Tag: Auburn Prison
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On This Day in 1893 – Morphine murderer Carlyle Harris, his last mile and his last laugh.
When Buchanan entered the condemned cells at Sing Sing he was probably a little embarrassed to finally meet the ‘stupid amateur’ and ‘bungling fool’ he’d so disastrously mocked. Buchanan had had the first laugh. Harris laughed last and longest, but had little time left to do it.
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Anna Sutherland, Annie Buchanan, Auburn Prison, Canada, Canadian, Carl Feigenbaum, Carly;e Harris, Charles Durston, clemency, Comstock Finishing School, Dannemora, Doctor Allan Hamilton, Edwin Davis, electric chair, executed, forensics, Francis Wellman, Harry Carleton, Helen Potts, Levi Morton, morphine, murder, New York, New York City, Nova Scotia, Omar Sage, poisoner, Robert Buchanan, Roswell Flower, Rudolph Witthaus, Russian Roulette, Sing Sing, Sing Sing Prison, State Electrician, toxicology, William Kemmler -
On This Day in 1916 – Charles Sprague, last man to die at Auburn Prison.
On August 6, 1890 Auburn Prison in upstate New York made history. William Kemmler, drunkard, vegetable-seller and killer, became the first prisoner to die in the electric chair. Bungled though it was (George Westinghouse remarked it could have been done better with an axe, Kemmler’s chosen weapon) the era of ‘electrical execution’ had begun. Despite…
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On This Day in 1926 – Gerald Chapman, America’s first ‘Public Enemy Number One.’
“Death itself isn’t dreadful, but hanging seems an awkward way of ending the adventure…” – Gerald Chapman to his lawyers after being condemned to hang for murder in 1925. ‘Gerald Chapman’ was his favorite alias, but his real name was probably George Chartres. Given that records are sketchy and Chapman was always evasive about his youth,…
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Abe Reles, Al Capone, Allie Tannnenbaum, American Express, armed robberies, armed robbery, Atlanta, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Auburn, Auburn Prison, Ben Hance, Charles Loerber, Charlie Wolfe, condemned, Connecticut, Count of Gramercy Park, death penalty, Dutch Anderson, executed, Federal Government, Frank Gray, gallows, George Anderson, Gerald Chapman, hanged, Indiana, John Dillinger, John Gotti, Joseph Rosen, Leonard Street robbery, Lepke, Lepke Buchalter, Louis Capone, Massachusetts, Mendy Weiss, murder, New Britain, New York, New York City, New York State, Patrolmsn Skelly, President Calvin Coolidge, President Coolidge, President Franklin Roosevelt, prison, Public Enemy Number One, Sing Sing Prison, upright jerker, US Supreme Court, Walter Shean, Wethersfield Prison -
On This Day in 1908- Chester Gillette, an American tragedy.
A free chapter from my book ‘Murders, Mysteries and Misdemeanors in New York,’ available now. Like it or not, some murders become an entity bigger and more lasting than themselves. Murderers have been seeking to rid themselves of inconvenient spouses, partners or ex-partners since murder existed, there’s nothing unusual about it. Seldom though does the murder of…
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a place in the sun, Adirondacks, Arrowhead Park Road, Auburn, Auburn Prison, Ballad of Big Moose Lake, Big Moose Lake, books, Chester Gillette, Cortland, Edwin Davis, electric chair, electrocuted, electrocution, Elizabeth Taylor, executed, execution, Gillette Skirt Factory, governor charles hughes, Governor Frank Higgins, Grace Brown, Herkimer County, literature, Montgomery Clift, murder, murdered, murderer, New York, New York City, New York State, Roxalana Druse, State Electrician, tennis, tennis racket, Theodore Dreiser, Utica -
On This Day in 1925 – John Hurlburt performs his last execution. ‘Yellow Charleston’ has his last dance.
A few years ago I covered the story of John Hurlburt, New York’s second ‘State Electrician.’ Trained by predecessor Edwin Davis, Hurlburt executed 140 prisoners during his tenure. Hurlburt’s official debut was executing George Coyer and Giuseppe DeGoia at Auburn Prison on August 31 1914. Unofficially he had already executed prisoners under Davis’s supervision. As…
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Auburn, Auburn Prison, Bruno Hauptmann, burner, capital punishment, Connecticut, Dance Hall, death house, death penalty, Death Row, death sentence, death warrant, Edwin Davis, electric chair, electrocute, electrocuted, electrocution, executed, execution, executioner, executioners, executions, History, Lewis Lawes, Lindbergh, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, New Yorkers, Pennsylvania, Ruth Snyder, Sacco and Vanzetti, Sing Sing, Sing Sing death house, Sing Sing Prison, State Electrician, the burner, USA, Vermont, Warden Lewis Lawes -
On This Day in 1890 -Martha Place, the first woman in the electric chair.
A free chapter from my book ‘Murders, Mysteries and Misdemeanors in New York,’ available now. Like many countries the US has an at times contradictory attitude to its death penalty, no more so than when a woman faces execution. Women account for fewer than 5% of death sentences in the US and less than 1%…
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1934, Abe Reles, Albert Anastasia, Amos Squire, Angel of Death, Anna Antonio, appeal, appealed, appeals, armed robberies, armed robbery, assassin, assassinated, assassination, Atlanat, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Attica, Auburn Prison, bank robbery, bathtub booze, Ben Hnace, Big Greenie, Big Moose Lake, books, bootleggers, bottlegging, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Combination, Brownsville, Buffalo, Bugsy Siegel, Burton Turkus, capital punishment, carbon monoxide, Carlyle Harris, Charlie the Bug Workman, Chester Gillette, clemency, Condemned Cells, Connecticut, crime, crime and punishment, Daniel Kreisberg, death house, death penalty, Death Row, death sentence, death warrant, District Attorney, Dow Hover, drugs, Durable Mike, Dutch Anderson, Dutch Schultz, Eddie Lee Mays, Edwin Davis, electric chair, electrocuted, Elliott method, Elliott technique, entertainment, Erie County, Erie County Sheriff, Ethel Rosenberg, executed, executiioner, execution, Fonthill Media, Francis Pasqua, Frank Abbandando, Frank Manzella, Frederick Tenuto, Friendly Bar and Grill, Friendly Tavern, gallows, gangs, gangsters, George Anderson, George Westinghouse, Georgia, Gerald Chapman, Germantown, Governor Rockefeller, Governor Thomas Dewey, Grace Brown, Grover Cleveland, hanged, hanging, Happy Maione, Harlem, Harold P Brown, Harry Green, Harry Greenburg, Harry Maione, Helen Ray Fowler, Herkimer County, History, hitman, hitmen, Holmesburg Prison, Iron Mike, Iron Mike Malloy, Italy, jerk-em-up, Joe Masseria, John Hurlburt, Joseph Francel, Judge Irwin Davidson, Julius Rosenberg, Kid Twist, last meal, Leon Czolgosz, Leonard Street robbery, Lepke, Lepke Buchalter, Lewis Lawes, Lewis Pilcher, literature, Lonely Hearts Killers, Lord High Executioner, Louis Buchalter, Louis Capone, Louis Lepke, Lucky Luciano, Mafia, Martha Beck, Martha Place, Mary Farmer, Massachusetts, Max Rubin, Mendy Weiss, Midnight Rose, Mike Malloy, morphine, Mr Arsenic, murder, Murder Inc, Murder Incorporated, Murder Trust, murdered, New Jersey, New York, New Yorkers, old sparky, Oreste Shillitoni, Palace Chop House, paper box kid, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Phil, President Calvin Coolidge, President Coolidge, President Grover Cleveland, President William McKinley, prison, prisoner, prisoners, prisons, Prohibition, Public Enemy Number One, punishment, Ray Fernandez, Raymond Fernandez, Raymond Street Jail, Red Murphy, robberies, robbery, Robert Buchanan, Robert Greene Elliott, Roxalana Druse, Ruth Snyder, Salvatore Maranzano, Sing Sing Prison, slaughter house, State Electrician, suspension hanging, Syndicate, the Commission, The Dasher, the Rosenbergs, the Syndicate, The Tombs, Theodore Dreiser, Thomas Dewey, Thomas Edison, Thomas Mott Osborne, Tombs Jail, Tony Marino, true crime, upright jerker, US Supreme Court, USA, Vermont, Vito Genovese, Warden Kirchwey, Wethersfield, Wethersfield Prison, Wilfred Denno, William Kemmler, WILLIAM KEMMLER Willie Sutton, Willie Sutton, Willie the Actor, writing -
On This Day in 1932, Michael Malloy – The Man Who Would Not Die
They had started with the obvious: alcohol. That should have been a simple, effective means of their victim destroying himself rather than the Trust taking the additional risk of actually murdering him. Insurance fraud was not a capital offence then or now; first-degree murder no longer is in New York State, but in 1932, it…
CrimeScribe
1934, Abe Reles, Albert Anastasia, Amos Squire, Angel of Death, Anna Antonio, appeal, appealed, appeals, armed robberies, armed robbery, assassin, assassinated, assassination, Atlanat, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Attica, Auburn Prison, bank robbery, bathtub booze, Ben Hnace, Big Greenie, Big Moose Lake, books, bootleggers, bottlegging, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Combination, Brownsville, Buffalo, Bugsy Siegel, Burton Turkus, capital punishment, carbon monoxide, Carlyle Harris, Charlie the Bug Workman, Chester Gillette, clemency, Condemned Cells, Connecticut, crime, crime and punishment, Daniel Kreisberg, death house, death penalty, Death Row, death sentence, death warrant, District Attorney, Dow Hover, drugs, Durable Mike, Dutch Anderson, Dutch Schultz, Eddie Lee Mays, Edwin Davis, electric chair, electrocuted, Elliott method, Elliott technique, entertainment, Erie County, Erie County Sheriff, Ethel Rosenberg, executed, executiioner, execution, Fonthill Media, Francis Pasqua, Frank Abbandando, Frank Manzella, Frederick Tenuto, Friendly Bar and Grill, Friendly Tavern, gallows, gangs, gangsters, George Anderson, George Westinghouse, Georgia, Gerald Chapman, Germantown, Governor Rockefeller, Governor Thomas Dewey, Grace Brown, Grover Cleveland, hanged, hanging, Happy Maione, Harlem, Harold P Brown, Harry Green, Harry Greenburg, Harry Maione, Helen Ray Fowler, Herkimer County, History, hitman, hitmen, Holmesburg Prison, Iron Mike, Iron Mike Malloy, Italy, jerk-em-up, Joe Masseria, John Hurlburt, Joseph Francel, Judge Irwin Davidson, Julius Rosenberg, Kid Twist, last meal, Leon Czolgosz, Leonard Street robbery, Lepke, Lepke Buchalter, Lewis Lawes, Lewis Pilcher, literature, Lonely Hearts Killers, Lord High Executioner, Louis Buchalter, Louis Capone, Louis Lepke, Lucky Luciano, Mafia, Martha Beck, Martha Place, Mary Farmer, Massachusetts, Max Rubin, Mendy Weiss, Midnight Rose, Mike Malloy, morphine, Mr Arsenic, murder, Murder Inc, Murder Incorporated, Murder Trust, murdered, New Jersey, New York, New Yorkers, old sparky, Oreste Shillitoni, Palace Chop House, paper box kid, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Phil, President Calvin Coolidge, President Coolidge, President Grover Cleveland, President William McKinley, prison, prisoner, prisoners, prisons, Prohibition, Public Enemy Number One, punishment, Ray Fernandez, Raymond Fernandez, Raymond Street Jail, Red Murphy, robberies, robbery, Robert Buchanan, Robert Greene Elliott, Roxalana Druse, Ruth Snyder, Salvatore Maranzano, Sing Sing Prison, slaughter house, State Electrician, suspension hanging, Syndicate, the Commission, The Dasher, the Rosenbergs, the Syndicate, The Tombs, Theodore Dreiser, Thomas Dewey, Thomas Edison, Thomas Mott Osborne, Tombs Jail, Tony Marino, true crime, upright jerker, US Supreme Court, USA, Vermont, Vito Genovese, Warden Kirchwey, Wethersfield, Wethersfield Prison, Wilfred Denno, William Kemmler, WILLIAM KEMMLER Willie Sutton, Willie Sutton, Willie the Actor, writing -
On This Day in 1932 – Francis ‘Two-Gun’ Crowley,provided inspiration for James Cagney
He was no relation to notorious Satanist Aleister Crowley, but had more than a touch of the Devil in him just the same. Born in New York City on October 31, 1912 (fitting for someone as scary as him) he lasted only 19 years before walking his last mile at Sing Sing’s death house on…
CrimeScribe
1944, Abe Reles, Albert Anastasia, Amos Squire, Angel of Death, Angels with Dirty Faces, Anna Antonio, appeal, appealed, appeals, armed robberies, armed robbery, assassin, assassinated, assassination, Atlanat, Atlanta, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Attica, Auburn Prison, Baby Face Nelson, bank robbery, Ben Hnace, Big Greenie, Big Moose Lake, books, bootleggers, bottlegging, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Combination, Brownsville, Buffalo, Bugsy Siegel, Burton Turkus, capital punishment, carbon monoxide, Carlyle Harris, Charles McLaughlin, Charlie the Bug Workman, Chester Gillette, clemency, clemency denied, Cody Jarrett, Condemned Cells, Connecticut, crime, crime and punishment, death house, death penalty, Death Row, death sentence, death warrant, District Attorney, Dow Hover, drugs, Durable Mike, Dutch Anderson, Dutch Schultz, Eddie Lee Mays, Edwin Davis, electric chair, electrocuted, Elliott method, Elliott technique, Elmer Burke, entertainment, Erie County, Erie County Sheriff, Ethel Rosenberg, executed, executiioner, execution, Fats Duringer, Fonthill Media, Francis Crowley, Frank Abbandando, Fred Burke, Frederick Tenuto, Friendly Bar and Grill, Friendly Tavern, gallows, gangs, gangsters, George Anderson, George Knight, George Westinghouse, Georgia, Gerald Chapman, Germantown, Governor Rockefeller, Governor Thomas Dewey, Grace Brown, Grover Cleveland, hanged, hanging, Happy Maione, Harlem, Harold P Brown, Harry Greenburg, Harry Maione, Helen Ray Fowler, Herkimer County, History, hitman, hitmen, Holmesburg Prison, Howard Baker, Howard Usefof, Iron Mike, Iron Mike Malloy, Italy, James Cagney, James Cassidy, jerk-em-up, Joe Masseria, John Dillinger, John Hurlburt, Joseph Francel, Joseph Milano, Judge Irwin Davidson, Julius Rosenberg, Kid Twist, Killer Burke, last meal, Leon Czolgosz, Leonard Street robbery, Lepke, Lepke Buchalter, Lewis Lawes, Lewis Pilcher, literature, Lonely Hearts Killers, Lord High Executioner, Louis Buchalter, Louis Capone, Louis Lepke, Lucky Luciano, Machine Gun Burke, Mafia, Martha Beck, Martha Place, Mary Farmer, Massachusetts, Max Rubin, Mendy Weiss, Midnight Rose, Milano Gang, morphine, Mr Arsenic, murder, Murder Inc, Murder Incorporated, Murder Trust, murdered, New Jersey, New York, New Yorkers, old sparky, Oreste Shillitoni, Palace Chop House, paper box kid, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Phil, President Calvin Coolidge, President Coolidge, President Grover Cleveland, President William McKinley, prison, prisoner, prisoners, prisons, Prohibition, Public Enemy Number One, punishment, Queens, Ray Fernandez, Raymond Fernandez, Raymond Street Jail, robberies, robbery, Robert Buchanan, Robert Greene Elliott, Rocky Sullivan, Roxalana Druse, Rudolph Duringer, Ruth Snyder, Salvatore Maranzano, Sing Sing, Sing Sing Prison, slaughter house, Slick Willie, State Electrician, suspension hanging, Syndicate, the Commission, The Dasher, the Rosenbergs, the Syndicate, The Tombs, Theodore Dreiser, Thomas Dewey, Thomas Edison, Thomas Mott Osborne, Tom Dewey, Tombs Jail, Trigger Burke, true crime, Two-Gun Crowley, upright jerker, US Supreme Court, USA, Vermont, Virgil Richardson, Vito Genovese, Warden Kirchwey, Wethersfield, Wethersfield Prison, White Heat, Wilfred Denno, writing -
On This Day in 1958 – Elmer ‘Trigger’ Burke.
Elmer Francis Burke to be exact, AKA ‘Trigger’ or ‘Machine Gun Burke’ due to his fondness for the Tommy gun. He was also fond of the double-barrelled shotgun, habitually carrying a .45 automatic as well. An extortionist and freelance hitman-for-hire, Burke had an extensive record even before joining the US Army Rangers to get early…
CrimeScribe
1944, Abe Reles, Albert Anastasia, Amos Squire, Angel of Death, Anna Antonio, appeal, appealed, appeals, armed robberies, armed robbery, assassin, assassinated, assassination, Atlanat, Atlanta, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Attica, Auburn Prison, Baby Face Nelson, bank robbery, Ben Hnace, Big Greenie, Big Moose Lake, books, bootleggers, bottlegging, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Combination, Brownsville, Buffalo, Bugsy Siegel, Burton Turkus, capital punishment, carbon monoxide, Carlyle Harris, Charles McLaughlin, Charlie the Bug Workman, Chester Gillette, clemency, clemency denied, Condemned Cells, Connecticut, crime, crime and punishment, death house, death penalty, Death Row, death sentence, death warrant, District Attorney, Dow Hover, drugs, Durable Mike, Dutch Anderson, Dutch Schultz, Eddie Lee Mays, Edwin Davis, electric chair, electrocuted, Elliott method, Elliott technique, Elmer Burke, entertainment, Erie County, Erie County Sheriff, Ethel Rosenberg, executed, executiioner, execution, Fonthill Media, Frank Abbandando, Fred Burke, Frederick Tenuto, Friendly Bar and Grill, Friendly Tavern, gallows, gangs, gangsters, George Anderson, George Knight, George Westinghouse, Georgia, Gerald Chapman, Germantown, Governor Rockefeller, Governor Thomas Dewey, Grace Brown, Grover Cleveland, hanged, hanging, Happy Maione, Harlem, Harold P Brown, Harry Greenburg, Harry Maione, Helen Ray Fowler, Herkimer County, History, hitman, hitmen, Holmesburg Prison, Howard Baker, Howard Usefof, Iron Mike, Iron Mike Malloy, Italy, James Cassidy, jerk-em-up, Joe Masseria, John Dillinger, John Hurlburt, Joseph Francel, Joseph Milano, Judge Irwin Davidson, Julius Rosenberg, Kid Twist, Killer Burke, last meal, Leon Czolgosz, Leonard Street robbery, Lepke, Lepke Buchalter, Lewis Lawes, Lewis Pilcher, literature, Lonely Hearts Killers, Lord High Executioner, Louis Buchalter, Louis Capone, Louis Lepke, Lucky Luciano, Machine Gun Burke, Mafia, Martha Beck, Martha Place, Mary Farmer, Massachusetts, Max Rubin, Mendy Weiss, Midnight Rose, Milano Gang, morphine, Mr Arsenic, murder, Murder Inc, Murder Incorporated, Murder Trust, murdered, New Jersey, New York, New Yorkers, old sparky, Oreste Shillitoni, Palace Chop House, paper box kid, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Phil, President Calvin Coolidge, President Coolidge, President Grover Cleveland, President William McKinley, prison, prisoner, prisoners, prisons, Prohibition, Public Enemy Number One, punishment, Queens, Ray Fernandez, Raymond Fernandez, Raymond Street Jail, robberies, robbery, Robert Buchanan, Robert Greene Elliott, Roxalana Druse, Ruth Snyder, Salvatore Maranzano, Sing Sing, Sing Sing Prison, slaughter house, Slick Willie, State Electrician, suspension hanging, Syndicate, the Commission, The Dasher, the Rosenbergs, the Syndicate, The Tombs, Theodore Dreiser, Thomas Dewey, Thomas Edison, Thomas Mott Osborne, Tom Dewey, Tombs Jail, Trigger Burke, true crime, upright jerker, US Supreme Court, USA, Vermont, Virgil Richardson, Vito Genovese, Warden Kirchwey, Wethersfield, Wethersfield Prison, Wilfred Denno, William Kemmler -
On This Day in 1939 – Anton Myslevic, Theodore Maselkiewicz and Everett McDonald make their exit. Executioner Joseph Francel makes his entrance.
Not a tale of Christmas cheer, granted, but worth noticing all the same. Not only the debut of New York’s fourth and penultimate State Electrician, but Francel also arrived with what was known as a ‘triple hitter.’ That night three men would die at his hand, and for Francel it was only the beginning. On…
CrimeScribe
1944, Abe Reles, Albert Anastasia, Amos Squire, Angel of Death, Anna Antonio, appeal, appealed, appeals, armed robberies, armed robbery, assassin, assassinated, assassination, Atlanat, Atlanta, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Attica, Auburn Prison, Baby Face Nelson, bank robbery, Ben Hnace, Big Greenie, Big Moose Lake, books, bootleggers, bottlegging, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Combination, Brownsville, Buffalo, Bugsy Siegel, Burton Turkus, capital punishment, carbon monoxide, Carlyle Harris, Charles McLaughlin, Charlie the Bug Workman, Chester Gillette, clemency, clemency denied, Condemned Cells, Connecticut, crime, crime and punishment, death house, death penalty, Death Row, death sentence, death warrant, District Attorney, Dow Hover, drugs, Durable Mike, Dutch Anderson, Dutch Schultz, Eddie Lee Mays, Edwin Davis, electric chair, electrocuted, Elliott method, Elliott technique, entertainment, Erie County, Erie County Sheriff, Ethel Rosenberg, executed, executiioner, execution, Fonthill Media, Frank Abbandando, Frederick Tenuto, Friendly Bar and Grill, Friendly Tavern, gallows, gangs, gangsters, George Anderson, George Knight, George Westinghouse, Georgia, Gerald Chapman, Germantown, Governor Rockefeller, Governor Thomas Dewey, Grace Brown, Grover Cleveland, hanged, hanging, Happy Maione, Harlem, Harold P Brown, Harry Greenburg, Harry Maione, Helen Ray Fowler, Herkimer County, History, hitman, hitmen, Holmesburg Prison, Howard Baker, Howard Usefof, Iron Mike, Iron Mike Malloy, Italy, James Cassidy, jerk-em-up, Joe Masseria, John Dillinger, John Hurlburt, Joseph Francel, Joseph Milano, Judge Irwin Davidson, Julius Rosenberg, Kid Twist, last meal, Leon Czolgosz, Leonard Street robbery, Lepke, Lepke Buchalter, Lewis Lawes, Lewis Pilcher, literature, Lonely Hearts Killers, Lord High Executioner, Louis Buchalter, Louis Capone, Louis Lepke, Lucky Luciano, Mafia, Martha Beck, Martha Place, Mary Farmer, Massachusetts, Max Rubin, Mendy Weiss, Midnight Rose, Milano Gang, morphine, Mr Arsenic, murder, Murder Inc, Murder Incorporated, Murder Trust, murdered, New Jersey, New York, New Yorkers, old sparky, Oreste Shillitoni, Palace Chop House, paper box kid, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Phil, President Calvin Coolidge, President Coolidge, President Grover Cleveland, President William McKinley, prison, prisoner, prisoners, prisons, Prohibition, Public Enemy Number One, punishment, Queens, Ray Fernandez, Raymond Fernandez, Raymond Street Jail, robberies, robbery, Robert Buchanan, Robert Greene Elliott, Roxalana Druse, Ruth Snyder, Salvatore Maranzano, Sing Sing, Sing Sing Prison, slaughter house, Slick Willie, State Electrician, suspension hanging, Syndicate, the Commission, The Dasher, the Rosenbergs, the Syndicate, The Tombs, Theodore Dreiser, Thomas Dewey, Thomas Edison, Thomas Mott Osborne, Tom Dewey, Tombs Jail, true crime, upright jerker, US Supreme Court, USA, Vermont, Virgil Richardson, Vito Genovese, Warden Kirchwey, Wethersfield, Wethersfield Prison, Wilfred Denno, William Kemmler