October 25, 2023 • 28 mins
Men’s Lunch on January 2nd, 1800 was interrupted when four men and a child discovered Elma’s mangled corpse in the Manhattan Well. Catherine Ring displayed Elma’s body outside their home on Greenwich Street, to show the world the damages and demand justice. Colden calls two expert witnesses to analyze the wounds on the corpse, hoping to close his case on a high note. Plus, the jurors make a request for something that’s never been done before.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, this is Alison Flum. Welcome back to Erased the
murder of Elma Sands. In our last episode, Cold and
stumbled upon a massive discovery. Aaron Burr's company owned the
well where Elma was killed, and his good friend Ezra
Week's brother of the accused, is the person who built it.
(00:22):
So the Manhattan Well didn't have clean water, but it
was a very convenient place for the Weeks brothers to
dispose of a body. In December seventeen ninety nine, the
Lispernard Meadows were just icee snowy, desolate hills. There was
nothing there except the Manhattan Well, so it kind of
(00:44):
makes sense that no one thought to look there for
Elma until January second, eighteen hundred. In this episode, we
learn what happened on that day, the day Elma's body
was found. The first witness is James Lent, who witnessed
her body being dredged from the well.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I didn't witness.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I helped, sure he helped.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
I don't know it all happened, So fast walk us
through the events of that day, mister Lint. I was
having lunch at Andrew's house. We try to have men's
lunch once a week you know, without our wives.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
Time for just men.
Speaker 6 (01:20):
This is top three best sausage you've ever made.
Speaker 7 (01:23):
I'm getting good at seasoning, right cool.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
I'm sorry budget boys.
Speaker 7 (01:29):
Joseph Elias, what's wrong?
Speaker 8 (01:32):
Where in crisis? We need supplies?
Speaker 7 (01:35):
Hi, I'm James the sup plus for what I'm Joseph Watkins.
This is Elias Ring, huks Holts. Whatever you have and
what's all this for?
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Can I help you?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Scary?
Speaker 5 (01:44):
We need rope too?
Speaker 8 (01:45):
Yes?
Speaker 7 (01:45):
All all that I got you?
Speaker 5 (01:47):
We're going to the list of arts.
Speaker 9 (01:50):
How are you going out?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
That's William Blank, Andrew's son. The little boy Colvin wasn't
allowed to question. In the previous episode, his dad, Andrew Blank,
was having lun with James lent on January second, eighteen hundred,
when Elias Ring and Joseph Watkins barged into the house
asking for supplies.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Andrew, I didn't know your kid was here.
Speaker 7 (02:10):
Say hi to our guests, William.
Speaker 10 (02:12):
Mister Watkins, Miss Sterlin, mister Ring.
Speaker 11 (02:15):
Good day.
Speaker 10 (02:16):
Where are you guys going? All right?
Speaker 7 (02:19):
Here's what I got all this?
Speaker 12 (02:25):
God?
Speaker 10 (02:25):
Are you leaving me home alone?
Speaker 13 (02:27):
You hand me that rope, James, Just for a little while, kiddo,
we have to run to the list been Ards.
Speaker 11 (02:31):
Oh, the Listpernards.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
That's fun, that's fun.
Speaker 10 (02:33):
I want to come.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
Can I come?
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Dad?
Speaker 5 (02:35):
This will not be fun with you.
Speaker 6 (02:36):
It's not for kids, Williams.
Speaker 9 (02:37):
Wait, what's set the list Bernards?
Speaker 11 (02:39):
Well, I am almost thirteen and I am really bright.
Speaker 10 (02:42):
I will not ask any questions or be distracting.
Speaker 7 (02:44):
I will Bess has grown up stuff.
Speaker 14 (02:46):
But please, I'll carry the polls or a peg of
hooks and spikes.
Speaker 7 (02:51):
Get your jacket, is it?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (02:53):
No, Andrew, don't bring the kid, I get come.
Speaker 10 (02:56):
Yes, okay, okay, I love you, I love.
Speaker 6 (02:58):
You, I love you.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
And so they went like a tragic little parade. These
guys went with all their gear to the list Bonards.
Elias Ring, Joseph Watkins, Andrew Blank, little William and this
guy James Lynde.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
We were I can't stress this enough. We were extremely careful.
Speaker 9 (03:20):
Loosen the rope on the side.
Speaker 7 (03:22):
Attach it there.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
This pole is heavy.
Speaker 7 (03:26):
Lowered the hook when we see right there.
Speaker 13 (03:29):
Oh that's what I don't I don't see.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
It's her dress.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
That's just something blue, Elias.
Speaker 6 (03:37):
It could be anything.
Speaker 7 (03:38):
Hold on, mister Watkins, the other poles.
Speaker 13 (03:40):
Step back, Elias, that's an arm, mister, it's her.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
I need a better grip.
Speaker 15 (03:45):
Move Elias us armed.
Speaker 9 (03:48):
I can't look William the rope.
Speaker 14 (03:50):
I got a dad here, Back up, back up on
three three two one.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
It was the worst thing I've ever seen her body. God,
she was gray and bloated and all bruised up.
Speaker 6 (04:14):
Her hair, she was she was eviscerated.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
I didn't even know the girl, but my heart shattered
when I saw her.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
And what about her clothes, mister Lint? What was the
state of her clothes? Oh? A mess.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
She had no shoes on and her stockings were shredded,
like she'd been dragged. The worst was, yeah, I can't
say it.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
Mister Lint. The worst was what please say? Everything you remember,
mister Lint.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Elma's dress was ripped open above the waist, her breasts
and stomach.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
We're exposed. I started crying when he saw her like that.
Speaker 16 (05:12):
Dear God, set set it down on my jack here,
get her repeat one, careful, careful, just like that one too, Godlas.
Speaker 6 (05:35):
What can we do for you, buddy.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Anything you need?
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Mister ring Should we get you home or go get
your wife maybe to comfort you.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Don't get him to find that monster.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
What what did you say, Elias?
Speaker 7 (05:51):
Find whom Elias will do it? Leave?
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I go to the police and tell them to bring
Levi Weeks here.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Thou so Elias Ring's immediate thought when he saw Elma's
eviscerated corpse was Levi Weeks. James Lent was just trying
to help in the wake of this chaos and tragedy.
So as instructed, he went to find the nearest constable,
and the two of them looked for Levi, not to
(06:22):
arrest him or anything, just to give him the tragic news.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
We checked the boarding house first.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Good afternoon, is Levi Weeks here?
Speaker 10 (06:34):
What's going on?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Officers? Is mister Weeks around?
Speaker 10 (06:38):
He absolutely is?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Can you get him?
Speaker 9 (06:41):
Please?
Speaker 10 (06:41):
M hey, Leevai, you got some friends.
Speaker 17 (06:45):
Here, mister Weeks. I'm sorry to say, but we have
some tragic news.
Speaker 18 (06:56):
Oh is this about Alma?
Speaker 6 (06:59):
Uh?
Speaker 17 (07:01):
Yes, as a matter of fact, it is about Elma Stands.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
This is hard to say.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
But I'm so sorry, mister Weeks.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Elma was found dead about half an hour ago.
Speaker 18 (07:16):
In the well.
Speaker 9 (07:19):
How did you know?
Speaker 18 (07:20):
Was it the Manhattan Wealth that they found her in?
Speaker 11 (07:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
So, as soon as Levi saw the constable, he assumed
that Elma was dead, and then he knew exactly where
her body was found. This was almost such a pivotal
moment in this trial, but shocking as it is, cold
and let it go. He didn't ask James Lynn any
follow up questions about that interaction, and the defense lays,
(07:44):
of course, didn't ask him anything either, so they all
kept going. And again Levi couldn't testify in this trial,
so no one could ask him. How he happened to
have all the details of the crime before anyone else.
Maybe he just guessed, or maybe he knew. We'll never know.
(08:06):
Coldon called Joseph Watkins to the stand. Watkins was Catherine
and Elias's next door neighbor, one of the group of
men who dredged Alma's body from the well.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
What happened after James Lynt went to find Levi.
Speaker 13 (08:20):
I stayed at the well. Alma was laid out on
my jacket. The crowd started to gather around her body
right away. The list Benod's usually empty in January, so
people saw commotion and everyone wanted to see.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
And when people came over and saw Alma's body, what
were the reactions?
Speaker 13 (08:37):
Mostly people were thanking God, that the mangled corpse wasn't
their wife or daughter.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
The sun went.
Speaker 13 (08:44):
Down, it got colder, and the crowds dispersed.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
And then mister Watkins and.
Speaker 13 (08:51):
Then Catherine Ring insisted they bring her home, the body.
I mean, Catherine said she wouldn't go home without Elma.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Did you help bring Alma's body back to Greenwich Street?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I did, sir.
Speaker 13 (09:04):
Everyone expected services and a burial the next day, but
instead Catherine put Elma's body on display right outside the
boarding house.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Catherine displayed Elma's body just the way it was found
in the well, battered and broken, for anyone to come see.
Alma's mangled corpse represented the public's worst nightmare at this point,
an awful, grim idea of something unfathomable that had just
become fathomable, that could happen to anyone. And this was
(09:36):
a time of hopefulness in America, a brand new century,
a new country full of possibility and hope. People weren't
supposed to die like this. People didn't kill each other,
especially young girls like this. It didn't make sense, and
that stressed everyone out. And Catherine Ring knew that the
(09:56):
public conscience was a powerful thing. Catherine showed them, a
brutally beaten girl, her cousin, her best friend, saying whoever
did this to her is still at large, and you
should care and you should be scared. And suddenly everyone
did care, and everyone was scared, and everyone knew about
Alma Sands because of Catherine. And inside the house.
Speaker 18 (10:21):
Catherine, Catherine, Katherine, what is wrong with you?
Speaker 11 (10:27):
There are five hundred people outside on the front.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
Lawn, more actually maybe a thousand. What are you doing
making tea LEVI?
Speaker 18 (10:36):
People are sketching Elma for the newspapers. Are our friends
are out there? Everybody is talking about it.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 18 (10:42):
This is the most hysterical, psychotic, irrational thing any woman
has ever done in the history of women.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
I got everyone to pay attention.
Speaker 18 (10:51):
Catherine, Please bring Elma inside now. I'm very uncomfortable. My
dentist is out there.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
I don't care about your dentist.
Speaker 10 (11:01):
I've never even been to a dentist.
Speaker 15 (11:03):
Oh am I a doctor. No, I'm a dentist, which
is harder.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
This witness. Doctor Richard Skinner, a very proud dentist, served
on the coroner's jury for this case. The coroner's jury
was an informal group who examined Elma's body and declared
her death a murder in the first place. And that's
so important. We'll get back to it later. But Coldon
counted on the dentists observations here to end the suicide
(11:31):
theory and solidify once and for all that Elma was,
without question.
Speaker 9 (11:36):
Murdered, Doctor Skinner.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
You saw Elma's body outside the boarding house.
Speaker 9 (11:39):
Right, No, everybody in New York saw I But you
saw it up close, Sure did, sir. I can't unsee that.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
Tell the jury what you saw, doctor Skinner? Like an autopsy.
Speaker 15 (11:49):
Report, all right, So I've read a lot of autopsy reports.
I've never done one. Of course, I couldn't examine the
whole body. What was I going to do grab a
dead girl's boobs right in front of everyone.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Please excuse me doctor's tone.
Speaker 11 (12:00):
I think you mean the dentist.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
This is just how he talks.
Speaker 8 (12:04):
Alma looked like she was killed by somebody.
Speaker 15 (12:06):
Who really really wanted her out of the way dead.
Speaker 9 (12:10):
I mean, you know she was dead. She was like,
really really dead.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
So Elma was killed by someone who knew her personal right.
Speaker 15 (12:18):
Nobody would murder a stranger, especially a girl with such
vigor objection.
Speaker 19 (12:23):
Conjecture, Doctor Skinner, describe what you saw, not your interpretations.
Speaker 15 (12:28):
What I saw, your honor, was a mangled corpse, you know,
the same thing the paper said.
Speaker 9 (12:34):
She was weathered like a rag doll.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
What about the wounds, doctor Skinner described them? Please.
Speaker 9 (12:39):
The first thing I noticed were the spots.
Speaker 8 (12:42):
Were kind of spots, spots on her neck, mister Colden,
very specific spots, a row of four bruises, red brown, reddish, brownish, purpleish.
Speaker 15 (12:53):
I'd say that that seemed to be created by fingers.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
And in your opinion, doctor, could someone in flip to
wounds like this on their own body? Out?
Speaker 9 (13:02):
No way. Now, Alma was choked.
Speaker 7 (13:04):
Somebody dug their fingertips into her neck.
Speaker 8 (13:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 15 (13:07):
And I'll tell you, folks, the defense's theory that Elma
could have strangled herself then thrown her own body into
the well.
Speaker 9 (13:13):
It's delusional. It's ridiculous to me.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Objection, It's ridiculous to me to doctor Alma Sans did
not commit suicide. Nothing further.
Speaker 12 (13:25):
Okay, doctor Skinner, Yes, mister Bird, but you're not a doctor, right,
so I'll call you dentist Skinner.
Speaker 9 (13:33):
I am a doctor, mister Bird.
Speaker 12 (13:35):
Not in the traditional.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Sense classic Aaron Burr. Why discredit the argument when you
can discredit the witness themselves?
Speaker 12 (13:42):
What are all the possible injuries that may result in
reddish brownish purplish marks on the neck?
Speaker 9 (13:50):
All the possible injuries?
Speaker 11 (13:52):
Yes, list them please.
Speaker 9 (13:54):
I couldn't list all of.
Speaker 11 (13:56):
It, right because you're a dentist.
Speaker 15 (13:58):
Proudly mister, but nobody could list all the possible cauts.
Speaker 12 (14:02):
This is not a credible witness, your honor.
Speaker 9 (14:04):
I'm the lifeblood of American mouths.
Speaker 15 (14:07):
Dentists are extremely important to the medical field.
Speaker 9 (14:10):
I quite literally help people smile.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
My witness is describing what he saw on the court.
Speaker 12 (14:14):
He's making interpretations, and the defense has nothing further for
the dentist.
Speaker 11 (14:21):
Thanks.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Okay, fine, I'll call my next expert. Witness, your honor,
co founder of Bellevue Hospital, Princeton graduate, esteemed for his
cutting edge pseudorific treatment of the yellow fever, doctor David Hosek.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
As you can tell, Coldon was pretty hype to have
this guy testify for him.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
David Hoseak was a huge deal.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
He'd go on to be that doctor who attended to
Hamilton after Burr fatally shot him in their eighteen oh
four duel. But at the time of this trial, Hoseak
was a celebrity doctor. He was young and handsome and
a close personal friend of both Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton,
who up to this point had never shot at each other,
though they probably thought about it.
Speaker 11 (15:02):
Oh what, doctor h Hozak. You didn't tell me you'd
be here.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
I was on a confidential witness Liz, gentlemen.
Speaker 11 (15:09):
You sly dog.
Speaker 12 (15:11):
I've been here all day.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
I've been sitting in the back slow burn so far.
Speaker 12 (15:16):
Huh. A prosecution is taking its sweet tragic time.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
Yeah, that would be getting out of here.
Speaker 12 (15:21):
We did too, trust.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Me, Doctor Hosak, please approach the stands.
Speaker 11 (15:25):
So good to see you, man.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
Did you uh sort out your situation?
Speaker 5 (15:31):
I have no situation? Wait, so you three are friends.
Speaker 20 (15:33):
David Hoseac saved Philip's life when he was fifteen.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
I'm sorry, who's.
Speaker 12 (15:37):
Philip Alexander's son? Even I know that.
Speaker 20 (15:40):
Greatest doctor in New York City?
Speaker 19 (15:42):
Right here, folks, mister Colden, the court is standing by
for your witness.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
I called doctor Hosak already, sir. I'm waiting for him
to finish socializing with the defensive leaders.
Speaker 11 (15:53):
We'll catch up later.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
Doc, All right, let's get this show on the road.
Speaker 5 (15:59):
Doctor hosts, will you be able to be impartial here?
Given your friendship with my opponents.
Speaker 6 (16:04):
I'm a professional, mister coldon.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Good, so my colleagues, your friends will find your testimony unimpeachable.
Let's start with mister Burr's unanswerable question. What are all
the injuries that may result in reddish brownish purplish marks
on the neck?
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Oh, I'd say opium overdose, strike by lightning, arsenic poisoning,
or es sack.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
You saw the wounds on Alma San's neck up close, right?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (16:29):
I did? And do you think a row of four small,
circular bruises could have been caused by an opium overdose
or a lightning strike.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
I'm saying it could have been anything. The injuries were unclear.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
But the injuries were definitely the result of violence, right.
Speaker 6 (16:44):
Violence in the broad sense, Yes.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
A violent effort by another person to make Alma stop breathing.
Is that correct interpretation? I'll rephrase. Is it correct that
another person broke Alma's neck?
Speaker 11 (16:57):
Probably?
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Yes? So she could not have committed suicide if another
person broke her neck, right.
Speaker 6 (17:03):
That is a correct statement, mister Colder.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
So if Elma did not commit suicide, she died by strangulation.
And if the defendant was the last person to see
Elma alive, then he clearly strangled her. What more proof
do we lit?
Speaker 11 (17:17):
Objection?
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Objection, Thank you doctor Hosak for proving that Elma was murdering.
Speaker 19 (17:24):
Nothing further, Defense counsel any day, now for your cross examination.
Speaker 9 (17:32):
We're good, your honor, what you're good, mister Burke.
Speaker 12 (17:37):
The defense counsel does not wish to cross examine doctor Hoseac.
Speaker 11 (17:42):
You'r honor. We're good to keep.
Speaker 9 (17:44):
Going, all right, then, doctor Hoseac, please step down.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
So doctor Hoseak was definitely a twist for the defense.
Lawyers Hamilton and Burr were not expecting their friend to
testify for the prosecution, so they chose not to cross
examine him because they didn't know what he'd say.
Speaker 19 (18:01):
All right, who's next, colden, Uh, that's all I've got,
your honor, that's all my witnesses.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Besides, it was their time to shine.
Speaker 19 (18:10):
Oh well then, mister Burr, mister Hamilton, europe a case
for the defense begins.
Speaker 9 (18:16):
Now, gentlemen of the jury.
Speaker 12 (18:18):
Hello, the real attorneys will take it from here.
Speaker 9 (18:26):
Your opening statement, mister Burr.
Speaker 12 (18:30):
I want these jurors to know they're heroes. Gentlemen, you
are the new system, You are justice, You are greats.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
We love you, We really do.
Speaker 12 (18:42):
You've listened to fourteen hours of testimony that consisted of,
let's be honest, purely circumstantial evidence. Your patience is admirable.
Speaker 11 (18:53):
Thank you. I'll just say one thing. When Catherine Ring
put the.
Speaker 12 (19:00):
Victim's corpse on display, she made it impossible for you
to come.
Speaker 11 (19:06):
In here impartial.
Speaker 12 (19:07):
Today she inflamed public opinion against my client. If you've
been in New York in recent months, you've heard nasty
rumors about Levi Weeks. Thus Levi is an unfair disadvantage heir.
Speaker 9 (19:22):
Projection, not during an opening statement, coldon.
Speaker 12 (19:27):
Look at this young boy before us, gentlemen, Levi Weeks
is an honest, promising, innocent architect who fell for.
Speaker 11 (19:40):
The wrong girl. We can all relate to that.
Speaker 12 (19:45):
Elma Sands was destitute and talentless, dependent on the rings
then Levi for survival. Whether she ended her own dismal
life or somebody helped her do it, perhaps will never know.
But Elma's death had nothing to do with Levi Weeks
(20:07):
and everything to do with her toxic home environment.
Speaker 20 (20:12):
We'll call our first witness.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
So the defense calls this kid, Ezra Lacey, who briefly
boarded at two o eight Greenwich Street.
Speaker 20 (20:23):
Mister Lacy, after the victim's body was found, how did
people treat Levi.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Weeks leading the witness?
Speaker 20 (20:29):
How did people act towards Levi?
Speaker 9 (20:33):
Oh?
Speaker 11 (20:33):
Mean, hostile?
Speaker 10 (20:35):
He became a social pariah because you know, everyone thought
he killed Elma. So he started hiding, staying at his
brother's house. Most knights not coming around Greenistry very much.
Speaker 20 (20:46):
So he was paying rent at the boardinghouse, but he
wasn't welcome there.
Speaker 10 (20:50):
He was welcome, but you know, no one was going
to talk to him or look him at the eye.
Speaker 20 (20:56):
How would it feel, mister Lacey, if nobody would look
you in the eye.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
So Lacy told the jury about Elias Ring, the drunk
landlord of the boarding house, specifically about an interaction that
he had with Elias after Alma's body was found, before
Levi was arrested.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Lacy, have you seen Weeks.
Speaker 10 (21:16):
I haven't seen Levi in about a week. Actually, good,
maybe he's dead. I don't think he's dead, sir.
Speaker 8 (21:28):
Well, I hope he never shows his hideous face in
my house again.
Speaker 10 (21:33):
Well, his trunks are still upstairs.
Speaker 15 (21:36):
I hope he gets his trunks out of here and
he never shows his hideous face my house again.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
If I ran into Levi Weeks in a dark alley,
do you know what I would do. I'd look him
in the eye and then I'd put a bullet in
his chest.
Speaker 12 (21:51):
Pa, that's terrifying. Elias Ring sounds like a dangerous man.
Speaker 5 (21:58):
Objection's speculation, you're honor.
Speaker 9 (22:02):
My husband is not dangerous.
Speaker 10 (22:04):
He's on steady and he drinks.
Speaker 9 (22:06):
Mister Colden, say something.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
The bias Ring can't drink.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
He's Quaker.
Speaker 11 (22:12):
You know some Quakers drink. But this is all very hopeful.
Speaker 7 (22:16):
Mister Lacy, mister Colton.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
They're making Elias sound terrible.
Speaker 9 (22:19):
None of this is rice.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
Yes, your honor, Persecuting Elias Ring is unreasonable and irrelevant
in the case against Levi. Week.
Speaker 11 (22:25):
We just heard that elias Ring threatened Levi so he
was home at.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
The time of the murder. That's an alibi.
Speaker 20 (22:32):
Coldon so proud he knows the word alibi.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
The Colden was right.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
The defense lawyers were running an elaborate distraction to turn
heads away from their client towards Elias Ring. And yes,
Alma's uncle Elias was drunk and unpredictable and potentially really dangerous,
but people saw him at home the night of the murder.
He could not have killed Alma.
Speaker 12 (22:55):
Mister Lacy, how did Elias Ring act towards Alma?
Speaker 10 (22:59):
Obsessed with her in a bad way.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
We're still on this Elias thing.
Speaker 10 (23:04):
Elias Ring smothered Alma.
Speaker 20 (23:07):
Yes, he smothered her. He made her life completely miserable.
Speaker 12 (23:10):
Alma couldn't bear to live under mister Ring's control anymore, so.
Speaker 20 (23:14):
She took her own life to escape the horrors of
two away granted.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Strip So the defense's case relied on two things besides
distracting the jury as much as they possibly could with tangents.
One the idea that Alma had this depressing, miserable life
and ended it herself that night. And two, the characterization
of Levi as an upstanding citizen who was smart and
promising and needed a new start, unburdened by the death
(23:41):
of his former lover and this scandal that has unfairly
attached to him.
Speaker 12 (23:46):
We're excited to see Levi walk out of here a
freeman in a few hours.
Speaker 6 (23:51):
The defense call, your honor. We've been sitting here for
fourteen hours already.
Speaker 9 (23:55):
Counsel your witness.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
The jury requests an adjournment.
Speaker 11 (23:58):
An adjournment.
Speaker 12 (24:00):
You imagine we're in the middle of winning this case.
Speaker 11 (24:03):
You can interrupt us.
Speaker 9 (24:04):
Lacks, mister Burr, gentlemen, sit up, power through.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
We need to sleep, your honor, Your honor?
Speaker 11 (24:11):
Come on, How would an adjournment possibly work?
Speaker 5 (24:14):
Your honor?
Speaker 9 (24:15):
I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 11 (24:17):
You're thinking about it, sir.
Speaker 19 (24:19):
What about our witnesses, Sir constable, Yes, your honor?
Speaker 9 (24:23):
If we adjourn, where could they sleep?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
All of the jurors, your honor?
Speaker 11 (24:28):
Hold on your honor.
Speaker 12 (24:30):
We're about to exonerate le by week.
Speaker 9 (24:32):
There's no way we'd have to keep them sequestered. What
do you mean sequestered? I can't go home.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
My wife will.
Speaker 11 (24:38):
I hate this.
Speaker 19 (24:39):
We're in the middle of a murder trial. The jurors
clearly can't go anywhere. Where can twelve men sleep comfortably
together in New York City on short notice?
Speaker 1 (24:47):
And of the many unprecedented elements of these proceedings, this
one might be the most bizarre. There had never been
a court case this contentious, with this much drama and
debate that would require another full trial day.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
It's your honor, I don't.
Speaker 9 (25:05):
Just put them in the picture room. Okay, that feels
right to me. Are we really adjourney, sir?
Speaker 19 (25:10):
This wasn't the plan, Constable, Can you get the jurors
some refreshments?
Speaker 9 (25:15):
Sure? All right, Dan?
Speaker 19 (25:18):
The court adjourns until ten am tomorrow morning. We'll finish
here in the defense's case and come to a verdict.
Speaker 11 (25:24):
Your honor.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
So at the end of day one, everybody went home
except the jurors, who slept on the floor of a
room in City Hall, eating whatever snacks the court officials
could procure. And just to really illustrate this, folks, these
jurors were like Manhattan's elite merchants and politicians and bank
trustees and businessmen. It was truly a jury of Levi,
(25:48):
Burr and Hamilton's peers. Right now in New York City,
the guys that served on this jury have streets and
monuments named after them. Their legacies are alive and well.
The night of March thirty first, eighteen hundred, they all
slept together on the floor for six or seven hours
before reporting back for Joey service. The next morning, It's hilarious,
(26:10):
Sweet dreams everyone. Meanwhile, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton probably
didn't sleep. They were probably preparing for their lineup of
all star witnesses the following morning. They also convinced one
of Colin's key I witnesses to change their entire testimony overnight.
(26:32):
In the next episode, the defense attorneys come out swinging.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
This is erased, Stay with Us erased.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
The Murder of Elma Sands is a production of Lunch
Plans and Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal
Company Number One. The show is narrated, written, and produced
by me Alison Flomm. It stars Alison Williams as Katherine Ring,
Tony Goldwyn as Alexander Hamilton, Barry Sheck as Aaron Burr,
and Jason Flamm as Judge John Lansing.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Our executive producers.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Are Alison Williams, Jason Flamm, and Kevin Mortis. This show
is produced by Goldhalk Productions. The show is sound designed
and mixed by Steve Bond. The music is composed and
performed by Sasha Putnam. The producer for Goldhalk is Andy
Goddard with production management from Emma Hearn, the executive producer
for goldhalk Is John Scott Dryden. You can listen to
(27:37):
every episode of Erased the Murder of Alma Sands right
now ad free by subscribing to Lava for Good plus
on Apple Podcasts. You can also follow the show on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook,
and Twitter at Lava for Good and for more information
on this story, plus a complete list of our incredible cast,
visit Lava Forgood dot com slash Erased
Hi, this is Alison Flum. Welcome back to Erased the
murder of Elma Sands. In our last episode, Cold and
stumbled upon a massive discovery. Aaron Burr's company owned the
well where Elma was killed, and his good friend Ezra
Week's brother of the accused, is the person who built it.
(00:22):
So the Manhattan Well didn't have clean water, but it
was a very convenient place for the Weeks brothers to
dispose of a body. In December seventeen ninety nine, the
Lispernard Meadows were just icee snowy, desolate hills. There was
nothing there except the Manhattan Well, so it kind of
(00:44):
makes sense that no one thought to look there for
Elma until January second, eighteen hundred. In this episode, we
learn what happened on that day, the day Elma's body
was found. The first witness is James Lent, who witnessed
her body being dredged from the well.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I didn't witness.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I helped, sure he helped.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
I don't know it all happened, So fast walk us
through the events of that day, mister Lint. I was
having lunch at Andrew's house. We try to have men's
lunch once a week you know, without our wives.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
Time for just men.
Speaker 6 (01:20):
This is top three best sausage you've ever made.
Speaker 7 (01:23):
I'm getting good at seasoning, right cool.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
I'm sorry budget boys.
Speaker 7 (01:29):
Joseph Elias, what's wrong?
Speaker 8 (01:32):
Where in crisis? We need supplies?
Speaker 7 (01:35):
Hi, I'm James the sup plus for what I'm Joseph Watkins.
This is Elias Ring, huks Holts. Whatever you have and
what's all this for?
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Can I help you?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Scary?
Speaker 5 (01:44):
We need rope too?
Speaker 8 (01:45):
Yes?
Speaker 7 (01:45):
All all that I got you?
Speaker 5 (01:47):
We're going to the list of arts.
Speaker 9 (01:50):
How are you going out?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
That's William Blank, Andrew's son. The little boy Colvin wasn't
allowed to question. In the previous episode, his dad, Andrew Blank,
was having lun with James lent on January second, eighteen hundred,
when Elias Ring and Joseph Watkins barged into the house
asking for supplies.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Andrew, I didn't know your kid was here.
Speaker 7 (02:10):
Say hi to our guests, William.
Speaker 10 (02:12):
Mister Watkins, Miss Sterlin, mister Ring.
Speaker 11 (02:15):
Good day.
Speaker 10 (02:16):
Where are you guys going? All right?
Speaker 7 (02:19):
Here's what I got all this?
Speaker 12 (02:25):
God?
Speaker 10 (02:25):
Are you leaving me home alone?
Speaker 13 (02:27):
You hand me that rope, James, Just for a little while, kiddo,
we have to run to the list been Ards.
Speaker 11 (02:31):
Oh, the Listpernards.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
That's fun, that's fun.
Speaker 10 (02:33):
I want to come.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
Can I come?
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Dad?
Speaker 5 (02:35):
This will not be fun with you.
Speaker 6 (02:36):
It's not for kids, Williams.
Speaker 9 (02:37):
Wait, what's set the list Bernards?
Speaker 11 (02:39):
Well, I am almost thirteen and I am really bright.
Speaker 10 (02:42):
I will not ask any questions or be distracting.
Speaker 7 (02:44):
I will Bess has grown up stuff.
Speaker 14 (02:46):
But please, I'll carry the polls or a peg of
hooks and spikes.
Speaker 7 (02:51):
Get your jacket, is it?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (02:53):
No, Andrew, don't bring the kid, I get come.
Speaker 10 (02:56):
Yes, okay, okay, I love you, I love.
Speaker 6 (02:58):
You, I love you.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
And so they went like a tragic little parade. These
guys went with all their gear to the list Bonards.
Elias Ring, Joseph Watkins, Andrew Blank, little William and this
guy James Lynde.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
We were I can't stress this enough. We were extremely careful.
Speaker 9 (03:20):
Loosen the rope on the side.
Speaker 7 (03:22):
Attach it there.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
This pole is heavy.
Speaker 7 (03:26):
Lowered the hook when we see right there.
Speaker 13 (03:29):
Oh that's what I don't I don't see.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
It's her dress.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
That's just something blue, Elias.
Speaker 6 (03:37):
It could be anything.
Speaker 7 (03:38):
Hold on, mister Watkins, the other poles.
Speaker 13 (03:40):
Step back, Elias, that's an arm, mister, it's her.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
I need a better grip.
Speaker 15 (03:45):
Move Elias us armed.
Speaker 9 (03:48):
I can't look William the rope.
Speaker 14 (03:50):
I got a dad here, Back up, back up on
three three two one.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
It was the worst thing I've ever seen her body. God,
she was gray and bloated and all bruised up.
Speaker 6 (04:14):
Her hair, she was she was eviscerated.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
I didn't even know the girl, but my heart shattered
when I saw her.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
And what about her clothes, mister Lint? What was the
state of her clothes? Oh? A mess.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
She had no shoes on and her stockings were shredded,
like she'd been dragged. The worst was, yeah, I can't
say it.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
Mister Lint. The worst was what please say? Everything you remember,
mister Lint.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Elma's dress was ripped open above the waist, her breasts
and stomach.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
We're exposed. I started crying when he saw her like that.
Speaker 16 (05:12):
Dear God, set set it down on my jack here,
get her repeat one, careful, careful, just like that one too, Godlas.
Speaker 6 (05:35):
What can we do for you, buddy.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Anything you need?
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Mister ring Should we get you home or go get
your wife maybe to comfort you.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Don't get him to find that monster.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
What what did you say, Elias?
Speaker 7 (05:51):
Find whom Elias will do it? Leave?
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I go to the police and tell them to bring
Levi Weeks here.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Thou so Elias Ring's immediate thought when he saw Elma's
eviscerated corpse was Levi Weeks. James Lent was just trying
to help in the wake of this chaos and tragedy.
So as instructed, he went to find the nearest constable,
and the two of them looked for Levi, not to
(06:22):
arrest him or anything, just to give him the tragic news.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
We checked the boarding house first.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Good afternoon, is Levi Weeks here?
Speaker 10 (06:34):
What's going on?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Officers? Is mister Weeks around?
Speaker 10 (06:38):
He absolutely is?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Can you get him?
Speaker 9 (06:41):
Please?
Speaker 10 (06:41):
M hey, Leevai, you got some friends.
Speaker 17 (06:45):
Here, mister Weeks. I'm sorry to say, but we have
some tragic news.
Speaker 18 (06:56):
Oh is this about Alma?
Speaker 6 (06:59):
Uh?
Speaker 17 (07:01):
Yes, as a matter of fact, it is about Elma Stands.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
This is hard to say.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
But I'm so sorry, mister Weeks.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Elma was found dead about half an hour ago.
Speaker 18 (07:16):
In the well.
Speaker 9 (07:19):
How did you know?
Speaker 18 (07:20):
Was it the Manhattan Wealth that they found her in?
Speaker 11 (07:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
So, as soon as Levi saw the constable, he assumed
that Elma was dead, and then he knew exactly where
her body was found. This was almost such a pivotal
moment in this trial, but shocking as it is, cold
and let it go. He didn't ask James Lynn any
follow up questions about that interaction, and the defense lays,
(07:44):
of course, didn't ask him anything either, so they all
kept going. And again Levi couldn't testify in this trial,
so no one could ask him. How he happened to
have all the details of the crime before anyone else.
Maybe he just guessed, or maybe he knew. We'll never know.
(08:06):
Coldon called Joseph Watkins to the stand. Watkins was Catherine
and Elias's next door neighbor, one of the group of
men who dredged Alma's body from the well.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
What happened after James Lynt went to find Levi.
Speaker 13 (08:20):
I stayed at the well. Alma was laid out on
my jacket. The crowd started to gather around her body
right away. The list Benod's usually empty in January, so
people saw commotion and everyone wanted to see.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
And when people came over and saw Alma's body, what
were the reactions?
Speaker 13 (08:37):
Mostly people were thanking God, that the mangled corpse wasn't
their wife or daughter.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
The sun went.
Speaker 13 (08:44):
Down, it got colder, and the crowds dispersed.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
And then mister Watkins and.
Speaker 13 (08:51):
Then Catherine Ring insisted they bring her home, the body.
I mean, Catherine said she wouldn't go home without Elma.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Did you help bring Alma's body back to Greenwich Street?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I did, sir.
Speaker 13 (09:04):
Everyone expected services and a burial the next day, but
instead Catherine put Elma's body on display right outside the
boarding house.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Catherine displayed Elma's body just the way it was found
in the well, battered and broken, for anyone to come see.
Alma's mangled corpse represented the public's worst nightmare at this point,
an awful, grim idea of something unfathomable that had just
become fathomable, that could happen to anyone. And this was
(09:36):
a time of hopefulness in America, a brand new century,
a new country full of possibility and hope. People weren't
supposed to die like this. People didn't kill each other,
especially young girls like this. It didn't make sense, and
that stressed everyone out. And Catherine Ring knew that the
(09:56):
public conscience was a powerful thing. Catherine showed them, a
brutally beaten girl, her cousin, her best friend, saying whoever
did this to her is still at large, and you
should care and you should be scared. And suddenly everyone
did care, and everyone was scared, and everyone knew about
Alma Sands because of Catherine. And inside the house.
Speaker 18 (10:21):
Catherine, Catherine, Katherine, what is wrong with you?
Speaker 11 (10:27):
There are five hundred people outside on the front.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
Lawn, more actually maybe a thousand. What are you doing
making tea LEVI?
Speaker 18 (10:36):
People are sketching Elma for the newspapers. Are our friends
are out there? Everybody is talking about it.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 18 (10:42):
This is the most hysterical, psychotic, irrational thing any woman
has ever done in the history of women.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
I got everyone to pay attention.
Speaker 18 (10:51):
Catherine, Please bring Elma inside now. I'm very uncomfortable. My
dentist is out there.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
I don't care about your dentist.
Speaker 10 (11:01):
I've never even been to a dentist.
Speaker 15 (11:03):
Oh am I a doctor. No, I'm a dentist, which
is harder.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
This witness. Doctor Richard Skinner, a very proud dentist, served
on the coroner's jury for this case. The coroner's jury
was an informal group who examined Elma's body and declared
her death a murder in the first place. And that's
so important. We'll get back to it later. But Coldon
counted on the dentists observations here to end the suicide
(11:31):
theory and solidify once and for all that Elma was,
without question.
Speaker 9 (11:36):
Murdered, Doctor Skinner.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
You saw Elma's body outside the boarding house.
Speaker 9 (11:39):
Right, No, everybody in New York saw I But you
saw it up close, Sure did, sir. I can't unsee that.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
Tell the jury what you saw, doctor Skinner? Like an autopsy.
Speaker 15 (11:49):
Report, all right, So I've read a lot of autopsy reports.
I've never done one. Of course, I couldn't examine the
whole body. What was I going to do grab a
dead girl's boobs right in front of everyone.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Please excuse me doctor's tone.
Speaker 11 (12:00):
I think you mean the dentist.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
This is just how he talks.
Speaker 8 (12:04):
Alma looked like she was killed by somebody.
Speaker 15 (12:06):
Who really really wanted her out of the way dead.
Speaker 9 (12:10):
I mean, you know she was dead. She was like,
really really dead.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
So Elma was killed by someone who knew her personal right.
Speaker 15 (12:18):
Nobody would murder a stranger, especially a girl with such
vigor objection.
Speaker 19 (12:23):
Conjecture, Doctor Skinner, describe what you saw, not your interpretations.
Speaker 15 (12:28):
What I saw, your honor, was a mangled corpse, you know,
the same thing the paper said.
Speaker 9 (12:34):
She was weathered like a rag doll.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
What about the wounds, doctor Skinner described them? Please.
Speaker 9 (12:39):
The first thing I noticed were the spots.
Speaker 8 (12:42):
Were kind of spots, spots on her neck, mister Colden,
very specific spots, a row of four bruises, red brown, reddish, brownish, purpleish.
Speaker 15 (12:53):
I'd say that that seemed to be created by fingers.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
And in your opinion, doctor, could someone in flip to
wounds like this on their own body? Out?
Speaker 9 (13:02):
No way. Now, Alma was choked.
Speaker 7 (13:04):
Somebody dug their fingertips into her neck.
Speaker 8 (13:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 15 (13:07):
And I'll tell you, folks, the defense's theory that Elma
could have strangled herself then thrown her own body into
the well.
Speaker 9 (13:13):
It's delusional. It's ridiculous to me.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Objection, It's ridiculous to me to doctor Alma Sans did
not commit suicide. Nothing further.
Speaker 12 (13:25):
Okay, doctor Skinner, Yes, mister Bird, but you're not a doctor, right,
so I'll call you dentist Skinner.
Speaker 9 (13:33):
I am a doctor, mister Bird.
Speaker 12 (13:35):
Not in the traditional.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Sense classic Aaron Burr. Why discredit the argument when you
can discredit the witness themselves?
Speaker 12 (13:42):
What are all the possible injuries that may result in
reddish brownish purplish marks on the neck?
Speaker 9 (13:50):
All the possible injuries?
Speaker 11 (13:52):
Yes, list them please.
Speaker 9 (13:54):
I couldn't list all of.
Speaker 11 (13:56):
It, right because you're a dentist.
Speaker 15 (13:58):
Proudly mister, but nobody could list all the possible cauts.
Speaker 12 (14:02):
This is not a credible witness, your honor.
Speaker 9 (14:04):
I'm the lifeblood of American mouths.
Speaker 15 (14:07):
Dentists are extremely important to the medical field.
Speaker 9 (14:10):
I quite literally help people smile.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
My witness is describing what he saw on the court.
Speaker 12 (14:14):
He's making interpretations, and the defense has nothing further for
the dentist.
Speaker 11 (14:21):
Thanks.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Okay, fine, I'll call my next expert. Witness, your honor,
co founder of Bellevue Hospital, Princeton graduate, esteemed for his
cutting edge pseudorific treatment of the yellow fever, doctor David Hosek.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
As you can tell, Coldon was pretty hype to have
this guy testify for him.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
David Hoseak was a huge deal.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
He'd go on to be that doctor who attended to
Hamilton after Burr fatally shot him in their eighteen oh
four duel. But at the time of this trial, Hoseak
was a celebrity doctor. He was young and handsome and
a close personal friend of both Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton,
who up to this point had never shot at each other,
though they probably thought about it.
Speaker 11 (15:02):
Oh what, doctor h Hozak. You didn't tell me you'd
be here.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
I was on a confidential witness Liz, gentlemen.
Speaker 11 (15:09):
You sly dog.
Speaker 12 (15:11):
I've been here all day.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
I've been sitting in the back slow burn so far.
Speaker 12 (15:16):
Huh. A prosecution is taking its sweet tragic time.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
Yeah, that would be getting out of here.
Speaker 12 (15:21):
We did too, trust.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Me, Doctor Hosak, please approach the stands.
Speaker 11 (15:25):
So good to see you, man.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
Did you uh sort out your situation?
Speaker 5 (15:31):
I have no situation? Wait, so you three are friends.
Speaker 20 (15:33):
David Hoseac saved Philip's life when he was fifteen.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
I'm sorry, who's.
Speaker 12 (15:37):
Philip Alexander's son? Even I know that.
Speaker 20 (15:40):
Greatest doctor in New York City?
Speaker 19 (15:42):
Right here, folks, mister Colden, the court is standing by
for your witness.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
I called doctor Hosak already, sir. I'm waiting for him
to finish socializing with the defensive leaders.
Speaker 11 (15:53):
We'll catch up later.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
Doc, All right, let's get this show on the road.
Speaker 5 (15:59):
Doctor hosts, will you be able to be impartial here?
Given your friendship with my opponents.
Speaker 6 (16:04):
I'm a professional, mister coldon.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Good, so my colleagues, your friends will find your testimony unimpeachable.
Let's start with mister Burr's unanswerable question. What are all
the injuries that may result in reddish brownish purplish marks
on the neck?
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Oh, I'd say opium overdose, strike by lightning, arsenic poisoning,
or es sack.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
You saw the wounds on Alma San's neck up close, right?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (16:29):
I did? And do you think a row of four small,
circular bruises could have been caused by an opium overdose
or a lightning strike.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
I'm saying it could have been anything. The injuries were unclear.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
But the injuries were definitely the result of violence, right.
Speaker 6 (16:44):
Violence in the broad sense, Yes.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
A violent effort by another person to make Alma stop breathing.
Is that correct interpretation? I'll rephrase. Is it correct that
another person broke Alma's neck?
Speaker 11 (16:57):
Probably?
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Yes? So she could not have committed suicide if another
person broke her neck, right.
Speaker 6 (17:03):
That is a correct statement, mister Colder.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
So if Elma did not commit suicide, she died by strangulation.
And if the defendant was the last person to see
Elma alive, then he clearly strangled her. What more proof
do we lit?
Speaker 11 (17:17):
Objection?
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Objection, Thank you doctor Hosak for proving that Elma was murdering.
Speaker 19 (17:24):
Nothing further, Defense counsel any day, now for your cross examination.
Speaker 9 (17:32):
We're good, your honor, what you're good, mister Burke.
Speaker 12 (17:37):
The defense counsel does not wish to cross examine doctor Hoseac.
Speaker 11 (17:42):
You'r honor. We're good to keep.
Speaker 9 (17:44):
Going, all right, then, doctor Hoseac, please step down.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
So doctor Hoseak was definitely a twist for the defense.
Lawyers Hamilton and Burr were not expecting their friend to
testify for the prosecution, so they chose not to cross
examine him because they didn't know what he'd say.
Speaker 19 (18:01):
All right, who's next, colden, Uh, that's all I've got,
your honor, that's all my witnesses.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Besides, it was their time to shine.
Speaker 19 (18:10):
Oh well then, mister Burr, mister Hamilton, europe a case
for the defense begins.
Speaker 9 (18:16):
Now, gentlemen of the jury.
Speaker 12 (18:18):
Hello, the real attorneys will take it from here.
Speaker 9 (18:26):
Your opening statement, mister Burr.
Speaker 12 (18:30):
I want these jurors to know they're heroes. Gentlemen, you
are the new system, You are justice, You are greats.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
We love you, We really do.
Speaker 12 (18:42):
You've listened to fourteen hours of testimony that consisted of,
let's be honest, purely circumstantial evidence. Your patience is admirable.
Speaker 11 (18:53):
Thank you. I'll just say one thing. When Catherine Ring
put the.
Speaker 12 (19:00):
Victim's corpse on display, she made it impossible for you
to come.
Speaker 11 (19:06):
In here impartial.
Speaker 12 (19:07):
Today she inflamed public opinion against my client. If you've
been in New York in recent months, you've heard nasty
rumors about Levi Weeks. Thus Levi is an unfair disadvantage heir.
Speaker 9 (19:22):
Projection, not during an opening statement, coldon.
Speaker 12 (19:27):
Look at this young boy before us, gentlemen, Levi Weeks
is an honest, promising, innocent architect who fell for.
Speaker 11 (19:40):
The wrong girl. We can all relate to that.
Speaker 12 (19:45):
Elma Sands was destitute and talentless, dependent on the rings
then Levi for survival. Whether she ended her own dismal
life or somebody helped her do it, perhaps will never know.
But Elma's death had nothing to do with Levi Weeks
(20:07):
and everything to do with her toxic home environment.
Speaker 20 (20:12):
We'll call our first witness.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
So the defense calls this kid, Ezra Lacey, who briefly
boarded at two o eight Greenwich Street.
Speaker 20 (20:23):
Mister Lacy, after the victim's body was found, how did
people treat Levi.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Weeks leading the witness?
Speaker 20 (20:29):
How did people act towards Levi?
Speaker 9 (20:33):
Oh?
Speaker 11 (20:33):
Mean, hostile?
Speaker 10 (20:35):
He became a social pariah because you know, everyone thought
he killed Elma. So he started hiding, staying at his
brother's house. Most knights not coming around Greenistry very much.
Speaker 20 (20:46):
So he was paying rent at the boardinghouse, but he
wasn't welcome there.
Speaker 10 (20:50):
He was welcome, but you know, no one was going
to talk to him or look him at the eye.
Speaker 20 (20:56):
How would it feel, mister Lacey, if nobody would look
you in the eye.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
So Lacy told the jury about Elias Ring, the drunk
landlord of the boarding house, specifically about an interaction that
he had with Elias after Alma's body was found, before
Levi was arrested.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Lacy, have you seen Weeks.
Speaker 10 (21:16):
I haven't seen Levi in about a week. Actually, good,
maybe he's dead. I don't think he's dead, sir.
Speaker 8 (21:28):
Well, I hope he never shows his hideous face in
my house again.
Speaker 10 (21:33):
Well, his trunks are still upstairs.
Speaker 15 (21:36):
I hope he gets his trunks out of here and
he never shows his hideous face my house again.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
If I ran into Levi Weeks in a dark alley,
do you know what I would do. I'd look him
in the eye and then I'd put a bullet in
his chest.
Speaker 12 (21:51):
Pa, that's terrifying. Elias Ring sounds like a dangerous man.
Speaker 5 (21:58):
Objection's speculation, you're honor.
Speaker 9 (22:02):
My husband is not dangerous.
Speaker 10 (22:04):
He's on steady and he drinks.
Speaker 9 (22:06):
Mister Colden, say something.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
The bias Ring can't drink.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
He's Quaker.
Speaker 11 (22:12):
You know some Quakers drink. But this is all very hopeful.
Speaker 7 (22:16):
Mister Lacy, mister Colton.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
They're making Elias sound terrible.
Speaker 9 (22:19):
None of this is rice.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
Yes, your honor, Persecuting Elias Ring is unreasonable and irrelevant
in the case against Levi. Week.
Speaker 11 (22:25):
We just heard that elias Ring threatened Levi so he
was home at.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
The time of the murder. That's an alibi.
Speaker 20 (22:32):
Coldon so proud he knows the word alibi.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
The Colden was right.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
The defense lawyers were running an elaborate distraction to turn
heads away from their client towards Elias Ring. And yes,
Alma's uncle Elias was drunk and unpredictable and potentially really dangerous,
but people saw him at home the night of the murder.
He could not have killed Alma.
Speaker 12 (22:55):
Mister Lacy, how did Elias Ring act towards Alma?
Speaker 10 (22:59):
Obsessed with her in a bad way.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
We're still on this Elias thing.
Speaker 10 (23:04):
Elias Ring smothered Alma.
Speaker 20 (23:07):
Yes, he smothered her. He made her life completely miserable.
Speaker 12 (23:10):
Alma couldn't bear to live under mister Ring's control anymore, so.
Speaker 20 (23:14):
She took her own life to escape the horrors of
two away granted.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Strip So the defense's case relied on two things besides
distracting the jury as much as they possibly could with tangents.
One the idea that Alma had this depressing, miserable life
and ended it herself that night. And two, the characterization
of Levi as an upstanding citizen who was smart and
promising and needed a new start, unburdened by the death
(23:41):
of his former lover and this scandal that has unfairly
attached to him.
Speaker 12 (23:46):
We're excited to see Levi walk out of here a
freeman in a few hours.
Speaker 6 (23:51):
The defense call, your honor. We've been sitting here for
fourteen hours already.
Speaker 9 (23:55):
Counsel your witness.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
The jury requests an adjournment.
Speaker 11 (23:58):
An adjournment.
Speaker 12 (24:00):
You imagine we're in the middle of winning this case.
Speaker 11 (24:03):
You can interrupt us.
Speaker 9 (24:04):
Lacks, mister Burr, gentlemen, sit up, power through.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
We need to sleep, your honor, Your honor?
Speaker 11 (24:11):
Come on, How would an adjournment possibly work?
Speaker 5 (24:14):
Your honor?
Speaker 9 (24:15):
I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 11 (24:17):
You're thinking about it, sir.
Speaker 19 (24:19):
What about our witnesses, Sir constable, Yes, your honor?
Speaker 9 (24:23):
If we adjourn, where could they sleep?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
All of the jurors, your honor?
Speaker 11 (24:28):
Hold on your honor.
Speaker 12 (24:30):
We're about to exonerate le by week.
Speaker 9 (24:32):
There's no way we'd have to keep them sequestered. What
do you mean sequestered? I can't go home.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
My wife will.
Speaker 11 (24:38):
I hate this.
Speaker 19 (24:39):
We're in the middle of a murder trial. The jurors
clearly can't go anywhere. Where can twelve men sleep comfortably
together in New York City on short notice?
Speaker 1 (24:47):
And of the many unprecedented elements of these proceedings, this
one might be the most bizarre. There had never been
a court case this contentious, with this much drama and
debate that would require another full trial day.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
It's your honor, I don't.
Speaker 9 (25:05):
Just put them in the picture room. Okay, that feels
right to me. Are we really adjourney, sir?
Speaker 19 (25:10):
This wasn't the plan, Constable, Can you get the jurors
some refreshments?
Speaker 9 (25:15):
Sure? All right, Dan?
Speaker 19 (25:18):
The court adjourns until ten am tomorrow morning. We'll finish
here in the defense's case and come to a verdict.
Speaker 11 (25:24):
Your honor.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
So at the end of day one, everybody went home
except the jurors, who slept on the floor of a
room in City Hall, eating whatever snacks the court officials
could procure. And just to really illustrate this, folks, these
jurors were like Manhattan's elite merchants and politicians and bank
trustees and businessmen. It was truly a jury of Levi,
(25:48):
Burr and Hamilton's peers. Right now in New York City,
the guys that served on this jury have streets and
monuments named after them. Their legacies are alive and well.
The night of March thirty first, eighteen hundred, they all
slept together on the floor for six or seven hours
before reporting back for Joey service. The next morning, It's hilarious,
(26:10):
Sweet dreams everyone. Meanwhile, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton probably
didn't sleep. They were probably preparing for their lineup of
all star witnesses the following morning. They also convinced one
of Colin's key I witnesses to change their entire testimony overnight.
(26:32):
In the next episode, the defense attorneys come out swinging.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
This is erased, Stay with Us erased.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
The Murder of Elma Sands is a production of Lunch
Plans and Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal
Company Number One. The show is narrated, written, and produced
by me Alison Flomm. It stars Alison Williams as Katherine Ring,
Tony Goldwyn as Alexander Hamilton, Barry Sheck as Aaron Burr,
and Jason Flamm as Judge John Lansing.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Our executive producers.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Are Alison Williams, Jason Flamm, and Kevin Mortis. This show
is produced by Goldhalk Productions. The show is sound designed
and mixed by Steve Bond. The music is composed and
performed by Sasha Putnam. The producer for Goldhalk is Andy
Goddard with production management from Emma Hearn, the executive producer
for goldhalk Is John Scott Dryden. You can listen to
(27:37):
every episode of Erased the Murder of Alma Sands right
now ad free by subscribing to Lava for Good plus
on Apple Podcasts. You can also follow the show on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook,
and Twitter at Lava for Good and for more information
on this story, plus a complete list of our incredible cast,
visit Lava Forgood dot com slash Erased
Host
Allison Flom
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