respect among the miners of the Fairbanks district. In 1906, he served as lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against mine

owner D.H. Cascaden on Cleary Creek. Judge James Wickersham ruled in the miners' favor, finding Cascaden

liable for all wages owed. That legal victory, won in Alaska Territory as a Black man against a white mine owner,

defined the kind of man Wimbish was.

Lloyd Magruder - was born in 1825 in Maryland, descended from a Scottish ancestor who arrived as a prisoner

of war in 1653. He served in the Mexican War, rising from private to second lieutenant. After a stint in California

politics representing Sacramento in the State Assembly, Magruder moved to Lewiston, Idaho Territory, in July

1862. He built a mercantile store and a pack train operation in a frontier capital still called "Ragtown" for its canvas

tents. He had a wife named Caroline and three children.

Idaho and Alaska. 1863 and 1910. Two murders separated by forty-seven years and two thousand miles,

connected by gold and the calculation that it was worth more than a man. In Idaho, a merchant named Lloyd

Magruder loaded a fortune onto pack mules and trusted the wrong men. In Alaska, a miner named Billy Wimbish

disappeared from his claim, and the system did not look for him. Both cases were solved not by authorities but

by friends who refused to stop searching. This is the story of gold fever and what it cost.

Season 40: Two hundred and fifty years of American history. Fifty states. Fifty crimes. Two per episode, paired

by what connects them.

This episode contains discussions of murder, violence, and the destruction of human remains. 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 — jail being unsuitable for a woman of her standing. The jury convicted her of manslaughter. The sentence: a five-hundred-dollar fine and no prison time. For shooting a woman in the face.

The Investigations

Indiana, 1889: While Hattie Pettit visited a friend in South Bend, her husband moved into the home of Elma Whitehead — the wealthiest woman in the county, daughter of church patron David Meharry. Pettit proposed to Elma, and she accepted. When Hattie returned on July 12, she was poisoned with strychnine on at least three separate occasions over five days. The poison produced violent convulsions — the body arching, the muscles seizing, the face drawn into what the Victorians called the risus sardonicus. Hattie told her doctor she believed she had been poisoned. He did nothing. She died July 17, 1889. The official cause: malaria.

Maryland, 1878:On November 5, Lilly Duer walked into the Hearn family home in Pocomoke City with a revolverconcealed in a specially sewn pocket of her dress. She shot Ella Hearn in the face. The bullet passed through Ella's lip, shattered a tooth, and lodged in her skull. Through the blood, Ella spoke: "Don't, Lilly, please don't. I'll marry you." Lilly fled to Baltimore disguised in her brother's suit with her already-short hair cropped shorter.

The Crimes

Hattie Sperry Pettit: was a schoolteacher who married the Reverend William Pettit through church connections inNew York. In 1889 Indiana, teaching was one of the very few professional callings available to educated women, andHattie was practical, self-sufficient, and disciplined. She did not know that the man at the head of her table had oncebeen jailed for theft, had lied his way into the Masonic Brotherhood, and had used those connections to secure his ordination. The minister she married was a fabrication.

Ella Hearn was nineteen years old in the autumn of 1878, the daughter of an established merchant family in Pocomoke City, Maryland. Quiet, gentle, trusting — she had graduated from a boarding academy where she shared a room with the woman who would shoot her. She observed what the newspapers called a delicate, unassuming grace. That grace made her extraordinarily vulnerable.

The Victims

Both cases are about desire that could not be spoken aloud and justice systems that decided the people who caused harm deserved more mercy than the people who were harmed.In a river town on Maryland's Eastern Shore, a nineteen-year-old woman is shot in the face by her closest companion— and through the blood and agony speaks five words that have echoed for nearly a century and a half. In the farming country of western Indiana, a minister poisons his wife with strychnine so he can marry the richest woman in the county — and the dying woman figures out exactly what is happening to her. No one lifts a finger.

Season 40 of Foul Play begins a year-long journey across all fifty states, pairing two historical crimes per episode —connected by a single thread. Tonight: Maryland, 1878, and Indiana, 1889. Two women trusted the people closest to them. Both paid for that trust with their bodies.

Crisis Support Resources

If you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence:-

US: National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233-

US: Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741-

UK: National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247-

UK: Victim Support: 0808 1689 111

This episode contains discussions of murder, suicide, and Victorian scandal. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.

This Episode

Season 39 Finale: The Balham Mystery. The jury deliberated for three hours. Their verdict would haunt this case for one hundred and fifty years: "Willful murder by person or persons unknown."

Murder--but no murderer. Four suspects. Four possible killers. And no way to know which one poisoned Charles Bravo.

The Victim

Charles Bravo died on April 21st, 1876. On August 12th, after twenty-three days of testimony, the jury confirmed what his family had always believed: he was murdered. But they could not--or would not--name the killer.

This was not acquittal. Florence Bravo, Jane Cannon Cox, and Dr. James Manby Gully walked free not because they were innocent, but because the evidence against each was insufficient for prosecution. The cloud of suspicion would follow all three for the rest of their lives.

The Crime

Four suspects. Four possible murderers.

Florence Bravo had motive: freedom from an unhappy marriage and control of her fortune. She had opportunity: she was present at The Priory that evening. But she was not alone with Charles, and her psychological profile--a woman who had fought for independence her entire life--suggested she might simply have waited for divorce.

Jane Cannon Cox had motive: Charles wanted her dismissed, threatening her livelihood. She had opportunity: she was the last person to interact with Charles before his collapse. She had means: the coachman testified she had asked about the antimony in the stables. But her alleged confession story, if fabricated, created enormous risk--the very outcome she feared would result from investigation.

Dr. James Manby Gully had motive: jealousy, revenge against the man who had taken his lover. He had knowledge: as a physician, he knew exactly how much antimony would kill. But he was not at The Priory that night. If he killed Charles, he did so through an intermediary--most likely Mrs. Cox.

Charles Bravo himself might have committed suicide, as Mrs. Cox claimed. But he left no note, settled no affairs, and had taken out life insurance that would be void if he killed himself--leaving his devoted family with nothing.

The Investigation

The evidence pointed everywhere and nowhere.

The antimony was definitively identified--enough tartar emetic to kill three men. It was kept in the stables at The Priory, accessible to anyone in the household. The poison most likely entered Charles's system through his bedside water jug.

The servants testified about a household filled with tension. Charles and Florence argued constantly. Mrs. Cox's position was precarious. The shadow of Dr. Gully hung over everything.

The jury faced an impossible task: convict without proof, or release without justice.

Historical Context

This episode contains discussions of adultery, abortion, and Victorian scandal. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.

This Episode

Season 39: The Balham Mystery. For twenty-three days, the secrets of The Priory were stripped bare in the longest inquest in English legal history. Forty witnesses. Thousands of pages of testimony. Florence Bravo finally forced to admit her affair. Dr. Gully humiliated on the stand.

Every scandal exposed. And still no murderer named.

The Victim

Charles Bravo's death demanded answers. The open verdict of the first inquest—held in private, concluded in three days—satisfied no one. His family demanded justice. The newspapers demanded scandal. On May 15th, 1876, the Attorney General ordered an unprecedented second inquest.

What followed was theatre as much as justice. The Bedford Hotel in Balham was transformed into a makeshift courtroom. Crowds queued for hours to witness proceedings. The Attorney General himself, Sir John Holker, took personal charge—an extraordinary intervention for a coroner's inquest.

The Crime

Florence Bravo had avoided testifying at the first inquest. Her doctor declared her too ill to appear. This time, there would be no escape.

On July 13th, 1876, Florence walked to the witness stand in mourning clothes—black from head to toe. Sir John Holker's questions began gently, then turned to the matter everyone had come to hear.

"Mrs. Bravo, were you acquainted with Dr. James Manby Gully?"

"I was."

"And what was the nature of that acquaintance?"

The room held its breath. Then Florence spoke the words that would define her forever.

"Dr. Gully and I were... intimately connected. For approximately two years."

The crowd erupted. Florence Bravo's reputation died in that moment. But she held firm: she had not killed her husband. She did not know who had.

The Investigation

Jane Cannon Cox faced far more hostile questioning. Her alleged confession—"I took poison. Don't tell Florence"—was the foundation of the suicide theory. Now it crumbled under scrutiny.

Sir John Holker walked her through April 18th minute by minute. The housemaid Mary Ann Keeber heard no confession. The doctors received none. Only Mrs. Cox, alone and uncorroborated, claimed Charles had taken responsibility for his own death.

This episode contains detailed descriptions of poisoning and prolonged death. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.

This Episode

Season 39: The Balham Mystery. For seventy-two hours, Charles Bravo lay dying at The Priory while doctors—including Queen Victoria's own physician—watched helplessly. He suffered. He convulsed. He said almost nothing about who poisoned him.

One woman claims she heard a confession. No one else heard a word. Was it truth, or a convenient lie to make murder look like suicide?

The Victim

Charles Bravo had three days to name his killer—and chose silence.

From April 18th to April 21st, 1876, the thirty-year-old barrister endured unimaginable suffering at The Priory in Balham. The antimony that had entered his system through his bedside water destroyed him methodically—causing relentless vomiting, organ failure, and slow collapse.

Throughout his ordeal, Charles remained lucid for extended periods. He could speak. He could understand questions. Yet when doctors pressed him about what he had taken, he mentioned only rubbing laudanum on his gums for a toothache. When they begged him to name anyone who might have harmed him, he said nothing useful.

The Crime

The parade of physicians began within hours of Charles's collapse. Dr. Joseph Moore arrived first, administering mustard water to induce vomiting—standard treatment for suspected poisoning. By morning, Charles's condition had deteriorated so drastically that Florence summoned reinforcements.

Dr. George Harrison came from London. Dr. Royes Bell, a specialist in internal medicine, examined the patient. None could identify the poison or stop its progress. Charles vomited until nothing remained. His body rejected water, medicine, even champagne.

On April 20th, Sir William Gull arrived—the physician to Queen Victoria herself. His verdict was grim: Charles was beyond saving. Whatever poison he had ingested, the damage was irreversible.

The Investigation

The alleged confession came from Jane Cannon Cox, Florence's companion. According to Mrs. Cox, Charles turned to her in the sickroom and whispered: "I took poison. Don't tell Florence."

Five words that could explain everything—or nothing at all.

But the housemaid Mary Ann Keeber was present in that room for much of the ordeal. She heard no such statement. The doctors who questioned Charles directly received no confession. Only Mrs. Cox, alone and uncorroborated, claimed to hear Charles take responsibility for his own death.

Sir William Gull made his own attempt. "Did you take anything to cause this illness?" he asked. Charles reportedly answered: "I took nothing intentionally."

Nothing intentionally. The words of a man who did not know how poison entered his body? Or a man protecting someone else?

Historical Context

This episode contains discussions of poisoning and death. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.

This Episode

Season 39: The Balham Mystery. April 1876—a young barrister collapses in agony minutes after retiring to bed. For three days, Charles Bravo suffers while doctors, family, and suspects gather. He names no one. The poison is antimony—enough to kill ten men.

Behind the gaslit elegance of The Priory, a household harbors dangerous secrets. A wife with a scandalous past. A companion facing dismissal. A former lover humiliated by her marriage. And a husband who knew everything—and paid the ultimate price.

The Victim

Charles Delauney Bravo was thirty years old when he died on 21 April 1876. A barrister called to the bar only recently, he had married Florence Campbell just four months earlier, on 7 December 1875. The marriage brought him access to Florence's considerable fortune—approximately £40,000, inherited from her first husband Alexander Ricardo.

Charles was ambitious. His chambers at Essex Court in the Temple represented the foundation of a legal career he hoped would match his new social position. But colleagues described a man preoccupied with money—Florence's money—and control over the household he had married into.

On that final Tuesday, Charles argued with Florence in their carriage, his horse bolted during an afternoon ride, and by nightfall he had consumed enough antimony to "kill a horse," according to the doctors who watched him die.

The Crime

The evening of 18 April 1876 began unremarkably. Charles, Florence, and her companion Jane Cox dined together at The Priory on Bedford Hill. Charles ate well—whiting, lamb, eggs on toast—and drank several glasses of burgundy. Neither woman touched the wine.

After dinner, they retired to the morning room. Around nine o'clock, Charles suggested Florence retire to bed. She had been unwell. Jane accompanied her upstairs.

Charles remained alone.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, he climbed the stairs to his bedroom. The housemaid Mary Ann Keeber passed him on the staircase. She would later tell police that he looked at her strangely—pale, silent, studying her face.

In his room, Charles undressed and reached for the water jug that servants prepared fresh each evening. He drank. Within minutes, his bedroom door flew open and he staggered onto the landing, screaming for Florence, for hot water, vomiting violently.

The post-mortem revealed thirty to forty grains of tartar emetic—a derivative of antimony—ten times the lethal dose. The poison had been in the water.

The Investigation

The first inquest convened on 25 and 28 April 1876. Coroner William Carter sought to spare the family's feelings, keeping the inquiry private. The jury returned an open verdict.

But Charles's stepfather, Joseph Bravo, was not satisfied. He demanded a second investigation.

The second inquest ran for an unprecedented twenty-three days, from 11 July through 11 August 1876, at the Bedford Hotel in Balham. It became a Victorian sensation. Crowds gathered in the streets. Newspapers printed every salacious detail—Florence's affair with Dr James Manby Gully, the abortion in Bavaria, the household tensions, Charles's jealousy.

This episode contains discussions of domestic abuse, poisoning, and death. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.

This Episode

Season 39: The Balham Mystery. April 1876—a successful barrister collapses in his bedroom after drinking from a bedside water jug. For three agonizing days, doctors begged him to name his poisoner. He never would. This is the story of Charles Bravo, and the Victorian murder that has never been solved.

Behind the elegant facade of The Priory, a villa in Balham, South London, lay a tangle of secrets: a wealthy widow's scandalous past, a controlling husband who knew everything, and a companion with everything to lose.

The Victim

Charles Delauney Turner Bravo was thirty years old when he died. A barrister called to the bar, Charles came from a prosperous family of Portuguese Jewish ancestry. He was ambitious, charming, and by all accounts, determined to control every aspect of his household—including his wife's considerable fortune. Charles married Florence Campbell Ricardo in December 1875, knowing full well about her four-year affair with the famous hydropathy physician Dr. James Gully. What should have been a fresh start for Florence became something else entirely: a marriage built on leverage and suspicion.

The Crime

On the evening of April 18, 1876, Charles Bravo dined at The Priory with his wife Florence and her companion, Jane Cannon Cox. He retired to his bedroom around 8:30pm. Shortly after, servants heard a bedroom door crash open. Charles staggered into the hallway, his face contorted in agony, crying out for hot water. Jane Cox reached him first—a detail that would later prove crucial.

Charles had been poisoned with antimony, likely administered in his bedside water jug. The dose was massive: 20-40 grains of tartar emetic, ten times the lethal amount. For three days, as doctors fought to save him, Charles was asked repeatedly who had poisoned him. His only answer: "I have told you all I know."

The Investigation

Charles Bravo died at 5:20am on April 21, 1876. The first inquest returned an open verdict—insufficient evidence to determine what had happened. But public outrage demanded answers. A second inquest, lasting 23 days and calling over 40 witnesses, became a Victorian sensation.

Florence Bravo took the stand and admitted everything: the affair with Gully, a pregnancy, a possible miscarriage. Dr. James Gully, 66 years old and once one of England's most respected physicians, saw his reputation destroyed. Jane Cox, whose position in the household was under threat from Charles's cost-cutting, gave contradictory testimony that convinced no one.

The verdict: "Wilful murder by person or persons unknown." Three suspects. No conviction. No justice.

Historical Context

The Bravo case emerged during a period when Victorian marriage laws trapped women in impossible situations. Florence had inherited £40,000 (approximately £5 million today) from her first husband, an alcoholic who died at 27. Yet as a married woman, she had limited control over her own life. Divorce required proving both adultery and cruelty—nearly impossible for women of her class.

The case also highlighted Victorian England's reputation as a "poisoner's paradise." Antimony was readily available in most households, used to treat horses in stables. The science of toxicology was still developing, and many poisonings went undetected or unprosecuted.

Sources (Chicago Notes-Bibliography format):

Primary:

The National Archives, Coroner's Inquest Records, Bravo Case (1876)

...9 exceptional true crime podcasts...  

...9 tales woven with the spirit of Women's Day...  

...Will YOU unravel the mysteries aboard?

This International Women's Day, join Shane Waters and Wendy Cee on an unprecedented journey through the heart of England to Crimecon UK in London. Mysteries on the True Crime Express is not just a podcast episode; it's an immersive voyage into the depths of true crime, history, and the indomitable spirit of women.

Aboard this old-world locomotive, you'll encounter the hosts of 9 distinguished true crime podcasts, including Shane and Wendy of Foul Play: Crime Series. Each host presents a captivating story that not only chills the spine but also illuminates the historical essence of Women's Day. From the comfort of Shane and Wendy's compartment to the lively ambiance of the dining car, each tale unfolds in a unique setting on the train, adding layers of intrigue and ambiance to this auditory experience.

So, secure your ticket and settle into your seat...

...but be forewarned...

...the journey ahead is filled with twists and turns.

Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance:

1. Deep Dark Secrets
2. The Trail Went Cold
3. The Cult Vault
4. Extinguished
5. Once Upon a Crime
6. True Crime and Wine with Sherrilyn Dale
7. Defense Diaries
8. Dip in and Out with Lucy
9. Foul Play: Crime Series

Join all the shows you heard in this episode at Crimecon UK in London! Go to Crimecon.co.uk and use code FOULPLAY! 

Listen to Shane’s other holiday collaborations here: https://www.itsfoulplay.com/collaborations

• SPATTER/ED | BPA TRAINING & EDUCATION

• Investigating Miscarriages of Justice - Inside Justice

• Millington Hingley | Forensics Consultants

• http://www.spattered.co.uk/intro-to-bpa-online

1. Frightful
2. Marooned
3. Rotten to the Core
4. Murder, She Told
5. Obscura
6. Crimelines
7. Once Upon a Crime
8. The Trail Went Cold
9. Foul Play: Crime Series

1. Foul Play: Crime Series
2. Music City 911
3. Crimes from the East 
4. Cults, Crimes, Cabernet 
5. A Nefarious Nightmare 
6. Crimelines 
7. The Asian Madness Podcast 

1. Once Upon A Crime 
2. PNW Haunts & Homicides
3. The Trail Went Cold 
4. Coffee & Cases
5. Already Gone 
6. Twisted and Uncorked 
7. Mystery Inc 

1. Foul Play: Crime Series
2. Music City 911
3. Crimes from the East 
4. Cults, Crimes, Cabernet 
5. A Nefarious Nightmare 
6. Crimelines 
7. The Asian Madness Podcast 

1. Once Upon A Crime 
2. PNW Haunts & Homicides
3. The Trail Went Cold 
4. Coffee & Cases
5. Already Gone 
6. Twisted and Uncorked 
7. Mystery Inc 

It’s an extra special, two part, more than two-hour, Easter event. 

Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance:

Part 1:

1. Crimelines
2. Rotten to the Core
3. Frightful
4. Mind over Murder
5. The Trail Went Cold
6. The Hidden Staircase
7. Hometown History

Part 2:

1. Wicked Deeds
2. Obscura: A True Crime Podcast
3. Hillbilly Horror Stories 
4. History Goes Bump
5. Judgy Crime Girls
6. Foul Play: Crime Series

If you enjoyed this holiday collaboration special, check out the other collaboration specials: My Bloody Valentine and A Nightmare before Halloween. Stay tuned for upcoming holiday collaborations for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Until our next adventure, stay safe and stay vigilant.

Support the podcast by becoming a patron.

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1. Crimelines
2. Rotten to the Core
3. Frightful
4. Mind over Murder
5. The Trail Went Cold
6. The Hidden Staircase
7. Hometown History

1. Wicked Deeds
2. Obscura: A True Crime Podcast
3. Hillbilly Horror Stories 
4. History Goes Bump
5. Judgy Crime Girls
6. Foul Play: Crime Series