Episode 86: Mary Rogers
Mary Rogers grew up in the late 1800s, and was subjected to an awful childhood. Both of her parents were alcoholics, and her own father even tried to kill her several times. This, perhaps, caused her to be consistently nervous and impulsive which often got her made fun of at school. When she was just 15, she married a man 10+ years her senior, Marcus Rogers. Together, they moved to Shaftsbury, Vermont.
The marriage was tumultuous from the beginning. Mary ended up giving birth to their only child, who ended up dying in a questionable accident. Eventually, Marcus moved back to his hometown in New York for work, and Mary refused to follow him. This allowed Mary to do whatever she wanted, which happened to be having affairs and partying all the time.
One fateful August evening in 1902, Mary put forth a plan involving one of her lovers, whom she had promised compensation. Together, they tied Marcus up and used chloroform to knock him out before rolling him into the river. A forged suicide note wasn’t convincing enough, and a confession came quick from the lover’s mouth.
Mary was ultimately sentenced to be executed, which caused an uproar all over the state and even the country. While many supported her and attempted to get her sentence commuted, she ended up being hung from the gallows in December of 1905. Unfortunately for Mary, her execution was botched and she died in a very prolonged and painful way.
Image Sources:
reformer.com - “‘Yellows’ well represented in sensational murder case”
findagrave.com - “Mary Mabel Bennett Rogers”