THE SUSPECTS

These were the individuals who were either investigated by detectives, made confessions themselves, or were suspected by the general public. Some of these suspects had corroborative alibis, but others' stories were not quite as credible.

Before listing the suspects, it is important to note that there was a generally accepted theory that Rose went willingly to the place where her body was found. There was reported to be a tall man waiting for her on the road who she was later seen walking with. ¹ This person’s identity, however, was never confirmed.

Boston White - White was an African American boy held in custody in Stratford, CT. He claimed to have known nothing of the crime, stating that he did not see Rose that Sunday night. He claimed to have been two miles from the crime, and this statement was corroborated by a dozen people who saw him at the Stratford Methodist Church, and an additional three men saw him asleep in a carriage an hour after the church service. The public generally believed him to be guilty of the crime, as he was thrown in jail as the culprit due to the public prejudice again him. Rose's mother, however, refused to believe it was White; she did not want to accept that a black boy had anything to do with the death of her daughter. Despite his alibi and corroborative testimony, officers still went to his home, interrogated his mother, and searched through his clothing, trying to find blood on them to incriminate him (despite the fact that Rose shed no blood). Of course, no evidence was found. ² Professor White of Yale also exonerated Boston White; the Professor conducted an examination of the human skin and blood corpuscles found underneath Rose's fingernails positively "were from the skin of a white person." ³

Tommy Gardiner – J.H. Leroy, a life convict in Settle penitentiary, confessed in 1905, 22 years after her murder, that Rose’s killer was Tommy Gardiner. Gardiner was never really suspected, however, as this confession was viewed by the public as “the ravings of an insane man.” ⁴

Charles H. Rugg – In April of 1884, it was briefly believed that Charles H. Rugg, an African American man under indictment in Long Island City, was Rose’s killer. Rugg was the known murderer of two other women and was also known to have visited Stanford frequently. Rose was killed in the same manner as the two other women Rugg murdered – strangulation. He denied any involvement with the murder, however. ⁵ There were not many newspapers that covered the possible connection between Rose and Rugg, implying that this theory did not gain much traction.

L.S. Curtis – Curtis lived on Main Street in a home owned by Samuel Benjamin who also resided there with his daughter, Eva Benjamin. Curtis was a native Philadelphian who had recently divorced from his wife in secret. He was described by the Indianapolis Journal as a “strange man with a stranger history.” He was a man of large physique and good appearance, and, despite being described as wealthy, no one in town was reported to have respected him. People began to suspect him when they noticed that he was not taking any interest in the crime. However, the citizens of Stratford failed to realize that murders were not uncommon in Philadelphia as they were in Connecticut, which explains why Curtis may not have taken as much interest. Regardless, detectives went to the house of the Benjamin’s and searched Curtis’s room. They discovered a satchel with two handkerchiefs – one was scented with cologne, black with dirt, and had two small blood stains on the corner, and the other kerchief was red with stains that were believed to be blood clots made visible when held up to the light. The detectives also found three dirty shirts, one of which had two blood stains and was damp around the collar with rumpled cuffs. In September of 1883, Curtis was reported to have been seized with a temporary fit of insanity and was sent to his cousin’s house, and, once there, he cried, “Save me, save me, the detectives are after me. Here they come, here they come.” ⁶ Suspicion of Curtis eventually diminished as stronger evidence pointed towards other suspects.

These last two individuals were the two most suspected by both the general public and Connecticut detectives. As they are Rose’s ex-husband and her new husband to be, it is understandable how love, jealousy, and resentment may have played a role in both their suspected actions as well as the public’s suspicion against them.

Norman Ambler (pictured on the left at the top of this page) – Because he is her ex-husband, it is understandable why public suspicion may lie with Norman Ambler. Coroner Holt’s examination of Ambler revealed that Ambler was aware of Rose’s intimacy with William Lewis during their marriage, as well as the fact that Rose would occasionally leave the bed she shared with Ambler to ride with Lewis in his carriage past 2am. Ambler spoke rather poorly of Rose to Coroner Holt, stating that he protested against her “un wifely conduct,” and that she eventually told him that she cared more about Lewis than she did him, which led to a stormy break-up of the two. ⁸ Rose’s infidelity led to great jealousy on Norman’s part; Norman still seemed to love his wife in spite of the cheating and hated Lewis with a passion. When Constable Dufour served Norman the divorce papers that Rose had ordered, Norman was furious and immediately blamed Lewis for being at the bottom of the business and asserted that Rose should never marry Lewis. It is also worth noting that Rose was not reported to ever visit the child she had with Norman; Norman and his widowed mother were left alone with the young girl. He was also reported to have increasingly frequent drinking binges after his separation from Rose.⁹ Rose’s mother, Jennie Clark, reported that she heard from Lewis’s sister, Annie Wetzell, that Norman had told Lewis they should never get married, and that either Rose or Lewis should die before that happen. ¹⁰ It was also reported that no rape was committed against Rose, which strengthened public suspicion that Norman was the murderer. It was suspected that the unknown man seen with Rose on the night of her murder was, in fact, her ex-husband. ¹¹ Norman, however, did have an alibi – on the night of the crime, he was reported to be in bed at home in New Milford, 20 miles away from Stratford. ⁹ This did not stop some members of the public from doubting him.

William Lewis (pictured on the right at the top of this page) – To fully examine William Lewis’s role as a suspect in this case, I am going to organize this information into three parts: first I will share the evidence that had the potential to implicate him, then I will discuss the public reception of his connection to the crime as well as their opinion of his character, and lastly I will state the conclusions of his involvement with the case.

There were several indicators of guilt that made the country question Lewis’s innocence: as aforementioned, there was human skin matter and blood corpuscles found underneath Rose’s fingernails, and, after Professor White examined the matter, it was determined to belong to a white man. This ruled out Charles H. Rugg and Boston White, but not Lewis.¹² Mr. Joyce, the deputy coroner, and State Attorney Fessenden stated that while they were talking to Lewis, they took notice of scratches on his right hand. They also noted that Lewis was behaving very nervously, and they believed that he noticed their scrutinizing him and attempted to hide his hands for the rest of the interview. The men eventually asked Lewis about the scratches, to which he replied he did not have any. When he showed his hands to the men, there were no scratches to be seen.¹² Furthermore, there were stains discovered on Lewis’s carriage seats and lap robes that were initially believed to be blood. However, after Professor White’s examination of the stains, it was concluded they were either syrup or molasses. ¹³

There were also various personal statements from individuals who interacted with Lewis. On the night of the murder, Lewis claimed that he went to bed promptly after Rose left the property, around 9pm. He stated in his testimony that he did not take his carriage out past this time, nor did he leave his home for any other purposes. However, Frank Curtis, a man who lived near Stratford, claimed to have seen Lewis riding in his carriage in an ox pasture. ¹⁴ William Smith, of Birmingham, CT, stated that Lewis came into his restaurant the day after the murder and said, “If I were in Stratford I could put my hand on the man who killed Rose.” This statement made it seem as if Lewis knew more about the murder than he would let on to detectives. In the same newspaper, it was reported that a Mrs. E. Osborn testified that Lewis had told her he had been up all day and part of the night that the murder took place, despite Lewis testifying that he had gone to bed at his usual hour.¹⁵ Shelton expressman, George Smith, acted as a witness in this case, stating that he had apparently seen Lewis visit the Birmingham Savings bank where he was “transacting some business.” Smith believed that it seemed likely that Lewis was about to skip town. Lastly, Norman Ambler himself believed Lewis to be guilty. In response to Coroner Holt asking him who killed Rose, Ambler stated, “I think Will Lewis can tell me all about it. All I know is that no other man came around and made trouble between me and my wife but him.” ¹³ Admittedly, Norman’s opinion on the subject may not hold as much merit as the other witnesses for obvious reasons.

Throughout the investigation, most people believed Lewis to be guilty of the crime. There were different theories that floated around that attempted to explain Lewis’s motives for killing his fiancée. State detectives Arnold and Wood speculated that Lewis believed Rose to have been unfaithful. ¹⁶ The Yorkville Inquirer explained how some people believed it was because Lewis had changed his mind about the marriage and no longer wanted to wed a divorced woman. Reverend Dr. Houghton did not shy away from discussing the murder case in church and did not hold back from outwardly accusing Lewis. Houghton believed that the Christian pulpit should be used to defend virtue. He also noted how Lewis did not manifest grief after his lover’s untimely death; as he was known to go to beer saloons and said, “What in hell do I care about it,” when asked about Rose’s death. ¹⁷

It is also worth noting that Lewis was not very well-liked throughout town. In fact, the Rock Island Argus stated, “[Lewis] is very much disliked which may have something to do with the belief of his guilt among his neighbors, which is said to be universal.” ¹⁸ After suspicion of Lewis was relatively widespread, his business became more popular than ever. New patrons were reportedly flocking to him, all curious to speak with the ‘celebrity,’ and one newspaper wrote that Lewis had to carry twice the amount of produce that he usually would on his daily trips to work. ¹⁹

On September 29, 1883, the coroner’s jury in Rose’s case stated, “We find that said Rose Ambler came to her death by being choked to death at the hands of some person or persons to the jury unknown; but from Wm. Lewis’s connection with her in the past, and from his testimony and from his conduct since her death and from evidence, we think suspicion points toward him.” ²⁰ Ultimately, Lewis was never convicted of murdering his sweetheart, and it still remains a mystery today. However, nine years after the murder, Lewis made a confession: during a barroom fight on September 27, 1892, Lewis was struck over the head. A few hours after this incident, he was found unconscious on the road home and was taken to a hospital. There, it was discovered that his skull was fractured, and his condition was described as “precarious.” He was acting deliriously and cried out that he was guilty of murdering Rose. ²¹ It is difficult to determine if these were merely the ravings of an irrational mind or if they were truly an admission of guilt.