Born Edward Howard Rulloff, “The Genius Killer,” or the “Man of Two Lives” as he is often called, rose to notoriety during the mid 19th century as one of Ithaca’s most infamous serial murderers. Serving as a botanical physician, druggist, linguist, and schoolteacher in the city of Ithaca, Rulloff’s violent nature came as a surprise to many who knew him as his crimes greatly contrasted with his purported intellect and well-learned nature. Tried in 1870 for the disappearance and suspected murder of his young wife and child, alongside the 1858 killing of a Binghamton store clerk, Rulloff’s criminal career is believed to have extended far beyond these three known cases. In fact, many historians speculate that Rulloff had amassed at least two initial kills prior to his 1845-1871 criminal exploits throughout Tompkins County.

The first of these suspected instances is said to have occurred on June 2nd 1845, when Mr. W. H Schutt’s child fell ill, he called upon his dear friend Rulloff who often claimed to have extensive expertise in the medical field. What should have been a simple treatment for a common cold only caused the child’s condition to worsen. Within the span of 24 hours, the child had suffered convulsions and died a day later. Soon after, the child’s mother too fell ill seemingly out of nowhere and when Rulloff was again called upon to treat her, her condition progressively worsened causing her to die two days later in the very same manner as her child. Believed to have had no agency in the deaths, Rulloff attended the funerals of both mother and child, arousing little to no suspicion from the bereaved public. It was not until thirteen years later however, that tissue samples taken from the mother’s exhumed corpse revealed traces of copper poison found in her stomach tissue.

Though very little is known surrounding the disappearance of Rulloff’s own wife and child, an eyewitness account taken from Rulloff’s neighbor Ms. Robinson, who was staying with the Rullof’s on the night of June 23rd, 1845, reveals key details regarding the domestic life between husband and wife. Robinson reports Rulloff arriving home in unusually strange spirits accompanied by two visitors. She reports that things only got stranger as the visitors departed and Rulloff quickly began preparing medicine in his mortar, insisting that his child take the concoction. Seeing no apparent signs of illness, Mrs. Rulloff refused the medication even as her husband continued to persist claiming that he had “detected the seeds of disease in his offspring” (Crapsey, 1871, 12). At the terrified objections of his wife, Rulloff did not relent, declaring that the wife needed the medicine just as much as the child. At his urging she said that she would take the medicine and the child would not, and at last Rulloff desisted. It was on June 23rd, 1845 at 9pm that Miss Robinson left the Rulloff home and strangely enough, that was the last reported sighting of Mrs. Rulloff and her child.

With his list of crimes including, suspected parricide, burglary, theft, and 2nd degree murder, Rullofff was finally tried and hanged in 1871, with his hanging being one of the last public executions of New York State. Still, to this day, Rulloff is remembered throughout Ithaca with his brain currently on display in Cornell University’s psychology department, and a cast taken of his face directly following his execution currently on display at The History Center at Tompkins County.

Looking for more Haunted History? Visit the Exhibit Hall throughout October or register for a Haunted History Tour. Use code FIRSTWEEK for 25% off your tickets for the first week of tours. 

References

Crapsey, E. (1871). The Man of Two Lives!: Being an Authentic History of Edward Howard Rulloff,. American News Company. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t0dv2nx2t&seq=10

Written by Jennifer Anebere, Docent