The trials of Laura Fair sex, murder, and insanity in the Victorian West - Haber, Carole (The University of North Carolina Press, 2013)
Introduction : Laura D. Fair and the unwritten law -- The she-devil known as Mrs. Laura D. Fair -- The case for the prosecution -- The defense responds -- The Appeal -- The Second Trial -- The Fair Lunatic -- Epilogue: The Many Faces of Laura D. Fair
Includes bibliographical references and index
On November 3, 1870, on a San Francisco ferry, Laura Fair shot a bullet into the heart of her married lover, A.P. Crittenden. Throughout her two murder trials, Fair's lawyers, supported by expert testimony from physicians, claimed that the shooting was the result of temporary insanity caused by a severely painful menstrual cycle. The first jury disregarded such testimony, choosing instead to focus on Fair's disreputable character. In the second trial, however, an effective defense built on contemporary medical beliefs and gendered stereotypes led to a verdict that shocked Americans across the