The Strange Case of Dr. Paul Schoeppe

Maria Steinnecke, a wealthy spinster, died in the central Pennsylvania borough of Carlisle on January 28, 1869. At first her death was not considered suspicious. That changed when her doctor, Paul Schppe, presented a will in his handwriting; it said she had left her entire estate to him. Soon afterwards, an autopsy performed on Miss Steinnecke revealed traces of Prussic Acid, a deadly poison. Thus began the murder case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Paul Schppe, an event that brought national and international attention to Carlisle. Found guilty, Dr. Schppe would come within days of his execution before the efforts of America's physicians and the German-American community combined to force a second trial that ultimately freed him. Exciting events at the time, the two trials of Dr. Schppe forever changed the way that medical evidence was presented and appeals were conducted in criminal cases.xv, 147 pp., 8 b&w illustrations.