People v Levi Weeks - The First True Crime
Tune in this week as I discuss the first murder trial in United States history with a full written record - People v. Levi Weeks.
Charged with the murder of young Quaker Elma Sands, Levi was defended by the best legal minds in New York: Henry Livingston and political enemies Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. The Manhattan Well Murder, as it is sometimes known, is the first in history to have a publish transcription of the court proceedings, giving life to a well loved genre in America - true crime.
Sources Used This Episode:
Coleman, William. Report of the Trial of Levi Weeks, on an indictment for the murder of Gullielma Sands, On Monday the thirty-first day of March, and Tuesday the first day of April. New York: John Furman, 1800. Library of Congress. (LINK)
Collins, Paul. Duel with the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton & Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America’s First Sensational Murder Mystery. Crown Publishing, 2013.
Hester, Jessica. “A Brief History of Co-Living Spaces.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 22 Feb. 2016, (LINK)
People v Levi Weeks, 1800. Historical Society of the New York Courts. Accessed March, 2021. (LINK)
Pearson, Edmund. "The Death of Gulielma Sands." Vanity Fair. April 1929. Accessed March 2021. (LINK)
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