Episode 1: The Manhattan Well Murder

New York v. Levi Weeks

In early 1800, Levi Weeks went on trial for the murder of Elma Sands. Rumor had it that Weeks and Sands had been lovers, until something went tragically wrong. But at the trial, where Weeks was defended by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, a much more complicated story emerged…

Episode Resources

Episode Transcript

Download the episode transcript.

Works Cited/
Referenced

Albert W. Alschuler and Andrew G. Deiss, “Brief History of the Criminal Jury in the United States,” in University of Chicago Law Review 61, no. 3 (1994), 879.
“John Adams’ Argument for the Defense: 3-4 December 1770,” Founders Online, National Archive.
William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England.
Paul Collins, Duel With The Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America’s First Sensational Murder Mystery (Crown Publishers: New York, 2013).
William Coleman, Report of the trial of Levi Weeks, on an indictment for the murder of Gulielma Sands, on Monday the thirty-first day of April, 1800. / Taken in short hand by the clerk of the court. (New York: John Furman, 1800.) Digitized by Text Creation Partnership, University of Michigan.
Joanne Freeman, “Unearthing the connection between politics and history with Joanne B. Freeman,” interviewed by Chris Hayes, Why Is This Happening?, 11 December 2018,
Philip Morin Freneau, “The Reward of Innocence,” in A Collection of Poems, on American Affairs, and a Variety of Other Subjects, Chiefly Moral and Political; Written Between the Year 1797 and the Present Time. Two vols. Vol. 1. (New York: David Longworth, 1815).
“From Benjamin Franklin to Benjamin Vaughan, 14 March 1785,” Founders Online, National Archive.
“Historical Records of Elias Ring,” FamilySearch.
“Historical Records of Levi Weeks,” FamilySearch.
“Historical Records of Richard Croucher,” FamilySearch.
John H. Langbein, The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)
John H. Langbein, “Shaping the Eighteenth-Century Criminal Trial: A View from the Ryder Sources” The University of Chicago Law Review Vol. 50, No. 1, Winter 1983.
Stanley Lebergott, “Wage Trends, 1800-1900,” in Trends in the American Economy in the Nineteenth Century: A Report of the National Bureau of Economic Research (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1960), 462.
Adam Levinson, “The People v. Levi Weeks: the aftermath (part 3)” Statutes and Stories, 17 August 2019.
William Montgomery Meigs, The Life of Thomas Hart Benton (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co, 1904).
Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Non-Stop,” track #23 on Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Atlantic, 2015.
“Politics and Pistols: Dueling in America,” History Detectives, PBS.
Alex Segura, “Inverting–and Avoiding–the ‘Dead Girl’ Trope,” CrimeReads, 5 August 2019.
Angela Serratore, “The Well on Spring Street,” The Paris Review, 15 September 2014.
Meg Shields, “Unpacking the “Dead Girl” Trope,” Film School Rejects, 12 September 2022.
Robert Shoemaker, et al,“Trial Procedures,” The Old Bailey Proceedings Online, 1674-1913. Version 9.0, Autumn 2023.
“Trial of RICHARD DAVID CRUTCHER, otherwise CROUCHER,” September 1797, Old Bailey Proceedings Online, record t17970920-59.

Episode 1: The Manhattan Well Murder

New York v. Levi Weeks

Episode Resources

Episode Transcript

Download the episode transcript.

Works Cited/ Referenced

Albert W. Alschuler and Andrew G. Deiss, “Brief History of the Criminal Jury in the United States,” in University of Chicago Law Review 61, no. 3 (1994), 879.

“John Adams’ Argument for the Defense: 3-4 December 1770,” Founders Online, National Archive.

William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England.

Paul Collins, Duel With The Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America’s First Sensational Murder Mystery (Crown Publishers: New York, 2013).

William Coleman, Report of the trial of Levi Weeks, on an indictment for the murder of Gulielma Sands, on Monday the thirty-first day of April, 1800. / Taken in short hand by the clerk of the court. (New York: John Furman, 1800.) Digitized by Text Creation Partnership, University of Michigan.

Joanne Freeman, “Unearthing the connection between politics and history with Joanne B. Freeman,” interviewed by Chris Hayes, Why Is This Happening?, 11 December 2018,

Philip Morin Freneau, “The Reward of Innocence,” in A Collection of Poems, on American Affairs, and a Variety of Other Subjects, Chiefly Moral and Political; Written Between the Year 1797 and the Present Time. Two vols. Vol. 1. (New York: David Longworth, 1815).

“From Benjamin Franklin to Benjamin Vaughan, 14 March 1785,” Founders Online, National Archive.

“Historical Records of Elias Ring,” FamilySearch.

“Historical Records of Levi Weeks,” FamilySearch.

“Historical Records of Richard Croucher,” FamilySearch.

John H. Langbein, The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)

John H. Langbein, “Shaping the Eighteenth-Century Criminal Trial: A View from the Ryder Sources” The University of Chicago Law Review Vol. 50, No. 1, Winter 1983.

Stanley Lebergott, “Wage Trends, 1800-1900,” in Trends in the American Economy in the Nineteenth Century: A Report of the National Bureau of Economic Research (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1960), 462.

Adam Levinson, “The People v. Levi Weeks: the aftermath (part 3)” Statutes and Stories, 17 August 2019.

William Montgomery Meigs, The Life of Thomas Hart Benton (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co, 1904).

Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Non-Stop,” track #23 on Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Atlantic, 2015.

“Politics and Pistols: Dueling in America,” History Detectives, PBS.

Alex Segura, “Inverting–and Avoiding–the ‘Dead Girl’ Trope,” CrimeReads, 5 August 2019.

Angela Serratore, “The Well on Spring Street,” The Paris Review, 15 September 2014.

Meg Shields, “Unpacking the “Dead Girl” Trope,” Film School Rejects, 12 September 2022.

Robert Shoemaker, et al,“Trial Procedures,” The Old Bailey Proceedings Online, 1674-1913. Version 9.0, Autumn 2023.

“Trial of RICHARD DAVID CRUTCHER, otherwise CROUCHER,” September 1797, Old Bailey Proceedings Online, record t17970920-59.

Works Cited/
Referenced