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Maria Steinnecke, a wealthy spinster, died in the central Pennsylvania borough of Carlisle on January 28, 1869. At first her death was not considered suspicious. That changed when her doctor, Paul Sch¿ppe, presented a will in his handwriting; it said she had left her entire estate to him. Soon afterwards, an autopsy performed on Miss Steinnecke revealed traces of Prussic Acid, a deadly poison. Thus began the murder case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Paul Sch¿ppe, an event that brought national and international attention to Carlisle. Found guilty, Dr. Sch¿ppe would come within days of his execution before the efforts of America's physicians and the German-American community combined to force a second trial that ultimately freed him. Exciting events at the time, the two trials of Dr. Sch¿ppe forever changed the way that medical evidence was presented and appeals were conducted in criminal cases.
xv, 147 pp., 8 b&w illustrations.
About the author
Mark Podvia is a member of the emeritus faculty of the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University. Following his retirement from Penn State, he served as University Librarian and Law Library Co-Director at the West Virginia University College of Law, where he retired in 2021. He is a graduate of Grove City College, the Pennsylvania State University, Clarion University, and the Dickinson School of Law.Mark has published over 75 articles and reviews in various law reviews and journals. He is co-author of A Citizen's Guide to a Modern Constitutional Convention.
