The Weeks Murder Trial

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In 1800, Levi Weeks was accused of the murder of Elma Sands in New York City and throwing her body down a well. His defense team included Henry Livingston, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton. His is the first murder trial in the United States to have a recorded transcript … but there are still many unanswered questions as to what happened the night of December 22, 1799. Join Kristin as she looks at the most sensational trial of the new 19th century this week on Footnoting History!

Host: Kristin

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Further Reading

Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Press, (2004).

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, Random House, (2013).
 
Estelle Fox Kleiger, The Trial of Levi Weeks, or The Manhattan Well Mystery: The Story of the First Recorded Murder Trial in US History, New York, 1800, Academy Chicago Publishers, (1989).
 
“The Manhattan Well Murder,” Atlas Obscura, accessed 2 December 2022.
(photos of the well and the exterior of the building, now a COS clothing store – and according to Google, a 3-minute walk to the Museum of Ice Cream!)

​Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com)