Summary of Richard White's Who Killed Jane Stanford?

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 On January 14, 1905, Jane Stanford, the wealthiest woman in San Francisco, was murdered in her bedroom. She was 76 years old and the cofounder of Leland Stanford Junior University. She was never alone, as she was always surrounded by servants.

#2 The story of how strychnine was put in Jane Stanford’s Poland Spring Water is full of contradictions and explanations. The accounts of Mrs. Stanford, Elizabeth Richmond, and Bertha Berner all agree on the bitter taste in the water, Mrs. Stanford’s vomiting, and the decision to send the bottle out to a chemist to be analyzed.

#3 The San Francisco Bulletin’s account of the poisoning differed from Richmond’s in several significant ways. The bottle was in the same condition as when it came from the case, and Richmond must have put the idea in Jane Stanford’s mind that the bottle was only partially full.

#4 The trip to the train station the next day brought another surprise. Jane Stanford and Bertha Berner encountered David Starr Jordan, the president of Leland Stanford Junior University, and told him of the incident.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822542778

IRB Media

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Insights on Richard White's Who Killed Jane Stanford?

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

On January 14, 1905, Jane Stanford, the wealthiest woman in San Francisco, was murdered in her bedroom. She was 76 years old and the cofounder of Leland Stanford Junior University. She was never alone, as she was always surrounded by servants.

#2

The story of how strychnine was put in Jane Stanford’s Poland Spring Water is full of contradictions and explanations. The accounts of Mrs. Stanford, Elizabeth Richmond, and Bertha Berner all agree on the bitter taste in the water, Mrs. Stanford’s vomiting, and the decision to send the bottle out to a chemist to be analyzed.

#3

The San Francisco Bulletin’s account of the poisoning differed from Richmond’s in several significant ways. The bottle was in the same condition as when it came from the case, and Richmond must have put the idea in Jane Stanford’s mind that the bottle was only partially full.

#4

The trip to the train station the next day brought another surprise. Jane Stanford and Bertha Berner encountered David Starr Jordan, the president of Leland Stanford Junior University, and told him of the incident.

#5

Jordan and Jane Stanford had met coincidentally, but Jordan claimed that he met her on a streetcar on January 15 and she told him about the Poland Spring Water incident, which she appeared to take lightly.

#6

The pharmacist at Wakelee’s pharmacy could not perform the analysis requested, so the sample was sent to the Falkenau Assaying Company nearby on Sacramento Street. The results showed that a glass of the Poland Spring Water contained three-quarters of a grain of strychnine.

#7

The Morse Detective Agency was hired to investigate the poisoning. They kept the story of the poisoning out of the newspapers for nearly a month.

#8

The detectives knew that someone had put rat poison in Jane Stanford’s Poland Spring Water, and they tried to find those with a motive to kill her. They focused their suspicion on Elizabeth Richmond, who had been Jane Stanford’s butler.

#9

The chronology of Richmond’s story did not match up with other accounts. The newspapers erupted in stories, which was precisely what those employing Callundan had sought to avoid.

#10

The detectives searched for the source of the strychnine, but they