The first time anyone saw Elma Sands, she was lying in a coffin in the street.
Okay, technically not the first time, but definitely the most memorable.
Her beaten, bloodied, waterlogged body was laid out for three days in front of the Ring boarding house, drawing thousands of New Yorkers to line up and gawk. So many came that her coffin had to be physically moved into the street.
But let’s back up.
The Bedroom That Bothered Everybody
In 1799, Levi Weeks (23) and Gulielma “Elma” Sands (22) were living in the same Manhattan boarding house, run by Elma’s older cousin, Catherine Ring, and her husband Elias. Respectability and propriety were very much a big deal at this time. But it was hard for Catherine Ring to keep Elma respectable to the community…
Because Levi spent a lot of time in Elma’s bedroom.
Unchaperoned.
Let me repeat that: an unmarried young man. In a young woman’s room. Door closed. (Reportedly) clothes on the floor. Sounds, plural. coming from within. In 1799/1800, this was the equivalent of live-streaming a hook up.
The other boarders were clutching their bonnets.
Elma, by all accounts, was taken with Levi. And on the evening of December 22, 1799, she told her cousin Catherine that she and Levi were going to be married. That night. In secret.
Catherine didn’t talk her out of it. Likely because she was fucking relieved that this giddy bitch was going to legitimize this rendezvous. Elma was glowing. Happy. Hopeful. She had spent the day in unnaturally high spirits. That’s the last anyone saw of her alive.
Eleven Days Later
Her body was found dumped in a well. She had been beaten and drowned.
Some say Levi pushed her.
Others say Elma jumped.
Some even whispered she was pregnant, and Levi killed her to avoid having to marry her.
There was also the inconvenient fact that Elma had talked about dying, had mentioned taking laudanum to do the job.
But this wasn’t just a sad love story with a watery ending. It was the start of something bigger.
Enter: America’s First Murder Trial Media Circus
The public was rabid for answers. Not just because a woman had died, but because of how publicly she died. Her corpse on display, her love affair now common gossip, her name tossed around in pamphlets, conversations, and tabloid-y rants. Plus, it’s FUN to gossip about something so salacious. Come on, we all would have been doing it, guys.
And the accused? Oh, just a carpenter who happened to have the best legal dream team in American history: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and Brockholst Livingston. (I know, none of us know who that last guy is. Sucks to suck.)
Yes. That Hamilton. That Burr. Those two. On the same side. Representing him. Cannot overstate how much none of us know or care about the third guy, (womp womp.)
Levi’s older brother, Ezra Weeks, procured that talent trio (really more of a duo considering we all can’t stand that third guy.) Ezra was wealthy, a well known builder, and actually built — wait for it — HAMILTON’S MANSION, THE GRANGE!
What Happens Next?
Was Elma a jilted lover? A depressed young woman with no future? A victim of male power, sexual manipulation, and a legal system built to protect men just like Levi?
The trial was messy. The testimonies were wild. The outcome? Infuriating.
But we’ll get to that.
For now, just know this: America’s first formally transcribed murder trial wasn’t about the truth. It was about who could spin a better story, and who could do it louder.
Stay tuned. We’re just getting to the good part.
You're going to enjoy it.
Well.
^ Come on. That was good.