Episode 540: Anna George and the Murder of George Saxton
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It's morbid on the floor. On the flow, because we're getting new furniture up in here. Every time I talk today, I'm just going, whoa, whoa, whoa, at the end of my sentence, and Elena thinks it's the funniest thing ever. For some reason, every time she does it, I burst out laughing. I think because she does it randomly, so it hits right when it hits. And I do a dance for that. She does. It's like an Ariana Grande-esque dance.

I'm hitting a high note kind of thing, and it makes me laugh. Yeah. I said that I'm going to deliver all bad news to Alayna within this voice. I think that's a great idea. Sorry, I can't come into work today. I got the flu. Me and Mikey will laugh and then say, too bad. Get in, loser. We're going recording. That's perfect.

That's pretty great. Yeah, it feels like the olden days. Yeah. When we used to sit on the floor. I feel a lot older though. Because already my back's like, ooh, bitch, don't do that. Well, this is more comfortable because there's carpet.

And you're up against a wall. And I'm up against a wall. Before it was just sitting on a hardwood floor in the middle of a laundry room with nothing around me. Yeah, I'm sitting on a P.O. On a P.O. On a P.O., as your kids would say. That's right. Well, I have a case today. Yeah, I'm glad you do because why else are we here? Yeah, imagine if I was like, well...

I thought you had one. I thought you were like, oh, well, shit. All right. Guess this is over. See you guys later. Bye. No. We can't do that. No. No. I have an interesting old-timey case today, but it is actually the murder of a man who was brothers with one of our first ladies. Oh.

Yes, this is unfortunately the murder of George Saxton, and he was sisters with... He was the brother of. Yep, exactly. He was sisters with. Bye-yi-yi-yi. He was the brother of Miss Ida McKinley. Oh! Yeah! President McKinley, you don't say. How did you get that? I don't know. I just know so much about politics. What if I was like, no, Lincoln's wife. No. No.

But yeah, isn't that crazy? That is nuts. So let's start. Let's go. George DeWalt Saxton was born October 31st, 1850. Ooh, spooky already. Halloween, for those who don't know. Halloween!

In Canton, Ohio. He was the third of three children born to James and Catherine Saxton. And as the children of one of Canton's wealthiest families, they were rich, rich. Rich, rich. George and his sisters, Ida and Mary, they were all raised in hella privilege. They went to the finest schools in Ohio. They had access to just all the best shit, really. Yeah.

There's not like a ton out there about their really like core family life or most of their childhood experiences like in depth. But author John Stark Bellamy writes, Oh. And then later he added, Oh.

Wow. I love the way of describing someone as saying they, instead of being like they were spoiled rotten when they were little, they were privileged. Indulged. Oh, indulged. Yeah, they were indulged a little bit. I kind of

I like that. Makes it feel a little better. That's what I think. Yeah. Well, after finishing up with high school, George spent a brief period as a Sunday school teacher, which like, I don't, just based off the rest of the story, I don't get that vibe from him. You know, George had a lot of thinking to do, I guess. I guess so. But once he was done with that, he moved on to go and work at his father's bank.

And it was there that he gained a lot of experience in this family business of finance and property development. And once he kind of like got his foot in the door and really got going, he was like, you know what? I think I could take this over someday. I think I could run this shit. Yeah. So,

So while he definitely showed a willingness to put in the effort to learn the family business, he did develop skills in finance and property management. But he was also still as spoiled as he had been during childhood. Literally almost everything was handed to him. He lived in his childhood home his entire life.

which was called the Saxton House. Ooh. When his father died in early 1887, George actually did take over the company and he inherited all of his father's holdings, which made him one of, if not maybe the wealthiest man in Canton. Wow. Mm-hmm.

So in the early 1870s, he made his first attempt to marry and settle down, as was expected of all young, prominent men at the time. The woman he eventually became engaged to was named Alice Schaefer. She was the daughter of another prominent and local businessman. And as children of elite families, George and Alice had actually known each other since they were in early childhood. And both families were really, really excited over this engagement. They were like, oh my God, rich people marrying rich people, prominence, alligators.

Hand in hand with prominence. Let's go. Prominence begets prominence and we make more rich people and the world goes round. Yeah. They were all like super duper excited. They were like rich people doing rich people shit. But unfortunately for Alice, George's commitment to her was less...

than sincere or committed, really. And not long after the engagement, a lot of rumors and nastiness started going around that he was seeing other women. Your stories often have illicit affairs in them.

And I appreciate you telling us this. I don't like the true crime part of it because, like, that makes me sad. Of course not. But I love an illicit affair. I love a scandal. Yeah, you do. In fact, oh, just really. And I do, too. I love listening to it. Really quickly, I started watching. I mentioned it when I covered Anne and Billy Woodward. I started watching Capote vs. the Swans, and it is so fucking good. I need to watch it. It is amazing.

Awesome. There's only two episodes out, and then the third one comes out tomorrow. Ooh, I'm going to watch it because John and I are finishing Follow the House of Usher, and then we can move on from it. For anybody that hasn't started it yet, just like trigger warning, there's a good amount of domestic violence.

But I just want to, like, put that out there. But overall, it's really good. Oh, wow. And it's part of the story, so. Yeah, unfortunately. Okay, but back to this scandalous affair. At it again. So according to a newspaper report at the time, and this is about George, his conduct toward her and his seeming indifference were a cruel blow for her future happiness. She could not believe that he would disregard so readily the sacred vows in which he had so earnestly made. I mean, we all, you know...

These men. Players gonna play. Especially from the 1800s. I'm like, 1800s and early 1900s men were wild enough. We think, and I'm not saying George is a fuckboy, but like this is just like reminding me of like fuckboy behavior. We think that fuckboys originated like within the 21st century. Incorrect. No. Incorrect. Ghosting happened before. It just looked different. It just wasn't called that. Exactly. It was just called like reckless abandonment. Abandonment. Yeah.

It was called phantoming because that's more fancy. I like that a lot better. He phantomed. I would feel so much better like if I was like back in my dating days being like, I got phantomed. I got phantomed. I got dating phantomed. That'd be so much better. It is better. But anyway, according to the news article, George's callousness toward Alice, quote, threw her into an illness from which she never recovered and she eventually died of a broken heart. Oh, that's terrible.

It's unlikely that she actually did die of a broken heart. I think she had a different illness. I was going to skip over that part. I was just going to let that fly because I get the hyperbole of it all. Yeah. She was sick. Yeah. But she was also sad because of what had happened. And that can like shatter you. Yeah. She actually, she did die a few years after the engagement was called off. So...

I don't think anybody really knows truly if it was of a broken heart. Did she die with a broken heart? Possibly. There you go. That's a better way to say it. But either way, George's disregard for her feelings or her reputation, too, because you have to think that was a big part of life back then. Absolutely. To be abandoned like that was huge. But it's the first example of what would become a pattern of

You would say self-centered behavior that George would kind of demonstrate throughout his life. Yeah. Not long after Alice passed away, George actually became engaged again, this time to a local socialite named Louisa Miller.

However, just like his engagement to Alice, his interest in marriage and monogamy was more fleeting than genuine, and it wasn't long before he was seen around town in the company of other, less reputable women, we shall say. So before long, Louisa called off the engagement. And according to Bellamy, that author that I referenced before, there was a rumor of, quote, yet a third engagement with a woman named Elizabeth France, but that too quickly ended. Wow. Sweet.

Just racking them up. Yeah, racking them up, racking them up. So how many of the details of this period in George's life are true is definitely debatable. But what is clear is that after three failed engagements due to very public infidelities, George did at this point earn a reputation in and around Canton as...

Yeah, I mean, I could see it. His booty bungalow, if you will. Absolutely obsessed.

Someone should create a market in which they sell booty bungalows because I'm telling you, there's money there. There is. Fuckboys would sign up for that in a minute. Like elite fuckboys, they're like, elite fuckboys would love a booty bungalow. They don't want a bachelor pad. No. Elite fuckboys want a booty bungalow. Booty bungalow. I want a booty bungalow for myself. I don't want anyone to come over. I just want one. Wow. Yeah.

I don't want anyone to come over at this wall. It's my booty in that bungalow. Only booty in that bungalow is me. But, however, despite what people thought of his relationship history and his disregard for the feelings of, you know, the women that he had scorned, George was still considered really charming and likable by a lot of people in and around town. I mean, yeah, he must have been. It sounded like, honestly, if you've ever watched Southern Charm, he sounds like Shep Rose. I was...

Oh my God. That's who I pictured the entire time. I've been thinking this the whole time that he has such chaperones vibes. He does. Because like I know he got like a little problematic as of late in like the last couple years. But before that he just seemed like this like really nice chill dude that was like known around town that like people really loved. It was just kind of a mess. And he's like

friends with everybody but in relationships he's a fucking wreck yeah like he's that good time guy yeah and he's and he seems like whatever but relationships like you said are like the kryptonite it's almost in austin too austin kroll yeah yeah there you go hey guys i don't know them but anyway it's insane madison literally insane right now madison

Also, sorry, I'm so like, I must sound like wild in this because I'm just laughing at everything, but I am working off of like, I think like 4.5 seconds of sleep in the past like three days. Yeah, we went to the Lizzie Borden house, which we're going to talk about like at another moment in time. Yeah. But sleep didn't happen there, obviously. And then...

My youngest got like a stomach bug in the middle of the night, which is always – And that was like when she came home, like the night that you came home. Yeah, the night we came home. So it was like no sleep the night before, then boom, stomach bug. Yeah. And it's cold and flu season and kids get sick all the time before you start being like, your kids are sick all the time. They are. Kids are always sick. Yeah.

She said, fuck you, Felix. It's golden flu season. It's golden flu season. And kids, if you have kids, I feel like you realize that they are just sick all the time. Yeah, there's like a group of people in the world who are very shocked when your children get sick. They probably don't have kids. Yeah.

It happens. It happens. I don't know what to tell you. But that's why we're punchy. Yeah, I'm very punchy. I love when you're punchy. I think it's funny. I'm punchy bang bang and I'm punchy ha ha. You're always punchy bang bang. And most of the time you're punchy ha ha, but this is like a different level. But I like it. It's on a galactic level today. It's galactic.

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But so the fact that he was still considered charming in town, it really helped him, obviously, not only socially, but professionally, too. Yeah. His private life really didn't seem to affect his dating life too much, actually, which is kind of shocking. And by the late 1880s, he had taken up with a new woman who was at the center of this story, Anna or Annie George. Annie George. Her name was Anna, but she went by Annie.

Oh. So by the time she met George Saxton, Annie George had actually been married for 10 years to Sample George. So it gets a little confusing. There's George Saxton and then there's Sample George. Oh, okay. That's his name.

He was a local carpenter, and together they had two young children. Sample is such an interesting name. I just have to point that out. No, it is. It very much is. It's a very interesting – because I thought you were calling him, like, Sample George. Like, this is the sample size George. But, like, she's – this is the real George. And it's like – I was like, who's Sample George? But that's a name. That's him. That's just an interesting name. I almost just said, that's him's name. That's him's name. That's so – That's him name. You know? Yeah.

Just never heard that before. Yeah, neither have I. Interesting. But according to accounts at the time, Annie was, quote, very much devoted to her husband and children and seemed to be delighted with the care of her family. Wow. So she was very much like a wife and mama. So this man just swooped in. Mm-hmm. She and her husband, Sample, moved to Canton, Ohio in 1883, hoping to build a better business.

And it wasn't long after they moved to Canton that George Saxton first caught sight of Annie in the Goldberg Brothers store on the Saxton block because he literally had his own block. Romantic. It is if she wasn't married. Goldberg Brothers store. Hot. Yeah.

and immediately he was taken. He told a friend, she is a remarkably handsome woman. I will make her acquaintance. I'm obsessed with that statement, first of all. Remember when people used to call women handsome? They were like, she's such a handsome woman. Yeah, it's interesting because I feel like it depends on where you live, if that's like an insult or a compliment. Oh, really? I've only ever heard it as a compliment. Because I've

thought like a handsome woman was like oh like she's a handsome woman like oh no I've only ever heard it like she's a handsome woman like she is a very striking woman because I've heard it in that context like she's got very like striking features yeah I've heard it in that context but then I've heard it in the context of like oh she's like a handsome woman like a oh I've never heard that yeah interesting or maybe I just misinterpreted you're like maybe I made it possible

But anyway, before I just add that statement is just awesome though. He's like, I will make her acquaintance. I'm like, you will. I love it. I believe in you. But she married. I know. I know. But I believe in him because it happens. He just had so much confidence that he charmed me. Confidence. From afar. That's what it's all about. Through time and space, he just charmed me. That's when you know. And that's what it's really all about is confidence. It is. Hudspa. Yeah. Swag. I will make her acquaintance.

You will. I love it. Manifest. And he did. Yeah. Before she even left the store, George had not only introduced himself to Annie, but also extended an offer to move into a large apartment in the Saxton block where he kept his bachelor apartment. Wow. Now, this was perfect because they remember her and her husband had just moved there and they only had a temporary living situation. Yeah.

So she went home to tell Sample, who was super grateful and was really looking forward to the opportunity. Yeah, thinking this guy's just being nice. Yeah, he's like, oh, wow, what a nice man you've met. Hopefully he's ugly. But within a remarkably short amount of time, George Saxton had fully integrated himself into Annie and Sample's life and, like, not in a super fun, friendly way. That feels very H.H. Holmes.

Yes, it does. I'm not saying he's a serial killer. I'm just saying like the way he's going about this whole situation with like the apartment and stuff. It just feels that way. Yeah, it is interesting. And when you start setting up the story, it does sound a little bit like you're like, wait, is he the or the? What's going on? Yeah. So he would stop by at the apartment regularly, usually when Sample wasn't home if he could help it. Oh. And it wasn't long before Annie really started to look forward to George's visits.

during which it was reported, quote, this is iconic. He poured into her ears all the flattering endearments of which he was capable and sought to gain her affection and confidence.

Wow. I love all that except for the use of the word poured. Yeah. Because it makes your ear feel full of water. I hate that. As soon as you started saying it, I was like, oh. And I just covered one of my ears. You said, not my ears. I said, nope, don't pour anything. Even compliments into my ears. Poured into her ears all the flattering endearments of which he was capable. Wow. That's a writer right there. That is. That was flowery as fuck. I wrote it as, in other words, he was laying it on thick and she was smitten. Yeah.

She liked that shit. She was picking up what he was putting down. She was smelling what he was stepping in. Yeah. All that good stuff. Now, at first, Sample assumed George's interest in the family was of genuine concern. They had two small children. Oh, Sample. He gave them a place to live. He's looking after his wife when he's at work. It's like, oh, this guy rocks. What a nice guy. You know, they were a young family who were new in town. And his generosity seemed like what you would expect from a guy like George. He was well off. He was prominent, well-known, yada, yada.

But within a few months, Sample did start to become suspicious of George Saxton's intentions, and he warned his wife not to spend too much time in Saxton's company. And he was, at that point, it wasn't really so much that he was jealous or didn't trust Annie, like at that point. Yeah. But he was worried that George Saxton's unusually frequent presence in their home and how often they were seen together on the street might start to cause a scandal. Yeah.

Yeah. People might start. He was like, I know that your relationship is pure and innocent, or at least I hope it is. But onlookers might not think so. And people are going to talk. And we're new here. Yeah, we're new in town. I love it. Now, Sample was right to be suspicious of the attention that George Saxton was lavishing upon his wife. Indeed. And he would only become more so in the months that followed.

Now, it's unclear exactly when George and Annie's affair began, because it did, but by most accounts, she really did try to reject his advances, at least initially.

But if his relationship history was any indication, George absolutely loved the chase and the courtship phase of relationships far more than anything that came after. And the fact that Annie was married and kind of like saying no to his advances made the situation more enticing. Oh, yeah, of course. The forbidden fruit. Exactly.

The more and more she resisted his advances, the harder he tried to win her over. Of course. Endlessly complimenting her, sending her all kinds of gifts, showing up, all of it. All of it. And as a woman of – remember, he's like this really well-off prominent man. She's a woman of modest social standing, meager means. So she probably found the attention of somebody so well-off and of a higher standing –

very exciting. Yeah. Like, it's a little bit of, like, an Ann Woodward, like, way into society. Yeah, absolutely. Now, after years...

Of George's relentless campaign to win her over? Damn. Years. Annie finally gave in, and in 1889, she agreed to join him for a trip to Myers Lake Casino. What the fuck? Years? He played the long game. He sure did. Now later, Annie would claim that she was unwittingly seduced by Saxton, quote, based on his explicit promise to marry her.

And that was like a thing back then. If you had vocal, like a verbal agreement that like somebody had said they were going to marry you, that was actually, that like weighed heavy back then. That would like hold up in court.

Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. Like, it was, I forget what it was called. I think I might touch upon it later, actually. Yeah, because it's been in a couple of my cases, too. Mm-hmm. Now, given George's track record with engagements, though, this seemed entirely possible that, like, he had said, yeah, totally, I'll marry you. Yeah. But whatever his strategy, by 1890, Annie had become estranged from her husband and was openly carrying on an affair with George.

Now, Sample George was completely outraged. And by that point, he had already taken the children and moved back to where they came from, Hanoverton. Oh, damn. And it was there that he filed for divorce. But when he realized that a divorce was actually exactly what Annie wanted, this fella got Tom Petty with it. He withdrew the petition knowing full well that he'd still have to financially support her, but also that she wouldn't be able to marry George. Oh, wow.

So he's like, that's fine. I'll still pay for your ass. But like, you can't marry that man that you stepped out the back with me on. Sample seems pretty full size to me. Oh, yeah.

He is. He seems family size. You just wait. The party pack. Yeah, I was just going to say he's a party pack. So now, having failed to leverage Sample's anger into getting a divorce, George and Annie devised a new scheme. Annie would move to South Dakota, where divorce laws were liberal. Because remember, at this point, you can just get divorced here, there, and everywhere. Yeah, no way. That's wild.

Crazy. You can't just end a lifelong commitment. That's so shameful. Not actually. But after staying the requisite six months, she could file for divorce and then promptly return to Ohio and marry George. So in October of 1891, she took a train to Canton, South Dakota. Wow. Literally so many Cantons. So many Cantons. And she set up residence at the Heartland House Hotel.

But whatever she had expected to find in South Dakota was probably much better than what she ended up actually experiencing. It was then referred to as the divorce colony where she was staying. The divorce colony? Yeah. Wow. And at that time, divorce under any circumstances obviously was seriously discouraged. And to seek one would have meant public scorn. And then the scorn was doubled when Annie...

She was not the injured party. That's what they would have referred to it as back then. So when word started going around that like this is why she was in South Dakota, people really didn't treat her well. Aww. Yeah. For close to a year, she lived as kind of a social pariah in South Dakota with only occasional visits from George to interrupt the boredom and really rather rough conditions. Was it worth it?

No. Okay. Things became worse in February of 1892 when she got word from Ohio that in her absence, her soon-to-be, hopefully, ex-husband, Sample George, had filed a $30,000 lawsuit against George Saxton for alienation of affection. Wow. That is a term that allows the aggrieved party to sue an adulterer who had seduced their spouse. Okay.

Damn. That's a fucking thing. Alienation of affection. Yes. Interesting. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. Now, until that point, Georgia and Annie's relationship had been spoken of in like very hushed tones and rumors, but the lawsuit made it a document, a public fact. Oh, shit. And one that detailed the sexual relationship between Saxton and a married woman.

So like a lot of people could get their hands on that. With the lawsuit against Saxton filed, Sample agreed to grant Annie a divorce in September of 1892 and she was officially a single woman. But he was like, I'm going to get $30,000 out of this. Unfortunately for Annie, the pending lawsuit gave George a reason to put off getting married because remember, he doesn't really like to get married and

It never really ends up panning out. He loves the lead up to getting married. Yeah, who doesn't? It's really exciting. I personally love the being married part as well. But in the meantime, she moved to Cleveland in order to avoid the fallout from now a very public scandal and just waited for everything to blow over so she could finally go back and marry George.

Oh, man. Oh, man.

Girl. I know. She fucked up. It's bad news bears. She fucked up. In March of 1894, Sample's lawsuit against George was actually dismissed, so Annie was able to move back to Canton, Ohio. And she took up residence in her old apartment in the Saxton building. Okay. And she started a sewing business in order to support herself. Now, by this time, it seems George's affections for her had started to wane. And it's likely that their relationship would have just ended like all his other engagements. Yeah.

But, not long after Annie returned to Canton, Sample George filed a new lawsuit against Saxton. And as author Bellamy points out, George Saxton, quote, would probably have to rely on Annie's willingness to perjure herself in defending himself against Sample's lawsuit. Damn. Meaning, he would have to keep up his affection for her, at least until the case was settled. Or else she would be, like, testifying against him. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.

So whatever scheme George had in mind, it didn't quite work out the way that he had planned. While she may have been naive, Annie wasn't so foolish as to not recognize that George had very little time for her and only seemed to show affection to her when it suited him. Mm.

Like she was catching on to this. Oh, yeah. And just as it had been with his other fiancés, rumors about George carrying on with other women soon made their way back to Annie, leading to an actually violent confrontation in late 1894 in which she fell down a flight of stairs and George threw her out of her room at the Saxton building. What the fuck?

No one knows for sure, but she would later claim that George kicked her down the stairs during this fight. Oh my gosh. Yeah. If she hadn't been so blinded by love or excitement, she probably would have recognized a pattern in George's life of seducing women, proposing marriage, then very unceremoniously dropping them once he'd lost interest.

But she didn't seem to have put all the pieces together until her life was in shambles. She had endured everything and pretty much lost everything. That's horrific. But if George thought that this was going to go away like all the other ones, completely without consequences, he was very seriously mistaken. Surprise. Now, as the son of one of Canton's wealthiest families, George Saxton, as we know, was accustomed to easily getting what he wanted.

Whether it was his company, his family home, his money, his three former fiancés, George didn't really have to work too, too hard to get anything. And when he was done with something or someone, he was accustomed to just making it go away with ease. Just moving on. It's not always going to work, honey. It's not always going to work.

It's likely that after his contrived and surprisingly physical falling out with Annie, he assumed that she would just go away, fade into the background like the others had. Yeah. But neither Annie or sample George had any intention of going away without a fight. Uh-oh. In August of 1895, George Saxton filed a demurrer in court alleging that the Statue of Limitations had run out on sample suit.

However, Sample quickly filed an appeal that would eventually take the case to the state Supreme Court. Whoa. So they're just suing each other left and right. And Annie joins now. In the meantime, she filed her own lawsuit against George, demanding $50,000 for his alleged breach of promise to marry her. Breach of promise. Breach of promise. Despite the lawsuit and obviously bitter split, Annie remained committed to George in a manner that...

Kind of bordered on obsession. She was telling anyone who would listen that she was still very much in love with him and was going to win him back. Oh, I hate this. But was also suing him. Yeah. Now, given how protective George was of his wealth, it's likely that the breach of promise suit was intended to drive him back to her. She figured that's how she would get him back.

But it wasn't going to be that easy. But no. And also it's like, you want to sue someone to make them love you again? It doesn't work like that. That's what I don't get is it's like the end result, man. You're not getting what you want. And in the months and years that followed their breakup, Annie refused to give George a moment's peace or privacy. She would, quote, accost him whenever he showed himself and loudly beseech him to return to her loving arm.

Wow. The only thing that seemed to work in George's favor was that regardless of how publicly they carried out their affair, he had never made any written promises to marry her. So I don't think it was a... A full breach of promise. I was wrong there. I don't think verbal counted. I think it had to be written down. Now, as a result, his lawyer was able to get this breach of promise suit thrown out of court. But...

Annie immediately refiled, and George found himself fighting not only her lawsuit, but Sample's lawsuit that was, like I said, making its way to the Supreme Court. So he was in hell. I was just going to say, this sounds awful. Yeah.

It also, it's like a little bit of like, like this part of it is like karma. I think it's like his like free previous, like, you know, the first one was up there like pulling some shit. Oh, yeah. You know what, Georgie? Now, while the lawsuits were a costly and obviously stressful experience, George would come to find that they were, or at least should have been, the least of his concerns. Yeah.

After refiling her Breach of Promise suit, Annie's obsessive behavior took on a much more ominous tone. She started a routine of showing up outside the Saxton block early in the mornings, and she would stay camped outside all day waiting for George, who was obviously never happy to see her. Meanwhile, she's like, she was married, she had kids, whole life. But Sample took them back to Hanoverton, and she never went back. It's like, before this, it's like...

Yeah, she was like a very quote-unquote normal woman. Oh, yeah. Now, years later, William Cook, a resident of the building, told the court one evening, quote, he came home late at night to find all the lights on the second floor were out. Turning a light on, he discovered Annie George standing motionless and silent in front of George Saxton's room. Whoa.

Whoa. On another occasion, this same man returned late from the theater one evening and found Annie standing outside of Saxton's door with a pistol in her hand, which she tried to hide when she realized that he had spotted her. What the fuck? So she's essentially stalking him at this point. Like there's really not a better way to say it. No. In response to her increasingly disruptive and harassing behavior, George actually ended up filing a request for a restraining order against her.

And in turn, she made several public claims that he was running a sex work and gambling business out of the Saxton building, and the only reason she had been going to the building on a regular basis was to check on her belongings, which she claimed he was withholding from her after throwing her out. Jesus. So this is a fucking wreck. Yeah. The restraining order was granted in early 1896, effectively barring her from entering the Saxton building. Wow.

But that did not stop her from accosting George on the sidewalk or anywhere else in town, which she started doing much more often once he started dating a new woman publicly, Eva Althaus. Oh, no.

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It's unclear when Eva and George's relationship truly began, but by 1896 they were a full-fledged couple and would remain so until George's death. This, however, didn't stop Annie, who was completely still committed to convincing George to come back to her.

When Eva and George went out, Annie would follow them and at times just stalk them from one place to the other. By late 1897, so a year into them dating and just like her following them around all the time, her behavior had reached alarming new heights.

She would walk every single evening to the area around or directly outside of Eva's house where she would either wait for George to arrive on his bicycle and quote, entreat him not to enter Eva's house and return to her and please keep his pledge to marry her. Or she would just like stand outside and wait for him to come. What the? Can you imagine your new guy? No. Is pulling up to your house and his ex-

Is stopping him each time to be like, you don't want to go up there. You want to be with me. Like, I feel like, what the fuck? I don't know if I could handle that. No. I think I'd be like, listen, you're awesome, but like, you need to figure this out before we can be together. Because like, I don't want to get killed in the meantime. Oh, yeah. You don't want to deal with that. Because it's dangerous. Yeah. They get scary. Like, I know this is like a salacious story from the 1800s, but it's scary what happened. But it can get scary. Yeah. Yeah.

Now, if it happened that George managed to get inside the house before Annie arrived, she would just stand outside all evening, quote, varying her anguished cries for George's return with angry and often obscene abuse of Eva. What? Yeah. Are you kidding me? No, so she'd just stand outside this woman's house, like, screaming for George to come back to her and yelling obscenities about Eva. No. Which I'd be like, get the fuck off my property. No, yeah, that's not...

That's when you do the old, like, that's when the old plague habits come back and you piss in a bucket and empty it on the streets. Oops. Oops. That's my shit. When she wasn't causing an embarrassing public scene, Annie continued her legal pressure on George, filing multiple suits alleging, among other things, that he'd stolen her belongings or was holding them hostage inside his building.

It's not clear how serious these legal claims were or whether they might have just been thrown out by a judge, but George engaged in each battle, which...

You can understand why he wants to, but you're like, from the future, you're like, don't do it. Just give her back her shit. Yeah, like just stop it all. In one instance, he claimed that he had in fact been holding some of her belongings, but he was holding them as collateral for a loan of $300 that he'd given her several years earlier, and he'd never gotten any money back. And he said, I'll give her her belongings when she pays me back. When you pay me back.

Eventually, he relented because I think he just couldn't fucking take it. And he allowed Annie to retrieve some of her belongings. But that turned out to be a bad idea in the grand scheme of things because rather than putting an end to the matter, which I'm sure he thought it was going to do, she interpreted this as success. Like, he wants to see me. He invited me over. And she spent months finding reasons to enter the premises and access different things. Yeah.

Saxton's lawyer complained to the constable about it during all the lawsuit fighting, saying, she's got everything but the paper on the wall and now she wants that. Jeez.

Which I don't know if that was like him being hyperbolic or if she actually was like, I'd like the paper on the wall. I would like the paper on the wall. Who really knows? That'd be amazing. That'd be iconic. In the late 19th century, public awareness, obviously, or understanding of stalking and mental illness were way more limited than they are today. So while Annie's behavior may have been seen by her neighbors as strange or probably desperate, she was just deemed an overly emotional woman.

Of course. Rather than malicious or dangerous. Yeah. And aside from the restraining order barring her from entering the Saxton building, which was granted more on the grounds of it being private property than like harassment, George had little legal recourse and he was forced to endure years of aggressive daily assaults for man.

When she wasn't harassing him in person, which like she was doing pretty frequently, George was inundated with legal challenges and all these different suits. And the suits, at least as far as Annie were concerned, were intended to keep the two of them bound to one another. Yeah. So it was like her way of being like, I'll find you. I was going to say, I'll find you.

you. Exactly. Yeah, that's the like, I'm gonna legally bind us. Yeah. In one way or another. One way or another, I'm gonna bind you. I'm gonna sue you, sue you, sue you, sue you every day. Fine.

Finally, in January of 1898, one of those legal battles finally came to an end when the Ohio Supreme Court actually ruled in Sample George's favor in the years-long suit alleging that alienation of affections. And it resulted in Saxton being ordered to pay Sample $30,000. Whoa. But George sought to get an injunction to stop the verdict, arguing that at the time the suit was followed, Sample and Annie actually were already divorced.

And eventually, they ended up agreeing to settle the matter outside of court, and George paid Sample $1,825. Huh. Versus the 30 Gs. Yeah. Given all the time and effort that had gone into Sample's lawsuits against George Saxton, it struck everybody as odd that he would agree to like a fraction of a fraction of the settlement. Yeah.

Of the original claim. Like 1%. Yeah, like if that. However, the reason would soon become clear when the press discovered that Sample had been married for more than a year and had kept it secret. Oh. So as not, which like he was fully. The plot thickens. Well, he was fully within his bounds to do that because he was divorced. Yeah. But it just adds to the drama. But it doesn't make it look good because he's supposed to be like this heartbroken man. Yeah, of course. Yada, yada, yada. Yeah.

But anyway, the resolution of the alienation case may have been largely in George Saxton's favor, but everywhere else he turned, things were decidedly less pleasant, I guess you could say. Annie Sirosman only increased, and by then she had enlisted the press in her campaign to win George back by ruining everything in his life.

That's not how you form a relationship. That's not how I've ever gone about it. No. So who am I to say? Don't be a life ruiner and ruin people's lives. Yeah. And don't forget, this is all now like right around this time is when his sister is married to the president. Oh, so that's even more. Yeah. Yeah.

So like the president's brother-in-law is getting smeared in the press. Yeah.

Now, this is the time, like right around the time that William McKinley was like elected president. So the brother-in-law of the president is getting smeared in the press. Eek. Yeah. Now, fortunately, though, while the residents of Canton had come to expect certain types of behavior from both Annie and George, and certain people really kind of delighted in the gossip, luckily, the local press really rarely accommodated Annie's requests for them to print updates on personal squabbles. Because it got to the point where it's like...

You're doing this in the streets. We can all see it. Like, I don't need to write about it. Yeah, and it's like, they're going to start losing their reputation and credibility by printing everything she says. Exactly. And not actually looking into it. And just, like, mere squabbles. Yeah. So when that failed, Annie resorted to the only other thing she could think of to win George back. Regular and numerous threats against his life. I don't really understand the thought process here. Uh...

Neither do I. But okay. I guess it's a good thing that I don't understand the thought process here. I think it says good things about you. I think it does too. But throughout 1897 and well into 1898, nearly everyone in Canton, Ohio had become aware of the very toxic relationship that had developed between George and Annie. And while they...

may have been sympathetic, most of them knew exactly who was to blame for the acrimony. Under those circumstances, it probably came as no surprise to a lot of people when Annie started making threats against George's life to quite literally anyone and everyone who would listen.

In one instance in June of 1898, during a conversation with just an acquaintance on the sidewalk, Annie loudly exclaimed, if George Saxton does not keep his promise of marriage to me, I'll kill him. Damn him. I'll kill him.

Why do you, okay. I mean, why do you want to be married to someone who doesn't want to be married to you? I think it's just, obviously it's a mental illness and it's just like obsessed. Yeah, this is like true obsession. And it's like, she's scorned and you're not going to scorn her. You're going to follow through on your promise. Unbelievable to me. Like that's an unbelievable amount of...

It is. And it is worth noting, obviously, like we were saying earlier, like she left her whole fucking family for this man. She sure did. Yeah. I don't think he like asked her to. Yeah. But it was part of it, you know? Yeah, like that definitely fits into it for sure. So I think that definitely. Like she doesn't see her kids. She doesn't like. Yeah. She's totally isolated at this point. And obviously that's like partially a choice that she made. Absolutely. But I think that's definitely a driving factor. Yeah. Yeah.

I think so too. Exactly. And in the months that followed, the threats intensified in both detail and frequency. During a quilting bee, a motherfucking quilting bee. A quilting bee? With several women, Annie exclaimed, after the case is settled, there will be a wedding or a funeral. If he doesn't marry me, he'll not walk the streets of Canton another day. I'll shoot him dead. I need everyone to picture you are on one of your finest squares. Pfft.

And this lady, just casual conversation, is like, I'll be real with you. Here are the two things that are going to happen. One of these two things is going to happen. One of them is a funeral because I'm going to kill this man. Yeah. I'd be like...

You're harshing the mellow here. Like, you gotta go. I'm just trying to quilt. This is a motherfucking quilting bee. Like, this is for my newborn grandchild, Annie. I need you to chill. There should be no murder plots or murder admissions happening at a quilting bee. I would like to say that right now. You can't put murderous vibes into one of the coziest things on the planet. Yeah, that quilt is tarnished. It absolutely is. That's...

And, like, who's sitting next to her hearing this? Like, where did that... Like, she just casually drops this, and they're all just like, wow, yeah, that's...

That's wild, Annie. Well, luckily there was somebody there of sound mind. Okay, good. One of the ladies was like, yeah, so like a wedding would be awesome. I hope that happens for you. Yeah, like happy. But if you were to shoot him, you would definitely face serious consequences. And like, I'm sure you don't want to do that. Like, hush now. She's like, hon, that's murder. Here's another square. Yeah, please just concentrate on this, you know, double stitch. But when that woman was like, here, here. Yeah.

Annie replied to her that she had always gotten out of trouble before and she would get out of that kind too.

I'd be like, have you murdered before, though? Because that's a different kind of trouble. I would not ask any further questions. I would just count the hours until the quilting was over. I would just be like, there's varying levels of trouble that you can wiggle yourself out of. Murder. Murder is probably the highest. Top tier, I'd say. I'm going to go with the highest one. Top tier of things that are hard to get yourself out of. So don't do that. Okay.

Eventually, the incidents of threats were made directly to George and sometimes included physical assaults. In one instance, Annie stopped George and Eva as they were walking into Eva's house, and she grabbed George's arm and shouted, look here, you're not going into there tonight. Like saying, like, you're not going to Eva's place. What? What?

George managed to get himself free of her grasp by whacking her on the arm with his umbrella and then fled into the house. Like, had to whack this woman in the arm with his umbrella, which that's self-defense at that point. Oh, absolutely. And then had to run into his girlfriend's house. Like, the police aren't arresting her? No. No.

And, like, I didn't come across any, like, and she got, like, cited for this or anything like that. It was just happening. That's only, like, what is going on? They just had to endure this? Well, and I think he had gotten that restraining order, but it was only... I don't think restraining orders... Only for the Saxton buildings, right? And I don't think they were what they are now, you know? No, I don't think they were at all. I think it's, like, this is a small town. We can't, like, tell her she can't walk down the street. Yeah, like, you can't. Wow. Because it's just...

And it's the time frame, but you just think about like now it's like somebody would be like, you need to go to a hospital. Yeah. You need some treatment here. Like something needs to be done to bring you down a little bit. When you think back then, like they loved to throw us in the hospital, us women, for like... I know, that's true. But that's the thing. They would throw women in the hospital for nothing. For bullshit reasons. Yeah, for bullshit reasons. It was when there was real instances of mental health crisis that...

They were just like, well, that's annoying. I don't want to deal with that. And I think there wasn't a lot going on back then. And I hate to say this, but I think it was a source of entertainment for people in the town. Yeah, I think people... Like, to a degree. Like, gossiped about it. Yeah. Got to watch the interactions and... And I don't think anybody thought...

what ultimately ends up happening was going to happen. But then when it happens, they're like, yeah, that makes sense. That's the thing that like, as human beings, we need to get it together in so many ways. But in one way, we need to get it together.

When someone tells you that they're going to kill someone... They're probably going to kill that person. They do think about killing that person. Yeah. So you should tell someone. Yes. Blanket statement. I think that's... Overreact. Quilt statement. Quilt statement. Quilting bee statement right here.

Overreact. Yeah. Overreact. If someone tells you they're going to kill, hey, I really hate my mom. I would love to kill her someday. Things would be better if I just murdered her. Go tell someone. Go tell. Go tell someone. The guidance counselor. Go let someone know. The police. You can wash your hands of it after that, but go do your due diligence and go tell someone. Because we have covered so many fucking cases, especially lately, of people laying down word for word. Just the most...

non-subtle threats

Like the most conspicuous shit. They're just like, I am going to kill this person with an axe. And people are like, you know, it's so weird. I didn't think they would actually do it. And it's like they said it to you with their words. Like they said it to you from their face into your face. Take your face and go say it into someone else's face. And here's the thing. It's good that that's unbelievable to you. Like it's good that you and your heart of hearts don't think that's going to happen. I think that's because you yourself are like, well, I could never do that. And no one's ever told me I'm going to kill someone.

No. If someone told me I want to kill this person or I think about killing this person sometimes, I'm telling someone. So don't tell me your shit because I'm going to go blow your shit up. And that's the that on that. Spotlight right on your, like, you can't, I'm going to snitch. So.

So don't tell me. You should. I would. Exactly. It's never happened. I can't wrap my brain around these people that are just... It happens so often through history. No, it really is. It's wild. It really is quite alarming. And we haven't learned because we've covered cases from the 2000s where people were like, yeah, I don't know. They produced a murder weapon and told me they were going to do it, but I didn't think they would actually do it. Why would they do it? We got to stop.

Stop underestimating our fellow human beings. We should. We really do. In every different aspect. Yeah. Not even just like killing people. In the bad ways. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. There you go. Look at you turning it positive. That's what I do. You flip that right on its butt. That's what I do. I was like, stop underestimating that people aren't the shittiest things on the planet. And you're like, and that they're the best.

But anyway, on another occasion, Annie confronted the couple, Eva and George, as they walked home and she grabbed George's arm again, this time pulling a revolver from her pocket and forcing him to walk down the street with her.

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Call the police. Call the police. What's going on? This situation only ended when she actually dropped the revolver at one point and George was able to grab it from the ground and like speedily walk away from her. What the fuck? Given the way things were headed, it was only a matter of time before this situation reached a very tragic conclusion.

And that's where we are at right now. Oh, no. A little after 6 p.m. on the evening of October 7th, 1898. So like just before his birthday, too, like a couple weeks. Oh, yeah. Just as the working men and women of Canton were ending the day and making their way home, George Saxton was on his bicycle headed to his girlfriend Eva Althaus' place. At a nearby grocery store just right across the street from Eva's house, Henry Biederman was standing in the doorway of his store talking with another man, August Boren, the store's owner.

Whoa.

Which like, wow, what a first thought, sir. That is the most chilling shit I've ever heard. Saxton's finally getting it. It's like, someone is dying. And that's your immediate thought. Yeah. So the two men walked out to the sidewalk and peered around the corner in the direction of Eva's house, where they saw a figure approaching George Saxton, who lay on the stone walkway leading to Eva's door. The figure was wearing dark clothing, and from their build and the way they moved, Biederman thought that it looked like a woman. Damn.

The figure leaned down close to George and appeared to grab his arm and then stood up and fired twice more into his body. Holy shit. Before running off toward a nearby vacant lot and then disappearing into the woods.

So Henry Biederman was one of the first people to reach George, who by then was laying on his right side with his face turned toward the sidewalk. By then, the sun had gone down completely and there were no streetlights outside of Eva's house. So the men who assembled around the body actually couldn't make out who it was, but they knew. And even when Biederman turned the body over, several men around him had to light matches before they could confirm that it was George, which it was.

Remarkably, there were no obvious signs of violence. It literally just looked like he had fallen from his bicycle. What the fuck? A few feet away, his satchel had landed hard on the ground, scattering the contents, a nightshirt and a bottle of champagne, which we'll come back later, out onto Eva's lawn. And finally, after several minutes, somebody went to go get Police Sergeant William Hassler and a doctor, Dr. Edward Brandt.

Regardless of how it appeared to the crowd that had now assembled around the body, George Saxton was 100% dead and he had died violently. According to the autopsy, the first bullet entered his side above the right breast and then bounced off a suspender buckle and exited two inches above the entry wound. Holy shit. So it literally went in and then out. Yeah.

Oh, wow. ...which is wild. The second bullet entered the left side of his chest, grazed his ribs, and then exited near the left shoulder.

And the slug was later discovered amongst his clothing. As far as Brant could tell, those wounds were actually superficial and were unlikely the cause of death. So two of those shots would not have been fatal. Oh, wow. But the third wound was much more serious. That bullet had entered George's body under his left arm, penetrating his lungs and his diaphragm, severing multiple arteries before settling in his liver.

Damn. And the final bullet that entered his left side grazed his ribs, then penetrated his stomach, which caused a tear in one artery and in his small intestine. Oh. So Brant wasn't sure if it was the third bullet or the fourth that had been the cause of death, but he had concluded that it was the severing of the iliac artery that had killed Saxton almost immediately. Damn. Which...

If you have to go, thankfully, it happened pretty immediately. Oh my God, but that's so violent. So violent. Four shots. The bullets collected from the body and George's clothing were from a .38 caliber revolver and had all been fired at close range, close enough to leave burn marks on his clothing. Oh my God. So that's like really close. And burn marks on his clothing down to his underwear.

Wow. Isn't that crazy? Dr. Brandt concluded that the reason for the lack of blood at the scene of the shooting or on George's clothes was because the vast majority of his bleeding was actually going on internally. Oh, yeah, I'm sure. With all that going on? So horrific. Oh, yeah. As soon as the news of George's murder started to spread around Canton, there was literally not a shed of doubt in anyone's mind as to who killed him. You know who did it. And the search for Annie George began immediately. Literally.

Large teams of men spent hours combing Canton's downtown and residential areas, but there was no sign of her anywhere. At that time, she was at the home of her friend Florence Klinger, having arrived there at about 6.30 p.m. Florence lived about a mile away from Eva Althaus, a distance Annie could have easily covered in the half hour between the shooting and when she arrived at the home. Yeah.

The two women were said to have chatted for about 15 minutes or so, and then Annie stood up abruptly and told her friend she needed to go downtown to see her lawyer, James Sterling. So while the groups of men searching for Annie never had any luck locating her, several other people spotted her as she was walking through town on her way to Sterling's office. She exchanged pleasantries with several people as she walked through town, and many remarked that she appeared, quote, calm and unagitated.

Which, like, she hadn't appeared that way in a while. Yeah. After a stop at the lawyer's office, she returned home to Cora Oberlin's rooming house around 9 p.m., where she found several men, including a number of Canton police officers waiting for her, and she was immediately taken into custody for the murder of George Saxton. Oh, boy. Oh, boy.

So the next day, his murder had not only made the headlines of all the local papers, but of course, national ones as well. Since marrying William McKinley in 1871, Georgia's sister Ida had become a household name as the First Lady of Ohio, first, excuse me, as the First Lady of Ohio from 1892 to 1896. And then, like I said, as the First Lady of the United States starting in 1897.

Although Ida and George actually rarely saw one another and really only had like a casual relationship since they were young, the murder of the president's brother-in-law was big news no matter what. And it was made more so by the fact that the primary and only suspect in the case was a woman. Yeah. Like that was insane. Like that was shocking. Yeah. We're talking 1897. Oh, yeah. They weren't believing that women could do that. Exactly. Exactly.

Annie didn't resist her arrest, and she walked calmly with the officers back to the station, asking no questions and making no mention of George along the way, despite officers repeatedly asking her questions about where she had been that evening. And despite her stoicism, arresting officers would later say that she did seem agitated from the moment she was arrested. To them, it seemed like she was very tense, and they could see that she was sweating. Ooh. Yeah. Trying to hide it.

Mm-hmm. The officers actually made a point to look closely at her hands as they walked back to the station, and they noted that one of her hands was discolored and looked to be smeared in what they believed to be gunpowder. Boom. They also noticed that the right side of her dress was covered in Spanish needles and burrs, like the ones that were literally scattered around Eva's front yard.

Wow. Yeah. So she didn't do a good job hiding it. No, not at all. So they reached the station a little after 9 p.m., at which point Annie was immediately peppered with questions by a prosecutor. In response, she only asked that her attorney and mayor of Canton, James Rice, be contacted, saying she would answer questions once he arrived.

And fortunately, her request for her attorney was repeatedly ignored, which was like not great. That's not part of protocol. That's bad police work. Yeah, that's bad. That's going to fuck you up in trial. Yeah. Officials and reporters rapidly hurled questions at her asking about everything from her threats to George's life, to her movements that evening, why she was covered in burrs. But when it was finally clear that they were not going to get anything out of her, they gave up and she was handed over to the jail physician for a physical examination.

In the days that followed, a very unusual story began unfolding in the press. While Annie remained mostly silent on whether or not she had shot George, there was very little doubt among the public as to her guilt. But what was remarkable was that many people in and around Canton actually sympathized or at the very least understood her actions.

What? One reporter wrote, sentiment is divided between the belief that her wrongs palliate the criminal madness of the deed and the declaration of the act was the last resort of a follied and financially ruined woman.

That's from the Boston Globe. And it's like she, again, it takes two to tango here, but like two to tango. She had to make the decision to leave her family. Yeah. This man. And you have been like assaulting this man, berating this man for years. And no one feels bad for him. Like, yeah, it's fucked up that he left her in the way that he did. Absolutely. I'm not going to sit here and argue that. Absolutely. But you're allowed to leave someone. You should do it in a cooler manner.

But just because you don't do it in a nicer way doesn't mean you deserve to be stalked and harassed and assaulted and then ultimately murdered. And shot.

Right. Exactly. Right.

Wow. It's like, that's crazy. That's unbelievable to me. That's absolutely insane. Yeah, that's truly unbelievable. On Monday, October 10th, she was arraigned before Justice Jacob Rayner, where she pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder and asked that the hearing take place as soon as possible. She was like, let's get this going. Let's get this over with. I'm not guilty. Let's go. Yeah.

The trial of the woman who allegedly shot the president's brother-in-law was itself, in and of itself, an object of fascination around the country. But in Ohio, it was also a chance to test a newly enacted law that allowed the jury to determine the degree of the crime in capital murder cases.

Given the degree of vitriol and acrimony demonstrated in the years leading up to the murder, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to set a precedent. Oh, there you go. So that's why they were doing that. So they were excited. They were like, ooh, legal, legal, legal. Yeah, legal, legal, legal, legal.

The following day, Annie appeared before a grand jury where the prosecution presented the evidence against her. Among the more compelling pieces of evidence was proof that in the days before George's murder, she had traveled to Chicago and purchased a .38 caliber revolver.

That's what we call a smoking gun. Quite literally. Although investigators had been unable to locate that gun, they did have a statement from a witness that Annie said she intended to use this very gun to shoot George just as soon as the alienation case had been settled between Saxton and Sample George, which it had been. So she bought a gun that was used in the murder.

And then that same gun is the one that she blatantly told someone, I'm going to use this gun to kill this man who happens to be killed by a gun such as that. That exact kind of gun. And I'm going to do it at this exact time. And then it happened at that exact time.

And she's still like, I didn't do it. Didn't do it. And... Like, what? Problem for the prosecution, they didn't have the gun. Yeah. They couldn't find it. That's the problem. They do not have the smoking gun. They do not. Now, in her defense, attorney James Rice, also the mayor, argued that it was not Annie who had killed George, but a man dressed in women's clothing so as to throw investigators off their trail.

What? Like, sir? Sir? This is a Wendy's. Is the defense in the room with us? Yeah. What? In support of their theory, Rice emphasized that there had only been one witness to the shooting. False. And he was too far away to make out any details of the shooter, only that they appeared to be a woman based almost entirely on the fact that they were dressed in women's clothes. It's like...

Okay. Okay. Sure. Now, it should be said that not only was a significant amount of the public sympathetic to Annie, but just as many doubted the case would ever make it to trial. Wow. Like, I don't even think this will go to trial. The only witness to the crime couldn't positively identify the shooter or say with certainty now that it was a woman.

much less Annie George. Oh, geez. And while the prosecutor was more than competent, Annie literally had the mayor of Canton, James Rice, arguing on her behalf. That's wild. And he was backed by some of the country's most prominent attorneys. I'm so confused by that. It's crazy. Like, what? You're like, how is that not a conflict of interest? I would think so, too. The prosecution, on the other hand...

had George Saxton, a man who most people faked their respect toward, unfortunately, and who few really genuinely liked when it came down to it. Yeah. Like, they liked chatting with him in town because I think it was good to be seen with him. Yeah. But when it came down to it, they all talked shit about him when he was back. Yeah.

And in an editorial published a few weeks later, one journalist wrote, it seems that everybody in Canton was glad that somebody killed Saxton as no home was safe while he lived. At the time of the shooting, he was living with Mrs. Althaus. Rich, his only business was that of a family wrecker. Mrs. Althaus was one of his victims. Even the man who saw the shooting did not cross the street to interfere.

That's pretty brutal. Yeah, he was getting... Like, that's pretty brutal. No, that's awful. He was getting... Like, this man just got killed in the street. And I feel like this happens so much when... And we get so upset. And, like, I'm upset right now. We get so upset when this happens with, like, women, too. Yeah. Because I feel like most often this happens to women that they're, like, smeared in court later on. But I'm like, damn, you guys did it to George? Yeah, like, damn. The president's brother-in-law? You were like, eh, fuck him. And this guy who was enduring, like...

Some of the worst stalking and harassment and assault. Yeah, not only was he a shooting victim, but he was a victim of assault. Yeah, for months. Of stalking, of like, you name it. And it's like, yeah, okay. So he was, you know... He liked to go after ladies that maybe... He was a good time guy. Yeah. He was, you know, like, yeah, he was a homewrecker. Like, it's just that he was. It is what it is. And it's like, it's just the fact of the matter. But it's like, that doesn't...

To define him by that after he's been murdered in the street. He's so much more than just that one thing. It just seems callous to me. It's like, yeah, definitely.

That was a part of what he did. But does he deserve to die? No. That way? Like, come on. That's the thing. Yeah. After hearing the evidence, though, presented by the prosecution, as well as the evidence collected during the coroner's inquest held a day earlier, the grand jury handed down the indictment and Annie was bound over for trial. So this was going to trial. Yeah. However, while this seemed like a positive step toward getting justice for George, everyone really knew that the case against Annie was slim and very circumstantial. Damn.

The prosecution's evidence amounted to a witness seeing Annie in the area shortly before the shooting, a dirty dress, some gunpowder residue maybe on her hands, and a long history of threatening and stalking behavior, which when chalked up all together, like, it is a lot. Seems pretty good. I mean, yeah, there's a lot of things. But it's like this lady was walking around to anybody. She was going to, like, anybody who would listen. Yeah. Anybody who had ears, she was telling she was going to murder this man. Yeah. Yeah.

Like, that does need to be taken into account. Absolutely. Because nine times out of ten, they follow through and they do it. Yeah, exactly. We've seen this time and time again. This is a wild case. Yeah. So despite the high-profile nature of the case and how well everyone in Stark County knew the toxic history between Annie and George, jury selection was completed very quickly, and the trial got underway on April 8, 1899. Okay.

Arguing for the state was county prosecutor Atlee Pomerantz, while the defense team was led by Canton Mayor, like I said, James Rice.

In his opening statement, Pomerantz laid out the state's case that on the evening of October 6th, George got on his bicycle and headed to the home of his girlfriend, arriving in the vicinity a little after 6 p.m. At the same time, witnesses saw Annie board a streetcar headed in the direction of Eva's house. According to Pomerantz, the two met on the sidewalk outside of Eva's house, where Annie fired two shots at George, who immediately dropped to the ground.

After hearing George cry out for help, she approached and stood over him, firing twice more at close range, killing him instantly. In support of this theory, Pomerantz explained to the jury that officers found, quote, Mrs. George's fingers were blackened with burned powder when arrested, and that she had not only threatened to kill Saxton, but had long planned how to do it, and that she had outlined her plans to another party. So they were like, they're saying exactly what they're saying, what we're saying is like,

this is how it happened. Someone literally saw her in the vicinity, like a mile away. And then she has all this gunpowder on her hands and she's been telling people for fucking years that she was going to do this. Like, you got to follow the breadcrumbs here. When something happens the exact way that somebody said they were going to do it. They did it. They did it.

They didn't. Come on. Come on. By that time, a great deal of media attention and gossip had focused on the scandalous and ultimately ugly relationship that existed between the two of them, which some viewed as an explanation for the crime. But in the months since her arrest, some in the press and residents of Canton had raised George's history with women, almost like I was saying, as a justification for the shooting.

Rumors and innuendo that not started by the defense were still encouraged by Rice, Sterling, and Welty. All of the defense. It's fucked up. The defense didn't start the rumors, but they were like,

They're not stopping them. We're not going to stop them. Exactly. People knew that at the time of his death, too, George was traveling to Eva's home with a bottle of champagne in his nightclothes, which was very curious given that although he had a key to the house, Eva was away and not expected to return for several days. The implication being, who was he there to meet?

Oh, no. Yeah. That's not great. In anticipation of the questions and implications this raised, Pomerantz, the prosecutor, told the jury he cares not what relations were shown to have existed between the two and that they were not such as to have justified the crime. So it's like, while he may have been going to his girlfriend's house to meet up with the mistress, like, that sucks, but that doesn't mean that he didn't get shot by Annie on the way. Yeah, this doesn't have anything to do with it. Yeah. Yeah.

That's neither here nor there. Exactly. It's like when we say when they bring up like a victim's sexual history or like their dating history and it's like, that's fucked up. It is fucked up. Like, because we should be looking at the task at hand here. When it's like, that's just gossip for gossip's sake when it comes down to it. It's true. It's true.

The next day, defense attorney John Welty gave his opening remarks to the jury, during which he laid out the broad argument for Annie's defense. He opened by complimenting the jury, telling them, quote, his client was satisfied to leave her life and liberty in their hands. She felt confident in them.

From there, Welty gave the jury an overview of the legal history between Saxton and the Georges, including George Saxton's supposed promise to marry Annie, and the extent of his seduction and deception in luring her away from her husband and convincing her to divorce Sample and abandon their family.

Yeah. It doesn't look great. It doesn't sound great when you put it all together. It was true, he acknowledged, that there had been some threats made over the years. Sure, sure, sure. Oh, yeah. But they were nothing at all as menacing as the prosecution made them sound. Instead, he claimed, they were simply the frustrated outbursts of a woman scorned.

In fact, in his opinion, the degree of passion evident in that frustration and those outbursts were, if anything, evidence that showed the extent of Annie's love for George, even after he had abandoned her and left her destitute.

She loves him. That's why she talks about killing him so much. Now, I know some of you listening have also found yourself scorned. Yeah. By someone you loved. Most of us have. I don't... I didn't walk around saying that, you know, I was going to kill that man. No. I just didn't. Laying out exactly how... Nope. Showing people a murder weapon, like... No. No. Like, you don't go around saying...

You are legitimately going and you don't follow them around. You don't assault them. You don't stalk them. You don't hold revolvers to their heads and walk them down the street. You don't you

You don't make it so they have to whack you with an umbrella to get you off of them. Like, I'm sorry, but in my book, walking around talking about how much you're going to kill someone and like how much you want to kill that person, to me, doesn't show how much you love them. Call me crazy. That's not how me and John's love story started. That's not our love language around here. That wasn't our love language. Maybe it is somewhere else, but it's not here.

But since the prosecution had very little evidence against Annie, physical evidence against Annie, and no witnesses that could put the gun directly in her hand or place her at the scene beyond reasonable doubt, Pomerantz had to convince the jury that the circumstantial evidence amounted to irrefutable guilt. So to do this, they offered testimony from the arresting officers who told the jury how Annie appeared nervous when arrested and how they found evidence of her having recently fired a pistol.

literal arresting officers were like, when we arrested her, she had gunpowder on her hands. Like, no, we don't have pics of it because I don't even know about cameras right now. Yeah, he's like, cameras? I don't know her. They might have been around. I don't know. But...

Like, that's coming out of the arresting officer's mouth. Like, they're saying there's GSR on her hand, man. Exactly. And that, along with everything else, like, come on. Yeah. Additional witnesses included the streetcar driver who testified that Annie got out of the car near Eva's at the time of the shooting. And...

several friends and acquaintances who told the story of Annie's desperate attempts to reconcile with George, and failing that, the number of times she had threatened his life. Exactly. Oh, and cameras were invented, by the way. It was 1816. I had a feeling they were. But they were definitely those big, like, poof cameras that you had to, like, you know. Yeah, and I don't know if they were really, like, photographing evidence. Well, I don't think they were just, like, pulling one out of their pocket and, like, taking a quick, you know, photo, like, macro photo of GSR on someone's hands. Exactly. Exactly.

Now, Annie never testified on her own behalf, but she didn't really have to. Her demeanor and performance from behind the defense table was more than enough for the jury to witness. Oh, I'm sure.

As she listened to her people arguing on her behalf, quote, the serenity with which she had faced the jury gave way to the appearance of sorrow. Her eyes were moist and downcast. Her manner was natural enough in view of Welty's graphic description of events from the time that she left Hanoverton as an innocent and contended woman to the time when she was cast adrift by Saxton.

So she was fucking hamming it up. She was hamming it up. Oh, yeah, she was. I was going to say beefing it up. She was beefing it up. That's not it. She was playing the part. She was. To listen to the defense, one would have assumed, though, that it was George Saxton who was on trial. Not me. Yeah.

But things got even worse for the prosecution when the defense entered several scraps of shredded paper into evidence that, when reassembled, compromised a series of notes between George Saxton and Jake Mintz, the head of a private investigation agency employed by Saxton.

So the defense called Mintz to the stand and he testified, quote, Saxton came to Cleveland and engaged me to secure evidence against Mrs. George. Saxton by this time was tired of the woman and wanted to get rid of her. His idea was to catch her together with another man and have her sent to the workhouse. He thought that would end her.

Well, shit. It didn't mean like, he didn't mean like he wanted to kill her, but he was like, I need to get rid of her. So like have her sent to a workhouse. And workhouses are... Fucked up. That's also brutal and super callous of him. Like that's fucked up. Yeah, this is a horrific story on both ends. Like he was just like, yeah, send her to a workhouse. It's like where she might die. Exactly. Okay. Like, hmm.

And not great, everybody. No, this is not a love story. Damn, no. Despite the fact that this was a murder trial and Mintz's business dealings with Saxton really had little bearing on the case, the defense still used this as evidence of Georgia's cruelty towards Annie, and it worked. And as support for their argument that any outbursts or threatening behavior from her was only the natural result of a woman pushed to the brink of madness by a callous and abusive man.

Wow. So after three weeks of evidence and testimony, closing remarks came on April 27th, 1899. So we are literally almost in the 1900s. Wow, look at us. The prosecution revisited the stronger points of their case, including the fact that Annie had made countless threats against George and even physically assaulted him and again had been seen in the area at the fucking time of the crime. Come on. The evidence may have been circumstantial, but it was also compelling and pointed to her as the most likely suspect in the murder. Yeah.

When it came time for the defense to give closing remarks, James Sterling, the fucking mayor, took a play from Welty's strategy and began by complimenting the prosecutor.

Oh, wow. Pomerance, he told the jury, was, quote, an elegant gentleman. He's a good lawyer and a nice fellow. And that man said, flattery will get you everywhere with me, sir. Exactly. He continued basically saying it was not the prosecutor's fault that he had been led astray by bad advice and false stories. And he had no doubt regretted building a case on such flimsy evidence. Oh, that is so underhanded. Like, that is so just like, mm. Like, there, there. It's not your fault that you're dumb. There, there, moron. Like, tweet.

Damn. Said after all, they had presented a case based on threats made by a frustrated, heartbroken woman. And as Sterling pointed out, quote, it does not follow that because threats were made, they were executed.

Yes, it does. But when they are executed, I feel like that's when you can color those dots in. He said no. No. In a stern tone, he went on to say, the more I think of it, the more astounded I am to think of it, that an officer of this court, a member of the Stark County Bar, should hold it to be the rule that suspicion, missing links, and distorted ideas are evidence of guilt.

So he literally was like, I can't even believe you're a lawyer. He's like, wow, you suck at this. He started off by being like, you are an elegant man. And then ended with like, but I can't believe you're a lawyer. You sure are elegant, but you suck at this. You're dumb. Yeah. Over the course of the next three weeks, the defense team barely acknowledged the evidence against their client. Or over the course of the last three weeks, excuse me. The defense barely acknowledged the evidence against their client. And they never considered entering a plea of insanity. They weren't even going to do that. Which why wouldn't you?

You would think that would be the easiest thing, and I think they would have got that. You would get that in a hot second. But they wanted her to get off scot-free. They just operated from the very reasonable and very legitimate position that threats and innuendo made by an irate person didn't make them guilty of murder, no matter how close they were to the scene of crime when it happened.

Very reasonable. Wow. All right. I say that with sarcasm. Yeah. They strengthened their case by reminding the jury and everybody else in the courtroom that George Saxton had a long history as basically what they said was a self-centered playboy and a homewrecker. Just in case anybody questioned why Annie had become so desperate. Yeah. Under the circumstances, it was a questionable and tacky case.

But it worked. The jury deliberated for nearly 23 hours and voted a total of 22 times before returning a verdict of not guilty. How the fuck did that happen? Not guilty. Wow. I don't know. Like, come on. Now, given the weak case against her, like, I say weak because it's circumstantial, but it's really not. Yeah.

Annie's acquittal came as a surprise to very few people. Given that, the residents of Canton were shocked six months later when new evidence came to light that likely would have seriously had important bearing had it become known to the prosecution at the time of the trial. Uh-oh.

In July 1899, 15-year-old Russell Hogan was arrested in Chicago and brought before the juvenile court to face a charge of disorderly conduct when he told the prosecutor he had witnessed the shooting of George Saxton. He said, I was standing right across Lincoln Avenue from Mrs. Althaus' place and saw Mr. Saxton on the porch and I saw Mrs. George shoot him. Wow.

Wow. When the judge was like, why the fuck didn't you tell anybody about this sooner? He said, I was afraid they might do something to me if I told what I seen. So I left home and traveled all over the country since then.

Holy shit. So he was like carrying that with him. Yeah. According to the press, Hogan had told the story to others prior to his arrest and was generally believed to be trustworthy. Wow. Not to mention, he hadn't told the story in exchange for any type of plea and he didn't expect anything in exchange for the information. It was literally just like, I think,

he needed to get it off of his chest. Which led the authorities to conclude that he was most likely telling the truth. Holy shit. But regardless of his truthfulness, Annie had already been acquitted of George's murder. Double jeopardy, my friend. And she couldn't be retried. So in the end, his eyewitness testimony was useless. Why did he wait so long? I know. He was just scared, I think.

A few years later, Annie relocated to Akron, Ohio, where she met and married local physician Dr. Arthur Rideout. Annie's past and the near certainty of her guilt caused a stir among the residents of Akron, and the scandal eventually forced them to relocate. Little is known about her life from that point forward, but in July of 1906, the Akron Beacon Journal reported on Arthur Rideout's quote-unquote suicide.

Oh. He was quoted as telling Annie on the night of his death, I am tired and sleepy. I shall go to bed. The following morning, Annie went to check on her husband and found his lifeless body hanging by a belt from the chandelier. Oh, wow. His cause of death was listed as strangulation and he left no note and there was no reason that anybody knew as to why he would end his life.

Oh, boy. Annie Rideout died June 25th, 1922. Wow. Of unknown causes and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Holy shit. And that is the story of the murder of George Saxton and Annie George Rideout. Wow. That's a little sketchy. That's very sketchy. Everybody was like, he had no reason to do that. And the last thing he said was like, I'm sleepy. I'm going to go to bed.

That's wild. And the fact that that kid came forward later and was like, I saw the whole thing. Like I literally saw all of it. And I'm just telling you this to get it off my chest. I don't have anything to gain from this. That's brutal.

Yeah. Damn. And it's really, it's just, and we said it the whole way through, but it's just so fucked up that everybody was like, yeah, I guess he drove her to it. And like, yeah, I guess he's kind of a fuckboy. It's like, yeah. Murder him on the street. Many a fuckboy in my life, but I've never wanted to kill any of them. Or never thought like they deserved anything. I'm not going to murder them on the street. Like, Jesus. God damn, y'all. That's wild. Crazy. What a, what a crazy tale. I know. Annie. Absolutely bonkers. Damn.

So yeah, we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you run around telling people that you're going to kill somebody and then actually go and kill them and get away with it because we don't condone that kind of behavior here. We don't. Thank you. Goodbye. Bye.

She struck him with her motor vehicle. She had been under the influence and then she left him there.

In January 2022, local woman Karen Reed was implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe. It was alleged that after an innocent night out for drinks with friends, Karen and John got into a lover's quarrel en route to the next location. What happens next depends on who you ask.

Was it a crime of passion? If you believe the prosecution, it's because the evidence was so compelling. This was clearly an intentional act. And his cause of death was blunt force trauma with hypothermia. Or a corrupt police cover-up. If you believe the defense theory, however, this was all a cover-up to prevent one of their own from going down. Everyone had an opinion.

And after the 10-week trial, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision. To end in a mistrial, it's just a confirmation of just how complicated this case is. Law and Crime presents the most in-depth analysis to date of the sensational case in Karen. You can listen to Karen exclusively with Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.