Six Capsules

The Gilded Age Murder of Helen Potts

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, True Crime
Cover of the book Six Capsules by George R. Dekle Sr., The Kent State University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: George R. Dekle Sr. ISBN: 9781612778150
Publisher: The Kent State University Press Publication: May 14, 2019
Imprint: The Kent State University Press Language: English
Author: George R. Dekle Sr.
ISBN: 9781612778150
Publisher: The Kent State University Press
Publication: May 14, 2019
Imprint: The Kent State University Press
Language: English

The permanent solution to a wife’s chronic headache

As Ted Bundy was to the 20th century, so Carlyle Harris was to the 19th. Harris was a charismatic, handsome young medical student with an insatiable appetite for sex. His trail of debauched women ended with Helen Potts, a beautiful young woman of wealth and privilege who was determined to keep herself pure for marriage. Unable to conquer her by other means, Harris talked her into a secret marriage under assumed names, and when threatened with exposure, he poisoned her.

The resulting trial garnered national headlines and launched the careers of two of New York’s most famous prosecutors, Francis L. Wellman and William Travers Jerome. It also spurred vigorous debate about Harris’s guilt or innocence, the value of circumstantial evidence, the worth of expert testimony, and the advisability of the death penalty. Six Capsules traces Harris’s crime and his subsequent trial and highlights what has been overlooked—the decisive role that the second-class status of women in Victorian Era culture played in this tragedy.

The Harris case is all but forgotten today, but Six Capsules seeks to recover this important milestone in American legal history.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The permanent solution to a wife’s chronic headache

As Ted Bundy was to the 20th century, so Carlyle Harris was to the 19th. Harris was a charismatic, handsome young medical student with an insatiable appetite for sex. His trail of debauched women ended with Helen Potts, a beautiful young woman of wealth and privilege who was determined to keep herself pure for marriage. Unable to conquer her by other means, Harris talked her into a secret marriage under assumed names, and when threatened with exposure, he poisoned her.

The resulting trial garnered national headlines and launched the careers of two of New York’s most famous prosecutors, Francis L. Wellman and William Travers Jerome. It also spurred vigorous debate about Harris’s guilt or innocence, the value of circumstantial evidence, the worth of expert testimony, and the advisability of the death penalty. Six Capsules traces Harris’s crime and his subsequent trial and highlights what has been overlooked—the decisive role that the second-class status of women in Victorian Era culture played in this tragedy.

The Harris case is all but forgotten today, but Six Capsules seeks to recover this important milestone in American legal history.

More books from The Kent State University Press

Cover of the book Sounding the Shallows by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book Building Utopia by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book Congress from the Inside by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book The Infirmary by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book Tornado by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book Classic Cavs by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book Rooms and Fields by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book The Weaver-God, He Weaves by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book Sundays in the Pound by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book A Hero to His Fighting Men by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book Wanted on Warrants by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book Already the World by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book An Artist of the American Renaissance by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book Portage Pathways by George R. Dekle Sr.
Cover of the book The Ohio Canals by George R. Dekle Sr.
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy