Remembering Elliott Speer -- With a Very Special Guest
The Art of Crime
Today, we're joined by a very special guest to talk about the life of Elliott Speer. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at .
info_outline
Remembering Elliott Speer With a Very Special Guest (Murder by the Book)
The Art of Crime
Today, we're joined by a very special guest to remember the life of Elliott Speer. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at .
info_outline
Fact and Fiction (Murder by the Book)
The Art of Crime
Today, we look at how the conventions of detective fiction informed--and misinformed--the investigation into the murder of Elliott Speer. Show notes and full transcripts available at . If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at .
info_outline
The Trial (Murder by the Book)
The Art of Crime
In 1937, former Mount Hermon employee S. Allan Norton was ambushed at home by a trespasser with a shotgun. Norton identified his attacker as Thomas Elder, prime suspect in the unsolved murder of Elliott Speer. Members of the community held their breath as Elder went to trial for the attempted murder of Norton, hoping that proceedings would shed light on the shooting of Headmaster Speer. For show notes and full transcripts, visit . If you'd like to support the show, please consider beocming a patron at .
info_outline
The Suspect (Murder by the Book)
The Art of Crime
Within a week or two of the shooting of Elliott Speer, Dean Thomas Elder, second-in-command at Mount Hermon School for Boys, became the prime suspect in the crime. After amassing as much evidence as possible agains Elder, District Attorney Joseph Bartlett called an inquest that would determine whether Elder would stand trial for the homicide. Show notes and full transcripts available at . If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at .
info_outline
The Investigation (Murder by the Book)
The Art of Crime
In 1934, police were initially baffled by the murder of Elliott Speer. Then, one day, while an investigator was combing over the bookshelves in Speer's study, he happened upon a murder mystery that blew the case wide open. Show notes and full transcripts are available at . If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at .
info_outline
The Life and Death of Elliott Speer (Murder by the Book)
The Art of Crime
The son of an internationally renowned Presbyterian preacher, Elliott Speer became headmaster of the Mount Hermon School for Boys, a religiously oriented boarding school, in 1932. On the night of September 14, 1934, a trespasser murdered Speer in his own home, devastating his family, his colleagues, and the rest of the community. Show notes and full transcripts available at If you'd like to support the show, please consider beocming a patron at .
info_outline
Introducing Season 5 . . .
The Art of Crime
Introducing season 5 . . . Show notes and full transcripts available at . If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at . You can also sign up for an Apple subscription for bonus content, early access, and ad-free listening.
info_outline
Ask Me Anything (Crimes of Old New York)
The Art of Crime
Thanks to everyone who submitted questions and comments! As promised, here's a link to Netherlandish Proverbs: . If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at .
info_outline
The Practice Run (Crimes of Old New York)
The Art of Crime
In 1990, two men entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and stole something like $500 million worth of art, in what became the most infamous art heist in U.S. history. Today, we're joined by retired museum professional Frederick J. Fisher, who thinks that the Gardner affair may have been a sequel to an earlier effort to rob a different institution, the Hyde Collection, located in Glens Falls, New York. Fisher explores the theory in a new book titled The Practice Run, which is out May 15, 2025, so go order a copy! If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming...
info_outlineToday, we're joined by acclaimed author and filmmaker Barry Avrich to talk about one of the most colossal art fraud cases in New York history. It all started when a woman named Glafira Rosales walked into the storied Knoedler Gallery with a painting she claimed to have been created by Mark Rothko. The ensuing fiasco ended in catastrophe for the gallery.
The Devil Wears Rothko by Barry Avrich is out June 24, 2025, and you can pre-order a copy today.
If you'd like to support The Art of Crime, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast.