Murdered by his wife: An absorbing tale of crime and punishment in 18th-Century Massachusetts by Deborah Navas (University of Massachusetts Press, 1999) tells the story of black widow Bathsheba Spooner. It is one of my all-time favorite case studies and a classic in the true crime genre. The author's meticulous research and thoughtful yet concise narration make this a quick, interesting read about an important case.
The author stated her commitment to making the record "as accurate as possible" to "do justice to the empirical truth in facts, as they come to be known, in order to intuit the far more profound, disturbing, and mysterious truths of the heart."
Bathsheba Spooner's case is one of the most infamous murder cases in the history of New England, set against the backdrop of the American Revolution. It is the story of a fatal love triangle, the apex of which was a beautiful 32-year-old mother of three married to an abusive drunk. She fell for a passing soldier and then fell pregnant, with fatal consequences for her husband.
The twists in the old triangle tale included (a) Bathsheba and her lover enlisted the aid of two passing British soldiers for the dirty deed and (b) they were all four hanged together -- make that five, because Bathsheba was five months along. She had "Pleaded her Belly," in the old vernacular, but corruption and vengeance and conflicts of interest explain the outcome. The consequences of the hanging of a woman in mid-term have reverberated through the case law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ever since.
This book from 1999 remains the best and last and only authoritative account of the case of Bathsheba Ruggles Spooner. To my knowledge, there hasn't been a book published since this one came out 22 years ago, not a non-fiction book anyway -- there are at least four fiction novels about Bathsheba.
The true crime book proved to be an inspiration for several fiction writers. For that, the author of the true crime narrative deserves a nod for the longevity and influence of her impressive work.
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