Hey, Mike here. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to dark poutine early and add free on Amazon music included with prime. Welcome back to dark poutine. I am Mike Brown and Matthew is still sick with covid because we're recording this on the same day. We're doing two shows on the same. We're doing two on the same day and we'll be doing two next week summertime sitting in. We have frolicking to do. We have frolicking to do. I have a project that I'm going to be working on a secret project that I can't talk about. But that was my code for all frolicking. Yeah, my frolicking. I like I like frolicking. Frolicking is fun. Have you ever ever just like. Ran through a field just to feel good. Yes. I did that lots when I was a kid. Have you done it as an adult. Have you seen me? I'm not a big runner. No, I just mean like sort of like not run as a run like just sort of like get to a pasture and just. Run with your arms in the air and joy. I think I think every adult should do that. I think I probably will and I'll hope I'm hoping that there won't be a bull or some violent animal in the pasture that wants to kill me. I'll tell you about the time I got chased by a whole herd of cattle someday. My friend Dominic did too. Anyway, let's let's get on with this move on. Yeah, we've got this crazy turd to talk about. The views information and opinions expressed during the dark poutine podcast are solely those of the producer and do not necessarily represent those of curious cast. It's affiliate global news, nor their parent company, chorus entertainment. Dark poutine is not for the faint of harder squeamish listener discretion is strongly advised. We're not experts on the topics we present, nor are we journalists. We're two ordinary Canadian schmucks chatting about crime and the dark side of history. Let's get to it. Put on your to grab yourself a double double and an enamel bar. It's time to scarf down some dark poutine. You are responsible for obtaining and maintaining at your own cost. All equipment needed to listen to dark poutine. Dark poutine can be addictive side effects may include but not be limited to pausing and questioning the system elevated heart rate pondering humanity. Odd looks from colleagues as you laugh at that at work. Family members, not into true crime worrying about you. Positive side effects may include some perspectives and opinions that you disagree with, as well as some wokeness and empathy. If you don't think dark poutine is for you, consult your doctor immediately. [Music] [Music] [Music] Edward H. Rolof was a 19th-century Canadian-born serial killer renowned for his exceptional intellect and heinous crimes. Rolof exhibited prodigious intellectual abilities from a young age. He was a polymath with expertise in various fields, including linguistics, where he made significant contributions proposing theories on the origin of languages. Despite his scholarly achievements, Rolof's life was marred by a series of crimes that began with the mysterious disappearance of his wife Harriet Shutrolof and their young daughter Priscilla Charlotte Rolof in 1845. Many suspected this to be his doing. His erudition earned him a reputation as one of the most learned men of his time, even while he was incarcerated. Rolof's criminal activities were as notorious as his intellect was celebrated. He was involved in a string of burglaries and was eventually implicated in multiple murders. His undoing was the killing of a store clerk, Frederick Merritt during a robbery attempt. His two accomplices, Al Jarvis and Billy Dexter, also died while fleeing the crime scene. Rolof was suspected of doing away with them. He was soon captured and held for trial. Despite attempts to use his intellectual prowess as a defense, Rolof was convicted and sentenced to death. His execution in 1871 was a significant event as many viewed his death as the tragic end of a brilliant, yet malevolent mind. This is Dark Poutine episode 325, The Life and Crimes of Serial Killer Edward H. Rolof. As well as several other sources, many of the details in this episode come from interviews with Rolof in Victorian-era journalist Edward Hamilton Ham Freeman's book, Edward H. Rolof, the veil of secrecy removed, in which Freeman recounts conversations with the killer just before his death. The book also includes the testimony of individuals called as witnesses at Rolof's murder trial. Edward H. Rolof, originally John Edward Howard Rolofson, was born on July 9, 1819, near St. John New Brunswick. His father was William Rolofson, a modest Canadian farmer of German extraction, although Edward also claimed Dutch and Danish heritage on various occasions. He was known to prevericate. William died when Edward was five, leaving his mother Priscilla to raise him and his two brothers. Priscilla, a woman of remarkable intellect, became the most significant influence in Edward's life, fostering his love for academia and ambition. Despite their financial struggles, she ensured Edward received a proper education, securing his tuition at an exclusive boys academy in St. John when he was 13. Edward's passion for learning, particularly languages, was encouraged by his mother, who provided him with books and the necessary tools for study. Influenced by the French philosopher Auguste Compt, Edward shifted away from traditional religious beliefs immersing himself in the study of Greek and envisioning a life devoted to exploring language. Despite occasional church attendance, his interest in religion waned, replaced by a fervent dedication to secular and linguistic studies. Edward was captivated by the life of the mind, particularly the study of languages, which he saw as a path to intellectual freedom and recognition. He graduated from school at 14, dreaming of a life dedicated to scholarly pursuits envisioning a groundbreaking theory on the origin of human language. However, his dreams were thwarted when his uncle refused to fund his university education, forcing Edward to seek alternative paths. He was angry. Determined never to let anyone control his destiny again, Edward worked as a clerk in a law office in St. John where he devoted his limited leisure time to studying chemistry, botany Greek, and Latin. His meticulous attention to criminal law foreshadowed the complex life ahead of him. However, his promising start took a dark turn in 1839 when at the age of 20, he was implicated in a series of arson and theft incidents at the dry good store where he worked. Somebody's so smart, it's not very smart, but that kind of jumps out suddenly, doesn't it? It just seems like he's studying, he sounds like he's a smart guy, then boom. Just suddenly he decided to be a total dick. Well, yeah, there's not a lot of information about his childhood, so maybe he was a dick all the way throughout childhood. Maybe nobody ever calls that out. Nobody ever calls that a five-year-old is just a dickhead, right? Like all children are innocent, you know? But I think sometimes you can tell that sometimes you can look at a five-year-old and go, "You're just a little dickhead." Oh, yeah. Yeah, there were a couple that I went to school with. I don't know, maybe I was one. Nobody wants to say the truth. I was an angel. Yeah, I was an angel until about 14 when I discovered booze. Oh, God. Then he got the devil's liquid in here. Oh, yeah. Edward was caught wearing a suit made from stolen cloth from the dry good store, but stubbornly refused to confess, resulting in his arrest and subsequent conviction for theft. He spent two years in the St. John Jail dramatically altering his life's course. Edward's trajectory veered into a life marked by crime and controversy upon his release. This pivotal moment marked the beginning of a tumultuous journey far removed from the scholarly life he had once envisioned. After serving his prison sentence for theft, Edward Rolf was released in the fall of 1841 and promptly vanished. With no systematic method of identification in Canada and no way to track individuals across international borders, Edward sees the opportunity to reinvent himself. Abandoning his family in New Brunswick, including his beloved brother Rolf, Edward traveled to America. After a brief period at a commercial school in New York where he learned bookkeeping and penmanship, Edward traveled upstate penniless and embittered, determined to remake his life. Within a year, the 23-year-old John Edward Howard Rolfson transformed into Edward Howard Rolf, a German-Canadian drifter with eloquent speech and dubious morals. You know, I have to say, I kind of long for the days where we could just disappear and start our new life. Like just being unnumbered, unrestrained, borderless, free. There's something really romantic about that. Sometimes when you think of all the numbers that are put on us, we buy everything with cards now, we have our social insurance numbers, we have this, we have that. And you can't go anywhere and do anything without people being able to track you. That's actually not natural if you think about it. It's not natural. No, it's not. Yeah, we have less freedom today than we've ever had. I'm not saying you've done anything bad, but if you just wanted to walk away and start a new life somewhere, it'd be great. You know, when I was a little kid in Strathra, I used to dream about moving to a city like New York. I wanted to know why, because I wanted the anonymity of living in a big city. See, I've always dreamt of living in LA. That's always been my thing because I've been a fan of movies. I wanted to be involved in film, in the entertainment industry. And I mean, there was a day, I mean, that you could just emigrate to the US very easily. It's not like that anymore. I still would love to go, but... Yeah, but I wanted to go just because it was a dream of just being in a city where nobody knew me. Because I'm like, like I said a few episodes ago, I'm like, I found out I'm like seventh generation from my hometown, right? Yeah. My joke is if I threw a snowball at somebody's car, before it even hit the windscreen, my mother would get a phone call. Yeah. Yep. That's the way it wasn't Bridgewater, too. In Syracuse, New York, on the Erie Canal, Edward Metacapton, William Shutt, and through him, William's 15-year-old sister Harriet, who captured 23-year-old Edward's full attention. Rolof taught languages, and Harriet Shutt became one of Rolof's students. In addition to teaching, Rolof also became a medical student in Ithaca, New York, studying under a botanical physician named Stone. During the Victorian era, the subset of medical practitioners known as botanical physicians, or medical botanists, focused their treatments on using plants and herbal remedies. Their practices were comparable to modern-day naturopaths. Victorian botanical physicians and modern-day naturopaths both emphasize herbal remedies and holistic treatment. Key differences include training and regulation. Nineteenth-century botanical physicians often lacked formal education and learned through apprenticeships. While naturopaths today complete a four-year medical program. Modern naturopathie includes various therapeutic modalities and has a comprehensive theoretical framework and legal recognition. Botanical physicians were often seen as quacks and operated outside mainstream medicine. Overall, naturopathie has evolved into a more professional and accepted system of natural medicine. Around this time, Rolof also became enamored with phrenology. Phrenology, a pseudoscientific theory that became immensely popular during the Victorian era, was based on the ideas of Franz Joseph Gahl and Johann Spursheim. They believed the brain consisted of distinct organs or faculties responsible for different personality traits and mental abilities and that the size of these faculties could be determined by examining the bumps and indentations on a person's skull. Phrenologists claimed the ability to assess an individual's character, capabilities, and even romantic compatibility simply by running their fingers over the person's head. The appeal of phrenology stemmed from its perceived rational scientific framework for understanding human nature, which resonated with the growing Victorian middle class seeking self-improvement and empowerment. Phrenological societies, head-reading parlors, public lectures, and books on the subject proliferated especially from the 1820s to the 1840s. Phrenology offered the prospect of understanding oneself and others better, choosing suitable careers and partners and even reforming criminals. However, by the 1840s, it was being discredited scientifically due to a lack of empirical evidence, although it continued to have some devoted followers into the early 20th century. Ultimately, considered a pseudoscience today, Phrenology nonetheless had a significant cultural impact during the Victorian era. You know, I have a phrenology print in my bathroom because it's the head. You've seen it. It's a really bad joke, but that's why I put it in there. I was like, "It's the head!" Because that's what you call the bathroom on a boat. It's the head. The head. You know, there were some racism around over phrenology as well. Oh, there's been a lot of them. Saying that, like, measuring head spaces and all that kind of, all that sort of wanky, wanky, malarkey, right? It's all nonsense. Of course it is. Edward Rallof loved detention, and he impressed locals in Dryden, New York with his apparent erudition, particularly after he began delivering regular lectures on phrenology. Harriet Schutt and Edward Rallof were married on New Year's Eve, 1943, a year and a half after they met, despite her parents' disapproval of Rallof as a suitor. He had no money, and her parents thought he was arrogant. Rallof later accounted to his biographer, Ham Freeman. "I married Harriet. There never was much of any courtship or love about it. We rather slid into it. It was a short marrying and haste to repent at leisure. Some of the family tried to kick up a hell of a row about it, and that made me angry with the whole concern, and I have never forgiven their taunts and insults both behind my back and to my face. They called me a popper, and made fun of my awkward manners. I knew I was better than they, and that my family was far superior." Narcissists, like Rallof, presumably was, don't take kindly to perceived insults to their character. The ego plays a pivotal role in driving narcissistic behavior. A narcissist's sense of self-worth and esteem hinges entirely on their ego being constantly inflated and validated by others. Their ego is immensely fragile and vulnerable to any perceived criticism or insult known as "narcissistic injury." Even minor slights or disagreements can trigger an intense emotional reaction from the narcissist as they perceive it as an attack on their very identity and superiority. When faced with a narcissistic injury, the narcissist may react with rage, aggression, devaluation of the perceived source, denial of reality to protect their ego or withdrawal and sulking as a way to manipulate the other person into providing validation. The narcissist's extreme vulnerability stems from their inability to derive self-worth from within. Their ego depends entirely on external sources of admiration and status. Any threat to the shaky external validation can prompt an intense need to restore their grandiose self-image through retaliation or dismissal. The narcissist's ego is both their greatest strength in protecting superiority and their greatest weakness in being fragile. Their actions are driven by the incessant need to feed and protect this ego at all costs, seeking excessive admiration, exaggerating achievements, displaying a sense of entitlement and exploiting others, inability to empathize and reacting with rage or contempt to the slightest criticism. There was a huge threat to Edward's delicate ego in the shut family. Harriet's cousin, a doctor of the old school named William H. Bull, often visited the shut family and he and Edward would have heated debates about the validity of Edward's medical leanings. Bull did not respect the quackery he saw in botanical medicine and told Edward about it in no uncertain terms. Edward would leave every interaction with Bull, seething with rage. But there were other reasons that Raulff resented Bull. Dr. Bull was a tall, strapping, and handsome man who the shut girls Harriet included would fawn over. A family rumor caught Edward's ear six months after his marriage, stating that Dr. Bull had secretly kissed Harriet on the day of their wedding. Adding fuel to the fire, Edward had recently spotted Harriet and Dr. Bull at a mill near the shut farm. The encounter he witnessed deeply disturbed him as he perceived their interaction to be intimate and secretive. Edward observed them standing closely together, apparently trying to be discreet, which immediately aroused his suspicions and anger. Driven by jealousy, Edward crept closer to Eve's drop on their conversation. He claimed to have overheard Dr. Bull making flirtatious remarks to Harriet specifically. Edward reported hearing Dr. Bull say, "Harriet, you have been seduced and I think you might be again." This statement, whether accurately reported or not, fueled Edward's suspicions of an affair between his wife and Dr. Bull. Harriet's reported response to Dr. Bull's comment was to laugh it off, but this did little to a swage Edward's concerns. It could have been innocent flirtation, but to Edward it was a crime for which he vowed revenge. He was convinced of Harriet's infidelity and Dr. Bull's inappropriate advances. Raulff became obsessed with the thought that Harriet had been to bed with his rival, which was too much to take. Williams shot Harriet's brother, later said that Bull was always flirtatious, but not a real threat, and often greeted William's wife Amelia with a kiss. The kiss in the pantry might have been Amelia and not Harriet in the first place. Regardless, the old Bugaboo jealousy eventually drove twisted Edward H. Raulff around the bend into taking actions from which there was no return. Jealousy really is the most ridiculous of all the sins, isn't it? Yeah. If you really think about it, it's so ridiculous. It's your ego with a problem. It's your ego with a problem, and if you love somebody and they say love you and they're going to cheat on you, that's not you, that's them. Yeah, jealousy is just silly. I'm not a jealous person at all. I've had my moments, but it's because of the problems that I had, like a low opinion of myself. So... Raulff later confessed to coming close to killing Harriet at that time. He said, "I resolved to put an end to her existence and mine when he and Harriet were alone one night he pounced and produced a vial of poison that he'd prepared and tried to force Harriet to drink it." He coldly admitted to her that he'd tried out the mixture on her brother's wife and child, sick at the time, and who had died after his treatment. He said he didn't want to live anymore and Harriet would be going with him. When Harriet screamed for help, Edward's mood turned, and he told her that it was all a joke. Harriet was not laughing and told others in her family about what had happened, and seeing he'd lost Harriet's trust and her family was more concerned than ever, Edward decided to move them five miles away from Ithaca to Lansing and outside of their influence. More after a quick break. The island of Newfoundland keeps its secrets close, shrouds them in mystery. But once in a while, the fog is lifted, the truth comes out. I got a feeling there's something going on here, the whole body was shaken. You go to bed believing that you're a certain person one night, and then all of a sudden the next day, everything that you've known is not true. This is not the life that I should have lived. I'm Luke Quintin. From CBC, this is Come by Chance, available now. And we are back Matthew Thoughts so far? I've said this in the show before. People who live like a criminal life, it must be so exhausting. It has to be. Like I'm following this guy's story and I'm exhausted. Lying takes a lot of effort to maintain. And people think they get into these lies in order to make it easier, but you end up just making it so much harder than being a straight up person, right? Yep. Wow. Wow is right. Harriet had a daughter that year. They named her Priscilla Charlotte. With the new addition, Harriet's family wanted to be more involved further upsetting Edward. He wanted to move farther away, this time he suggested to Ohio where he could continue his education and teach while becoming a lawyer. Harriet wanted none of it. She knew that isolation from her family with Edward alone would be unbearable. Edward was not a man who liked to be told no. On June 23, 1845, Harriet Rallof and her infant daughter vanished from their home in Lansing. Harriet was last seen at home that evening by a friend and neither she nor the baby have been heard from ever since. The next day, Rallof rented a wagon from T. Robertson, claiming he was going to Motville to pick up his wife who was visiting friends. He left afternoon on the 24th, heading south with a heavy chest in the wagon. He returned around noon the following day with the same chest now apparently empty. On the night of June 25, Rallof rented another wagon in Ithaca and returned it before dawn. He then took a stagecoach to Geneva, New York under the alias Mr. Doe. Whoa, that's creative. Right. Like that wouldn't, that wouldn't rouse suspicion. Right. What's your first name? John. What's that last name? Doe. John Doe. Yes. Somebody's going to remember that, right? Of course. I don't know if in the 1800s, whether John Doe was a thing, it had to have been. I'm sure it was. Rallof disappeared for over six weeks. Concerned about Harriet's absence, her friends searched the Rallof home. They found it in disarray with dirty laundry piled up and clothes belonging to Harriet and the baby scattered around. However, they couldn't find any information about Harriet's whereabouts or determine where Rallof had gone with the wagons on June 24th and 25th. Around mid-August, Rallof returned to Ithaca, claiming he'd been working on harvests between lakes. When his wife's brothers, Ephraim and William, questioned him about her whereabouts, about Harriet's whereabouts, he gave conflicting answers. First, he said she was near Geneva and then in Pennsylvania and finally in Madison, Ohio. The shut brothers, suspicious, asked Rallof to write a letter to his wife. Rallof agreed and wrote a letter to the address in Madison, Ohio, where he claimed she was staying. Shortly after mailing this letter, Rallof left Ithaca on foot towards Auburn. Suspecting Rallof might be trying to escape, William's shut obtained a warrant and pursued him. Shut tracked Rallof to Geneva, New York, then Rochester, and finally caught up with him in Buffalo. Rallof, evaded shut by escaping into a crowd after buying a boat ticket. Shut continued to Fairport, Ohio, where he discovered Rallof's false claims about his wife's location. He went to Cleveland, where he finally apprehended Rallof on a boat of immigrants headed west. When questioned, Rallof refused to reveal his wife's location, stating no one would ever know. Shut brought him back to Ithaca where Rallof was jailed and later committed for trial. The main issue with charging Rallof for murder was that no bodies had been found. The authorities suspected he had dumped the bodies in Lake Cayuga, but despite multiple attempts to search the lake, nothing was discovered. There were also unsubstantiated rumors that he'd sold their corpses to a medical school in Geneva for dissection. Despite lacking any physical evidence, they put him on trial in 1846. Rallof chose to represent himself in court, claiming his wife had taken his daughter and left on her own. He tried to emphasize the absence of concrete evidence, but the jury was inclined to find him guilty of something regardless. In the end, they convicted him of kidnapping, and he was given a 10-year sentence at Auburn Prison. Rallof spent his time in prison studying his passion, philology. Philologists study language in historical written sources, combining elements of linguistics, literary criticism, and history. They analyze texts to understand their authenticity, original form, and meaning, while examining language development and relationships. We need so much more of this. Definitely. People misread things like the Bible, right? Because meaning has been lost, right? And people look back at old books and sort of poo-poo it on the current understanding of it, but there are so many words that actually meant almost exactly the opposite of what they mean now. There's even a passage in the Bible that warns against this. It's a letter killeth, but the word giveth life. Yeah, there you go. So it's like the Bible had a disclaimer in there, too. It's like, maybe you should, you know, what you see on the surface may not be what we are intending here. Karen Armstrong went back to some of the earliest scripts of the earliest stuff on paper with the Bible. And she says that she thinks Jesus didn't say, "I am the Son of God." My translation is that it is, "I am a Son of God," and her point was, "Everyone can be." So the point was, we're all sort of universal. We're all this precious thing. And she's like, "And that that was taken and changed so many ways to negativity instead of the positivity that Christianity was meant to be." Dark poutine has no opinion on religion or religious ideas or theology. Sorry. No, but I'm not dissing it at all. I'm not dissing at all. I think, you know, if you go to the heart of many religions and the original intentions, they were beautiful things. Yep, yep. After serving his sentence, Rolof hoped to pursue his language studies quietly. However, upon his release, he was immediately re-arrested for his wife's murder. The authorities reasoned that after 10 years of her absence, Harriet could be presumed dead even without a body. While jailed in Ithaca during the legal proceedings, Rolof was allowed to teach. He formed a close bond with a 16-year-old boy named Albert, Al-Jarvis. He was the under-share of son, whom he tutored in Latin and German. Coming from a troubled home, Jarvis saw Rolof as a father figure. This relationship led Jarvis to assisting with Rolof's escape in the winter of 1858. Well, so under-share of son. Right. Yeah, he's the jailer, essentially, the jailer's son. Yeah, so that was A, that's dramatic and B, that would call for an overhaul of how jailers' families are interacting with people in jail. Yeah, you can probably assume, probably correctly, that, you know, this young guy just got the keys and let him out. Yeah. So, oh dear. On the run, Rolof lived rough, foraging for food and enduring harsh conditions. He later described this time, quote, "The officers of the law were constantly on my track. I lived by foraging upon the farmers and upon beach nuts. I lived like a beast and I fear that I became almost one." End quote. The extreme cold cost Rolof two toes to frostbite, ironically making him more easily identifiable to law enforcement. Despite early hardships, Rolof survived on the run by leveraging his remarkable intellect. Arriving in Medeville, Pennsylvania, he convinced inventor A.B. Richmond, under the alias James Nelson, to form a business partnership by showcasing his extensive scientific knowledge. During a tour of Richmond's collection room, Rolof accurately identified mislabeled marine shells, demonstrated a deep understanding of anatomy and easily named insects, impressing Richmond with his expertise. Rolof similarly impressed the faculty of Jefferson College, securing a professorship at Chapel Hill. However, he was soon called away by a letter from Jarvis who threatened him over financial neglect. Rolof responded by robbing a jewelry store, but was caught and sent back to Ithaca, where he was surprisingly acquitted of his wife's murder, again due to a lack of a body. He was quietly transferred to Auburn and released in 1859. During the 1860s, Rolof lived in New York City's criminal underworld with Jarvis, who supported Rolof's philological pursuits, but engaged in burglaries to fund their lifestyle. After several run-ins with the law, including a stint in Sing Sing and Weathersfield State Prison, Rolof sought recognition for his linguistic theories at a philological convention in Poughkeepsie. Despite his high hopes, his findings were dismissed, leading Rolof to redouble his efforts. So, I'm starting to feel like maybe these two are shagging? Maybe, right? It seemed like there was a bit of an intense relationship there. There was definitely some sort of intense relationship there. Yeah, yeah. And it could have been emotional and/or physical as well. Matthew boils it down to shagging. Yeah. Well, it takes one to no one, right? Exactly. In the early hours of August 17th, 1870, Binghamton, New York became the scene of a notorious crime that would mark the end of Edward H. Rolof's long and infamous criminal career. At approximately 2.30 a.m., Rolof and his two accomplices, Al Jarvis and William Dexter, attempted to burglarize Halberts' dry goods store, a previously targeted establishment by thieves, the burglars, known for their specialization in stealing valuable and easily concealable, sowing silk, gained entry by boring holes in the store's back door. However, their plans were thwarted when they encountered two clerks, Gilbert Burrows and Fred Merrick, acting as night watchmen due to previous robbery attempts. A violent confrontation ensued when the clerks managed to capture one of the burglars, prompting his accomplices to return armed with pistols. In the chaotic struggle that followed, three shots were fired at Burrows, who survived despite being hit by flying splinters. Tragically, Merrick, while grappling with one of the robbers, was shot in the back of the head at close range by Rolof and died instantly. The burglars then fled towards the Chanango River, with Rolof successfully crossing while Jarvis and Dexter drowned in their escape attempt. Within 24 hours, Rolof was apprehended near the railroad tracks leading out of town. Incriminating evidence against him included shoes with a distinctive pattern due to two missing toes found with burglar tools in the store, blood on his hat and shirt when captured, and his known association with the two drowned accomplices traced back to New York City, there were suspicions that Rolof had drowned his cohorts to cover his tracks, but there was never enough evidence to prove it. Edward H. Rolof's trial began on January 4, 1871, and became a major sensation, attracting crowds of around 2,000 people daily. It was held in Binghamton, where the crime had taken place. Rolof conducted his defense at the trial as in previous trials. He refused to plead insanity, instead choosing to defend himself based on the case's merits. The prosecution's case was based on evidence connecting Rolof to the robbery and murder, including his capture near the scene and recognition by Judge Ransom Balkam, who identified him as the man who'd murdered his wife and child years earlier. As a man who was suspected of murdering his wife and child years earlier. During the trial, Rolof requested that Governor John T. Hoffman pardon him or delay his execution until he could fully develop his theory on language evolution. This unusual request highlighted Rolof's in intellectual pursuits and became a point of public discussion. The trial attracted significant media attention and public debate. Some prominent figures like Horace Greeley, Director of the New York Tribune, argued that Rolof's... that Rolof's evident intellectual abilities made him too valuable to execute regardless of his guilt. American author Mark Twain wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Tribune on April 29, 1871, to save Rolof from execution. In the letter, Twain argued that Rolof's intellectual abilities made him too valuable to execute. Twain wrote, "For it is plain that in the person of Rolof, one of the most marvelous intellects that any age has produced is about to be sacrificed, and that too, while half the mystery of its strange powers is yet a secret." He praised Rolof's intellect, stating, "Every learned man who enters Rolof's presence leaves it amazed and confounded by his prodigious capabilities and attainments." One scholar said he did not believe that in the matters of subtle analysis, vast knowledge in his peculiar field of research, comprehensive grasp of subject and serene kingship over its limitless and bewildering details, any land or any era of modern times had given birth to Rolof's intellectual equal. In a satirical twist, Twain concluded his letter by offering to produce a man who would take Rolof's crime upon himself and be hanged in Rolof's place in the interest of learning and science. Okay, this is just all bonkers at this point. Yeah, like Mark Twain saying, "Spare this guy because language." I mean, we said earlier that we need more of that, but... You know, I'm not an advocate for the death penalty at all, so maybe he was just... I mean, and I was kind of going with this story going, "Oh, this is a good way to just try to stop the death penalty." I'm like, "Yeah, I'd lie like that." But then when he starts talking about somebody behind in this place, I'm like, "Wow, wait a minute." I kind of like, that sort of decreases my love... Mark Twain just a tiny bit. Yeah. Despite the publicity and debate surrounding the case, on March 3, 1871, Rolof was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to hang. Speaking with his biographer, Ham Freeman, before he met his maker, Rolof confessed to the murder of his wife Harriet. Edward H. Rolof's confession provides a detailed yet one-sided account of tragic events that unfolded on June 23, 1845, leading to Harriet's death. The incident began with an argument over Rolof's plans to move west and pursue an academic or law career. When Harriet refused to accompany him and threatened to return to her family with their child, Rolof became enraged. In a moment of intense anger, he struck her with a pestle, delivering a fatal blow to her left temple that fractured her skull. Rolof described the immediate aftermath in vivid detail, recounting his desperate attempts to revive Harriet using various medical techniques at his disposal. Rolof said, "She died about one o'clock, I think. Oh, think of me bending over her in her last moments gasping for breath, and I attempting to breathe life into her. She died easy, I do not think she ever realized any pain. The pestle broke the skull and sunk into her brain. It was all the work of a moment. She bled some, but not much. From that hour I knew that I was a ruined man. Everything that had before been bright and hopeful turned black and forbidding in my mind." Despite his efforts, Harriet never regained consciousness. He also mentioned administering an narcotic to the child to stop her crying, though he did not elaborate further on this point. Overwhelmed by the gravity of his actions, Rolof initially contemplated suicide. He even went so far as to prepare poison and write a confessional letter detailing the circumstances of Harriet's death. However, he ultimately decided against taking his own life, citing ambition and responsibilities as his reasons for continuing to live. Rolof then focused on concealing the crime. He meticulously wrapped Harriet's body in bed-ticking sheets, placed it in a large chest along with weights, and borrowed a horse and wagon from the neighboring Robertson family under the pretense of running an errand. He drove circuitously to Cayuga Lake, constantly fearful of discovery. Upon reaching the lake, he transferred the body to a boat and rode far out to dispose of it in deep water, weighing it down with stones and iron to ensure it would not resurface. After returning the horse, Rolof hastily packed his belongings and fled to Chicago. However, he found no peace there, constantly haunted by remorse and unable to find employment. Eventually, he returned to Ithaca, partly to confess. However, upon arrival, he encountered suspicion and hostility from the community, which he claimed exasperated him and ultimately dissuaded him from revealing the truth. Rolof's narrative was peppered with expressions of remorse and self-reflection. He portrayed himself as ill-suited for criminal activity, claiming that he was a victim to circumstances and that committing any crime overwhelmed and perplexed him. He emphasized the lack of premeditation in Harriet's death, insisting that it was all the work of a moment, and that anyone suggesting otherwise was lying. Throughout his confession, Rolof was notably evasive about the fate of his daughter Charlotte. When pressed on this matter, he only stated that the child was living and well enough off and that he had taken care of her well. He adamantly refused to provide any further details, insisting that it was no one's business and that he would die first before exposing any information about the child's whereabouts or circumstances. Edward H. Rolof was executed on May 18, 1871, in what would become the last public hanging in New York State. The execution took place in the yard of the Binghampton jail, with a crowd of onlookers present both inside and just outside the fence. At precisely three minutes past noon, Rolof was pronounced dead. His body was left hanging for 20 minutes as spectators watched. Before his execution, Rolof had requested a pardon from New York's Governor John T. Hoffman, but this was denied. In his final moments, Rolof reportedly uttered the words, "Hurry it up. I want to be in hell in time for dinner." Showcasing his notorious dark humor even in the face of death. The brain of self-proclaimed genius Edward H. Rolof became a subject of scientific fascination following his execution. His body unclaimed, Rolof was scheduled to be buried in a nearby potter's field. However, approximately 36 hours after his death, Dr. George Burr, a pathologist from Binghampton, undertook the challenging task of removing Rolof's head and brain. The process was particularly difficult due to Rolof's unusually thick neck cords and skull, which measured about half an inch thick. Twice the normal thickness, Dr. Burr conducted a meticulous examination of the brain, measuring every fissure and fold, and noted that the cerebellum was disproportionately large compared to the cerebrum. Rolof's brain was found to be exceptionally large, weighing 59 ounces, which was several ounces heavier than average. Professor Burt Green Wilder of Cornell University's Department of Biology acquired the brain for his collection to study the relationship between mental characteristics and cerebral peculiarities. The brain became part of the Wilder Brain Collection at Cornell, one of the first collections established for research and teaching in the United States. Today, Rolof's brain remains displayed at the Wilder Brain Collection in Juris Hall at Cornell University. Its reported volume of 1,673 cubic centimeters makes it one of the largest brains on record. While it attracted considerable attention from 19th century neuroscientists who sought to explain criminal behavior through brain structure, it's important to note that such interpretations are now considered outdated. Modern neuroscience has moved beyond these simplistic correlations between brain anatomy and moral character. Rolof's brain remains at Cornell. It's difficult to say with certainty where the rest of Rolof's remains ultimately ended up. Some believe medical students used it in their anatomy lab. If true, he did go on to higher education, perhaps not how he intended. In 1977, a restaurant bar called Rolof's opened in Ithaca. The about section of the restaurant's website, closed in 2020, reads, in part, mythologizing him. Never one to embrace humility, Edward Rolof was a self-described genius considering himself the intellectual peer of Socrates' Kant and Locke. Skilled as a doctor, lawyer, scholar, draftsman, and carpenter, Rolof was entirely self-taught and well-versed in history, philosophy, mineralogy, biology, and anatomy. Philology, the study of language formation, was his field of expertise and he spoke 28 languages and dialects. The text continued with a quote, reportedly from Rolof claiming he'd be back. Quote, "You cannot kill an unquiet spirit. And I know that my impending death will not mean the end of Rolof. In the dead of night, walking along Cuyuga Street, you will sense my presence. When you wake to a sudden chill, I will be in the room. And when you find yourself alone at the lake shore gazing at grey Cuyuga, know that I was cut short and your ancestors killed me." End quote. No ego there at all. You know, I think that the myth and the legend around this guy is way, way, way bigger than probably what the reality was. Yeah. Right. I mean, they did find it sort of necessary to keep his brain. And it's still like, it's still in the record books for being like the second largest brain ever measured. So, you know, but that doesn't mean he was... Like, I don't think the weight of your brain really has a lot to do with your intelligence. No. Otherwise, like imagine if it's just a really big head. Did you ever have a friend in school that like whose head was like way bigger than their body? Yeah. I can't remember his last name, but I think his first name was Alexi and we called him light bulb head. Nice. Well, wasn't my idea. Alexi probably had a bigger brain than yours, but was he smarter? Maybe not. I don't know. He was sure angry at us when we called him light bulb head. I would be too. Right. Oh boy. Did you have nicknames? Did anyone call you a nickname? Well, I had buck teeth. So I was a believer in woody wood chuck and all of those kinds of things until about the eighth grade when I got frustrated and punched somebody. Then it stopped. I didn't have any nicknames, like any sort of teased nicknames. Yeah. And I, you know, this guy who I hit, I felt terrible about it and I still do. He was a friend of mine and it was just the wrong time to say that to me, you know. That happens. Yeah. Anyway. And that's it for dark poutine episode 325, the life and crimes of serial killer Edward H. Ruloff. It's a entirely bunker story, which is really, really, really insane. That's right. It's time for voicemails. You can leave us a message at 1-877-327-5786 or 1-877-D-A-R-K-P-T-N. We'd love to hear from you. Let's see who called us this week. All righty. Let's listen to our first voicemail. Hi, Mike and Matthew. Nothing nasty to say. So are you, if you're familiar with the Tom Collins case in Albert County, New Brunswick, he was the only person hung in Albert County. The last person hung in New Brunswick, I believe, and it has all the food groups. It's got a minister, a murdered woman, and somebody who may have been wrongly accused and hung. It also has a ghost story. Anyway, it's a cool one to check out and go shit on your hat. Thank you. I will look into that because we need more stories from New Brunswick and some of the lesser traveled provinces. I love it when people call in with ideas like that. When she said all the food groups, I thought she was going to say Jim Lemon Juice, sugar syrup, so far. Like an actual Tom Collins drink? Yeah. No, boy. I think we have another call from the East Coast. Let's have a listen here. Second time to charm gentlemen. To answer your guys' question about women and children first, it's basically never been an international law or anything. And throughout history, I mean, there were some cases of it being implemented, but it really never became a thing until the Victorian era, and it all really boils down to the cultural societal norms of the Victorian era and gender roles. Women were seen as to be protected and they were vulnerable and then were to protect and to, you know, do the honorable thing and putting their safety and priority before them. That's basically what it boils down to. And it just became famous because of the Titanic. I mean, there was other disasters in the Victorian era where it was used by the Titanic. The Titanic is the most famous, and it just kind of became a thing today where we think that that's always been the case, but it wasn't so. Another factor that played a role, especially in the thinking of the Atlantic, why no women were safe is the clothing. Women wore heavy pedicotes in many layers and corsets that absorb water. When they got wet, it was caused, you know, high, high risk to hypothermia and increased drowning. They would get caught on stuff during the reps trying to escape. If the ship tilted, the weight from their wet clothing would knock them over into the water. You name it. Actually, part time before I actually mentioned this and I've read countless, and countless accounts of shipwrecks of that of clothing playing a huge role in, you know, a lot of women dying, and it would take them a long time to get dressed because it was immoral for them to go out half dressed. So sometimes they talk too long getting ready, and that's why they wouldn't get up to the deck sometime. It's kind of sad to think about it. Another thing, I kind of smiled when you guys mentioned the Hungarians, pretty famous in my area. I live on Cape Save Island, Cape Save Island, actually, and I'm looking at the Cape Light, which is 101 feet tall, the tallest lighthouse in Nova Scotia, which was actually built because of the Hungarian shipwreck. Very famous in this area, very well known tail. Very interesting. But yeah, I thought that was kind of cool that you guys talked about that. But anyways, that's basically what it boils down to, is tradition generals. So anyways, gentlemen, I'm sorry about the crappy last phone call. I am in Nova Scotia, so it doesn't matter whether you're in a house or car. Unless you're in Halifax, the reception just sucks really bad. So yeah, anyways, gentlemen, enjoy your nice summer days and go take a crap in your lobster pot. Oh, my God, I love you so much. Thank you so much. Well, we know what job you have. You're a historian. There's no question about it because you had some really interesting facts. And yeah, Cape Save Island, I need to visit someday. I mean, there's been a lot of there's a lot of places I have been in Nova Scotia. It's a tiny province, but there's still a lot of places I haven't visited and Cape Save Island is one of them, so you know, I was thinking about what you're saying about traditional gender roles and I think, you know, I grew up at older school, right? And then when I moved to Europe, let me give you an example, I learned to stand up. If a woman's like having dinner with you, like there's a large table, a woman gets up to you, the toilet, all the men stand up and then when she comes back, all the men sit up. And I learned that in because there's just the crowd of people is hanging out with which we're kind of more posh old school people, right? And it's sort of like, and then I had to like unlearn it when I moved back here, right? Because it's just fucking weird, just weird here. But like women and children, first, I think if I was on a sinking ship, I'd probably help women and children off first anyway. And I don't know if it's because of gender roles or I just want to save. Well, anybody who needs help, you know, like anybody who it appears that they need help. You know what? Actually, let me fix that. It'd probably be like help to get the kids off first and then any woman or man coming up to need help and help them. That's probably what the truth would be. But kids, kids, I'd probably be trying to help. Prioritize the kids. I'd probably be helping them as quickly as possible, right? Yeah, I'm an old fart who's never going to have any, you know, further impacts on the world. Oh, no. I'll help the kids, you know, maybe there's the next Albert Einstein in one of those lifeboats. You know, maybe one of those kids will save us all. Yeah, it could be, but did that color give her name? No, she's given her name before, but I forget anyway, you are bloody awesome. Yeah. Yeah. And obviously that accent takes me back. That's it for this week's voicemails. Again, you can leave us one at 1-877-327-5786, or 1-877-D-A-R-K-P-T-N. We'd love to hear from you, even if it is just to say hi and to tell us to go shit in our hats. If you're stumped for what to chat with us about, a quick story is welcome. And we don't have any donut money donors or patrons this week, but that's okay. It's okay, to be honest, I think I'm going to go back to bed now. Yeah, you should go back to bed, Matthew. Thanks to all our patrons and donut money donors past and present for your generosity. It helps to keep the show going. You can become a patron of darkpoutine at patreon.com/darkpoutine. For a one-time donation, you can send us donut money via PayPal using our email address, darkpoutinepodcast@gmail.com. If you don't already subscribed to the show, it would mean a lot if you did. You can easily find darkpoutine on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. If you haven't gotten yours yet, my book, Murder Madness and Mayhem is available to order via a link on the DarkPoutine website. And speaking of darkpoutine.com, please check it out for show notes and other cool stuff. We'd appreciate it if you took the time to give darkpoutine a like or a follow on Facebook and Instagram. Most importantly, thank you for listening. And tell your friends about us. Word of mouth is a powerful thing. And that's it for this episode of DarkPoutine. Matthew is already falling asleep. So until next time, don't forget to be a good egg and not a bad apple. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]
Episode 325: Edward H. Rulloff was a 19th-century Canadian-born serial killer renowned for his exceptional intellect and heinous crimes. Rulloff exhibited prodigious intellectual abilities from a young age. He was a polymath with expertise in various fields, including linguistics, where he made significant contributions, proposing theories on the origin of languages. Despite his scholarly achievements, Rulloff's life was marred by a series of crimes that began with the mysterious disappearance of his wife, Harriet Schutt Rulloff and their young daughter, Priscilla Charlotte Rulloff, in 1845, which many suspected to be his doing. His erudition earned him a reputation as one of the most learned men of his time, even while he was incarcerated.
Rulloff's criminal activities were as notorious as his intellect was celebrated. He was involved in a string of burglaries and was eventually implicated in multiple murders. His undoing was the killing of a store clerk, Frederick Merrick, during a robbery attempt. His two accomplices, Al Jarvis and Billy Dexter, also died while fleeing the crime scene. Rulloff was suspected of doing away with them.
He was soon captured and held for trial. Despite attempts to use his intellectual prowess as a defence, Rulloff was convicted and sentenced to death. His execution in 1871 was a significant event, as many viewed his death as the tragic end of a brilliant yet malevolent mind.
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Edward H. Rulloff - Wikipedia
Murder by Gaslight: The Man of Two Lives.
Edward Rulloff | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers
The Life and Madness of Edward H. Rulloff | Victorian Gothic
Edward H. Rulloff: The Veil of Secrecy Removed: Freeman, E H: 9781461142751: Books - Amazon.ca
Rogue Scholar: The Sinister Life and Celebrated Death of Edward H. Rulloff (By: Richard W. Bailey) published: August, 2003: Richard W. Bailey: Books - Amazon.ca
Rulloff’s Restaurant | The Story
Rulloff : the great criminal and philologist / by Samuel D. Halliday. … - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library
The Internal Narcissist: Why Your Ego Wants You To Suffer
What the new science of narcissism says about narcissists | Psyche Ideas
Ithaca history: What do you know about Edward Rulloff?
Mark Twain Day By Day: The Day Mark Twain Defended A Serial Killer
The Life and Death of Edward H. Rulloff by Herbert A. Wisbey, Jr.
Edward H. Rulloff | Newspapers.com
ABOUT MARK TWAIN: BIBLIOGRAPHIC ISSUE NUMBER 5 on JSTOR
Rulloff's Restaurant | The Story
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