Today’s Expensive Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
A great deal of forethought and planning went into a double suicide in Paris in the 19th century. Two young men decided to dine out in grand style, no expense spared. The best food on the menu was accompanied by superior champagne and followed by cognac—and the bill. The youths had attracted attention throughout their meal by their loud and raucous laughter. The bill caused them to break into even louder guffaws. They called for the owner.
… the elder of the two informed him that the dinner was excellent, which was the more fortunate, as it was decidedly the last that either of them should ever eat; that for his bill he must of necessity excuse the payment as neither of them possessed a single sou; that upon no other occasion would they have thus violated the customary etiquette between guest and landlord; but that finding this world with its toils and its troubles unworthy of them, they had determined once more to enjoy a repast and then take their leave of existence! For the first part of this resolution, he declared that it had, thanks to the cook and his cellar, been achieved nobly; that for the last, it would soon follow, for the café noir, besides the little glass of his admirable cognac, had been medicated with that which would speedily settle all their accounts for them.
There was little the restaurateur could do except inform the police. Alas, by the time the gendarmes arrived at their lodging, the poison had taken effect.
Culled from: Death: A History of Man’s Obsessions and Fears
Sing Sing Death House Prisoner Du Jour!
NAME: Bernard Stein
NUMBER: 109-944
AGE: 34
OCCUPATION: Bartender
MARITAL: Separated, 1 child
PHYSICAL: 5’9-3/4″, 151 lbs.
RESIDENCE: Chicago
CRIME: Shot Sol Moss, Mayfair Grill, night, 7-10-46
ACCOMPLICES: John Reilly, Milton Shaket
CLAIMS: Claims innocence
JUDGE: Donnellan, New York Court of General Sessions
SENTENCED: 11-6-50
RECEIVED: 11-6-50
EXECUTED: 3-6-52
Dear Warden:
From the week of February 3—Bernard Stein will go to the chair as the newspaper mentioned. This man is 34 years old, I feel bad for any youth going to his death. Try to make his little time somehow to have a little value—be not hard with him. Somehow I know you are human. The reason I took time to write this is because I feel bad for broken people like Stein he is so young and must die so early. The prison priest understands this situation—so warden guess I was compelled to write the words down where human feelings are concerned. I know warden you are a man with a proud position so I don’t want to take up more of your precious time so I will come now to a polite close.
Devotedly,
Frederick
Culled from: Condemned: Inside the Sing Sing Death House
Here’s an article I found that provides a few more details:
2d Trial Jury Dooms Killer of Union Agent
Bernard Stein, 35, who won a jury disagreement at his first murder trial, didn’t at his second yesterday. The jury found him guilty of murder in the first degree, with no recommendation of clemency, in connection with the shooting of Sol Moss, 35, a union business agent, on July 10, 1946, during a stickup in the Mayfair Cafe, 169 W. 47th St.
General Sessions Judge George L. Donnellan will sentence him Monday to the same fate already imposed on two accomplices, Milton Shaket and John Reilly, both electrocuted in Sing Sing Sept. 16, 1948.
Stein’s conviction at his second trial resulted largely from the painstaking work of Detectives James Leach and John Kennedy of the W. 47th St. station, who, after following clues all over the country, rounded up three vital witnesses who had been absent at the first trial.
Moss, of 219 Miriam St., Bronx, was agent for Local 10 of the AFL International Ladies’ Garment Workers.
– Daily News, November 3, 1950
Andersonville Prisoner Diary Entry Du Jour!
This is the continuation of the 1864 diary of Andersonville prisoner Private George A. Hitchcock (see the archived version for all entries up until now).
Here’s today’s entry:
October 28th. Hard toothache and poor night’s rest. Washed in the creek and mended shirt. Traded off my ration of beans for an excellent ration of rice. A mud shanty fell in, breaking one man’s back and badly crippling two others.
Culled from: Andersonville: Giving Up the Ghost