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469:(nine days after Lamont disappeared), Williams told her friends at her boarding house that she was going to a church member meeting, at the home of a church elder named Vogel; it was Vogel's wife, Mary, who had seen Durrant walking with Blanche Lamont on the day she disappeared. A few minutes after 7:00 p.m., she was seen in an apparently heated discussion with Durrant in front of the church.
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Mrs. Noble came to the church looking for Lamont a few hours later, during the evening prayer service. Durrant approached Noble and inquired about
Blanche; she told him that she was worried about her. Durrant told Noble that he was sorry that Blanche was not there, but that he would come to her house
419:
and organist, who was practicing hymns on the organ, testified that
Durrant came downstairs at 5:00 p.m. looking pale and shaken. Durrant had given him some money, requesting for him to go to a nearby drugstore and purchase some medicine, in the hopes that he may feel better. Mr. King returned a
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It is believed that young
Durrant suffered from manic depression. There were unsubstantiated rumors of a dark side to Durrant's personality. One claimed that he occasionally visited brothels in San Francisco's Commercial Street, where allegedly he once brought with him, in a sack or a small crate, a
523:
The defense challenged her testimony about Lamont's weight, which she stated was approximately 122 pounds, with their claim that she weighed 140 and that it would impossible for
Durrant to carry her up to the belltower. She also identified a diamond chip ring she had given Lamont that a man who was
447:
Police questioned
Durrant because he was the last person Blanche was seen with and, additionally, because a young woman of the church said that she had once come upon Durrant in the nude at the church library. Police did not have a body, or any evidence that anything had happened to Blanche, so she
443:
district. These were determined to belong to
Blanche Lamont. That same afternoon, Mrs. Noble received an unexpected package, consisting of several rings belonging to the missing Blanche. Strangely, the package was directed to George King (the church choir director); his name was written on wrapping
519:
A primary witness against
Durrant was Blanche Lamont's sister, Maud Lamont. She gave an account of her sister's life before her disappearance. She testified that Durrant often came to pick Lamont up to escort her to church and then home and that he came to her house offering to search for Lamont
407:
On April 3, 1895, Durrant met Lamont at the Polk Street electric trolley stop just after 2:00 p.m. They rode together to the 21st Street stop. Other people on the trolley stated that they were very close and that
Durrant was whispering into Lamont's ear and tapping at her lightly with his
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body inside. The police were called and the body was identified as Minnie
Williams. The church and grounds were searched for any clues and for Blanche Lamont, whom police now suspected to be there. Nothing was found until a church member remembered that they had not searched the
235:(1871 – January 7, 1898), known as "The Demon of the Belfry", was hanged for two murders committed at San Francisco's Emmanuel Baptist Church, where he was assistant superintendent of the Sunday School. He maintained his innocence of the crimes. His sister was stage dancer
497:. Police went up into the belfry and found Blanche Lamont. She was badly mutilated and nude with her head wedged between two boards. Police immediately began a search for Theodore Durrant, who was the last one seen with both
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During this time, Durrant began refocusing his attentions on 21-year old Minnie Flora
Williams (August 1873 – April 12, 1895), also an Emmanuel Baptist parishioner. At 7:00 p.m. on April 12, 1895, which was
432:, and/or that she may have run away to become a sex-worker of her own accord, thus "abandoning her religious virtues". Mrs. Noble found these notions to be bizarre and unsettling, and highly unlikely.
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supposedly Durrant had tried to sell. His attorney defended him by citing lack of blood on him or his clothes and shifting blame to the church pastor, but Durrant was convicted and sentenced to be
566:, responded to the theatrical event by publishing an allegation in his newsletter that the production was meant to sap British military and spiritual values by introducing indecent ideas (i.e.,
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A Mrs. Caroline Leak saw them enter the church together; Mrs. Leak, who later testified at Durrant's trial, was the last person known to see Blanche Lamont alive. George King, the church
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The argument was loud enough to alert a passerby, named Hodgkins, to stop and intervene. Hodgkins later testified that Durrant's manner was not becoming to a
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At the time of his arrest, Durrant was a 23-year old medical student at Cooper Medical College in San Francisco, assistant superintendent of the
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later to bring a book for her. Mrs. Noble later said that he did come by later with the book, having even suggested that Lamont might have been
274:
pigeon or a chicken, and at a certain time during the evening's debauch he cut the bird's throat and let the blood trickle over his body".
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paper, packed around Blanche's rings. It was three days after her disappearance that Mrs. Noble had reported her missing to the police.
532:. Durrant never confessed to the murders and claimed his innocence until his death. Durrant was granted a temporary reprieve in 1897.
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short time later, and said Durrant seemed somewhat better by then, though still complaining of lingering "fatigue" and "dizziness".
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577:; and as evidence of character, Billing resurrected the Durrant scandal, a move that was not effectively suppressed by the court.
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Twenty years after his execution, Durrant's name was resurrected as circumstantial evidence in a libel suit filed by his sister,
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251:, to William Durrant, a shoemaker, and his wife, Isabella Hutchenson Durrant. The family immigrated to
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Blanche Lamont (1875 – April 3, 1895) was a 20-year old who had been teaching at a one-room school in
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488:. One of the ladies went to a cabinet to get cups and when she opened the door she found a mutilated
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at the 21st Street Emmanuel Baptist Church and a member of the California Signal Corps.
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781:. San Francisco, California. January 16, 2023. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
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Sunday. He was charged with the murders of Blanche Lamont and Minnie Williams. The
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683:"The Tale of the 'Demon of the Belfry,' San Francisco's Forgotten Jack the Ripper"
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551:. Allan and her producer had attempted to mount a little theatre production of
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On Saturday April 13, the women of the church were decorating the church for
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An aviator, politician, and publisher of a right-wing political newsletter,
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Sympathy for the Devil: The Emanuel Baptist Murders in Old San Francisco
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312: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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912:
Wilde's Last Stand: Decadence, Conspiracy & The First World War
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was covered by major newspapers across the United States.
978:(Durrant hanging), August Mencken - Hastings House 1942
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The execution was carried out on January 7, 1898, at
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some women's rings at a pawn shop in San Francisco's
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49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
727:. San Francisco. September 12, 1895. p. 6
508:unit, where he was apprehended the next day,
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1032:19th-century executions by the United States
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247:William Henry Theodore Durrant was born in
1042:19th-century executions of American people
852:"Mr. Billing's Trial: Evidence of Doctors"
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133:
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1077:Criminals from the San Francisco Bay Area
950:Lawman: The Life and Times of Harry Morse
801:. San Francisco. June 10, 2012. p. 3
570:) into the public from Wilde's writings.
372:Learn how and when to remove this message
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
1057:People executed by California by hanging
1052:People convicted of murder by California
1047:Canadian emigrants to the United States
602:
612:
610:
608:
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448:remained listed as a missing person.
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310:adding citations to reliable sources
47:adding citations to reliable sources
1067:Canadian people convicted of murder
1062:American people executed for murder
984:"The San Francisco Steeple Murders"
719:"Blanche Lamont's Sister Testifies"
580:In the end, Billing won acquittal.
773:"Durrant Gets a New Lease on Life"
504:Durrant had left town to join his
14:
1027:1895 murders in the United States
392:, with her students, October 1893
835:– via Google News Archive.
761:– via Google News Archive.
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1072:Canadian people executed abroad
1037:19th-century American educators
982:Corley, H. W. (February 1929).
976:By the neck: a book of hangings
435:The next day, Durrant tried to
297:needs additional citations for
34:needs additional citations for
685:. sfgate.com. October 31, 2016
233:William Henry Theodore Durrant
149:William Henry Theodore Durrant
1:
16:American murderer (1871–1898)
952:(1998) by John Boessenecker.
896:– via Newspapers.com.
888:. June 14, 1918. p. 14
868:– via Newspapers.com.
735:– via Newspapers.com.
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707:archives September 6, 1936
617:"Allan, Maud (1873-1956)."
543:Belated legal reappearance
184:in San Quentin, California
860:. June 1, 1918. p. 4
793:"Durrant is Put to Death"
520:after her disappearance.
253:San Francisco, California
226:
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139:Durrant 1897 prison photo
132:
988:True Detective Mysteries
778:The Atlanta Constitution
182:San Quentin State Prison
1082:People from Old Toronto
622:March 24, 2014, at the
564:Noel Pemberton Billing
461:
393:
925:McConnell, Virginia.
460:Minnie Williams, 1895
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880:"That English Trial"
480:Trial and conviction
306:improve this article
43:improve this article
994:(5): 61–64, 103–106
914:, Duckworth, 1997.
827:. November 13, 1897
821:"A Potent Question"
257:interpretive dancer
210:First degree murder
798:The New York Times
724:The New York Times
660:The Murder Almanac
643:The Barbary Coast,
590:Alice Maud Hartley
462:
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388:Blanche Lamont at
321:"Theodore Durrant"
58:"Theodore Durrant"
753:. January 7, 1898
751:The Reading Eagle
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1022:1898 deaths
1017:1871 births
892:January 16,
864:January 16,
831:January 16,
757:January 16,
731:January 16,
557:Oscar Wilde
537:San Quentin
467:Good Friday
1011:Categories
905:References
549:Maud Allan
441:Tenderloin
332:newspapers
261:Maud Allan
243:Early life
237:Maud Allan
69:newspapers
857:The Times
689:March 18,
627:glbtq.com
528:by Judge
474:gentleman
426:kidnapped
362:July 2020
259:known as
219:Death by
99:June 2019
805:July 21,
620:Archived
584:See also
539:prison.
499:murdered
193:Deceased
165:, Canada
998:July 5,
501:women.
346:scholar
221:hanging
154: (
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553:Salome
526:hanged
510:Easter
495:belfry
490:female
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669:p. 62
597:Notes
514:trial
353:JSTOR
339:books
90:JSTOR
76:books
1000:2022
933:ISBN
916:ISBN
894:2023
866:2023
833:2023
807:2013
759:2023
733:2023
691:2017
663:ISBN
437:pawn
325:news
171:Died
156:1871
152:1871
145:Born
62:news
555:by
308:by
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