21. A Rich Gilded Age Woman Who Got Away With a Heinous Act
The case of the tragic reverend’s wife gripped Gilded Age America. The court granted William Pettit a continuance in March, 1890. The prosecutor then sought a continuance for Elma Whitehead, as well. In support of the state’s motion, the prosecutor amended the charging documents to aver that, two weeks before Mrs. Pettit’s passing, her husband had proposed marriage to Elma Whitehead. She was alleged to have accepted, the marriage to occur when William Pettit was “left alone”. As reported by a local newspaper, the prosecutor further alleged: “many secret conversations and much correspondence between the two defendants, and charges them with criminal intimacy, both immediately before and after Mrs. Pettit’s death.” The court granted the prosecution’s request for a continuance. While the evidence seemed strong against William, there was widespread public doubt about whether he would get convicted.
Aside from the fact that William had many powerful friends, Elma funded his defense and paid for top-notch lawyers. She was eventually released on bail, and her trial was delayed indefinitely. She immediately hit the road along with her father, and traveled throughout the US for a couple of years to avoid a subpoena. William remained behind bars until the trial. The doubters proved wrong; a jury convicted the reverend in late 1890, and sentenced him to life with hard labor. He contracted tuberculosis in prison, but even as he wasted away, he appealed his verdict, his legal bills still footed by the absent Elma. He won the appeal and was granted a new trial in 1893, but passed on the same day the ruling was handed down. Elma Whitehead, in poor health since her lover’s demise, passed five years later.
