Chapter IV — The Aftermath
Deathbed Confessions & the Decline of the Snell Family
1910 & Beyond
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.
Source: Murder by Gaslight — Robert Wilhelm, April 2019
In December 1910, a Chicago professional thief named James Gillan confessed on his deathbed that he killed Amos Snell while burglarizing his house. William Tascott, he declared, had nothing to do with the crime. This was not the first deathbed confession — other professional criminals hoping to advance their post-mortem notoriety had taken responsibility for the crime, but their confessions were all debunked.
By now it hardly mattered. The Snell family was already in ruins long before Gillan spoke.
New York Times
February 25, 1900
"Amos J. Snell's Widow Dead — Dies in House Where Her Husband Was Murdered."
Henrietta Snell died on February 25, 1900 — twelve years after her husband was shot dead in the hallway of their Washington Boulevard mansion. She died in the same house. She had offered the $50,000 reward, the largest ever posted for a fugitive in the United States. It was never collected.
Read the NYT Archive →Albert Snell spent all of his inheritance and died in "a 10 cent lodging house." A.J. Stone lived in broken health and reduced circumstances — her claim to a share of the estate had been struck down on the grounds that she was allegedly an adopted daughter. Amos's daughter Grace, with seven marriages and six divorces, had the dubious distinction of being the most frequently married woman in the United States. The Snell mansion became a "gray, forlorn, and weather-beaten" boarding house.
And there is an even chance that Amos Snell's killer is still unknown.
"And there is an even chance that Amos Snell's killer is still unknown."
Podcast
The Murder of Amos Snell & the Tragic Decline of His Family
Fact or Fiction: A Mostly-True Crime History Podcast
Hear the full story — the murder, the manhunt, the family feuds, and the tragic decline — told in the Fact or Fiction podcast. Is it Fact or Fiction? You be the judge.
▶ Listen to the Podcast