Maryland & Indiana: Forbidden Desires, 1878-1889

About this episode

This episode explores historical cases of murder and manslaughter in Indiana and Maryland during the late 19th century, highlighting societal reactions and legal outcomes.

Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of gun violence, intimate partner violence, poisoning, and discussions of coercive control in same-sex and heterosexual relationships. Crisis resources are listed at the end of these notes. Historical Context In Indiana, public pressure forced an exhumation four months after Hattie's death. Organs shipped to Chicago forchemical analysis revealed large quantities of strychnine. Pettit was arrested and charged with murder. The trial in Crawfordsville drew journalists from across the Midwest. Lew Wallace — the author of *Ben-Hur*, a former Union general, and a member of the military commission that tried the Lincoln assassination conspirators — attendedregularly from the gallery. The jury convicted Pettit and sentenced him to life in prison at hard labor. He died oftuberculosis in 1893, the same day the Indiana Supreme Court granted him a retrial. Elma Whitehead, who funded his defense and fled the state to avoid subpoenas, was never tried. Lilly Duer was captured in Baltimore and tried at the Worcester County courthouse in Snow Hill, Maryland, in May 1879. She was housed not in jail but at the National Hotel across the street —…

Topics covered

• gun violence
• intimate partner violence
• poisoning
• coercive control
• same-sex relationships
• heterosexual relationships

Keywords

• Hattie Pettit
• Elma Whitehead
• Lilly Duer
• Crawfordsville
• Worcester County
• trial

Mentioned in this episode

Products: SHANE

Books & works: *Ben-Hur, Foul Play

Places: Maryland, Indiana, Chicago, Crawfordsville, Midwest, Baltimore, Worcester County, Snow Hill, South Bend, Pocomoke City

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