The Murder of Dr. Chapman: The Legendary Trials of Lucretia Chapman and Her Lover

by Linda Wolfe

A true-crime reporter and author of Wasted provides an in-depth study of an early nineteenth-century case of love, sex, and murder that rocked American society, involving the scandalous relationship between Lucretia Winslow Chapman, the wife of prominent scientist Dr. William Chapman, and her lover, con man Lino Espos y Mina, and their trial for Chapman's murder.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Crime, Biography, American History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2004

About the author

Linda Wolfe is an award-winning journalist and novelist. Among her many books are the novel "Private Practices" and the nonfiction books "Wasted: The Preppie Murder," "The Professor and the Prostitute," and "The Murder of Dr. Chapman." A longtime contributing editor at New York magazine, Wolfe's articles and personal essays have also appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Playboy, and many other publications. Her short fiction has appeared in the Southwest Review and other literary journals. Learn more at www.LindaWolfe.com.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: ARC from Open Road Media and Netgalley.

The phrase “Trial of the Century” seems to be currently overused. There have been several trials of the century. The 24 hour news cycle and multiple cable news networks make sure of this. It’s hard to keep up with what the trial of the week is, and it is almost like a flavor of the month.


But it’s hardly a new phenomenon. Case in point, this book.

Dr. Chapman lived and died when the country was young. He cured stutters, mostly because he had one. He married a woman that was younger than him, but perhaps slightly too old for the marriage market. The two had a family and ran a school. It seems that the wife did most of the work. One day, sometime after the arrival of a foreigner at the school, Dr. Chapman died.

Of poison, it was later discovered.

It also didn’t look so good when the widow married the foreigner shortly after the good doctor’s death.

But was he a good doctor? Was she a murderess? Did she get off?

Those are the questions that Linda Wolfe tries to answer in her book about the case. It should be noted that the book, while focusing on the case, is really biographies of Chapman and Lucreita as well as Lino, the foreigner, who claims to know a Bonaparte and someone called Casanova. It also is a brief portrait of a marriage as well as society struggling to make sense of crime and need to discover if there was a crime at all.

Wolfe’s book is really about Lucreita more than any as well as how media, even in its infantile stage, can be used to manipulate reactions and even make the guilty seem innocent. It is impossible to know for sure what really happen, though Wolfe does a good job at investigating and giving possible motives. Both Chapmans come across as flawed and the disintegration of the marriage is seen as a fairly as possible. In discussing guilt, Wolfe takes hands off approach. It is almost as if she is conducting a case for the defense, and in many ways, while the conclusion where Wolfe lies out her opinion doesn’t come as a shock or a surprise, Wolfe does keep the emotional description and editorializing to a minimal almost non-existent level.

Perhaps the most interesting and important part of the book is the trial itself. It drew much attention and like today, the participants, one in particular, was able to use media to their advantage or to suffer at the hands of it. Despite what is claimed, the media does determine or get the viewer/reader to determine guilt or innocence in cases. This is done though commentary, reporting of facts, and photos. We saw it most recently with the case in Ferguson. This time it was the police who were trying to use the media by releasing the video of the young man, Brown, robbing a store. How does that excuse shooting him when he was unarmed? Especially when the cop didn’t even know about it? Or even in cases where most people can agree. Take George Zimmerman, he should be in jail, but did the media really need to always use the picture of him in what looked like an orange prison suit or the picture of him with the nose damage (it depended upon which outlet you were watching)? The media even does it to itself as with the case of Lara Logan and the picture of her used after her attack. It was from an awards ceremony.

If we watch trials or reports on trials, the media (or someone using the media) crafts the narrative for us. The viewer determines guilt or innocence far before the jury and usually with the aid of the media. Wolfe shows that this hardly a new trend by showcasing how print was used during the trial and what the effects of such actions where. Needless to say, it is also a double standard in action with a woman being condemned, in part, for not being womanly enough. This means she is guilty or not worth helping. She has it coming to her. Much of what Mrs. Chapman goes though will be familiar to those who know about Constance Wilde’s life. Not much changed in the time between the two women or even between them and today.

The Murder of Dr. Chapman is mostly a mystery. But the murder isn’t really the mystery. It’s the disturbing question of why so little has changed.

[Leanne Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A riveting read about early 19th century American history, especially in law, medicine, and the limited role of women. I agree with the author that I don't think Lucretia murdered her husband, but did she know about the poison? Did she allow the murder to happen? I don't think she did, but upon being free of her husband, she had a few days of bliss before Lino's true nature was revealed.

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly engrossing, well written account of the murder of Dr. Chapman in the early 1800s. a good look at an antiquated legal system and the subsequent smeared reputation after acquittal of Mrs. Chapman.

[Kimberly Flick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chicken Soup Murder

An age old tale of love, money, and murder. Poor Dr. Chapman should have known better than to let a young man into his home. This book is well worth your time!

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific account of the 1831 murder of Pennsylvania speech therapist William Chapman, a case that was sensational at the time and completely forgotten today. Meticulously researched.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another book that's supposed to be True Crime (aka NONfiction), that reads like an opinion piece.

Throughout the author said what someone thought or felt, but these were not based on anything. They weren't quotes and she never refers to where she got those internal thoughts (of people who have been dead about 200 years.)

Here's two passages I hated:
"... and he won the case handily, so handily that from time to time forward his office was thronged with clients, all of them eager to unload their griefs and their pockets, and his life was thronged with friends, all of them eager to enjoy his erudition and his passion."

This author quite frequently chose odd words that didn't add anything to the story, they just took me out of the story. Maybe she got a thesaurus for Christmas. When she chose a word like "thronged" she repeats it in the next few lines. Oh and everyone who thronged him "were eager to enjoy his erudition and his passion"??? Says who? and who talks like that??

"Deciding that the child's testimony was unimportant, he asked her only a few innocuous questions: was anyone else in the carriage with Lucretia and Lino when they drove to Bonaparte's? was one of them. Did Dr. Chapman or just Mrs. Chapman give Lino permission to stay at the house? was another.
The answer to both questions was yes."

1. Neither of these questions were innocuous.
2. How can the answer to the second question be yes??? It's not a yes or no question!🤔

[Carol Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised at how complete a record existed of the life of Dr. Chapman, his wife, his children, and the man that was hanged for his murder. The murder took place almost 200 years ago (1831), so there are no photos in the book. But the documents that remain from that event are amazingly complete. Who knows if the true answer as to "who murdered Chapman" will ever be proved -- the answer seems obvious, but we will never truly know if his wife was involved in the murder. This book provides a very interesting look into the long-ago criminal justice system and the fact that human nature has ALWAYS included as much wickedness as it does today.

[Rayah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true-crime story of a murder that took place in 1831. It was a sensational newspaper story and scandal of the time. It's been nearly forgotten now, in a day when every scandal comes with sound bites and a Youtube video. Wolfe pieced together the events from newspapers, letters, transcripts, records, and even advertisements, and created quite the page-turner! If it's a little dry at times, I think it's because she didn't want to overly dramatize anything that wasn't recorded fact.

[Marianne Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tell me a story; done! Wonderful story telling; full intimate pictures of Philadelphia’s early 1800’s history, driven by a riveting ‘Catfished’ tale of murder.

[Deborah Horton Core · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was passable. I enjoyed the historical events and notes of the time but the storyline itself was a bit overdone and somewhat boring.

[Peggy Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good story but lacked punch. I liked how she told how everyone lived out their lives but wish she had included photos.

[Paula Corregan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book!

This book was intriguing from start to finish. It involved a murder case of which I'd never heard. I highly recommend it to other true crime readers.

[Richard Kern · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting story but quite dry overall. Expertly written, but all of the excitement exists in the opening pages and the revisit to that opening halfway through the book.

[Karen Fiandaca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another true crime story - was a big news story back in the 1830's in the Philadelphia area....well researched, a glimpse into law enforcement then, and daily life of several classes of society.

[Zeb Kantrowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucretia Winslow was an educated woman from Massachusetts. She came from a wealthy well known family. But by the time she was thirty (in 1824), she was considered a spinster. She was plain looking and tall (5’10”) in an age when most men were 5’6”. She thought she’d never marry. But she did. She married a scientist and educator, William Chapman from Philadelphia, who treated young men for stammers and stutters. Her life was looking better everyday.

They started a school for the education of young woman in the little town of Andalusia 30 miles up the river from Philadelphia. The school and Chapman’s practice thrived and the Mrs. Chapman gave birth to five children (2 boys and 3 girls) who lived into childhood. William Chapman began to flounder as the years went on, he lived only for his books and put on considerable weight. Lucretia became the dominating presence in their home.

Carlino Estradas Mina, was a Spaniard whose family relocated to Cuba when he was a child. Originally a child of a wealthy family, Lino (as he was called) was a dreamer and became a criminal in order to live the ‘high life’. But at nineteen he was caught trying to rob the Treasury in Havana and sentenced to a long-term in jail. With persistence his parents kept imploring the local Governor to free him. When the Governor finally acceded to their wishes after four months, he then banished Lino from the Island.

For Lino this was just another adventure. Landing in Boston, he bluffed his way into local society and immediately started to swindle people and merchants left and right. He finally ended up in jail, again, but was freed in a short time (he lived a charmed life) and went to Philadelphia. Having plied his trade for a while he was forced to jump on a steamboat heading upstream just ahead of the Constabulary. Not having a ticket he was thrown off the Packet (literally) in the small town of Andalusia.

He encounters the Chapman’s and manages to ensconce himself into the family home and Lucretia’s heart and bed. William develops a stomach problem that leads to his death and Lino marries Lucretia. He then shows his true colors by selling all of her valuables and taking off with the money. Eventually he is tracked down and they both go on trial for the murder of William Chapman. The trials, which are taken from transcripts, give the reader a direct view of how juris prudence worked in eighteenth century America. Very revealing and well worth reading.

Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com

[Kevin A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because the late Dr. Chapman of the title was a 5th great uncle of mine, but it's worthy of a read on its own merits. The story is quite odd -- in the spring of 1831, a Cuban confidence artist Carolino Amalia "Lino" Espos y Mina arrives seemingly out of the blue at a "stammering school" and female seminary in Andalusia, Pennsylvania, run by the Chapmans. A month later Dr. William is pushing up the daisies in a local churchyard and his widow Lucretia Winslow Chapman is planning a honeymoon trip to Mexico with Lino. The couple arouses suspicion, and the good doctor is exhumed.

The case was a sensation in 1831 -- cases, actually, since Lucretia and Lino were tried separately. The story was covered extensively in the newspapers, and a publisher sat through the trials taking notes so that he could publish a book after the verdicts were rendered. As a result, Wolfe, a New York magazine writer and author of crime books, is able to delve remarkably deeply into the lives of the Chapmans and the remarkable events of that spring and summer. She makes great use of her research, tells the story very ably.

There are occasional stumbles, which stand out because in general the writing is so good. She gets the historical details right, but not always the big picture. She mistakenly characterizes the political situation in 1813 as "France had allied itself with America in the war against the English," for example. Sometimes she is loathe not to use a bit of research, thus "it was as if some darkness within her lifted, as if the oil lamps that lit her school had suddenly been replaced with those new gas lamps that flickered light even into the corners of the rooms." Sometimes it is simply purple prose of "Lucretia's maternal affection for Lino blossomed into a different kind of love. She stepped across some forbidding Gobi desert deep inside her and like a traveler arriving at an oasis, found herself ready to gorge on whatever was offered." Why the Gobi, one wonders.

Still, she weaves a clear and compelling narrative, and gives a thoughtful not wholly unsympathetic account of the tragedy.

[Talulah Mankiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1831, a certain Dr. Chapman died of what his doctors assumed was cholera; turns out he was poisoned. His wife and her young Cuban émigré lover were put on trial separately—not entirely surprisingly, Lino (the man) was found guilty and executed, and Lucretia (the wife) was found not guilty and subsequently disappeared from the historical record.

The case itself was mildly interesting just because Lino was a consummate conman who seems to have pulled quite a job on both the Chapmans: he convinced them that he was the son of a high-ranking Mexican official, and that if they’d just take him in for awhile, they’d be handsomely compensated. He even went to see the Mexican consul in Philadelphia to back up his story; the consul didn’t believe him for a second, but through a series of highly calculated cultural misunderstandings, Lino managed to use his unsuccessful visit to further convince the Chapmans that he was the real deal.

Then, of course, he started boning Lucretia, and Dr. Chapman’s days were seriously numbered.

This was solidly okay. The prose is very workmanlike and the story itself is not incredibly unique (although the Cuban émigré angle does make it stand out a bit), but it’s a decent read. Personally, I don’t share Wolfe’s take on the situation: she believes that Lucretia was completely ignorant of the murder, although she was an accessory after the fact because Lino threatened her. Me? I think that if she didn’t participate in the poisoning herself, then she at least had some inkling that all was not right. But then, Wolfe may be correct, because Lucretia seems to have bought all of Lino’s lies hook, line, and sinker, so she wasn’t the most worldly of women.

Recommended for: True crime fanatics.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Philadelphia in 1831 Lucretia Chapman was accused of murdering her husband in collusion with her lover, con-man Lino Espos y Mina. The case was an enormous scandal at the time and still has the power to intrigue today. Author Linda Wolfe has done her research and tells the tale in a lively and accessible way. I enjoyed the period detail and background information, but for me personally there was rather too much speculation rather than hard fact. I would also have liked to see some illustrations or photos as well as some original documents or newspaper clippings, which would have added to the authenticity. I always prefer a straight-forward non-fiction approach rather than Wolfe’s rather novelistic one. Nevertheless there’s much to learn here and the case is interesting enough to have kept me reading. A side-line from history but one worth the telling.

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable, casually read book. It seems to rest right between a traditional, general history book, and a real-life crime novel. I suppose it reminds me a bit of Helter Skelter, and as lurid to Victorian sensibilities as the Manson gangs crimes were for modern readers.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way above average true crime book based in early 19th century suburban Philadelphia. Snarky tone, but very interesting story that would feel right at home on Court TV or A&E!

[Ebirdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. Wolfe did a great job of making non-fiction read like fiction and be entertaining and lively.

[GrannyLee · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting, historically true story from 1832

[Candida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazy story of true crime about the weirdest case a fraud, and murder. When you read this book you just can't believe how gullible people were about this guy.