Immediately following Troy’s March 6, 1894 election riot in the 13th Ward, the question on everyone’s lips was “Who killed Robert Ross?” After interviewing 50 of the 100 witnesses at the scene of the violence, Superintendent of Police William W. Willard offered his gut reaction to the press.
“To a greater or lesser degree everyone [was responsible] who was engaged in the fight during which the crime was committed” according to the The Albany Argus of March 12, 1894. That opinion was not repeated at the March 15th inquest or the May 28th murder trial, although it did resurface before Bat Shea was strapped into the electric chair. [Read more…] about Election Anxiety: Bat Shea & The Murder of Robert Ross
