Killing Time in the Catskills: The twisted tale of the Catskill Ripper Elizabeth "Lizzie" McNally Halliday

by Kevin Owen, Lee Forman (Editor)

Hot on the heels of the Lizzie Borden case from 1893-1894, newspapers around the world began closely following a new and unusual case in upstate New York. Lizzie Halliday, a seemingly harmless woman, was about to stand trial for a triple homicide in Burlingham, NY. Lizzie Halliday lived in the hamlet of Burlingham and worked as a housekeeper, eventually marrying her employer, Paul Halliday.

After Paul went missing, a search of their property revealed the bodies of two unidentified women. The investigation which followed revealed that Lizzie, in her twenties, left behind a trail of failed marriages, bigamy, horse theft, arson, insurance fraud and murder, even having served time in the infamous Eastern State Penitentiary. If found guilty Lizzie Halliday would be the first woman in the world to face the electric chair. After her sensational trial in Sullivan County, NY she was locked away for life but managed to continue her reign of terror even behind bars.

This true account of one of America's most dangerous women details Lizzie Halliday's lifestyle of indefensible crimes. The author provides the most complete, factual and thoroughly researched biographical timeline of Lizzie Halliday to date, providing the most accurate account of Lizzie Halliday's disturbing criminal career, while correcting misinformation of the past. Rare vintage photos and illustrations throughout; including rare crime scene photos, images of Lizzie Halliday and newspaper illustrations of the era.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 14, 2019

Reviews

[Ladydi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, local (to me) true crime.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lizzie Halliday was born in Ireland around 1859. Lizzie moved to the United States with her family as a young child. Lizzie was married several times. Her first husband, Charles Hopkins, died, leaving her with one son. Her second husband, Artemus Brewer, died a year after their marriage. Her third husband, Hiram Parkinson, abandoned her due to her behavior before they had been married a year. She next married George Smith, hoping to cash in on his war pension. She tried to poison him, failed, and ran away to marry some other unsuspecting fool, named Charles Playstel, but ran away again after a couple of weeks. Her final husband was Paul Halliday. Lizzie went wild, murdering several people before she was finally brought to justice.

This book is free to listen to in the Audible Plus catalog, and I listened to it in one shift today at work. It was around six hours to listen to. The physical book is about 250 pages. I had never heard of this woman or her murders, so this was a very informative book. I just recommended it to my sister.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Eye Openng Good Read

WOW, the fact that anyone would do that kind of evil back then in that time is astonishing. There were murders that shocked people and as humans we can’t really say that we have gotten any better. But for this type of evil to come from that time period is literally unheard of, until now.

[Marsha Ronquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and informative

A lot of research went into this book by the author. Reading details can be tedious and tiring. It serves to explain what and how things transpired. The writing is good.

[Lexi Sølvhammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review is on my webpage. Link in bio

[barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome book. - this lady was really nuts great research by the author