The Murder of Helen Jewett

The Murder of Helen Jewett

Questions 1

The “Murder of Helen Jewett” was published in the newspapers of the time, as the crime on this prostitute became one of the biggest scandals of American nineteenth century.

The 23 year old was involved in prostitution from five years ago and it seemed that her success would continue to rise due to its location in a friendly brothel in New York attending the prosperous merchants, businessmen and office workers from settling in Manhattan different villages of New England. Helen Jewett was also a familiar presence in the theater, where prostitutes had their own section off, also frequented the Wall Street area wearing green silk dresses and jewelry.

Jewett fell in love with one of her most frequent customers who was an 18 year old, later indicted for the murder. Richard P. Robinson was a well-paid officer belonging to a decent family, under the name of Frank River's stylized frequented brothels where Hewett stopped regularly. All the circumstances pointed to Robinson as the murderer. The matron of the brothel, Rosina Townsend, the clerk identified as Helen's companion the night of the crime. An ax and a coat were found in the killer's escape route, artifacts that led to the arrest of Robinson. Townsend also noted that Helen and Frank had recently been returned his letters, as a result of a recent dispute. The letters that survived the fire suggested that Jewett had threatened to denounce her lover by embezzler (Cohen, 1992).

The story of Helen Jewett is in no way a murder mystery, because the evidence against Robinson was extremely persuasive. However, the other case is full of mysteries, the type of interest to historians. Jewett's murder and the trial of Robinson made rivers of ink in the newspapers of the time, not only in New York but also throughout the United States. The question was that how could so many people to side with Robinson, including the judge, in the light of the evidence of guilt of that. In addition, of course, why a woman beautiful and intelligent as it was Helen Jewett became flesh brothel (Cohen, 1992).

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the case had to arouse the curiosity of historians and, thanks to them, we now know that Helen Jewett was actually a luxury maid named Eliza Fales, born into a wealthy family of new giving employees the opportunity to access privileges enjoyed even at that time people from other social strata. Therefore, Fales learned fine stitching and developed a taste for literature.

The circumstances of the misfortune were dark. Something happened to Eliza at 18 that led to her expulsion from the bondage of the house of the city of Augusta in which she was born, so she seek shelter in Portland. There she was seduced by a young man who fell in love, as she told their customers, but their neighbors in Augusta rumored that she had long maintained relationships with multiple partners. Apparently, the latter is the more consistent theory ...