Episode Details

In New York City, in February 1891, a young woman named Ella Nelson shot and killed her married boyfriend. Yet, in a wild trial, a jury declared her “Not Guilty”. This shocking case made nationwide headlines at the time, but is hardly known today. This episode tells the story of what happened -- and why.     HISTORICAL REFERENCES:   Transcript of Trial of Ella Nelson, Trial #14, John Jay College, pp. 23-26.   District Attorney Indictment Files, Court of General Sessions, NYC Municipal Archives, Box 428, Folder 3949.   New York Times, February 20, 1891; February 27, 1891; June 18, 1891; June 20, 1891   New York Herald, June 20 & 21, 1891; April 23, 1892.   Wellman, Francis L., Gentlemen of the Jury, Reminiscences of Thirty Years at the Bar (1934), p. 105.   Stansbury, Charles Fredrick,The Barrister: Being Anecdotes of the Late Tom Nolan of the New York Bar (1902), p. 81.   Murphy, Cait, Scoundrels in Law. The Trials of Howe & Hummel (2010).   Rovere, Richard, Howe and Hummel: Their True and Scandalous History (1947, second ed., 1985) [original title: The Magnificent Shysters].   GUEST VOICES:   Samuel Post: Jeff Richardson of the Everything is Awesome podcast   Ella Nelson: Penny Leal of the Murder She Spoke podcast   Tom Nolan: Barney Black of the Bloody Murder podcast   William Howe: Frank Docherty of the English Martial Arts podcast   Francis Wellman: Mike Brown of the Pleasing Terrors podcast   Jury Foreman: Nick Howell of The Concession Stand podcast.   Host Introduction, Listener Warning, Annie Walden footnote, Extro Aphorism: Anabelle D-C of Anabelle Audios     EPISODE MUSIC   Swingin' the Alphabet – Childrens’ Song Arrangement – StarSheep4   Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses / by/3.0   The following pieces of music by Kevin MacLeod were used - in whole, or in part - within this episode:   Anguish   At Rest   Continue Life   Dark Times   Dark Walk   Dreamy Flashback   Fig Leaf Rag   I Knew a Guy   Look Busy   Moonlight Hall   Music Box Theme   Open Those Bright Eyes   Rainbows   Sing Along with Jim   Some Amount of Evil   The Curtain Rises   Wagon Wheel     EXTRO APHORISM:   Source: Chesterton, G.K., excerpt from Tremendous Trifles (1909).   CONTACT US:   E-Mail:  ForgottenNewsPodcast@gmail.com   Facebook page:   https://www.facebook.com/Forgotten-News-Podcast   Facebook discussion group (discontinued - sorry).  Twitter: @NewsForgotten   HEY! CAN YOU HELP US?!   PLEASE HELP THE FORGOTTEN NEWS PODCAST TO COVER THE COSTS OF RESEARCH, INVESTIGATION, AUDIO EQUIPMENT. AND PODCAST HOSTING FEES.   ANY DONATION - EVEN A DOLLAR - WOULD REALLY HELP US OUT!                 Just click on this PayPal link, to contribute.    Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!