Report of the Trial of James M Lowell, Indicted for the Murder of..

1875. The Mystery of the Headless Skeleton: McDade 633 [Trial]. Lowell, James M. [d. 1875], Defendant. Plaisted, H[arris] M[errill] [1828-1898], Reporter. Report of the Trial of James M. Lowell, Indicted for the Murder of His Wife, Mary Elizabeth Lowell, Before the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, For Androscoggin County; Containing the Evidence, Arguments of the Counsel and the Charge of the Court, In Full, With the Verdict of the Jury and Sentence of the Prisoner, And an Appendix. Portland, ME: Published by Dresser, McLellan & Co., 1875. [3], ii, 260 pp. Frontispiece. Octavo (9" x 5-1/2"; 23 x 14 cm). Contemporary buckram, gilt title and publisher name to spine. Light rubbing to spine ends, corners bumped. Moderate toning to interior, light foxing in a few places, brief early annotations to a few leaves, minor tears to edges of a few leaves, tear to foot of title page with early cellotape repair, another cellotape repair to head of rear endleaf. Overall, a very good copy. $350. * First and only edition. Although the headless skeleton, encased in a silk dress, was not discovered for more than three years after her murder, Lowell was tried and convicted of murdering his wife. The tale is also interesting because the victim's mother foresaw the murder in a dream, which is described in the Appendix. Plaisted's preface notes this was "[a] case of circumstantial evidence....hardly surpassed in the annals of criminal justice." Plaisted was a notable Maine politician who ended his career as a one-term governor of that state. He was Maine's attorney general when he wrote his report of the Lowell trial. McDade, The Annals of Murder 633.