User:Serrafe1/sandbox

Before title Mrs. Druse murder her husband William Druse in their home in Warren, New York. The murder unfolded with the help of her son and daughter, George and Mary Druse, and nephew Frank Gates. The family members were threaten with death if refused and all had an involvement with the murder case as a whole. Druse alleged her motive was that her husband was abusive to her and was not supporting the family for he left for an amount of days after an argument. Frank Gates and George Druse were later discharged due to lack of involvement of the murder. During the trail Mary Druse admitted to assisting in the murder giving her a life sentence at the Onondaga Country penitentiary. On October 6th, 1885 Roxalana was sentenced to be hung on November 25th 1885 but, due to multiple changes, was changed to a final, official date of February 28th 1887.

Events of the Murder
The morning before the murder, the Druse couple had a fight. Their fights were common among the couple as many residents reported to sighs of foul play. The couple were known in the community for their arguments and disagreements (in which the Defense later on jury to convince them that Mr. Druse was in fact abusive to his wife). During this dispute, Roxalana conceived a revolver under her apron which was placed by her in another room. Upon instruction from his mother George Druse, aged ten, left the house while sister and daughter of the couple Mary Druse, aged nineteen, remained in the house. Mary then tied a rope around her father's neck while Mrs.Druse fired the revolver wounding Mr.Druse. Due to misuse of the weapon, Roxalana forced fourteen year old nephew Frank Gates to further fire at her husband. After pleading for help and unable to move, Mr.Druse's was decapitated by his wife wielding an axe. The body, along with the head, were than brought into the parlor where they would remain for the day. There, Mrs.Druse further cut up her husband’s body and burnt it to ash on a stove. She also burned William’s clothes to further destroy evidence and erase his traces from the house. False documents were produced which read that Mr.Druse had left the house after an argument and his whereabouts were unknown. In order to remain with the idea that William disappeared, Roxalana said death threats towards her daughter and the boys (who during the murder and burning of the body were playing checkers) if they should admit to the crime. The ashes were dumped in a nearby swamp while the murder weapon and revolver were wrapped up and dropped off at a pond. On the 18th of December, 1884, William Druse was reported as missing by the police due to his sudden disappearance. Investigation lead to finding the murder weapon, an axe sold previously to William Druse, wrapped in paper in a pond along with the revolver. Multiple allegations were reported against wife Roxalana, yet due to lack of evidence, nothing was officially reported. On January 16, 1885, Frank Gates admitted to the crime after consistent harassment from neighbors. Gates and Mrs.Druse were then arrested and brought to trail on September 21st 1885, which lasted nearly two weeks.