Now Viewing:

Crime and Punishment


Detail of a land point on a map labeled "Cornfield Point"

Cornfield Point: Old Saybrook’s Forgotten Scenic Alcove

Cornfield Point, a rocky scenic area bordering the Long Island Sound, is often overlooked but is significant in the state’s maritime and prohibition histories.

Read

Lydia Sherman: The Derby Poisoner

Lydia Sherman confessed to killing three husbands and four children, but it is believed that the total number of her victims may be much higher.

Read

The Living Actually Haunted Many Connecticut Taverns – Who Knew?

Early Connecticut laws deemed anyone who spent excessive time in taverns as a “tavern haunter” and subjected them to fines and ridicule.

Read

Gerald MacGuire and the Plot to Overthrow Franklin Roosevelt

Gerald MacGuire, a prominent Connecticut businessman, became deeply involved in a reported plot to overthrow the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt.

Read

Gerald Chapman: America’s First “Public Enemy Number One”

October 12, 2022 • Crime and Punishment, New Britain

On October 12, 1924, in New Britain, Connecticut, Gerald Chapman became America’s first “Public Enemy Number One.”

Read

Memorial Sculpture, 1988. Mark Rabinowitz, sculptor

Monument to Hero of the Greenwich Police Department – Who Knew?

September 30, 2022 • Crime and Punishment, Greenwich, Who Knew?, Work

A memorial in Byram Park honors Yogi, who became the first police dog of the Greenwich Police Department in 1988.

Read

A Fair to Forget – Who Knew?

In 1899, the citizens of Danbury petitioned the State Law and Order League to have detectives present at the Danbury Fair to monitor banned activities.

Read

FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive poster of Victor Manuel Gerena

Financing a Free Puerto Rico: The Great Wells Fargo Heist of 1983

On September 12, 1983, an employee at the Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut, committed what was, at the time, the largest cash robbery in American history.

Read

Map shows the neighborhood where the murder took place

Murder on the Map: The Mysterious Death of Captain George M. Colvocoresses

August 26, 2022 • Bridgeport, Crime and Punishment

At first glance, this hand-drawn map appears unremarkable but it depicts the scene of a sensational crime in Bridgeport.

Read

Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury

Danbury Prison Protest – Today in History: August 11

On August 11, 1943, conscientious objectors and other prisoners staged a 135-day hunger strike to protest racial segregation in the Danbury prison’s dining hall.

Read

Death of Captain Ferrer

The Amistad

After enslaved people revolted and took control of the Amistad in 1839, Americans captured the ship off Long Island and imprisoned the enslaved in New Haven.

Read

John Brown: A Portrait of Violent Abolitionism

John Brown of Torrington used violence to oppose the spread of slavery prior to the Civil War, ultimately leading a bloody raid on the armory in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.

Read

Windsor’s “Murder Factory”

It only took 4 hours for a jury to convict Amy Duggan Archer Gilligan of operating, what the Hartford Courant labeled, a “murder factory.”

Read

A Different Look at the Amistad Trial: The Teenager Who Helped Save the Mende Captives

James Benajmin Covey, a former slave, was only 14 years old when asked to serve in one of the most publicized trials in American history.

Read

To show the man, Richard Reihl, who was murdered in Wethersfield in a hate crime in 1988

Richard Reihl: The Hate Crime That Became a Turning Point for LGBTQ+ Civil Rights

The 1988 murder of Richard Reihl, a gay man from Wethersfield, galvanized and mobilized communities to organize and transform LGBTQ+ civil rights legislation in the state for decades to come.

Read

Elizabeth T. Bentley, 1948

Elizabeth Bentley Born – Today in History: January 1

Elizabeth Terrill Bentley is best known for her role as an American spy for the Soviet Union—and for her defection to become a US informer.

Read

Courtyard at New-Gate Prison

First New-Gate Prisoner – Today in History: December 22

December 22, 2021 • East Granby, Crime and Punishment, Law

On December 22, 1773, John Hinson, the state’s first inmate, arrived at New-Gate Prison.

Read

God admonishing his people of their duty, as parents and masters

A Most Unusual Criminal Execution in New London

On December 20, 1786, a crowd gathered behind New London’s old meeting house to witness the execution of a convicted murderer.

Read

The White Pine Acts – Who Knew?

The British government made it illegal for colonials to cut down white pine trees over 24 inches in diameter—preserving the trees for use as masts on British naval ships.

Read

Danbury Hangings: The Executions of Anthony and Amos

November 28, 2021 • Danbury, Crime and Punishment, Greenwich

The executions of Anthony and Amos Adams in Danbury speak to the fears and racial tensions prevalent in early American culture.

Read

Chapel, Industrial School for Girls, Middletown

Thanksgiving and Christmas at Long Lane, 1874

“Wayward children” between the ages of 8 and 16 were sent to the Long Lane Industrial School for Girls on complaints filed in any court.

Read

Policeman, ca. 1905

Enforcing Law and Order in Greenwich

November 14, 2021 • Crime and Punishment, Greenwich, Work

A short history of police work in one Connecticut town.

Read

Taking on the State: Griswold v. Connecticut

In the 1960s, Estelle Griswold challenged Connecticut’s restrictive birth control law, making it all the way to the Supreme Court.

Read

The “Red Scare” in Connecticut

The Palmer Raids, launched in Connecticut in 1919, were part of the “Red Scare” paranoia that resulted in numerous civil rights violations committed by law enforcement officials.

Read

New-Gate Prison courtyard

Notorious New-Gate Prison

A failed Simsbury copper mine is now a national historic landmark in East Granby.

Read

Hartford County Jail, 1915

The Deplorable History of Hartford’s Seyms Street Jail

September 10, 2021 • Crime and Punishment, Hartford

Abhorrent conditions characterized life in Hartford’s Seyms Street Jail for much of its century-long service to the county.

Read

An illustration from A Sketch of the life, trial, and execution of Oliver Watkins

Connecticut Draws the Curtain on Public Executions

Brooklyn’s status as county seat in 1831 resulted in the town hosting what is widely accepted as the last public hanging in Connecticut.

Read

Street sign for Gallows Lane

Gallows Lane and the Execution of Barnett Davenport

Tragic murders in 1780 that shocked the town of Washington and revealed humanity’s dark side.

Read

Automatic Gallows

The Automatic Gallows – Today in History: June 18

On June 18, 1895, Jabez L. Woodbridge of Wethersfield patented an automated gallows.

Read

An English woodcut of a Witch

Alse Young Executed for Witchcraft – Today in History: May 26

On May 26, 1647, Alse Young of Windsor was the first person on record to be executed for witchcraft in the 13 colonies.

Read

Connecticut’s Loyal Subjects: Toryism and the American Revolution

Loyalists in Connecticut, often acting on beliefs tied to relegion, proved particularly prominent in Fairfield County. Many of them fled to Canada rather than face imprisonment at New-Gate.

Read

Joseph Taborsky and the “Mad Dog Killings”

Joseph “Mad Dog” Taborsky earned his nickname for the brutal methods he employed robbing and murdering his victims.

Read

Vonsiatsky and the German American Bund in the 1940s

The Vonsiatsky Conspiracy Case

In 1942, Anastase Vonsiatsky of Thompson, Connecticut, was convicted of conspiring to betray state secrets to Nazi Germany.

Read

Courtyard at New-Gate Prison

First New-Gate Prisoner – Today in History: December 22

December 22, 2020 • East Granby, Crime and Punishment, Law

On December 22, 1773, John Hinson the state’s first inmate arrived at New-Gate Prison.

Read

Poem relating the Beadle murders

The Beadle Family Murders – Today in History: December 11

Following his drop in status as one of the town’s wealthiest men, William Beadle murdered his entire family.

Read

Publicity photo of The Doors

Jim Morrison Arrested – Today in History: December 9

On December 9, 1967, police arrested Doors’ front man Jim Morrison as he performed onstage at the New Haven Arena.

Read

A Connecticut Nazi Spy Has a Change of Heart

A Connecticut-born Nazi spy, William Colepaugh, had a change of heart and turned himself in to the FBI on December 26, 1944.

Read

Thomas Dodd (at podium), Nuremberg trial, ca., 1945-46

Connecticut Lawyer Prosecutes Nazi War Criminals at Nuremberg

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Thomas Joseph Dodd served on the United States’ prosecutorial team as Executive Trial Counsel at the International Military Tribunal (IMT).

Read

Witchcraft in Connecticut

Well before the Salem trials, Connecticut residents were executing “witches.” Connecticut is home to what was most likely the first execution of its kind in colonial America.

Read

Pamphlet, 1692

Accidental Shooting Leads to Witchcraft Conviction – Today in History: October 3

October 3, 2020 • Crime and Punishment, Law, Windsor, Women

On October 3, 1651, Henry Stiles of Windsor was killed when the gun of Thomas Allyn, also of Windsor, accidentally discharged during a militia exercise.

Read

Capital Punishment in Connecticut: Changing Views

Connecticut’s struggles with the issue of capital punishment date back…

Read

Aerial view of Connecticut State Prison

Wethersfield Prison Blues

September 8, 2020 • Crime and Punishment, Law, Wethersfield

In September 1827, the newly constructed Connecticut State Prison in Wethersfield opened its doors to 81 inmates once housed at Newgate Prison.

Read

Detail from a New York Times article August 11, 1886

The Shoe Box Murder Mystery

On August 8, 1886, Edward Terrill and his dog uncovered what appeared to be a box of a dozen shoes that had recently fallen from a cart.

Read

Courtyard at New-Gate Prison

New-Gate Prison Breakout – Today in History: May 18

On May 18, 1781, the largest mass breakout in the history of New-Gate Prison took place.

Read

A 1947 Movie Details the Unsolved Murder of a Bridgeport Priest

An unusual murder of a Bridgeport, Connecticut, priest in 1924 inspired the movie, Boomerang!, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 1947.

Read

Advertising label for Fine Old Bourbon Whiskey, 1855

Video: No Booze for You – Who Knew?

During Prohibition, many Connecticut residents found it easy to obtain alcohol illegally, though violations of Prohibition led to an increase in violent crime.

Read

Horses crossing the finish line at Charter Oak Park

Sunday Funday? We Think Not – Who Knew?

At the start of the 20th century, authorities banned Luna Park in West Hartford from operating on Sundays, as it defied long-standing puritan laws.

Read

Somers' prison opening day

Osborn Correctional Institution

April 27, 2014 • Crime and Punishment, Law, Somers

When the Connecticut Correctional Institution opened in Somers in 1963, it represented yet another chapter in the state’s history of housing those convicted of crimes.

Read

The General Superintendent, Z. R. Brockway, interviewing new arrivals

Zebulon Brockway: A Controversial Figure in Prison Reform

January 2, 2014 • Crime and Punishment, Lyme, Work

Zebulon Brockway was one of the more successful and controversial figures in prison reform during the 1800s.

Read

More Articles

 

Sign Up For Email Updates

Oops! We could not locate your form.