Crime reporting dates as far back as 1400 B.C. when charges against the mayo of Nuzu in Mesopotamia were recorded in cuneiform script on clay. Fast-forward a few hundred years and we come upon the first recorded murder trial in US history.
On January 2, 1800, the body of Gulielma “Elma” Sands was recovered from the recently created Manhattan Well in Lispenard’s Meadows, which in our time is now called the SoHo district in New York City. An autopsy showed that she had been beaten so violently that her collarbone was broken. Her clothing was ripped and torn, she had bruises on her forehead, chin and breast and there were marks on her neck that looked like they had been made by a hand.
Previously, she had been spotted spending a lot of time with a man named Levi Weeks. According to reports, Levi had planned a secret wedding with Elma that he did not want anyone to know about. Levi and Elma were spotted together December 22, 1799 at 8 p.m. leaving Levi’s home. At 10 p.m. Levi came home alone and it was the last night any witnesses ever saw Elma alive again.
Levi Weeks was then put through the first ever murder trail in US history, which lasted only two days. The jury only deliberated for five minutes before acquitting Levi. Concluding the first ever murder trial in US history with a dead woman and nobody at fault. I guess it is always best to come first.
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