52 RI Bar J., No. 5, Pg. 33 (March, 2004). Book Review: Killed Strangely: The Death of Rebecca Cornell By Elaine Forman Crane.

• Author: DENISE AIKEN, ESQ.

Rhode Island Bar Journal

Volume 52.

52 RI Bar J., No. 5, Pg. 33 (March, 2004).

Book Review: Killed Strangely: The Death of Rebecca Cornell By Elaine Forman Crane

Book Review: Killed Strangely: The Death of Rebecca Cornell By Elaine Forman CraneDENISE AIKEN, ESQ.Denise Aiken works for the city of Warwick.A lot of books stack up on the night stand, and the desk, and the dining room table, but sometimes the title of one of them is just so intriguing that nothing will do until you start that one right away.

Elaine Forman Crane's Killed Strangely: The Death of Rebecca Cornell (Cornell University Press, copyright 2002, 236 pages, $25) is just such a book. This is a Cold Case File if there ever was one. Rebecca Cornell, widow, died in her own bedroom, in her own home in Portsmouth on a miserable night in the winter of 1673. She was found by her family members, who dwelt with her, on the floor of her room, her body badly burned. At first ruled an accidental death by the coroner, the case then took on twists no longer encountered this side of a motion picture screen.

For depth of research, I have seldom read a better work that this piece by Crane. Her research has been both broad and deep. The fact that so much original material was available for investigation adds greatly to the story. With the Rebecca Cornell case we have all the elements of high drama and supernatural thriller: The dramatic death of the head of a respected family of means, the appearance of her specter to a town official to raise the question of murder, an ambitious son living in the shadow of his demanding mother, the clash of generations with different interests, the tension between the public roles of males and females, the mistreatment of the elderly, and the clash of religions vying for power in a land ripe for conquest and exploitation.

The bare facts of the Cornell case are as follows: Rebecca Cornell, aged 73, was found dead in her bedroom in 1673, her body burned and blackened. Her body was viewed by the coroner and others, then death ruled accidental, and her body prepared for burial by a woman of the area, Elizabeth Parsons. Mrs Cornell was buried next to her husband. Some days later, her brother John Briggs, who was a magistrate, member of the General Assembly and town councilman, reported that Rebecca had appeared to him while he was between sleep and awake...