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TopAbies9056 OP t1_ixcw3vr wrote

This is the case for those who aren't aware...

Who was Evelyn Nesbit?

She was a model and in December 1900 she came to New York City with nothing but her looks, and became an overnight sensation in the city, she was absolutely everywhere.

While she dancing in a chorus, she regularly met men who offered her gifts and dinners. Being so young, she usually turned the men down, as they were often much older but eventually she got the attention of a much older wealthy socialite named Stanford White

Stanford White was an architect most notable for the arch in Washington Square Park which is still there today and the second iteration of Madison Square Garden.

After seeing her dance in the chorus, White convinced one of Nesbit’s fellow chorus girls to bring her to his apartment on West 24th Street for a drink. Nesbit happily agreed, tempted by the invitation as a socialite was interested in her.

Over the next few weeks, Stanford White, 47 at the time, courted the 16-year-old Evelyn Nesbit and even gained the trust of her overprotective mother. Then, as was destined to happen from the beginning, White took advantage of her

While her mother was away for the weekend, White invited Nesbit to his apartment by lying that there was a party. After drinking some champagne, Nesbit awoke naked in White’s bed with her legs covered in blood. When she cried out, White comforted her and told her not to tell anyone.

Enter Harry Thaw

He met Evelyn some years later and the two eventually got married, but he is said to have been physically and mentally abusive towards her, maybe more then White (poor girl couldn't catch a break) and he eventually learned what White had done to Evelyn.

Then one day Thaw and Evelyn went to a play together in Madison Square Garden. As everyone was settled in their seats Thaw stood up and made a beeline for White. Pulling a pistol from his coat, he fired three shots at White from less than two feet away. Two hit the back of his head, the third hit his shoulder.

White fell to the ground as Thaw stood over him holding the pistol.

At first, no one understood what had happened, as party tricks amongst high society playboys was a common occurrence at public gatherings. However, when audience members noticed that Stanford White was missing half of his face, they began to panic.

“I did it because he ruined my wife!” Harry Thaw yelled, brandishing his pistol. “He had it coming to him! He took advantage of the girl and then deserted her!”

There was a long trial afterwards that I won't go into detail about, but you get the gist of the situation.

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PoopMobile9000 t1_ixd8ch4 wrote

>However, when audience members noticed that Stanford White was missing half of his face, they began to panic.

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DepthExternal6034 t1_ixdszer wrote

“Wait a minute that’s not what a face is supposed to look like!”

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Fetlocks_Glistening t1_ixdkzc9 wrote

they began to panic suspect something is amiss

FTFY

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zoidy37 t1_ixfn27y wrote

*sees culprit with literal smoking gun in plain sight

Gentlemen, this man has died under the most mysterious circumstances and the murderer may be hiding among us like a wolf in sheep's clothing!

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SCKR t1_ixgq1l6 wrote

Sounds like a "Among Us" Round I was part of.

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EliteKnightOscar t1_ixd560o wrote

Up until the end, I was thinking he did it because White took his wife's virginity and he was upset he didn't get to. His lamenting White taking advantage of and then deserting her gives me pause, but it was probably just a way to get positive rather than negative publicity.

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[deleted] t1_ixd85ip wrote

Yeah, the guy was obsessed with virgins. He also hated White beforehand.

He even left the following line in the visitor's book of the birthplace of Joan of Arc:

>She would not have been a virgin if Stanford White had been around.

Which is kind of tragically funny.

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Dawnawaken92 t1_ixd6qi0 wrote

You never know with bastards back then. A few of them did have somewhat of a sense of honor.

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EliteKnightOscar t1_ixd6wi4 wrote

I generally just assume they'll see women as property until I'm given a good amount of evidence to the contrary.

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DepthExternal6034 t1_ixd73tb wrote

You hit the nail in the head

"she would still have been a virgin if Stanford White hadn’t been around."

-an actual quote of his according to Wikipedia

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EliteKnightOscar t1_ixd7zjn wrote

Aaaaaand there it is. Batting 1.000 in misogynist identification.

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DepthExternal6034 t1_ixd83th wrote

Oh and

“Thaw, whose persona took on a dimension she had never before seen. Manic and violent, locked her up and beat her with a whip and sexually assaulted her over a two-week period.”

Hypocrisy at it’s finest, killing someone who did the same shit you did.

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EliteKnightOscar t1_ixd8d3a wrote

He didn't care about the sexual assault, he was upset he didn't get to take her virginity. Absolute rat fucking bastard.

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ViolettaHunter t1_ixehppk wrote

He was actually way worse, considering the other guy drugged his victim, so she wasn't consciusly aware of what happened and he did it "only" once.

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GreenJury9586 t1_ixh1hx8 wrote

Just chiming in as a reminder that there’s no “better rape” and being “drugged” doesn’t make being raped OK because you “don’t remember it”. Ignorance seems like bliss but no rape is bliss so let’s remember to not minimize victims or lead men to believe they’re “doing us a favor” by drugging us first.

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ViolettaHunter t1_ixh8d4z wrote

Well, duh! Of course no rape is good.

There is still a huge difference between waking up once from something you can't even remember and being subjected to psychological and physical terror and pain fully conscious for two weeks straight. Which is what her husband did to her.

The guy swho drug women are also not doing it a s favour, they are doing it because they are cowards who don't want a fight.

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HPmoni t1_ixdnanp wrote

Virgin brides used to be a big deal.

But some guy raped your wife, you'd be mad about that too.

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AdDisastrous6653 t1_ixfxwpn wrote

Opposite for me. Was excited thinking dude wanted justice for his wife. Nope, he thought of her rapist as his competition.

But people are saying they killed the wrong dude. You guys caught that white was a prolific child predator, right? Kind of a shame more people didn’t get a shot at him.

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metsurf t1_ixdwl71 wrote

Ragtime by EL Doctrow has a fictionalization of this incident. Was she also the model for St Gaudens Diana which had been at the second iteration of Madison Square Garden?

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Madame_Medusa_ t1_ixfkj52 wrote

Which was turned into an amazing musical that is well overdue for a revival, imho.

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EarlGreyTea-Hawt t1_ixf20xm wrote

He shot him from the front, 2 bullets in the face not the back of the head. It was Stanford's rape apologist son who spread the common misconception that White shot him in the back in order to paint him with the brush of cowardice. But nope, he walked up to him said "you ruined my wife" and shot him in the face and shoulder, likely killing him instantly.

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swelboy t1_ixdxpou wrote

How did Evelyn’s legs get covered in blood

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Nwcray t1_ixe10jj wrote

The violent rape while she was passed out. It made her bleed.

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MotherSpirit t1_ixe1b37 wrote

Rapes can get very bloody, especially when it's someone very young who is not aroused at all.

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