Unwanted by Andrew Young

Author:Andrew Young
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781594166099
Publisher: Westholme Publishing

PEARL HAD APPARENTLY SAID she was going to visit her friend, Miss Fisher, the daughter of Mr. Lou Fisher of Indianapolis, when she left Greencastle on January 28. A few telegrams confirmed that Pearl was not in Indianapolis and that she had never gone there. When Will Wood and Jackson’s family were contacted, they expressed their doubts to the reporters that their sons were in any way involved in the terrible crime.

A report from Cincinnati appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal the day after Jackson’s arrest. “His account of his whereabouts last Friday was not by any means conclusively satisfactory, nor was it conclusively convicting,” they relayed. More incriminating was the report concerning his confusion about the valise; the article added, “The theory is that the head of the murdered girl was probably in the valise, and he traveled about with it to destroy it without being discovered.” There did not appear to be much possibility of Scott Jackson’s innocence, and considering the circumstantial evidence already pointing to him, it seems understandable that the papers and the public might easily accept his guilt. The investigators were beginning to think they definitely had their man as well.

The conditions of Jackson’s cell are not given, but the general opinion was that Cincinnati’s jail was cleaner and better maintained than many others. Something that is ubiquitous now, a flushing toilet, was most likely not present. As might be expected, prisons varied greatly around the country, and the penitentiary system was relatively new in many places. Jackson, because he had not been charged or tried, was in a small-scale lockup. There is no mention that he shared a cell with anyone, but it is possible that an occasional homeless person or drunk joined him. Beginning in the 1870s, prison reform had led to what was now called the “correctional system.” One of the key tenets of this new system was that a criminal could face a range of sentencings, from five, ten, or fifteen years to life, depending on the crime and circumstances; in addition, prisoners who behaved well within the system could be released early. Scott Jackson must have known that if he were found guilty, he would likely be sentenced to life in prison or death; but there were certain key pieces of information that could affect his fate. The most important was whether Pearl Bryan was dead or alive when her head was removed. If she had died before, then the question was whether her death was murder or an accident.

The thoughts must have been a small portion of the turmoil that raged inside Scott Jackson’s head as he lay in his cell. He must have also been wondering if they had found his friend—not Will Wood—but his roommate, Alonzo Walling.

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