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Crime and Punishment
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Gerald Chapman: America’s First “Public Enemy Number One”
On October 12, 1924, in New Britain, Connecticut, Gerald Chapman became America’s first “Public Enemy Number One.”
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Monument to Hero of the Greenwich Police Department – Who Knew?
A memorial in Byram Park honors Yogi, who became the first police dog of the Greenwich Police Department in 1988.
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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.
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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.
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Murder on the Map: The Mysterious Death of Captain George M. Colvocoresses
At first glance, this hand-drawn map appears unremarkable but it depicts the scene of a sensational crime in Bridgeport.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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First New-Gate Prisoner – Today in History: December 22
On December 22, 1773, John Hinson, the state’s first inmate, arrived at New-Gate Prison.
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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.
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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.
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Danbury Hangings: The Executions of Anthony and Amos
The executions of Anthony and Amos Adams in Danbury speak to the fears and racial tensions prevalent in early American culture.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Notorious New-Gate Prison
A failed Simsbury copper mine is now a national historic landmark in East Granby.
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The Deplorable History of Hartford’s Seyms Street Jail
Abhorrent conditions characterized life in Hartford’s Seyms Street Jail for much of its century-long service to the county.
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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.
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Gallows Lane and the Execution of Barnett Davenport
Tragic murders in 1780 that shocked the town of Washington and revealed humanity’s dark side.
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The Automatic Gallows – Today in History: June 18
On June 18, 1895, Jabez L. Woodbridge of Wethersfield patented an automated gallows.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Vonsiatsky Conspiracy Case
In 1942, Anastase Vonsiatsky of Thompson, Connecticut, was convicted of conspiring to betray state secrets to Nazi Germany.
Read First New-Gate Prisoner – Today in History: December 22
On December 22, 1773, John Hinson the state’s first inmate arrived at New-Gate Prison.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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[Archived] Accidental Shooting Leads to Witchcraft Conviction – Today in History: October 3
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 Accidental Shooting Leads to Witchcraft Conviction – Today in History: October 3
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.
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Capital Punishment in Connecticut: Changing Views
Connecticut’s struggles with the issue of capital punishment date back to its earliest days as a colony.
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Wethersfield Prison Blues
In September 1827, the newly constructed Connecticut State Prison in Wethersfield opened its doors to 81 inmates once housed at Newgate Prison.
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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 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Osborn Correctional Institution
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.
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Zebulon Brockway: A Controversial Figure in Prison Reform
Zebulon Brockway was one of the more successful and controversial figures in prison reform during the 1800s.
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