THE SNELL MURDER
Chicago, February 8, 1888
A Wealthy Man. A Midnight Intrusion. A City in Fear.
Amos Jerome Snell
1823 – 1888
— Timeline of Events —
~1:30–2:00 AM
The Burglary
Burglars cut through the rear door, ransack the safe, break open a strongbox, and gather silver from the house while Amos sleeps upstairs.
Feb 8 · ~2:00 AM
Confrontation & The Shot
Snell comes downstairs armed and fires through the parlor door. The thieves fire back — two shots strike him. Servants hear the shot but are too frightened to respond.
Feb 8 · 7:00 AM
Discovery
Coachman Henry Winklebook finds Amos dead in the hallway, lying in a pool of blood. The house has been ransacked and the safe emptied.
Feb 8–10
Manhunt Begins
Police determine two men entered; a third stood watch outside. A dragnet sweeps Chicago — over 20 arrests across five years. No one is ever charged.
Henrietta Snell
Wife of Amos. In Milwaukee when the murder occurred.
About Amos
64-year-old real estate magnate. One of Chicago's wealthiest men.
Suspicious Arrest
Charles Benedict is arrested with 6 dark lanterns, chisels, dynamite, Colt revolvers, skeleton keys, and diamond glass-cutters. Police do not believe he is connected to the Snell murder.
A Break in the Case
Landlady Ella S. Wicks reports a tenant, "Mr. Scott," left stolen goods matching items from Snell's office. The description matches safe-cracker Billy Gebright — actually William B. Tascott, the black sheep of a prominent Chicago family.
$22,000
Reward
$20,000 from Albert Snell + $2,000 for Tascott's capture. He vanishes.
"Will the truth ever come to light? Over 135 years later, the killing of Amos Snell remains unsolved."
Date
February 8, 1888
Location
West Side, Chicago
Victim
Amos Jerome Snell, 64
Suspect
William B. Tascott
Status
UNSOLVED
The Scene of the Crime
The Snell Mansion — 1326 Washington Boulevard, Chicago
Period newspaper engravings · 1888 · Demolition photograph
The Mansion Exterior
With portrait of Amos Jerome Snell inset · Chicago press, February 1888
Interior & Floor Plan
Diagram of First Floor · Hall & Stairway · "A — Body found here."
The Mansion Demolished
1326 Washington Boulevard torn down · The crime remains unsolved
Time of Murder
2:00
in the morning
Two servants heard the shot. Too frightened to move, they went back to sleep.
Reward Offered
$50,000
for Tascott's capture
Described by the Daily Inter Ocean as "the largest amount ever offered for the capture of any human being in the world."
Men Arrested on Suspicion
1,000+
nationwide
Across five years of investigation. Not one was charged. Tascott was never found.
Attended His Funeral
2,000
mourners
Amos Snell was buried at Rosehill Cemetery. Chicago had never seen a murder quite like this one.
His Estate Was Worth
$3 Million
($130M+ in today's dollars)
His children fought over it for years — and most of them died broke.
Case Status
UNSOLVED
"And there is an even chance that Amos Snell's killer is still unknown."
— Robert Wilhelm, Murder by Gaslight, 2019
Confirmed by historical record
What We Know Is True
Fact 01 — The Night
Amos Snell came downstairs alone, in his nightshirt, armed with an old muzzle-loading pistol.
He fired first — through a closed door. The burglars fired back. Two shots struck him: one to the head, one to the chest.
Fact 02 — His Wife
Henrietta Snell was in Milwaukee with their daughter Grace the night of the murder.
Two grandchildren were asleep in the house. They slept through the entire confrontation.
Fact 03 — The Entry
The burglars cut through a rear door panel, reached through the hole, and let themselves in.
They went straight to Snell's office. The safe was unlocked — the combination had never been turned.
Fact 04 — The Footprints
Police read footprints in the snow: two men entered the house. A third stood outside and watched.
The killers fled out the back door and over the rear fence. No one saw them leave.
Fact 05 — The Suspect
William B. Tascott was identified by a landlady. He had left the day after the murder and never returned.
Among his belongings: fragments of a check stolen from Snell's office. Police declared him the prime suspect and issued a description nationwide — but had no photograph.
Fact 06 — The Safe
The safe was opened without force. Someone knew the combination.
Business papers were scattered across the floor. What was taken — or whether anything was taken — only the dead man and the thieves ever knew.
Fact 07 — The Body
Snell's body was found cold and stiff the next morning — lying in the hallway.
The parlor doors had been pierced by bullets. Holes were in the walls. He had fought back in the dark — and lost. Two grandchildren slept through the entire thing upstairs.
Fact 08 — The Reward
The Snell family posted a $50,000 reward. The police of a continent searched for Tascott.
Despite the unprecedented reward, Tascott vanished completely. No photograph existed — only a landlady's description and a police sketch.
Fact 09 — The Confession
In 1910, a dying thief named James Gillan confessed to the killing — and cleared Tascott entirely.
It was not the first deathbed confession. Others had claimed responsibility before him. None were verified. The case was never officially reopened.
Fact 10 — The Suppression
The police knew about Gillan's confession for thirteen years — and told no one.
Lieutenant Andrew Rohan suppressed it under orders of secrecy. By the time Burns published it in 1923, the case had been cold for 35 years.
Fact 11 — The Second Man
In 1923, the accomplice was still alive — living in Chicago. The police knew who he was.
There was no proof. Police believed he would only confess on his own deathbed. His name was never published. He was never charged.
Fact 12 — The Scapegoat
By 1923, Chicago police believed Tascott was innocent — forced into the role or hired to take the blame.
Officials were unanimous: the Other Man either killed Tascott or had him killed — to seal his silence permanently.
Fact 13 — The Family
Albert Snell spent his entire inheritance and died in a ten-cent lodging house on Clark Street.
His daughter Grace married seven times. The mansion — once worth millions — became a gray, weather-beaten boarding house. The Snell fortune was entirely gone.
"The newspapers began comparing the Snell murder with the murder of Benjamin Nathan in New York — where the perpetrator was never caught."
Verdict
NEVER SOLVED
The Investigation — 1888 to 1910
The Suspects
Over five years, more than 1,000 men were arrested on suspicion. Three names rose above the rest — and in 1904, the New York Times reported the prime suspect dead after sixteen years as a fugitive.
Prime Suspect
Reported Dead — 1904
WANTED
William B. Tascott
aka "Billy Gebright" · aka "Mr. Scott"
No confirmed portrait exists · 1888
Police Description
"22 or 23 years of age, 5 ft 8–9 in, 140 lbs, slim, very erect, full round face, heavy eyebrows, very fair complexion, dark brown hair thin on top, large blue eyes, small thin dark mustache — may be dyed."
Reward posted by
Henrietta Snell — died Feb. 25, 1900 in the same house, reward uncollected
Reward amount
$50,000 — "largest ever offered for any human being"
Sightings reported
LA, Missouri, Louisville, Winnipeg, San Francisco, China
Men arrested on suspicion
1,000+ over five years
Reported dead
New York Times, June 1, 1904 — after 16 years as a fugitive
Outcome
Never arrested. Never tried. Never confirmed.
Verdict: Reported Dead, 1904 — Unconfirmed
Deathbed Confessor
Unverified
The Inter Ocean Magazine · Chicago · December 4, 1910 · Gillan's deathbed confession
In December 1910 — twenty-two years after the murder — Gillan confessed on his deathbed that he, not Tascott, had killed Amos Snell. He claimed Tascott had nothing to do with it. It was not the first such confession; several men had claimed responsibility over the years, each seeking notoriety in their final hours.
The Confession — December 1910
"I killed Amos Snell. Tascott had nothing to do with it."
— James Gillan, deathbed statement, Chicago, 1910
Confession made
December 1910, on his deathbed
Case reopened?
No — never officially reopened
Prior confessions
Multiple men claimed responsibility over 22 years
Outcome
Unverified. Case remained closed.
Verdict: Unproven
The Second Man
Identity Unknown
UNKNOWN
No photograph exists
REDACTED
The Second Set of Footprints
Name withheld by police · Chicago, 1923
Chicago Police · 1923 · "We know who he is. There is no proof."
The physical evidence was clear: two sets of footprints in the snow, two different calibers of bullet recovered from Snell's body. It was a two-man job. Police eventually pinned everything on Tascott alone — but the second man was never identified, never named, never sought.
Physical Evidence
Two distinct sets of footprints in the snow outside the rear door
Two different calibers of bullet recovered from the body
A third set of tracks — a lookout — standing watch outside
Evidence of two men
Overwhelming — two footprints, two bullets
Police theory (after 10 days)
Reversed — declared one-man job
Second man ever named?
No
Outcome
Identity unknown to this day
Verdict: Never Identified
The Open Question
In 1904 the New York Times declared Tascott dead after sixteen years as a fugitive. Six years later, Gillan confessed on his deathbed. The second man was never named. The case was never reopened.
UNSOLVED
Since 1888
Primary Source
Chicago Tribune
November 24, 1923
By Walter Noble Burns
"For Twenty-Two Years the Snell Murder Has Been the Most Impregnable Mystery in Chicago's History of Crime."
James Gillan confessed on his deathbed that he killed Amos J. Snell — and cleared Tascott entirely. But he named no accomplice. The second man was alive and living in Chicago. The police knew who he was. There was no proof.
JAMES GILLAN, a professional crook, confessed on his death-bed in the county hospital that he killed Amos J. Snell, while burglarizing the millionaire's West Side home on the night of Feb. 8, 1888. He declared William B. Tascott, who has been hunted for the murder to world's ends, had nothing to do with the crime.
He said that another man was concerned with him in the burglary. But he did not name his accomplice. With a thief's honor, Gillan went to his grave without revealing a secret that might have hanged another man.
In the small hours of the night the retired and venerable capitalist was shot down in his home after a revolver duel in the dark. His body was found lying cold and stiff the next morning in his hallway. The parlor doors had been pierced by bullets. Holes made by bullets were in the walls. The safe in the basement had been rifled, after being unlocked by some one who apparently knew the combination. Business papers had been scattered about the floor. What was taken — or whether anything was taken — only the dead man and the thieves ever knew.
William B. Tascott, the black sheep of a wealthy family, suddenly disappeared. The Snell family offered a reward of $50,000 for his apprehension. From the day of his disappearance until today nothing has been found that would supply the faintest clew to the whereabouts of the fugitive. With the police of a continent searching for him, Tascott passed from sight as completely as if the grave had closed upon him.
Gillan's confession is the first ray of light on the utter and hopeless darkness that has wrapped the case. But while it clears a part of the mystery, it adds a mystery of its own.
"Who was the other man?"
The Chicago Police believed they knew. The man they suspected was alive and residing in Chicago. There was no proof against him.
Snell's wife is dead. As if there were a curse upon the Snell millions, Albert Snell, his only son, having run through his patrimony, died a year ago in a 10 cent lodging house in Clark Street. Grace Snell, the once beautiful daughter, has achieved national notoriety as the most frequently married woman in the United States — married husband after husband, divorced them and married them again in her continuous comedy of matrimony.
Even the old Snell mansion at Ada Street and Washington Boulevard has shared the blight the murder seems to have cast upon the family fortunes. A boarding-house in a dingy region of boarding-houses, it stands gray, forlorn and weather-beaten — its tessellated floors, its long mirrors in their tarnished gilt frames, its high ceilings with a touch of frescoing here and there the only reminders of the magnificence of its prosperous days.
Today the officials of the police department are practically unanimous in thinking that Tascott had no hand in the crime. They believe that Tascott was a scapegoat — either forced into the role or hired for the occasion. They are agreed that the Other Man of Gillan's confession either killed Tascott or had him killed.
Lieutenant Andrew Rohan — Chicago Police Detective Bureau, retired after 36 years
"I did not tell the newspapers of Gillan's confession at the time because the police were working on the Snell case under orders of secrecy. I investigated the confession in every detail upon which investigation could be brought to bear and found it correct."
What Burns Revealed — 1923
Gillan cleared Tascott entirely
Police had hunted the wrong man for 22 years
A second man was never named
Gillan died protecting his accomplice
The accomplice was still alive
Living in Chicago — police knew who he was
No proof. No arrest. No justice.
The case was never officially reopened
Albert Snell died in a 10¢ lodging house
The Snell fortune was entirely gone
Now Available — Podcast
The Murder of Amos Snell & the Tragic Decline of His Family
Fact or Fiction: A Mostly-True Crime History Podcast
Amos J. Snell, a wealthy real estate owner in Chicago, was murdered in his home in 1888. The identity of the murderer remains unknown to this day. Listen to learn what we know about Amos J. Snell, his murder, and the aftershocks of his death that affected his family for generations. Is it Fact or Fiction? You be the judge.
▶ Listen to the PodcastThe Full Story — In Four Chapters
Read the Investigation
Each chapter tells a distinct part of the Snell murder story — from the night of the crime to the family's tragic decline decades later.
Chapter I
The Crime
The Night of February 8, 1888
Two servants hear a gunshot at 2 AM and go back to sleep. Five hours later, the coachman finds Amos Snell dead in his hallway — shot twice by burglars who vanished into the night.
Read Chapter →Chapter II
The Manhunt
The Hunt for William B. Tascott
A landlady's tip leads police to a prime suspect — safe-cracker William B. Tascott. A $22,000 reward is posted. Hundreds of men are arrested across the country. None of them are Tascott.
Read Chapter →Chapter III
The Investigation
Family Feuds & the Pinkerton Agency
The Snell children turn on each other. Libel suits are filed. The Pinkerton Detective Agency is hired. A Cincinnati theory emerges — and collapses. By 1893, the investigation is quietly closed.
Read Chapter →Chapter IV
The Aftermath
Deathbed Confessions & the Decline
In 1910, a dying thief claims he killed Amos Snell. The family is already in ruins. Albert Snell dies in a ten-cent lodging house. Grace Snell marries seven times. The mansion becomes a boarding house.
Read Chapter →"Not knowing the sense of fear, he rushed downstairs and commanded them to leave his house. The only answer was the ball that pierced his heart."
— Biographical Dictionary, 1893
Wanted — Police Description
William B. Tascott
"22 or 23 years of age, 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high, 140 pounds weight, slim built, very erect, full round face, heavy eyebrows, very fair complexion, dark brown hair, thin on top of head cut short, large blue eyes, small, thin, dark mustache — may be dyed."
Primary Source
Murder by Gaslight
Robert Wilhelm · April 2019
The definitive narrative account of the Snell murder — from the night of the crime through the five-year investigation that closed without an arrest. Read the full story as Wilhelm tells it.
Primary Source
Chicago Tribune
February 9, 1888
Preserved by Chicagology
The Tribune's gripping account published the morning after the murder — one of the most sensational crime reports in the paper's history. While one man confessed, it remains unproven to this day.
Blog Source
Mysterious Chicago
Three-Part Investigation
Adam Selzer · October 2008
The first examination of the Snell case in about 65 years — covering the crime, the vanishing suspect Willie Tascott, and the tragic collapse of the Snell family. Includes the remarkable story of Grace Snell, "The Most Married Woman in the World."