Alchemy of Bones

Chicago's Luetgert Murder Case of 1897

Robert Loerzel (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

352 Seiten

2007 | New edition
University of Illinois Press (Verlag)
978-0-252-07466-0 (ISBN)

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On May 1, 1897, Louise Luetgert disappeared. Although no body was found, Chicago police arrested her husband, Adolph, the owner of a large sausage factory, and charged him with murder. The eyes of the world were still on Chicago following the success of the World's Columbian Exposition, and the Luetgert case, with its missing victim, once-prosperous suspect, and all manner of gruesome theories regarding the disposal of the corpse, turned into one of the first media-fueled celebrity trials in American history.

Newspapers fought one another for scoops, people across the country claimed to have seen the missing woman alive, and each new clue led to fresh rounds of speculation about the crime. Meanwhile, sausage sales plummeted nationwide as rumors circulated that Luetgert had destroyed his wife's body in one of his factory's meat grinders.

Weaving in strange-but-true subplots involving hypnotists, palmreaders, English con artists, bullied witnesses, and insane-asylum bodysnatchers, Alchemy of Bones is more than just a true crime narrative; it is a grand, sprawling portrait of 1890s Chicago--and a nation--getting an early taste of the dark, chaotic twentieth century.

Robert Loerzel is an associate editor at Pioneer Press, which publishes newspapers in the suburbs of Chicago. He has received many awards for investigative reporting and feature stories from the Illinois Press Association, the Chicago Headline Club, and the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association.

CoverTitleCopyrightContentsIntroduction1. Omens2. Legends3. The Englishman4. Everything Is Gone5. Moving Day6. Missing7. Case Histories8. The SearchILLUSTRATIONS A9. Strong Stuff10. Grewsome Clews11. The Sweating12. The Woman in Black13. Cell 2114. Spring and Summer15. Fixed Opinions16. The Rustling Noise17. The Morbid Women18. Trained Beasts19. Trial by Newspaper20. The Throwing Mania21. The WidowILLUSTRATIONS B22. The Experiments23. Cries and Whispers24. The Experts25. Autumn26. The Kiss27. Sideshows28. A Game of Tag29. Just a Plain Domestic Girl30. The Many Mrs. Luetgerts31. Soap and BonesILLUSTRATIONS C32. Cigar Talk33. Oratory34. Twelve Men35. Queer Reports36. Telescopic Views37. Aftermath38. Editorials39. Between Trials40. Turbulence41. The GhoulsILLUSTRATIONS D42. Denials43. Winters44. The Verdict45. Lives of Destiny46. Prisoner 596947. Confessions and EulogiesEpilogueAcknowledgmentsNotesIndexBack cover

Zusatzinfo	7 photographs, 38 line drawings
Verlagsort	Baltimore
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	454 g
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
	Recht / Steuern ► Strafrecht ► Kriminologie
ISBN-10	0-252-07466-1 / 0252074661
ISBN-13	978-0-252-07466-0 / 9780252074660
Zustand	Neuware