Inheritance Lost: The Murder of Captain Joseph White

Joseph Jenkins Knapp, Jr. was expecting to receive a sizable inheritance upon the death of his 82-year-old great uncle, wealthy retired shipmaster and trader Captain Joseph White. But with debts piling up, Knapp decided he couldn’t wait for natural causes; in April of 1830, he and his brother, John Francis Knapp, hired a hitman to murder him, faked some blackmail letters, and, in the end, didn't get any inheritance at all.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Humans have always committed crimes. What can we learn from the criminals and crimes of the past, and have humans gotten better or worse over time?