Murder, Hanging, Incest, Frankenstein: True Marion Ira Stout Story

Ira Stout was charged with the murder and the case went to trial. During the trial it was revealed by family members that Sarah and Ira likely had an incestuous relationship as they sometimes shared a bed unclothed. It was also revealed that Sarah had been badly abused by Charles Littles. In the end, on April 24, 1858, Marion Ira Stout was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang in June. Ira’s lawyer gained a stay of execution as he argued for a retrial.

Image via Wikipedia

During this time Ira Stout became somewhat famous and both Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass wrote to the Governor asking for Stout’s life to be spared since he rescued his sister from an abusive marriage.

Stout wrote letters to the local papers and also entertained a number of female visitors during this time and even had one of them attempt to sneak poison to him so he could commit suicide. The poor girl ended up ingesting the poison herself by accident and barely survived the ordeal. Ira also attempted to slash his own wrists when another woman smuggled a lancet in to him. But a prison guard saw the blood and Stout was saved. 

The appeal for a new trail was not allowed and on October 22, 1858, Marion Ira Stout was hung. But even the hanging was botched. Despite a plunge of 8 feet from the scaffolding door, Ira’s neck did not break. According to witnesses he struggled mightily for eight minutes doing a mad jig for life that forced many in the crowd to look away. The doctors on hand took his pulse after 8 minutes and reported it to be “as full as in life”. After 30 minutes Ira Stout was finally declared dead. But that still was not the end of this mad but true tale.

Source

The next day a newspaper reported a rumor that galvanic batteries had been used on Stout after the hanging to try and bring him back to life “like Frankenstein’s monster”. But Stout was dead and buried in Mount Hope Cemetery (as are Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass).

Source (Grave marker for Marion Ira Stout)

For another High Falls story see Sam Patch: America’s First Real Daredevil and Modern Celebrity. For more about Niagara Falls see Most Popular Suicide Sites.