In 1799, Elma Sands vanished from a New York boardinghouse. Her body was later found in a well, and the trial that followed — defended by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr — left more questions than answers. This episode examines the Manhattan Well murder and the limits of justice in early America.

Source Materials

Coleman, William. The Trial of Levi Weeks; or, The Manhattan Well Mystery. New York: Printed for the author, 1800.

Kleiger, Estelle Fox. The Trial of Levi Weeks: Sex, Seduction, and Murder in the Early Republic. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 1989.

American State Trials: Being a Collection of the Most Interesting Criminal Trials Which Have Ever Occurred in the United States. Vol. 1. New York: Printed andpublished by G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1849.

 Murder by Gaslight: A Victorian Anthology of True Crime

The Paris Review —“The Well on Spring Street,” Angela Serratore

“Death in the Manhattan Well.” Crime Magazine. https://www.crimemagazine.com

New York Gazette and General Advertiser. New York, various issues, 1799–1800.

The New-York Daily Advertiser. New York, various issues, 1799–1800.