This article tells the story of Pesach Rubenstein and how he cheated the hangman in 1876. Rubenstein was charged, tried, and convicted in Kings County, New York, for the 1875 murder of his 19-year-old cousin, Sarah Alexander. The Rubenstein case is noteworthy in that it received unprecedented media attention in the 1870s, involved the use of rudimentary forensic evidence at the trial, and divided the community on issues of religion, ethnicity, immigration (the victim and defendant were recent Jewish immigrants from Poland), and imposition of the death penalty. Using a case study approach to analyze the trial transcript, newspaper articles, and historical accounts of the murder investigation, Rubenstein’s trial, and his incarceration at Brooklyn’s Raymond Street Jail, this article offers a glimpse into the operations of an urban jail in an earlier era when our criminal justice system was in its infancy.
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A chance for detectives: The East New York murder. (1875, December 16). New York Times, p. 8.
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A dark deed: Brutal and mysterious murder of a woman. (1875 , December 15). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Death of a murderer: The end of P. Nathan Rubenstein. (1876 , May 10). New York Times, p. 8.
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Deputies: Sheriff Elect Daggett announces his appointments. ( 1875, December 24). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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An East New York murder: The body of a young woman found in a corn-field in East New York: Her face and neck badly cut (1875, December 15). New York Times, p. 7.
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Escaped: The Loughrey brothers gone from Raymond Street Jail. ( 1875, December 6). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Execution of Real: His crime expiated on the gallows at last. ( 1870, August 6). New York Times, p. 2.
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Fuchs: His life saved by the Governor. (1876, May 26). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Fuchs: Removal of the murderer to Sing Sing Prison. (1876, May 29). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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He offered Sheriff Stegman ten thousand dollars to let him escape. (1876, May 9). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Investigation. (1876, April 14). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 2.
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Jail affairs: A deputy keeper throws up the sponge: Kate Stoddard acting like a crazy woman. (1873, September 11). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Jail and jailer: How the prisoners are fed and what they are fed upon. (1873, August 27). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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The jail: How the prisoners therein stand the heat. (1876, August 12). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 2.
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The jail committee. (1876, February 28). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Kate Stoddard: How she takes the decree of the court and what she says. (1874, July 17). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Law reports: Rubenstein obtains a stay (1876, March 19). New York Times, p. 2.
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Loughrys: Capture of the fugitive counterfeiters in New York. ( 1876, February 21). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Mr.Fuchs : Convicted and sentenced to be hanged. (1876, April 11). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Recalling a Brooklyn murder: The death of Andreas Fuchs in Auburn State Prison (1882, July 18). New York Times, p. 8.
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Rubenstein: Application for a writ of error and a stay of proceedings. (1876, March 9). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein’s case. (1876, April 30). New York Times, p. 12.
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Rubenstein convicted. (1876, February 13). New York Times, p. 12.
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Rubenstein: Did he murder the Hebrew girl, Sarah Alexander? Additional evidence of a strong kind found against him today. (1875, December 17). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein: Finding out the cause of the murderer’s death. ( 1876, May 10). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein: He commences to observe the Feast of Purim this morning. (1876, March 10). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein: His counsel striving to get a new trial. (1876, February 18). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein: How he passed last night in jail. (1876, February 16). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein: How the condemned man conducts himself now. (1876 , February 14). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein: The murder of the Hebrew girl. (1875, December 16). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein, P.N. ( 1876). Trial of Pasash N. Rubenstein for the murder of Sarah Alexander, in the town of New Lots (near Brooklyn, New York) on the 12th day of December, 1875: Commenced at the Kings County Oyer and Terminer, on the 31st day of January, 1876, with the evidence, arguments of counsel, charge of the
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court, verdict of the jury, and sentence of the prisoner. New York: Baker, Voorhis. Rubenstein: The commencement of the murder inquest yesterday. (1875, December 21). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein: The continuation of the coroner’s inquest. ( 1875, December 23). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 3.
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Rubenstein the murderer: Emphatic denials of guilt by the condemned man. (1876, February 15). New York Times, p. 2.
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Rubenstein: What he has said about the woman who called on him on Sunday. (1876, April 18). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Rubenstein: Why Superintendent Campbell sent for Colonel Stegman this morning . (1876, February 26). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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The sheriff: End of the criminal charges against him. (1874 , November 16). Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. 4.
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Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987).
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Van Gelder, L. ( 2000, March 3). Theatre review: Voyagers, far from home, lose their moral compass. New York Times, p. 5.
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William Sindram hanged. (1882, April 22). New York Times, p. 8.
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Stern, S. ( 1876). Thrilling mysteries of the Rubenstein murder, never before brought to light. New York: Stern & Cohn.
