EPISODE · Aug 1, 2025 · 52 MIN
Robert Buchanan, Perfecting the Method
from Poisoned History · host Suzanne
Robert Buchanan was a doctor in New York in the late 1800s who divorced his first wife in order to marry a brothel-owning woman from Newark, New Jersey. When she turned up dead, it seemed like it had been from natural causes, but his friends and acquaintances had some pointed questions and some suspicious letters to share with the police.Sources and resources:Peole v. Buchanan, Court of Appeals of the State of New York, Feb 26, 1895. https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914cf45add7b04934820597https://nyli.omeka.net/exhibits/show/celebrated-trials/murder-trials/buchanan-poisoning-trialBuchanan’s trial begun, New York Times, March 28, 1893, Page 9. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/03/28/109696522.html?pageNumber=9 https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/7321/08_14YaleJL_Human177_2002_.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y, page 17.Robert Buchanan Trial: 1893, Encyclopedia.com, Law magazines, https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/robert-buchanan-trial-1893Food poisoning, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/science/foodborne-illnessCadaverine, Pubchem, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Cadaverine#section=OdorWikipediaThis podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.Cover art photos: drawing, public domain.
What this episode covers
Robert Buchanan was a doctor in New York in the late 1800s who divorced his first wife in order to marry a brothel-owning woman from Newark, New Jersey. When she turned up dead, it seemed like it had been from natural causes, but his friends and acquaintances had some pointed questions and some suspicious letters to share with the police.Sources and resources:Peole v. Buchanan, Court of Appeals of the State of New York, Feb 26, 1895. https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914cf45add7b04934820597https://nyli.omeka.net/exhibits/show/celebrated-trials/murder-trials/buchanan-poisoning-trialBuchanan’s trial begun, New York Times, March 28, 1893, Page 9. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/03/28/109696522.html?pageNumber=9 https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/7321/08_14YaleJL_Human177_2002_.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y, page 17.Robert Buchanan Trial: 1893, Encyclopedia.com, Law magazines, https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/robert-buchanan-trial-1893Food poisoning, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/science/foodborne-illnessCadaverine, Pubchem, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Cadaverine#section=OdorWikipediaThis podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.Cover art photos: drawing, public domain.
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Robert Buchanan, Perfecting the Method
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