[FIXED] A Star-Spangled Murder

the White House. They called it President's Park, and at various times it was a zoo, a graveyard, a race track, a slave market, even an encampment for soldiers. And on one sunny winter day in eighteen fifty nine, Lafayette Park was the site of one of the most significant murders in American history. A sitting US congressman walks up to a U S attorney in broad daylight. He fires several

shots at blank range. The prosecution later argued that the shocking murder turned the idyllic square into a carnival of blood. I mean literally, if it was an episode of House of Guards, you wouldn't believe it, right, but it really happened, you know, There's really nothing like it in American political history. The author of the Star Spangled Banner, the nation's national anthem, was a lawyer and amateur poet named Francis scott Key.

We all learned in school that he penned the poem after he watched the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of eighteen twelve. He saw the American flag still flying over the fort at dawned the next morning. Francis scott Key's son was Barton Key, and he was the attorney shot dead in Lafayette Square. His killer was a crazed congressman from New York named Daniel Sickles. Sickles lawyers employed a bold legal defense strategy. They argued he

was not guilty by reason of temporary and samity. This season of The Thread unravels the complicated history of the insanity defense to recap our threads so far. Episode one was the story of James Holmes, the young man who opened fire on a Colorado movie theater. In Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Doctors diagnosed Homes with a mental illness, but the jury decided he was

legally sane and therefore guilty of his crimes. That verdict was in part the product of growing public skepticism about the insanity defense, a skepticism fueled by the acquittal of earlier defendants like Lorraino Bobbitt. From episode two. It was a story about a woman who said that her husband had been abusing her in terrible, horrific ways for a year is and she did something horrible. Bobby admitted to cutting off her husband's penis, but a jury found her

not guilty by reason of insanity. John Hinckley Jr. Tried to kill the President of the United States in he was acquitted on similar grounds, an outcome that shocked the public and changed the law. And there were congressional hearings about the insanity defense and then uh reconsiderations around the country. And that short of it was that in the half decade after the Hinckley trial uh the insanity defense was

reformed in and thirty eight states. The American public and the legal system were more open to insanity please prior to Hinckley. One of the best examples of that was the landmark trial of Harry kay Thaw, the Pittsburgh millionaire who murdered the wealthy architect Stanford White in a fit of rage back in nineteen o six, Harry Thaw's high paid lawyers had a plan. They came up with the term of a brainstorm, that Harry was suffering from a

temporary brainstorm. The temporary brainstorm defense worked in part because of another case almost half a century earlier, the first in America to invoke the temporary insanity defense, the case of Congressman Dan Sickles and his horrific Act in Lafayette Park in eighteen fifty nine. I've often referred to Dan Sickles as kind of a combination of Donald Trump, Anthony Weener,

and O. J. Simpson. James Hessler is a historian, a battlefield guide at Gettysburg National Military Park, and the author of Sickles at Gettysburg. I use that analogy for many years, and people used to laugh. But now with the political aspects of it, they kind of got uncomfortable with the Trump comparison. But the idea was, you know, Dan Sickles was a larger than life, brash New Yorker. Like Donald Trump,

Sickles came from a well heeled New York family. He was born in eighteen nineteen in New York City, uh to fairly prosperous parents, and I think it's kind of an only cho old. He was spoiled, he was rebellious, and you know, he never really grew up. The young Sickles tried his hand at the printing trade, but eventually settled on a career as a lawyer and then as a politician. Sickles was elected to the New York State

Assembly in eighteen forty seven. At the age of thirty three, Sickles fell in love with a woman less than half his age, a fifteen year old named Teresa Baggioli. Teresa was young, but she was mature beyond her years, precocious, refined, she spoke five languages. They married and settled down in New York. Sickles ran for Congress a few years later,

so in eighteen fifty six he's elected to Congress. Dan and Teresa and their young daughter moved to uh to Washington, d C. And they end up setting up household on fashionable Lafayette Square, which was and still is immediately behind the White House. It was in Washington the Dan and Theresa met the handsome man who would change their lives forever. Francis Scott Key was nominated to be the U S attorney for the District of Columbia, twenty years after he

wrote The Star Spangled Banner. His son, Philip barton Key, also known as Barton Key, later served in that same position. Philip barton Key seems to have differed from his father in a couple of ways, uh significantly. Philip barton Key was a more of a shall we say, a ladies man and less studious than his father was. By the time Dan and Theresa Sickles arrived in Washington in eighteen fifty seven, Barton Key was a thirty eight year old

widower with four children with a well established reputation. While he was a district attorney in Washington, he seemed to be quite a favorite on the Washington social circuit. Would often attend parties again, a great favorite of all of the single women in in society, and uh just considered an all around player. Key was a tall lawyer with a mustache. He looked like a sandy haired version of

the actor Kevin Klein. One prominent DC hostess described him as the handsomest man in all of Washington society and uh it was said that he once reportedly bragged that he only needed thirty six hours with any woman to get her to do whatever he wanted. So, you know, I kind of think, is is the guys really a professional? Rake the Dapper Key attended an inaugural ball for President James Buchanan in eighteen fifty seven. That's where he met

the beautiful wife of New York's newest congressman. It was the beginning of the end for Barton Key. You know, people off in portrait Ky as a victim, but yeah, you know Key, you could kind of argue was a little bit of a scumbag too, And I think, uh, just sort of getting his his scoundrel le personality out in the open um, you know, kind of helps people, uh, you know, get a better understanding that this might be one of those stories where there really are no good guys.

Barton Key got to no Congressman Sickles first, and the congressman helped him. Key was worried that President Buchanan would appoint someone else to his position as DC's top prosecutor. Sickles and Keys seemed to have kind of gotten together through some card games and social circles, and the two men took a liking to each other. Sickles helped Key retain his position as as district attorney. Teresa Sickles maintained a very busy social calendar as the wife of a congressman.

She hosted weekly dinners for guests at their Lafayette Square home. She was invited to countless social gatherings and parties, ones that her husband often could not attend, And it was not uncommon for eligible bachelor's to somewhat platonically escort married women, you know, wives of friends and that sort of thing, to these parties. Perhaps no bachelor was more eligible than Barton Key. So at some point, while Nickles is away,

he starts escorting Teresa to parties. Uh. It quickly seems to develop into some romantic escapades between Key and Teresa. The two of them, they're they're meeting at parties, They're often seen leaving together. Uh. And more and more people start to say these two around Washington, d C. At all hours of the day in the night. The Torrent affair raged throughout eighteen fifty eight in rented apartments, on parlor sofas, even in secluded portions of the old Congressional Cemetery.

After one fancy costume ball, Teresa dressed his little red riding Hood was seen entering a carriage at two am with Key clad as an English huntsman. Their coach driver was instructed to drive around Washington. As the affair continued, the two levers started to get reckless. Key decides he's going to rent a house a few blocks away from Laffiette Square, and this is where Key and Teresa's start having rendezvous in this, in this rented sort of love shack,

he usually turned up first at the love nest. He placed a white ribbon or towel in the shutters of the upstairs window as a signal to Teresa, who could see the window from her own across the square. Teresa arrived and entered at the back door. People started to notice. On the evening of February eighteen fifty nine, it all comes crashing down on Key. After dinner that night, Sickles retires to his study and he opens up the evening mail, and one of the things he's received in the mail

is an anonymous letter, Dear sir. The letter began with deep regret, I enclose your address a few lines, but an indispensable duty compels me so to do, seeing that you are greatly imposed upon. It's pretty graphics stuff for the eighteen fifties. Um. It talks about how you know your wife and key, who is no gentleman. You know that two of them have been spotted going into this rented house, and uh, you know, Mr Sickles, I assure you that he has more use of your wife than

you have. Those are tough words for any husband to read, even one with a mild manner in a gentle disposition. Dan Sickles had neither, but he was an experienced lawyer. Sickles probe into his wife, Theresa's affair with Barton Key was both prompt and thorough. Sickles spends the next day or so kind of investigating, sends some friends around to the neighborhood where the love shack is, and pretty much confirms that, yes, you know, the rumors are true. Sickles

confronted Teresa about the affair. He even extracted a written confession from her on the spot. She pretty much spells it all out. You know, she says, I did what is normal for a wicked woman to do. But of course her lover, Barton Key, had no idea that the game was up, and as it turned out, Keith's fate like his poet father's fame, hinged on a cloth, waving in the breeze. Up next, How an American Congressman Got

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every Thursday. Cross over into another dimension. Visit CBS dot com slash thread t z to redeem your free trial today that CBS dot com slash thread t z to redeem your free trial of CBS All Access. Dan Sickles was tough, but he could get quite emotional at times. Once, when a friend of his passed away, Sickles wept uncontrollably

at the funeral. One witness said that the future congressman raved tore up and down the graveyard, shrieking his grief so aggravating that the other mourners worried his mind would entirely give way. Sickles ten minute outburst led to his removal from the cemetery. One of Sickles's friends put it, mild lee. Dan was subject to very sudden emotions. Sickles was inconsolable after Theresa confessed her affair with Barton Key

James Hessler again. People who see him over that one to two day period just say that Sickles looks like a wild man. One person said, you know, I saw him on the streets and he looked like he was gonna kill every man, woman and child that he came across. Another friends said, you know that he saw Sickles in the you know, in one of the offices in Congress, and Sickles emotionally flung himself onto his sofa and you know, buried his head in the pillow and and started crying.

That weekend, Sickles retreated to the sanctuary of his home on Lafayette Square. Sunday, February seven is a beautiful spring day. Uh, temperatures are about fifty four degrees, you know, the kind of spring day that uh, you know, you see in Washington sometimes, and Sickles is still very emotionally distraught. Again. The household servants would later say that they could, you know, they could hear him crying, groaning, moaning, you know, just

as sobs are kind of carrying throughout the house. Some of Sickle's closest friends came by the house to console him. One of them was an old New York friend named Sam Butterworth. Sickles ranted to his friend, I am a dishonored and ruined man. He was worried that once word of the affair got around town, his reputation and his

political career would be destroyed. Finally, at some point, Sickles looks out the window, sees Key out there, and Sickles kind of just exclaims, you know, my god, that villain, that bastard has just past my house. Uh, this is horrible. The whole town is going to know about this. You know, I'm gonna be disgraced. I'm going to be humiliated. Barton Key started that Sunday morning with a shave and a hair trim and a d C barbershop. He then walked

up Pennsylvania Avenue towards Lafayette Square. Key too received an anonymous letter arning him that Dan Sickles knew about the affair. It didn't keep him from Lafayette Square. The anxious DC attorney proud the park for two hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of his beloved or a signal from her that she could meet him. While Walt Sickles and Butterworth are you know, thinking about what they're gonna do. Key meanwhile, is strolling through Lafayette Park waiting for Teresa to come

out and play, and so he's kind of going. Key is kind of going back and forth in front of the Sickles house. Then the Sickles dog, an Italian greyhound named Dandy, catches side of his favorite gentleman caller and rushes into the square to greet him. Barton Key pulls out a white handkerchief and whirls it at the dog. Maybe it's meant to be a signal to Teresa as well. Whatever the reason, keys waving white banner gave proof through

the afternoon that the adulterer was still there. You can imagine the fireworks display that follows when Sickles sees the handsomest man in Washington society outside his The enraged congressman heads for the door, but before Sickles leaves the house, he throws on an overcoat and he puts a a revolver into Derringer's in his code pocket and follows behind Butterworth As they go into a offi at square, Sickles charges towards key. He calls out a phrase that sounds

ripped from a theatrical drama. He says, your scoundrel, you've dishonored my house and you must die. Uh. Sickles pulls out one of his guns and the first shot only graze his key, but he realizes that he's in trouble at this point, shouts murder, tries to get the attention of you know again, probably at least six or seven people who are who are nearby and watching all of this um and there's a struggle, and while they're struggling,

maybe puts Sickles in some kind of bear hug. But Sickles breaks free from the bear hug and then pulls out another gun. Key at this point again shouts, you know, don't murder me. Then Key reaches into his pocket. Is he gonna pull out a gun? No, all he's got is a pair of opera glasses, So he throws the opera glasses harmlessly at Sickles, all the time kind of shouting you know, don't murder me, don't shoot, But Dan Sickles shows no mercy for the man who has dishonored him.

Sickles gets off a second shot, uh, and this one basically hits Key around the groin. He gasps, He staggers, you know, I'm shot, and he starts to starts to slump down to the ground. Sickles puts the gun up the key point blank, It misfires, puts it the keys chest and basically fires point blank in the keys chest near his heart. That's the fatal shot. Sickle stands over his wounded prey. The congressman mutters over and over, he has violated my bed, He has violated my bed as

the blood runs out of the dying Barton Key. Obviously immediately this is the talk of Washington. A young page goes into the White House and says, the President of Buchanan, you know you're not gonna believe what happened. Sickles just shock Key. Souvenir hunters cut pieces of wood from the tree close to where Key fell in Lafayette Square. Artists from the newspapers set up their easels to paint the scene of the crime. Dan Sickles was placed in a cold,

damp cell in the city jail. He reportedly asked the warden if there was a chance of getting better accommodations. The warden replied, this is the best place you members of Congress have afforded us. Meanwhile, news of the murder continued to spread. Once that gets out, public opinion and the newspapers are almost unanimously in sickles favor. Uh you know, the idea is that, uh, you know, you just don't

do that in eighteen fifties society. I mean, you just didn't sleep with another guy's wife and and expect to get away with it. But the bigger question, of course, was could you kill your wife's lover and get away with it. Up next, the perilous courtroom fight that captivated the country just before a civil war would divide it. You know what's great about credit cards the freedom they give to do the things in life that we really want and sometimes need to do, dinner out, here's my card,

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includes a zero point five percent auto pay discount. Terms and conditions apply and offers her subject to change without notice. Visit light stream dot com slash thread for more information. Congressman Dan Sickles was charged with the murder of Barton Key. A trial was set for April eighteen fifty nine. There's a lot of parallels between what happens to UH Sickles in the eighteen fifties and you know O. J. Simpson during our time, like the importance of a big time lawyer,

ideally many big time lawyers. The first thing the Congressman Sickles is he assembles a legal dream team. Um. Now, the dream team today is best known for the presence of future Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, but Stanton actually was not the lead attorney for that. Sickles engaged a brilliant lawyer from his hometown of New York, James T. Brady. Brady at one time had been the city's district attorney. At age eight, he had been offered the position of

U S Attorney General. Brady was beyond proficient and almost any area of the law. He had supposedly won fifty one out of fifty two murder trials. So with with Brady and the lead and then Edwin Stanton Uh and some other New York attorneys, Sickles comes into court. Uh, you know, ready for action. Sickle's all star group of lawyers knew that their client was in great legal peril. Sickles shot an unarmed man multiple times in broad daylight in front of dozens of bystanders. He ignored his victims

repeated pleas for mercy. The congressman would hang unless sickle legal team could come up with a stellar defense. Sickles lead attorney, James Brady, was fascinated by issues of insanity and invoked the defense at permanent insanity and other trials. But no lawyer in America, including Brady, had ever attempted a plea of temporary insanity. The much anticipated trial was held at City Hall, where Barton Key had worked just

a few months before. The courtroom was packed. The accused Congressman Dan Sickles was placed in the dock, a cage like area that one observer described as a chicken coop with a chair placed inside it. Sickles pled not guilty. His arsenal of top attorneys was opposed by a single government lawyer. Prosecution is one man, basically a man by an attorney by the name of Robert Old, who was uh, Philip Barton Key's assistant. Uh. He basically gets a battlefield

promotion when his boss is killed. Uh. And now Old is going to have to pro secued his his boss's killer. So right off the bat, you get, you get the sense of the prosecution is badly outmatched. The prosecution argued Sickles was quote moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil to murder his helpless victim on the Sabbath. Key, they claimed, was unarmed, whereas his assailant was a walking magazine who wore a convenient overcoat on an inconveniently warm day. Meanwhile,

Sickle's dream team went on the offensive. They focused on barton Keys conduct. The defense immediately trots out forty three witnesses who knew about the affair, and so they just start pointing one person on the stand after the other. Did you know they were sleeping together? Did you see it?

Stanton talks about Keys supposedly dragging Teresa day by day through the streets, you know, to gratify his lost um, and that she's one step above prostitution at this point, so they're really laying it on thick The result was that when Pickles learned about his wife's affair and saw her lover outside his window, his mind became diseased. According to the defense, and they argued that if Sickles quote labored under insanity at the time of the commission of

the acting question, it would leave him legally unaccountable. The case is remembered as the first temporary insanity defense. Sickle's lead attorney, James Brady, invoked another insanity case to make his argument, a case from another country, England, the McNaughton case. Daniel McNaughton was an unstable woodcutter who tried to murder the British Prime Minister under the delusion that he was being politically persecuted. McNaughton was acquitted by reason of being insane.

McNaughton's delusions, unlike Dan Sickle's jealous rage, persisted over a long period of time, but James Brady argued the principle should be the same. What mattered was whether the defendant was mentally unsound at the time he committed the acting question. It proved to be a winning argument, and America didn't get to see a congressman hanged. The jury has only gone for seventy minutes. Daniel Edgar Sickles was found not guilty.

The courtroom goes berserk. You know, there's pandemonium. Everybody is celebrating. People are ripping clothes off of Sickles for souvenirs. But they get him out of there. Sickles was free to go and remain in Congress. Hundreds would join him at a victory party that evening. The success of sickles Temporary

Insanity Plea also ushered in a new legal era. As one of Sickles's dream team put it to the press, an honest, upright, and intelligent American jury has established a precedent which all civilized nations should henceforth recognize and be guided by. What happened next in the life of Dan Sickles is really worthy of its own thread. First, he became an outcast in Congress, so he does not run for re election, which is ultimately going to you know, leave him back in New York practicing law as a

private citizen. When the American Civil War starts in the spring of eighteen sixty one, I was saying a lot of ways. The American Civil War comes along at the perfect time for Dan Sickles. Because he needs a new career, and because he was never hanged for the murder of Barton Key, Dan Sickles was free to play another role on the stage of history, this time at the Battle

of Gettysburg in eighteen sixty three. By that point in the war, Sickles in the commanding General of the Army of the Potomac, George Gordon Mead, do not like each other. So on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Mead and Sickles have basically a spectacular failure to communicate. UH. Mead orders Sickles to guard the left flank of the Union Army's position. UH. Sickles either UH misinterprets his orders

or outright disobeys them moves his troops too far forward. UH, and then we'll face the bront of the Confederate attack on July two at Gettysburg. Many people think Sickles nearly loses the battle for the Northern Army at Gettysburg, that's right. Dan Sickles nearly changed the course of the Civil War, but Sickle's defense teams did help change the course of American law. The case laid the groundwork for countless criminals to plead temporary insanity that included Harry Thaw in nineteen

o six and Lorraino Bob. As we saw in previous episodes this season. Next on the Thread, we returned to the eighty three case in England that saved Dan Sickles, but we go back even further to eight hundred and dissect the first modern insanity defense. A former British soldier, traumatized by battle tries to kill the King of England. The Threat is produced by Robert Coulo's Sophia Perpetua and me Sean Braswell. Chris Hoff engineered our show. This episode

features the star spangled banner arranged by Robert Aslin. To learn more about the Thread, visit AUSI dot com, Slash the Threat all one word, and make sure to subscribe to the Thread on Apple podcasts, follow us on I Heart Radio or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Check us out at ASSI dot com or on Twitter and Facebook. If you love surprising, engaging stories from history. Look no further than the flashback section of Ausi dot com. That's o z y dot com.