Editing Edward Rulloff
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In 1870 Rulloff, Jarvis and Dexter planned to rob a dry goods store in Binghamton, New York. Knowing that two live-in clerks, Frederick Merrick and Gilbert Burrows, were sleeping upstairs, they attempted to keep them unconscious by burning chloroform downstairs only for Jarvis to knock something over and wake them up. Merrick ran downstairs and tried to shoot Rulloff but his gun jammed and he threw a stool at him instead. Merrick and Burrows then grabbed hold of Dexter and began beating him. Rulloff fired a warning shot into the air and Burrows fled, but Merrick began attacking Jarvis and was shot dead by Rulloff. The robbers then fled only to find they had missed their ferry and would have to swim across the Chenango River to get away. Exhausted, Jarvis and Dexter were swept away by the current and drowned. Rulloff made it across the river, but left behind a pair of boots with a distinctive depression where his missing toes would have been. | In 1870 Rulloff, Jarvis and Dexter planned to rob a dry goods store in Binghamton, New York. Knowing that two live-in clerks, Frederick Merrick and Gilbert Burrows, were sleeping upstairs, they attempted to keep them unconscious by burning chloroform downstairs only for Jarvis to knock something over and wake them up. Merrick ran downstairs and tried to shoot Rulloff but his gun jammed and he threw a stool at him instead. Merrick and Burrows then grabbed hold of Dexter and began beating him. Rulloff fired a warning shot into the air and Burrows fled, but Merrick began attacking Jarvis and was shot dead by Rulloff. The robbers then fled only to find they had missed their ferry and would have to swim across the Chenango River to get away. Exhausted, Jarvis and Dexter were swept away by the current and drowned. Rulloff made it across the river, but left behind a pair of boots with a distinctive depression where his missing toes would have been. | ||
By this time police had been alerted by Burrows and begun rounding up suspicious-looking men. Rulloff was caught the day after the murder when he refused to identify himself to a police officer at a railroad station before running across the tracks and being arrested hiding in a nearby outhouse. He identified himself as "Charles Augustus" and "George Williams". Rulloff was brought to where the bodies of Jarvis and Dexter were being displayed and, while Burrows could not identify him, bloodstains were observed on his clothes. Rulloff continued to refuse to give his real name but was recognised by an onlooker, Ransom Balcom, who said "You are Edward H. Rulloff. You murdered your wife and child in Lansing in 1845" and warned police that Rulloff knew his rights better than they did. He was then taken to the jailhouse, where it was confirmed that his toes were missing from | By this time police had been alerted by Burrows and begun rounding up suspicious-looking men. Rulloff was caught the day after the murder when he refused to identify himself to a police officer at a railroad station before running across the tracks and being arrested hiding in a nearby outhouse. He identified himself as "Charles Augustus" and "George Williams". Rulloff was brought to where the bodies of Jarvis and Dexter were being displayed and, while Burrows could not identify him, bloodstains were observed on his clothes. Rulloff continued to refuse to give his real name but was recognised by an onlooker, Ransom Balcom, who said "You are Edward H. Rulloff. You murdered your wife and child in Lansing in 1845" and warned police that Rulloff knew his rights better than they did. He was then taken to the jailhouse, where it was confirmed that his toes were missing from a same part of the foot where there had been a depression in the killer's boots. Papers on the bodies of Jarvis and Dexter combined with the discovery of Rulloff's true identity disproved his claims not to know Jarvis and Dexter, who Burrows had identified as the other two robbers. | ||
Rulloff defended himself at trial, arguing that his theory on language evolution was so valuable that he should not be convicted until he had completed it. He was convicted and requests that Governor John T. Hoffman commute his death sentence on these grounds were ignored. While awaiting execution Rulloff admitted that he had murdered his wife in 1844 by bludgeoning her with a pestle after accusing her of having an affair, but denied killing his daughter, claiming she had been sent to live with relatives. He was publicly hanged at the Broome County Jail on May 18, 1871. | Rulloff defended himself at trial, arguing that his theory on language evolution was so valuable that he should not be convicted until he had completed it. He was convicted and requests that Governor John T. Hoffman commute his death sentence on these grounds were ignored. While awaiting execution Rulloff admitted that he had murdered his wife in 1844 by bludgeoning her with a pestle after accusing her of having an affair, but denied killing his daughter, claiming she had been sent to live with relatives. He was publicly hanged at the Broome County Jail on May 18, 1871. | ||