Anna George and the Murder of George Saxton | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Ash and I am Elena and this is morbid it's morbid on the floor on the
floow cuz we're getting new furniture up in here I keep every every time I talk today I'm just going w w w
at the end of my sentence and Elena thinks it's the funniest thing ever for some reason every time she does it I
burst out laughing I think because she does it randomly so it hits right when it hits and I do a dance with it she
does she does like it's like an Ariana grandees like I'm hitting a high note kind of thing and it makes me
laugh yeah I said that I'm going to deliver all bad news to Elena within this voice like I think that's a great
idea sorry I can't come into work today I got the flow me and Mikey will laugh and then say too bad get in loser
we're going recording that's perfect that's pretty great but yeah it feels like the olden days when we used
to sit on the floor I feel a lot older though cuz already my back's like o [ __ ] don't do that well this is more
comfortable cuz this carpet and you're up against a wall and I'm up against a wall before it was just sitting on a
hardwood floor in the middle of a laundry room with nothing around me yeah I'm sitting on a PO on a PO on a PO as
your kids would say that's right well I have a case today and yeah I'm glad you do because why else are we here yeah and
imagine if I was like well I thought you had one thought you were like oh well [ __ ] all right guess this is over see
you guys later bye bye no we can't do that no no uh I have an interesting old timey case today but but it is actually
the murder of a man who was Brothers with one of our first ladies whoa yes this is unfortunately the murder of
George Saxton and he was sisters with he was the brother of yep exactly he was sisters
with by he was the brother of Miss Ida McKinley whoa President McKinley you don't say how did you get that I don't
know I just know so much about politics no Lincoln's wife no but yeah isn't that
crazy that is nuts so let's start let's go George DeWalt Saxton was born October
31st 1850 oo spooky already Halloween for those who don't know Halloween in Canton Ohio uh he was the third of three
children born to James and Katherine Saxton and as the children of one of canton's wealthiest families they they
they were rich rich rich rich George and his sisters Ida and Mary they were all raised in hella privilege they went to
the finest schools in Ohio they had access to just all the best [ __ ] really um there's not like a ton out there
about their their really like CORE family life or most of their childhood experiences like indepth but author John
Stark Bellamy writes it seems probably judging from the adult characters of Ida and George that these children of the
Canton elite were indulged from the beginning oh and then later he added their adult personalities were imbued
with a remarkable selfishness and uncomprehending blindness to the needs desires and deserts of others wow I love
the um the way of describing someone as saying they instead of being like they were spoiled rotten when they were
little they were privileged indulged oh indulged yeah they were indulged a little bit I kind of like that makes it
feel a little better that's what I think yeah well after finishing up with high school George spent a brief period as a
Sunday school teacher which like I don't just based off the rest of the story I don't get that vibe from him you know
George had a lot of thinking to do I guess I guess so but once he was done with that he moved on to go and work at
his father's bank and it was there that he gained a lot of experience in this family business of finance and property
development and once he kind of like got his foot in the door and really got going he was like you know what I think
I could take this over someday I think I could run this [ __ ] yeah so while he definitely showed a willingness to put
in the effort to learn the family belt uh business he did develop skills in finance and property management but he
was also still as spoiled as he had been during childhood literally almost everything was handed to him he lived in
his childhood home his entire life that which was called the Saxton house ooh when his father died in early 1887
George actually did take over the company and he inherited all of his father's Holdings which made him one of
if not maybe the wealthiest man in Canton wow mhm so in the early 1870s he made his first attempt to marry and
settle down as was expected of all young prominent men at the time the woman he eventually became engaged to was named
Alice schaer she was the daughter of another prominent and local businessman and as children of elite families George
and Alice had actually known each other since they were in early childhood and both families were really really excited
over this engagement they were like oh my God rich people marrying rich people prominence uh hand inand with prominence
let's go prominence begets prominence and we make more rich people and the world goes round yeah they were all like
super duper excited they were like rich people doing rich people [ __ ] but unfortunately for Alice uh George's
commitment to her was um less than sincere or committed really and not long after the engagement a lot of rumors
nastiness started going around that he was seeing other women your stories often have elicit Affairs in them and I
appreciate you telling us those I don't like the True Crime part of it cuzz like
that makes me sad but I love an elicit I love a scand doll in fact oh just and I
do too I love listening to it really quickly I started watching um I I mentioned it when I covered an an and
Billy Woodward I started watching uh capot versus the swans and it is so [ __ ] good I need to watch it it is
awesome there's only two episodes out and then the third one comes out tomorrow oo I'm going to watch it
because John and I are finishing fall the House of Usher and then we can nice move on from it for anybody um that like
hasn't started it yet just like trigger warning there's a good amount of domestic violence um but I just want to
like put that out there but overall it's really good and it's part of the story so yeah unfortunately okay but back to
this scandalous Affair at it again so according to a newspaper report at the time and this is about George his
conduct toward her and his seeming indifference were a cruel blow for her future happiness she could not believe
that he would disregard so readily the sacred vows in which he had so earnestly made
I mean we all you know these men especially from the 1800s I'm like 1800s and early 1900s men were Wilding
we think and I'm not saying George is a [ __ ] boy but like this is just like reminding me of like [ __ ] booy Behavior
we think that [ __ ] boys originated like within the 21st century incorrect incorrect ghosting happened before it
just looked different it just wasn't called that exactly it was just called like Reckless abandon
abandon it was called Phantom cuz that's more fancy I like that a lot better he Phantom I would feel so much better like
if I was like back in my dating days being like I got Phantom I got Phantom I got dannny Phantom that'd be so much
better it is better but anyway according to the news article George's callousness
toward Alice quote threw her into an illness from which she never recovered and she eventually died of a broken
heart oh that's terrible it's unlikely that she actually did die of a broken heart I think she had a different ill
I was going to skip over that part I was just going to let that fly cuz I get the
hyperbole of it all yeah she was sick yeah but she was also sad because of what had happened and that can like
shatter you yeah she actually she did die a few years after the engagement was called off so I don't think anybody
really knows truly if it was of a broken heart did she die with a broken heart possibly there you go that's a better
way to say it but either way George's disregard for her feelings or her reputation too cuz you have to think
that was a big part of life back then abely to be abandoned like that was huge but it's the first example of what would
become a pattern of you would say self-centered behavior that George would kind of demonstrate throughout his life
yeah not long after Alice passed away George actually became engaged again this time to a local socialite named
Louisa Miller however just like his engagement to Alice his interest in marriage and monogamy was more fleeting
than genuine and it wasn't long before he was seen around town in the company of other less reputable women wom we
shall say so before long Louisa called off the engagement and according to Bellamy that author that I referenced
before there was a rumor of quote yet a third engagement with a woman named Elizabeth France but that too quickly
ended wow just racking them up yeah ragam up rag up so how many of the details of this period in George's life
are true is definitely debatable but what is clear is that after three failed engagements due to very public
infidelities George did at the this point earn a reputation in and around Canton as a bit of a [ __ ] boy if you
will yeah I mean I could see it yeah it didn't help matters that while he maintained His official Residence at the
Saxton house he also had a separate apartment where he would like take ladies his booty Bungalow if you will
absolutely obsessed someone should create a market in which they sell booty Bungalows because I'm telling you
there's money there there is [ __ ] boys would sign up for that in a minute like
Elite [ __ ] boys they're like Elite [ __ ] boys would love a booty Bungalow they
don't want a bachelor pad no Elite [ __ ] boys want a booty booty Bungalow I I want a booty Bungalow for myself like I
don't want anyone to come over I just want one wow I don't want anyone to come over I just
W it's my booty in that Bungalow only booty in that Bungalow is me but however despite what people thought of his
relationship history his disregard for the feelings of you know the women that he had scorned George was still
considered really charming and likable by a lot of people in around town they I mean yeah he must have been it sounded
like honestly if you've ever watched Southern Charm he sounds like she Rose I was oh my God the fact you said that
that's who I pictured the entire time I've been thinking this the whole time that he has such Shep Rose Vibes he does
cuz like I know he got like a little problematic as of late in like the last couple years but before that he just
seemed like ear really nice nice chill dude that was like known around town that like people really loved it was
just kind of a mess and he's like friends with everybody but in relationships he's a [ __ ] wreck yeah
like he's that good time guy yeah and he's and he seems like whatever but relationships like you said are like the
are cryptonite it's almost in Austin too Austin Cru yeah yeah there you go hey guys I don't know them but anyway insane
Madison literally insane right now Madison also sorry I'm so like I must sound like wild in this because I'm just
laughing at everything but I am working off of like I think like 4.5 seconds of sleep in the past like 3 days yeah we
went to the Lizzy boardon house which we're going to talk about like at another moment in time yeah um but sleep
didn't happen there obviously and then my youngest got like a stomach bug in the middle of the night which is always
and like before and that was like when she came home like the night that you came home the night we came up so it was
like No Sleep the night before then boom stomach bug yeah and it's cold and flu season and kids get sick all the time
before you start being like your kids are sick all the time they are kids are always sick she said [ __ ] your it's C
and flu season it's C and flu season and kids if you have kids I feel like you realize that they are just sick all the
time yeah there's like there's like a a a group of people in the world who are very shocked when your children get sick
they probably don't have kids yeah like it happens it happens I don't know what to tell you but that's why we're Punchy
yeah I'm very Punchy I love when you're Punchy I think it's funny I'm Punchy bang bang and I'm Punchy haha you're
always Punchy bang bang and most of the time you're Punchy haha but this is like
a different level but I like it it's not a galactic level today it's a galactic but so the fact that he was still
considered Charming in town it really helped him obviously not only socially but professionally too yeah his private
life really didn't seem to affect his dating life too much actually which is kind of shocking and by the late 1880s
he had taken up with a new woman who was at the center of this story Anna or Annie George Annie George her name was
Anna but she went by Annie oh so by the time she met George Saxton Annie George had actually been married for 10 years
to sample George so it gets a little confusing there's George sackton and then there's sample George oh okay
that's his name uh he was a local Carpenter and together they had two young children sample is such an
interesting name I just have to point that out no it is it very much is it's a very interesting because I thought you
were calling him like sample George like like this is the sample siiz George but
like she's this is the real George and it's like I was like who's sample Joy but that's that's a name that's him
that's an I almost have said that's him's name that's him name that's him name you know um years that before yeah
neither have I but interesting according to Accounts at the time Annie was quote
very much devoted to her husband and children and seemed to be delighted with the care of her family so she was very
much like a a a wife and Mama So this man just swooped in mhm she and her husband sample moved to Canton Ohio in
1883 hoping to Build a Better Business and it wasn't long after they moved to Canton that George Saxton first caught
sight of Annie in the Goldberg brother's store on the Saxton block cuz he literally had his own block romantic it
is if she wasn't married Goldberg brother store hot and immediately he was taken he told a friend she is a
remarkably handsome woman I will make her acquaintance REM I'm obsessed with that statement first of all remember
what people used to call women handsome they're like she's such a handsome woman
yeah it's it's interesting because I feel like it depends on where you live if that's like an insult or a compliment
oh really I've only ever heard it as a compliment because I I thought like a handsome woman was like oh like she's a
handsome woman like oh no I've only ever heard it like she's a handsome woman like she is a very striking woman I've
heard in that context like she's got very like striking features yeah I I've heard it in that context but then I've
heard it in the context of like oh she's like a handsome woman like a oh I've never heard that yeah interesting or
maybe I just misinterpreted you're like maybe I made it is possible but anyway before yeah just that statement is just
awesome though he's like I will I will make her acquaintance I'm like you will I believe in you but she married I know
I know but I believe in him because he he just had so much confidence that he he Charmed meid from
afar through time and space he just Charmed me so that's when you know and that's what it's really all about is
confidence it is HPA yeah I will make her acquaintance you will it manifest and he did before she even left the
store George had not only introduced himself to Annie but also extended an offer to move into a large apartment in
the Saxton block where he kept his bachelor apartment wow now this was perfect because they remember her and
her husband had just moved there and they only had a temporary living situation so she went home to tell
sample who was super grateful and was really looking forward to the opportunity yeah thinking this guy's
just being nice yeah he's like oh wow what a nice man you've met hopefully he's ugly but within a remarkably short
amount of time George Saxton had fully integrated himself into Annie and sample's life and like not in a super
fun friendly way that feels very um it feels very HH holes yes of him it does I'm not saying he's a serial killer I'm
just saying like the way he's going about this whole situation with like the apartment and stuff it just feels that
way yeah it is interesting when and when you start setting up the story it does sound a little bit like you're like wait
is he the or the is what's going on yeah so he would stop by at the apartment regularly usually when sample wasn't
home if he could help it oh and it wasn't long before Annie really started to look forward to George's visits
during which it was reported quote this is Iconic he poured into her ears all the flattering endearments of which he
was capable and sought to gain her affection and confidence wow I love all that except
for the use of the word poured yeah because it makes your ear feel full of water you hate that as soon as you
started saying it I was like o and I just covered one of my ears he said not my ears said nope don't pour anything
and even compliments into my ears poured into her ears all the flattering endearments of which he was capable wow
that's a writer right there that is that was flowery as [ __ ] I wrote it as in other words he was laying it on thick
and she was smitten she liked that [ __ ] she was picking up what he was putting
down she was smelling what he was stepping in yeah all that good stuff now at first sample assumed George's
interest in the family was of genuine concern they had two small children he gave them a place to live he's looking
after his wife when he's at work it's like a this guy rocks what a nice guy you know they were young family who were
new in town and his generosity seemed like what you would expect from a guy like George
he was well off he was prominent well known yada but within a few months sample did start to become suspicious of
George Saxton's intentions and he warned his wife not to spend too much time in Saxton's company and he was at that
point it wasn't really so much that he was jealous didn't trust Annie like at that point but he was worried that
George Saxton's unusually frequent presence in their home and how often they were seen together on the street
might start to cause a scandal that people might start he was like I know that your relationship is pure and
innocent or at least I hope it is Butlers might not think so and people are going to talk and we're new here
yeah we're new in town I love it now sample was right to be suspicious of the attention that George Saxton was
lavishing upon his wife indeed and he would only become more so in the months that followed now it's unclear exactly
when George and Annie's Affair began because it did but by most accounts she really did try to reject his advances at
least initially but if his relationship history was any indication George absolutely loved the Chase and the
courtship phase of relationships y far more than anything that came after and the fact that Annie was married and kind
of like saying no to his advances made the situation more enticing oh yeah of course the forbidden fruit exactly the
more and more she resisted his advances the harder he tried to win her over of course endlessly complimenting her
sending her all kinds of gifts showing up all of it all of it and as a woman of she remember he's like this really
well-off prominent man she's a woman of modest social standing meager means so she probably found the intention of
somebody so well off and of a higher standing very exciting yeah like it's a little bit of like an Ann Woodward like
way into society absolutely now after years of George's Relentless campaign to win her over damn years Annie finally
gave in and in 1889 she agreed to join him for a trip to Myers Lake Casino what the [ __ ] years that he played the long
game he sure did now later Annie would claim that she was unwittingly seduced by Saxton quote based on his explicit uh
promise to marry her oh so and that was like a thing back then if you had vocal like a verbal agreement that like
somebody had said they were going to marry you that was actually that like weighed heavy back then that would like
hold up in court uhhuh yeah yeah like it was um I forget what it was called I think I might touch upon it later
actually yeah cuz it's been in a couple of my cases too mhm now given George's track record with engagements though
this seemed entirely possible that like he had said yeah totally I'll marry you yeah but whatever his strategy by 189
Annie had become estranged from her husband and was openly carrying on an affair with George Now sample George uh
was completely outraged and by that point he had already taken the children and moved back to where they came from
Han Overton oh damn and it was there that he filed for divorce but when he realized that a divorce was actually
exactly what Annie wanted this fella got Tom Petty with it he withdrew the petition knowing full well that he'd
still have to financially support her but also that she wouldn't be able to to marry George oh wow so he's like that's
fine I'll still pay for your ass but like you can't marry that man that you stepped out the back with me on Sample
seems pretty fullsize to me oh he is he seems family siiz you just wait the the party pack he's a yeah I was just going
to say he's a party P so now having failed to leverage sample's anger into getting a divorce George and Annie
devised a new scheme Annie would move to so uh South Dakota where divorce laws were liberal because remember at this
point like can just get divorced Here There and Everywhere yeah no way that's that's wild crazy can't just end a
lifelong commitment that's so shameful not actually it but after staying the requisite 6 months she could file for
divorce and then promptly return to Ohio and marry George so in October of 1891 she took a train to Canton South Dakota
wow literally so many cantons so many cantons and she set up Residence at the Heartland House hotel but whatever she
had expected to find in South Dakota was probably much better than what she ended
up actually experiencing uh it was then referred to as the divorce colony where she was
taking the divorce Colony yeah wow and at that time divorce under any circumstances obviously was seriously
discouraged and to seek one would have meant public scorn and then the scorn was doubled when Annie she was not the
injured party that's what they would have referred to it as back then so when words started going around that like
this is why she was in South Dakota people really didn't treat her well a yeah for close to a year she lived as
kind of a social Pariah in South Dakota with only occasional visits from George to interrupt the boredom in really
rather rough conditions was it worth it no okay things became worse in February of 1892 when she got word from Ohio that
in her absence her soon to be hopefully ex-husband sample George had filed a $330,000 lawsuit against George Saxton
for alienation of affection that is a term that allows the grieved party to sue an adulterer who
had seduced their spouse damn that's a [ __ ] thing alienation of affection yes interesting isn't that crazy yeah
now until that Point Georgia and Annie's relationship had been spoken of in like
very hush tones and rumors but the lawsuit made it a document a public fact and one that detailed the sexual ual
relationship between Saxton and a married woman oh no so like a lot of people could get their hands on that
yeah with the lawsuit against Saxton filed sample agreed to Grant Annie a divorce in September of 1892 and she was
officially a single woman but he was like I'm going to get $30,000 out of this yeah uh unfortunately for Annie the
pending lawsuit gave George a reason to put off getting married because remember
he doesn't really like to get married it never really ends up panning out he loves the leadup to getting married yeah
who doesn't it's really exciting I personally love the being married part as well but in the meantime she moved to
Cleveland in order to avoid avoid the Fallout from now a very public Scandal and just waited for everything to blow
over so she could finally go back and marry George months turned into years but Annie continued to wait very
patiently for the timing to be right for her and George to marry she was just out
there living on a modest allowance from George and she eventually found work as a seamstress to earn even more income
really in just a few short years she'd gone from a life of complete excitement like illicit excitement and lavish gifts
right back to the life that she lived before she even met her first husband oh man now in girl I know she [ __ ] up Bad
News Bears she [ __ ] up in March of 1894 sample's lawsuit against George was actually dismissed so Annie was able to
move back to Canton Ohio and she took up residence in her old apartment in the Saxton building okay and she started a
sewing business in order to support herself now by this time it seems georg's affections for her had started
to wne and it's likely that their relationship would have just ended like all his other engagements but not long
after Annie returned to Canton sample George filed a new lawsuit against Saxton and as author Bellamy points out
George Saxton quote would probably have to rely on Annie's willingness to purger
herself in defending himself against sample's lawsuit damn meaning he would have to keep up his affection for her at
at least until the case was settled or else she would be like testifying against him absolutely so whatever
scheme George had in mind it didn't quite work out the way that he had planned while she may have been naive
Annie wasn't so foolish as to not recognize that George had very little time for her and only seemed to show
affection to her when it suited him like she was catching on to this oh yeah and
just as it had been with his other fian rumors about George carrying on with other women soon made their way back to
Annie leading to a actually violent confrontation in late 1894 in which she fell down a flight of stairs and George
threw her out of her room at the Saxton building what the [ __ ] no one knows for
sure but she would later claim that George kicked her down the stairs during this go yeah if she hadn't been so
blinded by love excitement she probably would have recognized a pattern in George's life of seducing women
proposing marriage then very unceremoniously dropping them once he'd lost interest but she didn't seem to
have put all the pieces together until her life was in shambles she had endured everything and pretty much lost
everything that's horrific but if George thought that this was going to go away like all the other ones completely
without consequences he was very seriously mistaken surprise now as the son of one of canton's wealthiest
families George sa Saxton as we know was accustomed to easily getting what he wanted whether it was his his company
his family home his money his three former fiances George didn't really have to work too too hard to get anything and
when he was done with something or someone he was accustomed to just making it go away with ease just moving on not
always going to work honey it's not always going to work it's likely that after his contrived and surprisingly
physical falling out with Annie he assumed that she would just go away Fade Into the background like the others had
yeah but neither Annie or sample George had any ention of going away without a fight uh oh in August of 1895 George
Saxton filed um a demure in court alleging that the statue of limitations had run out on Sample suit however
sample quickly filed an appeal that would eventually take the case to the state supreme court whoa so they're just
suing each other left and right and Annie joins now in the meantime she filed her own lawsuit against George
demanding $50,000 for his his alleged breach of promise to marry her breach of Promise breach of Promise despite the
lawsuit and obviously bitter split Annie remained committed to George in a manner
that kind of bordered on Obsession o she was telling anyone who would listen that
she was still very much in love with him and was going to win him back I hate this was also suing him yeah now given
how protective George was of his wealth it's likely that the breach of Promise suit was intended to drive him back to
her she figured that's how she would get him back but it wasn't going to be that
easy no and also it's like you want to sue someone to make them love you again like it doesn't work get is it's like
the end result man you're not get what you want and in the months and years that followed their breakup Annie
refused to give George A Moment's Peace or privacy she would quote accost him whenever he showed himself and loudly
beseech him to return to her loving arm wow the only thing that seemed to work in George's favor was that regardless of
how publicly They Carried out their Affair he had never made any written promises to marry her so I don't think
it was a i WR it's I don't think verbal counted I think it had to be written down okay now as a result his lawyer was
able to get this breach of Promise suit thrown out of court but Annie immediately refiled and George found
himself fighting not only her lawsuit but sample's lawsuit that was like I said making its way to the Supreme Court
so he was in hell I was just going to say this sounds aw yeah it also it's like a little bit of
like like this part of it is like Karma I think it's like his like free previous
like you know the first one was up there like pulling some [ __ ] like oh yeah you
know what Georgie now while the lawsuits were a costly and obviously stressful experience George would come to find
that they were or at least should have been the least of his concerns after refiling her breach of Promise suit
Annie's obsessive Behavior took on a much more ominous tone she started a routine of show showing up outside the
Saxton block early in the mornings and she would stay camped outside all day waiting for George who was obviously
never happy to see her meanwhile she's like she was married she had kids whole life sample took them back to H and she
never went back it's like yeah she was like a very quote unquote normal woman yeah now years later William cook a
resident of the building told the court one evening quote he came home late at night to find all the lights on the
second floor were out turning a light on he discovered Annie George standing motionless and Silent in front of George
Saxton's room whoa on another occasion this same man returned late from the theater one evening and found Annie
standing outside of Saxton's door with a pistol in her hand which she tried to hide when she realized that he had
spotted her what the [ __ ] so she's Los essentially stalking him at this point like there's really not a better way to
say it no in response to her increasingly disruptive and harassing Behavior avior George actually ended up
filing a request for a restraining order against her and in turn she made several
public claims that he was running a sex work and gambling business out of the Saxton building and the only reason she
had been going to the building on a regular basis was to check on her belongings which he claimed he was
withholding from her after throwing her out Jesus so this is a [ __ ] wreck yeah the restraining order was granted
in early uh 1896 effectively barring her from entering the Saxton building but that did not uh stop her from
accosting George on the sidewalk or anywhere else in town which she started doing much more often once he started
dating a new woman publicly Eva out house it's unclear when Eva and georg's relationship truly began but by 1896
they were a full-fledged couple and would remain so until George's death uh this however didn't stop Annie who was
completely still committed to convincing George to come back to her when even George went out Annie would follow them
and at times just stalk them from one place to the other by late 1897 so a year into them dating and just like her
following them around all the time her behavior had reached alarming New Heights she would walk every single
evening to the area around or directly outside of Eva's house where she would either wait for George to arrive on his
bicycle and quote entreat him not to enter Eva's house and return to her and please keep his pledge to marry her or
she would just like stand outside and wait for him to come what the can you imagine your your new guy no is pulling
up to your house and his ex is stopping him each time to be like you don't want to go up there you want to be with me
like like I'd be like what the [ __ ] I don't know if I could handle that no I think I'd be like listen you're awesome
but like you need to figure this out before we can be together cuz like I don't want to get killed in the meantime
oh yeah you don't want to deal with that cuz it's dangerous yeah they get scary like I know this is like a salacious
story from the 1800s but it's scary what happened scary yeah now if it happened that George managed to get inside the
house before Annie arrived she would just stand outside all evening quote varying her anguished cries for George's
return with angry and often obscene abuse of Eva what yeah are you kidding me no so she just stand outside This
Woman's house like screaming for George to come back to her and yelling obscenities about Eva no which i' be
like get the [ __ ] off my property yeah that's not that's when you do the old like that's that's when the old plague
habits come back and you piss in a bucket and empty it on the streets oops oops that's my [ __ ] when she wasn't
causing an embarrassing public scene Annie continued her legal uh pressure on George filing multiple suits alleging
among other things that he'd stolen her belongings or was holding them hostage inside his building it's not clear how
serious these legal claims were or whether they might have just been thrown out by a judge but George engaged in
each battle which you can understand why he wants to but you're like like from the future you're like don't do it just
give her back her [ __ ] yeah like just stop it all in one instance he claimed that he had in fact been holding some of
her belongings but he was holding them as collateral for a loan of $300 that he given her several years earlier and he'd
never gotten any money back and he said I'll give them I'll give her her belongings when she pays back eventually
he relented because I think he just couldn't [ __ ] take it and he allowed Annie to retrieve some of her belongings
but that turned out to be a bad idea in the grand scheme of things because rather than putting an end to the matter
which I'm sure he thought it was going to do she interpreted this as success like he wants to see me he invited me
over absolutely and she spent months finding reasons to enter the premises and access different things Saxton's
lawyer complained to the Constable about it during all the lawsuit fighting saying she's got everything but the
paper on the wall and now she wants that which I don't know if that was like him
being hyperbolic or she if she actually was like I'd like the paper on the wall I would like the paper on the wall who
really knows be amazing that' be iconic in the late 19th century public awareness
obviously or under understanding of stalking and mental illness were way more limited than they are today so
while Annie's Behavior may have been seen by her neighbors as strange or probably desperate she was just deemed
an overly emotional woman rather than malicious or dangerous yeah and aside from the restraining order barring her
from entering the Saxton building which was granted more on the grounds of it being private property than like
harassment George had little legal recourse and he was forced to endure years of aggressive daily assaults for
man when she wasn't harassing him in person which like she was doing pretty frequently George was inundated with
legal challenges and all these different suits and the suits at least as far as were concerned and were intended to keep
the two of them bound to one another so it was like her way of being like I'll find you I was going to say I'll find
you exactly yeah that's the like I'm going to legally bind us yeah in in one way or another one way or another she
going to bind you going to sue you Su you you Su you every day finally in January of 19 uh NOP 1898 one of those
legal battles finally came to an end when the Ohio Supreme Court actually ruled in Sample George's favor in the
yearslong suit alleging that alienation of affections and it resulted in Saxton being ordered to pay sample
$30,000 whoa but George S to get an injunction to stop the verdict arguing that at the time the suit was followed
sample and Annie actually were already divorced and eventually they ended up agreeing to settle the matter outside of
court and George paid sample 1 825 huh versus the 30,000 yeah given all the time and
effort that had gone into sample's lawsuits against George Saxton it struck everybody as odd that he would agree to
like a fraction of a fraction of the of the original 1% yeah like if that however the reason would soon become
clear when the Press discovered that sample had been married for more than a year and had kept it secret oh so as not
which like he was fully well he was fully within his bounds to do that because he was divorced but but it just
adds to the dram but it doesn't make it look good cuz he's supposed to be like this heartbroken man of course yada yada
y but anyway the resolution of the alienation case may have been largely in George Saxton's favor but everywhere
else he turned things were decidedly Less Pleasant I guess you could say Annie's harassment only increased and by
then she had Enlisted the press in her campaign to win George back by uh ruining everything in his life that's
not how you you form a relationship that's not how I've ever gone about it no um so who am I to say don't be a a
life ruiner and ruin people's lives yeah and don't forget this is all now like right around this time is when his
sister is married to the president like oh so that's even more yeah scandalo so like the the president's brother in-law
is getting smeared in the Press yeah and now this is the time like right around the time that William McKinley was like
elected president so the brother-in-law of the president is getting smeared in the Press EK yeah now fortunately though
while the residents of Canton had come to expect certain types of behavior from both Annie and George and certain people
really kind of delighted in the gossip luckily the local press really rarely accommodated Annie's requests for them
to print updates on personal squabbles cuz it got to the point where it's like you're doing this in the streets we can
all see it like I don't need to write about it yeah and it's like you're they're going to start losing their
reputation and credibility by by print printing everything she says exactly and just looking into it and just like mere
squabbles you so when that failed Annie resorted to the only other thing she could think of to win George back
regular and numerous threats against his life I don't really understand the thought process here uh
neither do I but okay I guess it's a good thing that I don't understand the thought process here I think it says
good things about you I think it does too but throughout 1897 and well into 1898 nearly everyone in Canton Ohio had
become aware of the very toxic relationship that had developed between George and Annie and while they may have
been sympathetic most of them knew exactly who was to blame for the acrimony under those circumstances it
probably came as no surprise to a lot of people when Annie started making threats
against George's life to um quite literally anyone and everyone who would listen in one instance in June of 1898
during a conversation with just an acquaintance on the sidewalk Annie loudly exclaimed if George Saxton does
not keep his promise of marriage to me I'll kill him damn him I'll kill him why do you okay I mean why do you
want to be married to someone like who doesn't want to be married to you I think it's just I obviously mental
illness and it's just like obsessed like yeah this is like true OBS and it's like
she's scorned and you're not going to scorn her you're going to follow through on your promise unbelievable to me like
that's an unbelievable amount of obsession it is and it is worth noting obviously like we were saying earlier
like she left her whole [ __ ] family for this and who know I don't think he like asked her to like yeah but it was
part of it you know me fits into it for sure so I think that definitely like she
doesn't see her kids she doesn't like she's totally isolated at this point and obviously that's like partially a choice
that she made but I think that's definitely a driving Factor yeah I think so too exactly and in the months that
followed the threats intensified in both detail and frequency o during a quilting
bee a [ __ ] quilting be quilting be with several women Annie exclaimed after the case is settled there will be
a wedding or a funeral if he doesn't marry me he'll not walk the streets of Canton another day I'll shoot him dead I
need everyone to picture you were on one of your finest squares and this lady just casual
conversation is like I'll be real with you here are the two things that are going to happen one of these two things
is going to happen one of them is a funeral because I'm going to kill this man yeah I'd be like you're harshing the
Mellow here like you got to go I'm just trying to quilt this is a [ __ ] quilting bee like this is for my newborn
grandchild Annie I need you to chill there should be no murder plots or murder admissions happening at a
quilting bee I would like to say that right now you can't put murderous Vibes into one of the coziest things on the
planet yeah you that quilt is tarnished it absolutely is that's it and like who's sitting next to
her hearing this like where did they like they she just casually drops this and they're all just like wow yeah
that's that's wild Annie well luckily there was somebody there of uh sound mind one of the ladies was like yeah um
so like a wedding would be awesome I hope that happens for you but uh if you were to shoot him you would definitely
face serious consequences and like I'm sure you don't want to do that like hush now she's like hun that's murder here's
another Square yeah please just concentrate on this you know double Stitch but when that woman was like here
here Annie replied to her that she had always gotten out of trouble before and she would get out of that kind
too I like have have you murdered before though cuz that's a different kind of trouble I would not ask any further
questions I would just count the hours until the quilting be was over yeah I would just be like that is there's
there's varying levels of trouble that you can wiggle yourself out of murder murder is probably the highest top tier
I'd say I'm going to go with the highest things that are hard to get yourself out
of so don't do that eventually the incident of threats were made directly to George and sometimes included
physical assaults in one instance Annie stopped George and Eva as they were walking into Eva's house and she grabbed
George's arm and shouted look here you're not going into there tonight like saying like you're not going to Eva's
place what George managed to get himself free of her grassp by whacking her on the arm with his umbrella and then fled
into the house like had to whack this woman in the arm with his umbrella which that's self-defense at that point oh
absolutely is had to run into his girlfriend's house and like the police aren't arresting her like
no like I didn't come across any like she and she got like cited for this or anything like that it was just happen
what is going on they just had to endure this well and I think he had gotten that
that restraining order but it was only I I don't think restraining ERS sax buildings and I don't think they were
what they are now you know no I don't think they were at all I think it's like this is a small town we can't like tell
her she can't walk down the street yeah you can't wow cuz it's just and and it's
the time frame but you just think about like now it's like somebody would be like we you need to go to a hospital
like you need you need some treatment here like something needs to be done to bring you down they love to throw us in
the hospital us women for like I know that's true but that's the thing they would throw women in the hospital for
[ __ ] reasons yeah for [ __ ] reasons because when when there was real instances of Mental Health crisis they
were just like well that's annoying I don't want to deal with that and I think there wasn't a lot going on back then
and I hate to say this but I think it was a source of entertainment for people in the town to a degree like gossiped
about it got to watch the interactions and and I don't think anybody thought what ultimately ends up happening was
going to happen but then when it happens they're like yeah that makes sense that's the thing that like P as a human
beings we need to get it together in so many ways but in one one way we need to get it together when someone tells you
that they're going to kill someone they're probably going to kill that person they do think about killing that
person yeah so you should tell someone yes blanket statement I think that's overreact quilt statement over quilt
statement quilting be statement right here overreact yeah overreact if someone tells you they're going to kill hey I
really hate my mom I would love to kill her someday things would be better if I just murdered her go tell someone go
tell go tell someone the guidance counselor go let someone know the police you can wash your hands of it after that
but go do your do diligence and go tell someone cuz we have covered so many [ __ ] cases especially lately of
people laying down word for word the most UN nons subtle threats like the most conspicuous [ __ ] they're just like
I am going to kill this person with an axe and people are like you know it's so weird I didn't think they would actually
do it and it's like they said it to you with their words like they said it to you from their face into your face take
your face and go say it into someone else's face and here's the thing it's good that that's unbelievable to you
like it's it's good that you and your heart of hearts don't think that's going to happen I think that's because you
yourself are like well I could never do that like and no one's ever told me I'm going to kill someone no if someone told
me I want to kill this person or I think about killing this person sometimes I'm
telling someone so don't tell me your [ __ ] cuz I'm going to go blow your [ __ ]
up and that's the that on that Spotlight right on your like you can't I'm going to
snitch so don't you I would exactly it's never happened so I can't wrap my brain
around these people that are just and it happens so often through history no it really is it's wild it really is quite
alarming and we haven't learned cuz we've covered cases from the 2000s yeah where people were like yeah I don't know
they they produced a murder weapon and told me they were going to do it but I didn't think they would actually do it
why would they do it we got to stop stop underestimating our fellow human beings
we should we really do in in every different aspect yeah not even just like killing people in the bad ways yeah yeah
exactly there you go you turn look at you turning it positive that's what I do you flip that right on its but that's
what I do I was like stop underestimating that people aren't the shittiest things on the planet and
you're like and that's the best but anyway on another occasion Annie confronted the couple even George
as they walked home and she grabbed George's arm again this time pulling a revolver from from her pocket and
forcing him to walk down the street with her call the police call the police what's going on this situation only
ended when she actually dropped the revolver at one point and George was able to grab it from the ground and like
speedily walk away from her what the [ __ ] given the the way things were headed it was only a matter of time
before this situation reached a very tragic conclusion and that's where we are at right now oh no a little after
6:00 p.m. on the even of October 7th 1898 so like just before his birthday too like a couple weeks yeah just as the
working men and women of Canton were ending the day and making their way home George Saxton was on his bicycle headed
to his girlfriend Eva Al House's place at a nearby grocery store just right across the street from Eva's house Henry
Beerman was standing in the doorway of his store talking with another man August Boren the store's owner when the
two men heard a loud gunshot ring out followed by another as many of the Canton who had witnessed the ongoing
deterioration of George's relationship with Annie one of the men like so many others in town knew things had come to
or new things would come to a violent head sooner or later yeah and he recalled that his first thought upon
hearing the sound of gunshots was Saxton's finally getting it whoa which like wow what a first thought
sir that is the most chilling [ __ ] I've ever heard Saxton's finally getting it
it's like someone is dying and that's your immediate Dam yeah so the two men walked out to the sidewalk and peered
around the corner in the direction of Eva's house where they saw a figure approaching George Saxton who lay on the
stone uh the stone walkway leading to Eva's door the figure was wearing dark clothing and from their build and the
way they moved Beerman thought that it looked like a woman damn the figure leaned down close to George and appeared
to grab his arm and then stood up uh and fired twice more into his body holy [ __ ]
before running off toward a nearby vacant lot and then disappearing into the woods so Henry Beerman was one of the
first people to reach George Who by then was laying uh on his right side with his
face turned toward the sidewalk by then the sun had gone down completely and there were no street lights outside of
E's house so the men who assembled around the body actually couldn't make out who it was but they knew and even
when Beerman turned the body over several men around him had to light matches before they could confirm that
it was George which it was remarkably there were no obvious signs of violence it literally just looked
like he had fallen from his bicycle what the [ __ ] a few feet away his Satchel had
landed hard on the ground scattering the contents a night shirt and a bottle of champagne which we'll come back later
out onto Eva's lawn and finally after several minutes Somebody went to go get police Sergeant William Hassler and a
doctor Dr Edward Brandt regardless of how it appeared to the crowd that had now assembled around the body George
Saxton was 100% % dead and he had died violently according to the autopsy the first bullet entered his side above the
right breast and then bounced off a suspender buckle and exited 2 in above the entry wound holy [ __ ] so it
literally went in and then out oh wow which is wild the second bullet entered the left side of his chest grazed his
ribs and then exited near the left shoulder and the slug was later discovered amongst uh among his clothing
as far as Brent could tell those wounds were actually superficial and were unlikely the cause of death so two of
those shots would not have been fatal oh wow but the third wound was much more serious that bullet had entered George's
body under his left arm penetrating his lungs and his diaphragm severing multiple arteries before settling in his
liver damn and the final bullet that entered his left side grazing grazed his ribs then penetrated his stomach which
caused a tear in one artery and in his small intestine oh so Brent wasn't sure if it was the third bullet or the fourth
that had been the cause of death but he had concluded that it was the severing of the iliac artery that had killed
Saxton almost immediately damn which if you have to go thankfully it's it happened pretty immediately oh my God
but that's so violent so violent four shots oh the bullets collected from the body in George's clothing were from a 38
caliber caliber revolver and had all been fired at close Range close enough to leave burn marks on his clothing God
so that's like really close and uh burn marks on his clothing down to his underwear wow isn't that crazy Dr Brent
concluded that the reason for the lack of blood at the scene of the uh of the shooting or on George's clothes was
because the vast majority of his bleeding was actually going on internally oh yeah I'm sure all that
going on so horrific oh yeah as soon as the news of georg's murder started to spread around Canton there was literally
not a shed of doubt in anyone's mind as to who killed him and the search for Annie George began immediately large
teams of men spent hours combing cantons downtown in residential areas but there
was no sign of her anywhere wow at that time she was at the home of her friend Florence Clinger having arrived there at
about 6:30 p.m. Florence lived about a mile away from Eva out house a distance Annie could have easily covered in the
half hour between the shooting and when she arrived at the home the two women were said to have chatted for about 15
minutes or so and then Annie stood up abruptly and told her friend she needed to go downtown to see her lawyer James
Sterling so while the groups of men searching for Annie never had any luck locating her several other people
spotted her as she was walking through town on her way to Sterling's office she exchanged pleasantries with several
people as she walked through town and many remarked that she appeared quote calm and unad itated which like she
hadn't appeared that way in a while yeah after a stop at the lawyer's office she
returned to home to cor obin's rooming house around 9:00 p.m. where she found several men including a number of Canton
police officers waiting for her and she was immediately taken into the into custody for the murder of George Saxton
oh boy so the next day his murder had not only made the headlines of all the local papers but of course National ones
as well yeah since marrying William McKinley in 1871 George sister Ida had become a household name as the first
lady of Ohio as first excuse me as the first lady of Ohio from 1892 to 1896 and then like I said as the first lady of
the United States starting in 19 uh 1897 mhm although Ida and Joe George actually
rarely saw one another and really only had like a casual relationship since they were young the murder of the
president's brother-in-law was big news no matter what and it was made more so by the fact that the primary and only
suspect in the case was a woman yeah like that was insane shocking yeah we're talk 1897 oh yeah they weren't believing
that women could do that exactly Annie didn't resist her arrest and she walked calmly with the officers back to the
station asking no questions and making no mention of George along the way despite officers repeatedly asking her
questions about where she had been that evening and despite her stoicism arresting officers would later say that
she did seem agitated from the moment she was arrested it's to them it seemed like she was very tense and they could
see that she was sweating ooh yeah she trying to hide it mhm the officers actually made a point to look closely at
her hands as they walked back to the station and they noted that one of her hands was discolored and looked to be
smeared in what they believed to be gunpowder boom they also noted or excuse me noticed that the right side of her
dress was covered in Spanish needles and Burrs like the ones that were literally
scattered around Eva's front yard wow yeah so she didn't do a good job hiding it no not now so they reached the
station a little after 9:00 p.m. at which point Annie was immediately peppered with questions by a prosecutor
in response she only asked that her attorney and mayor of Canton James rice be contacted saying she would answer
questions once he arrived unfortunately her request for her attorney was repeatedly ignored which was like not
great that's that's not part of protocol that's bad police work yeah that's bad that's G to [ __ ] you up in trial yeah
officials and reporters rapidly hurled questions at her asking about everything from her threats to George's life to her
movements that evening why she was covered in Burrs but when it was finally clear that they were not going to get
anything out of her they gave up and she was handed over to the jail physici for
a physical examination and in the days that followed a very unusual story began unfolding in the Press while Annie
remained mostly silent on whether or not she had shot George there was very little doubt among the public as to her
guilt but what was remarkable was that many people in and around Canton actually
sympathized or at the very least understood her actions what one reporter wrote sentiment is divided between the belief
that her wrongs Pate the criminal Madness of the deed and the Declaration of the Act was the last resort of a
foled and financially a ruined woman that's from the Boston Globe and it's like she get it takes two to tango
here but like two to tango she had to make the decision to leave her family this man and you have been like
assaulting this man berating this man for years and no one feels bad for him like yeah it's [ __ ] up that he left
her in the way that he did absolutely I I'm not going to sit here and argue that
absolutely you're allowed to leave someone you should do it in a cooler manner like a because you don't do it in
a nicer way doesn't mean you deserve to be stalked and harassed and assaulted and then ultimately murdered
for doing that like that's not okay exactly and that's that's a little scary that public sentiment was like well you
have to leave someone a certain way or if you get murdered we don't really care but basically what they were trying to
say was that either she was insane or she had been pushed to the murder out of desperation but either way that report
seemed to feel that Annie could hardly be held entirely responsible for her her actions wow it's like that's crazy
that's unbelievable to that's absolutely insane yeah that's truly unbelievable on
Monday October 10th she was aranged before Justice Jacob Rainer where she pleaded not guilty to the charge of
murder and asked that the hearing take place as soon as possible she was like let's get this going let's get this over
with I'm not guilty let's go yeah the trial of the woman who allegedly shot the president's brother-in-law was
itself in and of itself an object of Fascination around the country but in Ohio it was also a chance to test a
newly enacted law that allowed the jury to determine the degree of the crime in capital murder cases given the degree of
vital and acri demonstrated in the Years leading up to the murder this seemed like the perfect opportunity to set a
precedent so that's why they were doing that so they were excited they were like
ooh legal legal legal yeah legal legal legal the following day Annie appeared before a grand jury where the
prosecution presented the evidence against her among the more compelling pieces of evidence was proof that in the
days before George's Murder She had traveled to Chicago and purchased a 38 caliber
revolver that's what we call a Smoking Gun quite literally although investigators had been unable to locate
that gun they did have a statement from a witness that Annie said she intended to use this this very gun to shoot
George just as soon as the alienation case had been settled between Saxon and Sample George which it had been so she
bought a gun that was used in the murder and then that same gun is the one that she blatantly told someone I'm GNA use
this gun yep to kill this man who happens to be killed by a gun such as that that exact kind of gun and I'm
going to do it at this exact time and then it happened at that exact time and she's still like I didn't do it
didn't do it and like what problem for the prosecution they didn't have the gun yeah they couldn't find that's the
problem they do not have the Smoking Gun they do not now in her defense attorney
James rice also the mayor argued that it was not Annie had killed George but a man dressed in women's clothing so as to
throw investigators off their Trail what like sir sir sir this is a Wendy's is the defense in the room with us yeah
what in support of their Theory rice emphasized that there had only been one witness to the shooting false and he was
too far away to make out any details of the shooter only that they appeared to be a Woman based almost entirely on the
fact that they were dressed in women's clothes it's like okay okay now sure it should be said that not only was a
significant amount of the public sympathetic to Annie but just as many doubted the case would ever make it to
trial like I don't even think this will go to trial the only witness to the crime couldn't positively identify the
shooter or say with certainty now that it was a woman much less Annie George oh jeez and while the prosecutor was more
than competent Annie literally had the mayor of Canton James rice arguing on her behalf that's wild and he was backed
by some of the country's most prominent attorneys I'm so confused by that it's crazy like what the you're like how is
that not a conflict of interest I would think so too the prosecution on the other hand had George Saxton a man who
most people faked their respect toward unfortunately and who few really genuinely liked when it came down to him
like they liked chatting with him in town because I think it was good to be seen with him but when it came down to
it they all talk [ __ ] about him by back and in an editorial published a few weeks later one journalist wrote it
seems that everybody in Canton was glad that somebody killed Saxton as no home was safe while he lived at the time of
the shooting he was living with Mrs Al house Rich his only business was that of a family wrecker Mrs Al house was one of
his victims even the man who saw the shooting did not cross the street to interfere that's pretty brutal yeah he
was getting like that's pretty Brut no that's that's awful he was getting like this man just got killed in the street I
feel like this happened so much when and and we get so upset and like I'm upset right now we get so upset when this
happens with like women too cuz I feel like most often this happens to women that they're like smeared in court later
on but I'm like damn you guys did it to George yeah like damn the president's brother-in-law you were like ah [ __ ] him
and this guy who was uring like some some of the worst stalking and harassment and assaults yeah Not only
was he a shooting victim but he was a victim of asss stalking of like you name it and
it's like yeah okay so he was you know he liked to go after ladies that may a good time guy he was he was you know
like yeah he was a h wrecker like it's just that he was it is what it and it's like it's just the fact of the matter
but it's like that doesn't to Define him by that after he's been murdered in the
street he's so much more than just that one thing is like pretty it just seems callous to me it's like yeah that was a
part of what he did but does he deserve to die no that way like come on that's the thing yeah after hearing the
evidence though presented by the prosecution as well as the evidence collected during the coroner's inquest
held a day earlier the grand jury handed down the indictment and Annie was bound
over for trial so this was going to trial yeah however while this seemed like a positive step toward getting
Justice for George everyone really knew that the case against Annie was slim and
very circumstantial damn the prosecution's evidence amounted to a witness seeing Annie in the area shortly
before the shooting a dirty dress some gunpowder residue maybe on her hands and a long history of threatening and
stalking behavior which when chocked up altogether like it is seems pretty good I mean there's a lot of circumstantial
but it's like this lady was walking around to anybody she was going to like anybody who would listen anybody who had
ears she was telling she was going to murder this man yeah like that does need to be taken into account cuz nine times
out of 10 they follow through and they do it yeah exactly we've seen this time and time again
it's this is a wild case yeah so despite the high-profile nature of the case and
how well everyone in Stark County knew the toxic history between Annie and George jury selection was uh completed
very quickly and the trial got underway on April 8th 1899 arguing for uh for the
state was County prosecutor Atley pomerance while the defense team was led by Canton mayor like I said James rice
in his opening statement pomerance laid out the states case that on the evening of October 6th George got on his bicycle
and had headed to the home of his girlfriend arriving in the vicinity a little after 6:00 p.m. at the same time
Witnesses saw Annie board a street car headed in the direction of Eva's house according to pomerance the two met on
the sidewalk outside of Eva's house where Annie fired two shots at George Who immediately dropped to the ground
after hearing George cry out for help she approached and stood over him firing twice more at close range killing him
instantly in support of this Theory pomerans explained to the jury that officers found quote Mrs George's
fingers were blackened with burned powder when arrested and that she had not only threatened to kill Saxton but
had long planned how to do it and that she had outlined her plans to another party so they were like yeah they're
they're saying exactly what they're saying what we're saying it's like this is how it happened someone literally saw
her in the vicinity like a mile away and then she has all this gunpowder on her hands and she's been telling people
people for [ __ ] years that she was going to do this like you got to follow the breadcrumbs here when something
happens the exact way that somebody said they were going to do it they did it they did it come on come on by that time
a great deal of media attention and gossip had focus on the scandalous and ultimately ugly relationship that
existed between the two of them which some viewed as an explanation for the crime but in the months since her arrest
some in the press and residents of Canton had raised George's history with women almost like I was saying as a
justification for the shooting Rumors in inuendo that not not started by the defense were still encouraged by rice
Sterling and Welty all of the defense or [ __ ] up like they didn't the defense didn't start the rumors but they were
like they're not stopping we're not going to stop them exactly people knew that at the time of his death too George
was traveling to Eva's home with a bottle of champagne and his nightclothes which was very curious given that
although he had a key to the house Eva was away and not expected to return for several days the the implication being
who was he there to meet oh no yeah that's not great in anticipation of the questions and imp implications this
raised pomerance the prosecutor told the jury he cares not what relations were shown to have existed between the two
and that they were not such as to have Justified the crime so it's like while he may have been going to his
girlfriend's house to meet up with a mistress like that sucks but that doesn't mean that he didn't get shot by
any doesn't have anything to do with it yeah that's neither here nor there exactly it's like when we say when they
bring up like a victim's sexual history or like dating history and it's like that's [ __ ] up it is [ __ ] up like
because we're we should be looking at the task at hand here well it's like that's just gossip for gossip sake when
when it comes down to it true the next day defense attorney John walty gave his opening remarks to the jury during which
he laid out the broad argument for Annie's defense he opened by complimenting the jury telling them
quote his client was satisfied to leave her life in Liberty in their hands she felt confident in them wow from there
Welty gave the jury an overview of the legal history between Saxton and the Georges including George saxon's
supposed promise to marry Annie and the extent of his seduction and deception and luring her away from her husband and
convincing her to divorce sample and abandon their family yeah it doesn't look great it doesn't sound great when
you put it all together it was true he acknowledged that there had been some threats made over the years sure sure
sure oh yeah but they were nothing at all all as menacing as the prosecution made them sound instead he claimed they
were simply the frustrated outbursts of a woman scorned in fact in his opinion the degree of passion evident in that
frustration and those outbursts were if anything evidence that showed the extent
of Annie's love for George even after he had abandoned her and left her destitute she loves him that's why she
talks about killing him so much now I know some of you listening have also found yourself scorned Yeah by someone
you loved most of us have I don't I didn't walk around saying that you know I was going to kill that man no I just
didn't laying out exactly how showing people a a a murder weapon like no like you don't go go around saying you are
legitimately going and you don't follow them around you don't assault them you don't stalk them you don't hold
revolvers to their heads and walk them down the street you don't you don't make it so they have to whack you with an
umbrella to get you off of them like like I'm sorry but in my book walking around talking about how much you're
going to kill someone and like how much you want to kill that person to me doesn't show how much you love them
follow me crazy that's not how how me and John's Love Story started I can that wasn't our love language maybe it is
somewhere else but it's not here but since the prosecution had very little evidence against Annie uh physical
evidence against Danny and no witnesses that could put the gun directly in her hand or place her at the scene Beyond
Reasonable Doubt pomerans had to convince the jury that the circumstantial evidence amounted to
irrefutable guilt so to do this they offered testimony from the arresting officers who told the jury how Annie
appeared nervous when arrested and how they found evidence of her having recently fired a pistol literal
arresting officers were like when we arrested her she had gunpowder on her hands like no we don't have pics of it
cuz I don't even know about cameras right now but he's like cameras who I don't know her they might have been
around I don't know but like that's coming out of the arresting officer's mouth like they're saying there's GSR on
her hand man exactly and that along with everything else like come on yeah additional Witnesses included the street
car driver who testified that Annie got out of the car near Eva's at the time of
the shooting and several friends and acquaintances who told the story of Annie's desperate attempts to reconcile
with with George and failing that the number of times she had threatened his life exactly oh cameras were invented by
the way it was 1816 I I had a feeling they were they were definitely those big like poof cameras that you had to like
you know and I don't know if they were really like photographing evidence like I don't think they just like pulling one
out of their pocket and like taking a quick you know photo like macro photo of GSR on someone's hands exactly now Annie
never testified on her own behalf but she didn't really have to her demeanor in performance from behind the defense
table was more than enough for the jury to witness as she listened to her people
arguing on her behalf quote the serenity with which she had faced the jury gave way to the the appearance of Sorrow her
eyes were moist and downcast her manner was natural enough in view of welty's graphic description of events from the
time that she left Hanoverton as an innocent and contended woman to the time when she was cast a drift by Saxton so
she was [ __ ] haming it up she was haming up was I was going to say beefing it up she was she was beefing it up she
was playing the part she was to listen to the defense one would have assumed though that it was George Saxton who was
on trial not but things got even worse for the prosecution when the defense entered several scraps of shredded paper
into evidence that when reassembled compromised a series of notes between George Saxton and Jake Mintz the head of
a private investigation agency employed by Saxton so the defense called mince to
the stand and he testified quote Saxton came to Cleveland and engaged me to secure evidence against Mrs George
Saxton by this time was tired of the woman and wanted to get rid of her oh his idea was to catch her together with
another man and have her sent to the workhouse he thought that would end her it didn't mean like he didn't mean
like he wanted to kill her but he was like I need to get rid of her so like have her sent to a workhouse and
workhouses are [ __ ] up that's that's also brutal and super callous of him like that's [ __ ] up yeah this is a
horrific story on both ends like he was just like yeah send her to a workhouse it's like where she might die exactly
okay like and not great everybody no this is not this is not a love story damn no despite the fact that this was a
murder trial and min's business dealings with saxt Saxton really had little bearing on the case the defense still
used this as evidence of Georgia's cruelty towards Annie and it worked and as support for their argument that any
outburst threatening behavior from her was only the natural result of a woman pushed to the brink of Madness by a
callous and abusive man wow so after 3 weeks of evidence and testimony closing remarks came on April 27th 1899 so we
are literally almost in the 1900s wow look at us the prosecution Revisited the stronger points of their case including
the fact that Annie had made countless threats against George and even physically assaulted him and again had
been seen in the area at the [ __ ] time of the crime come on the evidence may have been circumstantial but it was
also compelling and pointed to her as the most likely suspect in the murder when it came time for the defense to
give closing remarks James Sterling the [ __ ] mayor took a play from Welty strategy and began by complimenting the
prosecutor oh wow Hance he told the jury was quote An Elegant gentleman he's a good lawyer and a nice fellow and that
man said flattery will get you everywhere with me sir exactly he continued basically saying it was not
the prosecutor's fault that he had been LED astray by bad advice and false stories and he had no doubt regretted
building a case on such flimsy evidence oh that is so Pat underhanded like that is so just like like they're there it's
not your fault that you're dumb they're thereon D said after all they had presented a case based on threats made
by a frustrated heartbroken woman and as Sterling pointed out quote it does not follow that because threats were made
they were executed yes it does but but when they are executed did I feel like that's when
you can you can color those dots in he said no no in a Stern tone he went on to say the more I think of it the more
astounded I am to think of it that an officer of this court a member of the Stark County Bar should hold it to be
the rule that suspicion missing links and distorted ideas are evidence of guilt so he literally was like I can't
even believe you're a lawyer he's like wow you suck at this he started off by being like you are an elegant man and
then ended with like but I can't believe you're a lawyer you sure are elegant but
you suck at this you dumb yeah over the course of the next 3 weeks the defense team barely acknowledged the evidence
against their CL or over the course of the last three weeks excuse me the defense barely acknowledged the evidence
against their client and they never considered entering a plea of insanity they weren't even going to do that which
why wouldn't you you would think that would be the easiest thing and I think they would have gotten that you would
get that in a hot second they wanted her to get off like Scott free damn they just operated from the very reasonable
and very legitimate position that threats in inuendo made by an raped person didn't make them guilty of murder
no matter how close they were to the scene of crime when it happened very reasonable wow all right I say that with
sarcasm yeah they strengthened their case by reminding the jury and everybody else in the courtroom that George Saxton
had a long history as basically what they said was a self-centered Playboy and a home wrecker just in case anybody
questioned why Annie had become so desperate yeah under the circumstances it was uh questionable and tacky but it
worked ah the jury deliberated for nearly 23 hours and voted a total of 22 times before returning a verdict of not
guilty how the [ __ ] did that happen not guilty W don't no like it come on now given the weak case against her like I
say weak because it's circumstantial but it's really not Annie's acquittal came as a a surprise to very few people given
that the residents of Canton were shocked 6 months later when new evidence came to light that likely would have
seriously uh had important bearing had it become known to the prosecution at the time of the trial uhoh in July 1899
15-year-old Russell Hogan was arrested in Chicago and brought before the juvenile court to face a charge of
disorderly conduct when he told the pr prosecutor he had witnessed the shooting of George
Saxton he said I was standing right across Lincoln Avenue from Mrs Al house place and saw Mr Saxon on the porch and
I saw Mrs George shoot him wow when the judge was like uh why the [ __ ] didn't you tell anybody about
this sooner he said I was afraid they might do something to me if I told what I seen so I left home and traveled all
over the country since then holy he like carrying that with him yeah according to
the Press Hogan had told the story to others prior to his arrest and was generally believed to be trustworthy wow
not to mention he hadn't told the story in exchange for any type of plea and he didn't expect anything in exchange for
the information it was literally just like I think he needed to get off of his chest which led the authorities to
conclude that he was most likely telling the truth holy [ __ ] but regardless of
his truthfulness Annie had already been acquitted of georg's murder couldn't be retried so in the end his eyewitness
testimony was useless why did he wait so long I know I think he was just scared I think a few
years later Annie relocated to akan Ohio where she met and married local physician Dr Arthur rot Annie's past and
the near certainty of her guilt caused a stir among the uh residents of akan and
the Scandal eventually forced them to relocate little is known about her life from that point forward but in July of
1906 The akan Beacon Journal reported on Arthur R outs quote unquote suicide oh he was quoted as telling Annie on the
night of his death I am tired and sleepy I shall go to bed the following morning
Annie went to check on her husband and found his lifeless body hanging by a belt from the chandelier oh wow his
cause of death was listed as Strang strangulation and he left no note and there was no reason that anybody knew as
to why he would end his life oh boy Annie R out died June 25th 1922 wow of unknown causes and is buried
in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn New York hly and that is the story of the murder
of George Saxton and Annie George ride out wow that's a little sketchy that's very sketchy everybody was like he had
no reason to do that and the last thing he said was like I'm sleepy I'm going to
go to bed that's wild and the fact that that kid came forward later was like I saw the whole thing like I literally saw
all of it and I'm I'm just telling you this to get it off my chest I don't have anything to gain from this wow that's
that's brutal yeah yeah damn and it's really it's just and we said it the whole way through but it's just so
[ __ ] up that everybody was like yeah guess he drove her to it yeah like yeah I guess he's kind of a [ __ ] boy so Mur
him on the street a [ __ ] boy in my life but I've never wanted to kill any of them or never thought like they deserved
I'm not murder them on the street like Jesus God damn y'all that's wild crazy what a what a crazy tail I know
absolutely Bonkers so yeah uh we you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird but not so
weird that you run around telling people that you're going to kill somebody and then actually go and kill them and get
away with it because we don't condone that kind of behavior here we don't thank you
goodbye

On the evening of October 6, 1898, forty-eight-year-old George Saxton, brother of First Lady Ida McKinley, was riding his bike to the home of his lady friend Eva Althouse when an assailant dressed in black emerged from the shadows and fired two shots. Wounded, George crawled towards Eva’s house and had just reached the front steps when the shooter approached and fired two more shots, killing him almost instantly.

Within hours of Saxton’s death, his former mistress, Anna George, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. For more than a decade, Saxton and George had been carrying on a scandalous relationship that began as an illicit affair until Saxton successfully convinced George to divorce her husband, supposedly with promises to marry her. However, once she was a single woman again, Saxton’s enthusiasm for marriage had cooled and over time his interest in Anna waned.

Anna George’s sensational arrest and trial dominated headlines for months and, as Saxton was extremely unpopular, many people sympathized with the accused woman and even reveled in Saxton’s death. After an intense and closely watched three-week trial, Anna George was acquitted of the murder and soon after she faded out of the spotlight, leaving the murder of George Saxton officially unsolved to this day.

Thank you to the glorious David White, of the Bring Me The Axe Podcast, for research!

References

Akron Beacon Journal. 1906. "Former Akron man suicided in Ravenna." Akron Beacon Journal, July 23: 8.

Bellamy, John Stark. 2011. A Woman Scorned: The Murder of George Saxton. Cleveland, OH: Independent.

Boston Daily Globe. 1899. "Mintz on Saxton." Boston Daily Globe, April 23: 2.

—. 1898. "Public sympathy with Mrs. George." Boston Daily Globe, October 9: 1.

Cincinnati Post. 1898. "Before bar of justice." Cincinnati Post, October 10: 1.

—. 1898. "Charged with murder of G.D. Saxton." Cincinnati Post, October 11: 1.

Clinton County Democrat. 1898. "The good people of Canton rejoice that he has been removed." Clinton County Democrat, November 10: 1.

Coe, Jonathan. 2012. Canton's Great Tragedy the Murder of George D. Saxton, Together with a History of the Arrest and Trial of Annie E. George Charged with the Murder. Detroit, MI: Gale.

Dayton Daily News. 1899. "Loved to the hour of death." Dayton Daily News, April 8: 1.

Dayton Herald. 1899. "Relations of Mrs. George and Saxton are told to the jury." Dayton Herald, April 8: 1.

—. 1899. "Youth claims to have seen the killing of Saxton." Dayton Herald, July 25: 1.

New York Times. 1899. "Belated evidence heard at Chicago against Mrs. George." New York Times, July 25: 4.

Scripps-McRae Telegram. 1898. "Out of court noted alienation case was settled." Cincinnati Post, October 5: 7.

Stark County Democrat. 1899. "Sterling were the remarks of the attorney by the same name." Stark County Democrat, April 27: 1.

—. 1899. "Testimony being heard at a rapid and exceedingly gratifying pace." Stark County Democvrat, April 13: 1.

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Brief Summary

The episode discusses George Saxton's murder by Annie George, detailing their tumultuous affair and the subsequent trial.

Key points

The Murder of George Saxton. Exploring the life and murder of George Saxton, brother of First Lady Ida McKinley.
George's Scandalous Affairs. George Saxton's pattern of infidelity and failed engagements paints a troubling picture.
Annie's Relentless Pursuit. After years of George's advances, Annie finally agrees to a trip with him.
The Lawsuit. Annie's estranged husband files a lawsuit against George for alienation of affection.
Annie's Stalking Behavior. Annie's obsessive behavior escalates as she stalks George and his new girlfriend.
Annie's Desperate Threats. Annie resorts to making threats against George's life in a desperate bid to win him back.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I love a scandalous affair!

Elena expressing her interest in scandalous stories.

6:04WatchFeb 22, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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