The Backstory: Sex, Murder, and the First Temporary Insanity Plea

You think life among the big shots in 19th century Washington DC was all about restraint and honor? Think again. Behind the scenes there were actually plenty of illicit affairs. We're revisiting a titillating story that involves some powerful players . . and a very young wife. At its center is the son of Francis Scott Key, who wrote the Star Spangled Banner. The affair led to a murder that was the talk of pre Civil War Washington . . and became the first case in which the defense used a plea of temporary insanity. What would it take to drive you to murder and how would you get out of it?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What would it take to drive you to murder? And
how would you or your lawyers effectively offer a defense.
Would it help if you were a pretty powerful guy
and you could afford powerhouse attorneys? When does that not help?
I'm Patty Steele, Murder and the first successful claim of
temporary insanity. That's next on the backstory. We're back with

(00:25):
the backstory. History and sex scandals actually go together way
more than you'd think. I mean, there's something so seductive
about an illicit interlude, especially when you come from a
time and place where everybody is expected to totally behave
themselves right. Well. A perfect example is the story of
Philip Barton Key, the second. You probably know his father better.

(00:47):
He was Francis Scott Key, who of course was the
guy who wrote the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner.
But Philip Key was the victim in this case, so
we have to start with the other key players. Daniel
Sickles was an American general during the Civil War. Despite
eventually making it to major general by eighteen sixty three,
he was simply a political appointee from a prestigious family

(01:11):
and had almost no military experience. At the Battle of Gettysburg,
he disobeyed orders and moved his troops into a position
that left them completely defenseless, and his unit was decimated.
Sickles himself had a leg shot off by cannon fire,
But despite disobeying orders and his incompetence, Daniel Sickles somehow

(01:32):
got a Medal of honor. But let's go back. Long
before the war, Daniel was a power player in Washington,
a lawyer and a congressman from New York, and a socialite,
a notorious womanizer. Daniel nevertheless fell helplessly in love with
Teresa Bajoli. It was eighteen fifty one. He was thirty
two years old, Teresa was just fifteen. They married the

(01:55):
following year and had a baby, girl, seven months later.
Imagine you're married at sixteen, you have a baby at seventeen,
and a husband who's twice your age, who's a very
busy guy, both in politics send in his personal life.
As she herself later explained, and these are her own words,
I did what is usual for a wicked woman to do.

(02:17):
At the age of twenty one, Theresa took a lover.
That lover was a close friend of her husband's, an
attorney named Philip Barton. Key the second, again the son
of Francis Scott Key. In fact, he was a US
district attorney. The couple withou rendezvous at an empty house
not far from Teresa's home, where she lived with her
husband and daughter on Lafayette Square in Washington. Now, interestingly,

(02:42):
extramarital affairs were really pretty common in the upper echelons
of Washington society. But it seems Teresa's husband, Daniel was
a really jealous guy. Now. The thing is, when somebody's
prone to messing around, they pretty often suspect everybody else
is doing the same thing, including their own spouse. He'd
often accused Teresa of having affairs, and she had always

(03:04):
been able to reassure him that she was faithful and
devoted to him, But eventually the truth came out. On
the evening of February twenty fourth, eighteen fifty nine, Daniel
and Teresa are having a dinner party at their home. Afterward,
they and their guests decide to head over to the
Willard Hotel for a dance. A messenger approaches Daniel and

(03:24):
hands him a sealed envelope, which he stuffed in his
pocket without opening. Later that night, after they got home,
he pulls the letter out and is shocked by what
he reads. The anonymous writer tells him what was going
on between Teresa and u S District Attorney Philip Key,
and gave him details of their trysts. The letter said

(03:45):
Key would hang a string out of the window of
the house, and that meant he was there and she
could slip in because he'd left the door open. The
letter ends with the lines with these few hints, I
leave the rest to your imagination, most respects, thankfully, your
friend RPG. Well. Daniel had no idea who RPG was.

(04:06):
At first, he thought the letter might be the work
of a political rival, but then he realized that the
dates given in the letter matched with his wife's frequent disappearances.
He asked a friend to scope out the house and
question neighbors, and it all added up. Daniel confronted his
now twenty two year old wife and she intently denied
the story until she couldn't. She sobbed and shouted, I

(04:29):
am betrayed and lost, finally admitting she was having an
affair with Key. Daniel forced her to write out her confession.
In part, she said, I met with mister Key many
times in the house on fifteenth Street. I stayed for
an hour or more each time there is a bed
in it in the second story, to do what is
usual for a wicked woman to do. It was an

(04:51):
intimacy of an improper kind. Sickles was crazy with jealousy
and anger, but he was convinced that Key had taken
advantage of his very young wife, so he planned his
revenge against Key, his friend. A few days later, on Sunday,
February twenty seventh, eighteen fifty nine, Key, still totally unaware

(05:12):
that Sickles knew about the affair, was in front of
the Sickles house waving his handkerchief and whistling to try
to get Teresa's attention. That's what happened before cell phones.
So Sickles came outside, and Key, thinking it would be
a friendly greeting, put out his hand and said how
are you. But Sickles was furious and he shouted, you villain,

(05:33):
you have dishonored my house and you must die. He
pulled out a pistol and fired it, missing Key by
a long shot, who then tried to grab him by
the coat, but Sickles fired again and this time hit him.
Key yelled out don't murder me. He staggered away, but
Sickles ran after him and fired twice at close range,
killing him. The murder in broad daylight and the following

(05:56):
trial was all anybody could talk about. The idea of
male honor, female virtue, and the law all processed through
the lens of insanity. Sickles turned himself in and hired
a powerful legal team, which included Edwin Stanton, who just
a year or two later went on to become President
Lincoln's Secretary of War. Sickles told reporters Key had dishonored me,

(06:19):
and we too could no longer live on the same planet.
The trial began a little over a month after the murder.
While other lawyers had used an insanity defense in the past,
this was the first time anybody had pleaded not guilty
due to temporary insanity. The New York Evening Post printed
Teresa's confession verbatim, while The New York Times accused the

(06:41):
Post of indecency, saying the confession was altogether too disgusting
to be laid before our readers. The lawyers loved the
upset and the destruction of both Key's reputation and of
Teresa's made their case easier. They said Sickles had been
blind with rage and was driven temporarily insane, and it worked.
The judge even told the jury to consider sickles state

(07:04):
of mind when he shot key. After deliberating for just
one hour, they came back with a verdict of not guilty.
But here's what shocked people the most. Daniel and Teresa
Sickles reconciled. The public was furious that he would take
back what they called a fallen woman. She actually never
really recovered from the upset and died of tuberculosis in

(07:27):
eighteen sixty seven, when she was just thirty one years old.
Daniel led a long life. Aside from being a general
in the Civil War, he was a diplomat to Spain,
where he married a young Spanish aristocrat. He served in
Congress again, and he was made Sheriff of New York
County in eighteen ninety, among lots of other accomplishments. Daniel

(07:48):
Sickles finally died in nineteen fourteen at the age of
ninety four. His successful use of the temporary insanity plea
changed the criminal judicial system in America. Here's the question,
was it fair? Hope you're enjoying the Backstory with Me,
Patty Steele. Please subscribe, and if you have a story
you'd like me to dig into and share, feel free

(08:10):
to dm me on Facebook at Patty Steele or on
Instagram at Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory
is a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durant Group,

(08:30):
and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Mike Paeseglia. Our
writer is Jake Kushner. New episodes are out every Tuesday
and Friday, and feel free to reach out to me
with comments and story suggestions on Instagram at reel Patty
Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening
to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history

(08:51):
you didn't know you needed to know.