August 20, 1916, 58.
King’s arrest (p. 154): George H. Bond, “Report by the Special Deputy Attorney,” New York: New York State Attorney General’s Office, 1917; “Text of King’s Confession,” New York Evening World, August 14, 1916, 2.
King’s retraction (p. 158): “King Repudiates Confession,” Republican-Journal, August 15, 1916, 2; “King Freed of Murder Charge,” Times Herald Olean, August 15, 1916, 6; “Fight for Stielow Goes On,” New York Evening World, August 16, 1916, 3; “King Now Retracts,” New York Times, August 15, 1916, 5; “My Confession Is a Lie,” New York Evening World, August 14, 1916, 1.
second interview (p. 159): “Mr. Humiston Succeeds in Seeing King,” Times Herald Olean, September 12, 1916, 1.
“this innocent man?” (p. 160): “The Example of Inez Milholland,” New York Evening World, November 29, 1916, 10.
“for all womanhood” (p. 160): Ibid.
“imprisonment for life” (p. 161): Colin Evans, Slaughter on a Snowy Morn, London: Icon, 2010, 288.
“save me from the Chare” (p. 161): Ibid., 282.
final report (p. 162): George H. Bond, “Report by the Special Deputy Attorney,” New York: New York State Attorney General’s Office, 1917. The final comprehensive report by George Bond was damning. According to a witness, Nelson Green was working on a farm when Detective Newton pulled up alongside a barn and grabbed a length of rope before grabbing Green and “hearing” his confession. Newton placed stool pigeons and hidden Dictaphones in Stielow’s jail, but they couldn’t get anything off him. One witness overheard Newton saying of Green, “He is the biggest boob I know. I told him to go on and make this confession and blame it all on the other fellow. That he was too good a man to be a farmer all his life and that we would make him a deputy sheriff, and he swallowed it.”
commutation of sentence (p. 162): George H. Bond, “Report by the Special Deputy Attorney,” New York: New York State Attorney General’s Office, 1917.
Stielow film (p. 162): The People vs. John Doe, directed by Lois Weber, Universal Pictures, December 2, 1916. Originally titled The Celebrated Stielow Case, only twenty-nine minutes of this sixty-minute film have been located. Grace seems to be represented by a female attorney in the film; Shelley Stamp, “Life’s Mirror,” Lois Weber in Early Hollywood, Oakland: University of California Press, 2015, 98.
9: THE MANHUNTER OF HARLEM
The description of the motorcycle shop is largely from photographs in the newspapers and in pulp magazines, especially Grace Humiston with Isabel Stephen, “Won’t You Help Me Find My Girl?” Actual Detective, May 4, 1938; Dick Halvorsen, “The Hidden Grave,” Master Detective, April 1954; “Persons and Scenes,” New-York Tribune, June 17, 1917, 8; �
�Murder of 18-Year-Old,” Spokesman Review, June 24, 1917, 30.
“SELLING OUT” (p. 164): “Ruth Cruger’s Body,” New-York Tribune, June 13, 1917, 16.
Julius J. Kron (p. 165): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926.
“food will decide the war” (p. 165): menu, Hotel Manhattan, November 13, 1917, New York Public Library. Call No. 1917-0422-wotm.
Kron’s dialogue with Cruger and Grace (p. 166): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926.
Herbert Roemmele (p. 168): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926; “Return of Cocchi,” New-York Tribune, July 17, 1917, 12. Sometimes spelled “Rameley,” Herbert (sometimes Harold), according to Kron’s account, “had towwhite hair and blue-gray eyes.”
Snyder finds Cocchi (p. 170): “Man Long Sought,” New York Evening World, May 31, 1917, 1. This is detective work on my part: the article is unsigned, but indicative of Snyder’s style. He seems to have already been in Italy as the World’s war correspondent. There are differing accounts of who located Cocchi first. S. S. Dumont, United States consul at Florence, reported in a letter received by Swann that Cocchi was in Italy. Yet another story had Cocchi turned in by a relative in Italy; “Bicycle Repair Shop”: Kansas City Star, June 6, 1917, 10; “Her Maiden Name,” Philadelphia Enquirer, June 8, 1917, 1. For more on Snyder: Alice Ziska Snyder and Milton Valentine Snyder, Paris Days and London Nights, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1921.
“extraordinary about her” (p. 171): “Ruth Cruger Taken Abroad,” New York Sun, June 7, 1917, 4.
10: THE PALE MAN
extradition (p. 172): “Ask Extradition,” New Castle News, June 7, 1917, 1; “To Question Cocchi,” New-York Tribune, June 8, 1917, 14; “To Ask Italy for Cocchi,” New York Times, June 8, 1917, 9; “Italy Likely to Cut,” New York Evening World, June 18, 1917, 2.
“sell the shop” (p. 172): “Mother Doubts,” New York Evening World, June 7, 1917, 12.
“were very lax” (p. 173): “Alfredo Cocchi Is Located,” New York Sun, June 1, 1917, 6.
“Mrs. Grace Humiston” (p. 173): “Mother Doubts,” New York Evening World, June 7, 1917, 12.
“near a solution” (p. 173): “To Ask Italy,” New York Times, June 8, 1917, 1.
“disappearance of Miss Cruger” (p. 173): Ibid.
Grace and Woods (p. 174): Grace Humiston with Isabel Stephen, “Won’t You Help Me Find My Girl?” Actual Detective, May 4, 1938.
“something on Cocchi” (p. 175): Ibid.
Madame Mureal (p. 176): “Cocchi, Who Evaded,” New York Evening World, June 20, 1917, 2; “Girl of 16,” New-York Tribune, June 20, 1917, 16.
Kron’s employment (p. 179): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926; Dick Halvorsen, “The Hidden Grave,” Master Detective, April 1954.
“I know you now!” (p. 181): Dick Halvorsen, “The Hidden Grave,” Master Detective, April 1954.
“taken down there” (p. 182): “Says Cocchi Headed,” Pittsburgh Press, June 27, 1917, 1.
speak anymore (p. 182): “Arthur Woods Signs,” Amsterdam Evening Recorder, July 5, 1917, 2.
“will you do that?” (p. 184): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephens, “My Encounter with a White-Slave Ring,” Mysterious Crimes, New York: True Story, 1934.
secret traincar (p. 184): The famous Mineola was said to have been able to speed its wealthy passenger from the Belmont Hotel on Forty-second to Belmont Park.
“border-line psychopathic cases” (p. 186): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephens, “My Encounter with a White-Slave Ring,” Mysterious Crimes, New York: True Story, 1934.
“that is her affair” (p. 187): Ibid.
“I’ll fire you” (p. 187): “Guy H. Scull Marries,” June 9, 1914, 11.
“this over with me” (p. 183): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926.
“cup of Tantalus” (p. 188): Ibid.
“snooping around long time” (p. 188): Grace Humiston with Isabel Stephen, “Won’t You Help Me Find My Girl?” Actual Detective, May 4, 1938.
“give you a couple of men” (p. 189): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926.
cup of Tantalus (p. 189): Bruce Yeany, “Hero’s Fountain,” If You Build It, They Will Learn, Arlington, VA: NSTA Press, 2006, 86; Thomas Ewbank, “Tantalus’ Cups,” Ewbank’s Hydraulics,” New York: Bangs, 1854, 520. Also called a Pythagorean cup, this cup uses hidden chambers to force the drinker to quaff its contents in moderation.
11: A DOOR TO THE UNDERWORLD
“on them all yet” (p. 191): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926. All the dialogue from Kron, McGee, and Maria Cocchi is from this source.
through the coal vault (p. 193): “Mrs. Cocchi Forces Cruger Case,” New-York Tribune, June 15, 1917, 9. Borough sidewalks had vaults: open spaces beneath the sidewalk sometimes covered with metal grates. The main reason for sidewalk access was to make coal deliveries less messy. Some people were known to turn their vaults, often lit by glass sidewalk tiles, into makeshift underground apartments.
“They’re crazy” (p. 194): “Ruth Cruger’s Body,” New-York Tribune, June 13, 1917, 16.
“resumed to-morrow” (p. 195): “Mrs. Cocchi Forces Cruger Case,” New-York Tribune, June 15, 1917, 8.
the opening of the vault (p. 195): “Ruth Cruger’s Body,” New-York Tribune, June 13, 1917, 16.
“for a grave” (p. 196): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926.
placed it in his pocket (p. 196): “Dig for Cruger Clues,” New York Times, June 13, 1917, 22.
“bossing the job” (p. 197): “Bone Unearthed,” New York Sun, June 13, 1917, 6. “If I could get Cooper’s authority,” Kron said. “We could go ahead and dig. But I’m hungry and awfully tired.”
“trick on you” (p. 197): Ibid.; “Ruth Cruger’s Body,” New-York Tribune, June 13, 1917, 16. Kron took the bone to a dentist he knew at 70 Manhattan Street. Dr. George Butterworth looked at it and said that it was most likely from a cow. Another doctor, Dr. O. C. Rever, said, “[I]t’s a hip bone, but I cannot say definitely whether it is from a human being or an animal.” The police said they were most likely relics from the days when Cocchi’s basement was a butcher’s shop.
“hungry and awfully tired” (p. 197): “Bone Unearthed,” New York Sun, June 13, 1917, 6
won’t give up the keys (p. 199): “Blocks Cruger Search,” New York Times, June 14, 1917, 9.
“investigation in the past” (p. 199): “Mrs. Cocchi Halts,” New-York Tribune, June 14, 1917, 16.
“manner in New York” (p. 200): “Vital Events That Followed,” New York Evening World, June 18, 1917, 2.
agreed to help (p. 200): “Cruger Inquiry,” New York Evening World, June 27, 1917, 2. Solan would later claim—under oath—that this was his idea, but the absence of his name until exactly this point in the story seems to suggest otherwise. He said that Kron and McGee were out on the sidewalk when he made the discovery of Ruth Cruger’s body. He was superintendent of Grand Central Terminal and knew Henry, whose office was also located there.
to buy it (p. 202): “Cocchi Is Indicted,” Auburn Citizen, June 18, 1917, 9; Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926; “Ruth Cruger’s Body,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 17, 1917, 1. Some accounts have the auctioneers, Mr. Lind and Mr. Greenberg, authorizing entry to the Cocchi shop or even buying it themselves.
“Hurry back here” (p. 202): Grace Humiston with Isabel Stephen, “Won’t You Help Me Find My Girl?” Actual Detective, May 4, 1938.
“around the neck” (p. 205): “Ru
th Cruger’s Body,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 17, 1917, 1.
Cruger family physician (p. 205): “Mrs. Humiston,” New York Evening World, June 18, 1917, 2.
a material witness (p. 205): “Mrs. Cocchi Is Held,” Ellicottville Post, June 20, 1917, 7; “Ruth Cruger Was Killed,” Washington Herald, June 18, 1917, 1.
in the care of neighbors (p. 205): “Ruth Cruger Ripper,” New-York Tribune, June 18, 1917, 12.
“is a murderer” (p. 206): “U.S. to Bring Pressure,” New-York Tribune, June 24, 1917, 6.
“HOLD COCCHI” (p. 206): “Ruth Cruger’s Body,” Washington Post, June 17, 1917, 9.
12: A SECOND GUESS
Captain Dan Costigan (p. 207): “Ruth Cruger’s Body,” Washington Post, June 17, 1917, 9.
“under way, will develop” (p. 208): “Police Should Have Found,” New York Evening World, June 18, 1917, 2.
“Spare no one” (p. 208): “Police to Excavate,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 20, 1917, 1; “Woods Orders,” New York Evening World, June 20, 1917, 1.
fled Bologna (p. 208): “Italy Asked to Seize,” New York Sun, June 19, 1917, 5.
traffic in white slaves (p. 208): “Swann Aids Search,” New York Sun, March 1, 1917, 8.
Consuelo La Rue (p. 209): “Drugged, Abducted, Enslaved,” New-York Tribune, July 4, 1917, 12; “Mrs. La Rue Tells of Drug and Kidnappers,” New York Times, June 26, 1917, 3. “Try to Murder,” Evening News, June 19, 1917, 1; “Louise La Rue Tells How She Was Trapped,” New York Times, July 4, 1917, 1; “Beat Informant,” Washington Times, June 19, 1917, 1.
what I’d done (p. 209): “Girl Charges Men,” New-York Tribune, June 20, 1917, 16.
had been choked (p. 210): “Woman Whose Tip,” Leavenworth Times, June 20, 1917, 1.