Advanced Police Work Solved A Shocking Crime

A grisly discovery set off a sensational murder trial.

On September 13, 1868, the bodies of Jacob and Nancy Young were discovered by the White River in Cold Springs, Indiana. The small town was shocked by the murders and began to wonder who would do such a thing. The Youngs were pillars of the community. That’s how local media described the couple.

The true story was a bit more complicated than that. Historians believe there were some shady business going on with Jacob and that led to his murder. The evidence supporting this came to light as the suspected murderers were being tried.

The trial would not have happened without the intrepid police work of the Cold Springs Police Department. Using emerging and little known technology, they were able to crack the case and secure convictions of those responsible for the Youngs’ murders.

Business Schemes

Jacob Young was rejected by the Union Army for health reasons. After he failed to become a soldier, he began working in the hardware industry. During this time, he teamed up with his friend William J. Abrams for a business venture. They would later include Nancy Clem in their profitable schemes.

The trio were part of the first Ponzi scheme. They offered investors a huge return if they invested in the project. When a new person bought into the company, Young would pay one of the older investors with the new influx of cash.

Some of the most powerful and rich people in town were preyed upon with the scheme. The Marion County Treasurer was among those that fell for the scam and was not pleased with not being made as rich as had been promised.

Bad blood began to form between Williams, Clem, and Young. The business partners began to argue and the business seemed to be splitting apart at the seams. The cause of the friction seemed to be money Clem owed to Young.

But there was more to the story.

Motive For Murder

Upon the discovery of the bodies, police believed it to be a murder-suicide. It was well known throughout Cold Springs that Young and Clem were having an affair. They believed Nancy Young found out about the infidelity and was furious, even threatening to divorce her husband, something that was unheard of for the time.

The theory suggested that Young killed his wife and then felt so guilty about what he had done, he killed himself. However, there were some inconsistencies with the theory. The shotgun was too far away for Young to have used it on himself. Then there was the fact that Nancy had been shot with a pistol and her head bashed in with a rock after she didn’t die right away.

In what was quite an impressive feat in a forensic investigation for the 1860s, a small, heeled footprint was found near the bodies. Police quickly deduced that there was a murderess on the loose.

In yet another piece of technologically advanced detective work, detectives were able to trace gun ownership of the shotgun to William J. Abrams. It took investigators just a few days to piece everything together. They also linked Cilas Hartman to the murders, he had rented a buggy just before the murders.

It all came together for the police. Mostly.

Putting It Together

Clem, Abrams, and Hartman plotted to kill Young. Police believed that Clem owed her former business partner nearly $22,000 for her part in the scheme. They also theorized that Young had been carrying a large amount of cash on him at the time of his death.

Investigators said that Clem traveled with the Youngs. Abrams and Hartman followed the others in the rented buggy. They realized the other carriage was headed towards the White River and took a different route. Once they got there, the men hid in the bushes and waited.

Hartman, by his own confession, shot Young with the shotgun. Clem took a pistol and shot Nancy with it. When the other woman didn’t die right away, she used a rock to bash her head. The new murderers then tried to escape.

Police worked fast and apprehended all of them. Each of the three was charged with murder. Hartman made a statement that implicated Abrams and himself while absolving Clem of any wrongdoing.

Hartman never went to trial as he died in his jail cell before answering for his crimes. It was ruled a suicide but police believed that Abrams was angry about the confession and killed his former friend.

Abrams and Clem would go to trial, it was just as wild as one would expect.

Trial, Trial Again

Abrams's trial was easy. After both sides rested, the jury convicted him. The judge sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole. Just a few years later, Governor James D. Williams pardoned him and he was released.

Nancy Clem’s trial was not as clear cut. While there had been other female killers before, they were almost always of the jealous wife avenging an affair variety. Clem would be the first woman accused of premeditated murder.

The defense decided to introduce other suspects as their strategy. Mostly they offered sex workers since they were considered to be of low moral character. Prosecutors argued that Clem and Young had an affair, which positioned her as the more likely suspect. They also brought up the scam that had brought Young into her orbit.

The first trial ended with Clem being convicted. She was granted a new trial with one of her appeals and she was acquitted. Prosecutors appealed and the case went all the way to Indiana Supreme Court. That decision set her free and able to live her life.

Clem died in 1897 of stomach cancer. She never once spoke of the Cold Springs murders again, taking the secrets of the case with her to the grave.