Lawrence P. Gooley

North Country / Adirondack Author

Killing in the Kuyahoora Valley

Killing in the Kuyahoora Valley-Front Cover Killing in the Kuyahoora Valley-Back Cover
Killing in the Kuyahoora Valley-Front Cover Killing in the Kuyahoora Valley-Back Cover

Format and Purchasing Information

Paperback

Where to Buy
Online:
The North Country Store
Stores:
See List
Price:
$18.00
Dimensions (WxHxT):
5.2 x 8.2 x 0.4 in
Weight:
0.6 lbs
Pages:
126
Illustrations:
58
Publication Date:
Publisher:
Bloated Toe Publishing
ISBN‐13:
978-1939216120
ISBN‐10:
1939216125

Description

Killing in the Kuyahoora Valley is the true story of a murderous attack in 1914 by a teenager (Jean Gianini) in the village of Poland, New York. Kuyahoora, the native-American name for West Canada Creek, is located in Herkimer County. Poland, in the southern Adirondack foothills, is about 15 miles northeast of Utica.

The death of petite schoolteacher Lydia “Lida Lou” Beecher at the hands of a former student proved to be a landmark case—the first to cite intelligence on the same level as insanity in determining a defendant’s guilt or innocence. America’s courts would never be the same.

The viciousness of the crime, the intensity of the trial, and worst of all, the indifference and arrogance of the killer were all reasons why a public mania surrounded the proceedings every step of the way. In the wake of the Chester Gillette-Grace Brown story, the Jean Gianini case assumed the moniker, “Trial of the Century.”

It’s a remarkable, true, and disturbing story of how evil can sneak up on those unaware, how successful family men sometimes hide the darkest of secrets, and how juries can be manipulated by silver-tongued attorneys.