Summersode 1: The Demon of the Belfry
The Demon of the Belfry
Theodore Durrant
It was called the Crime of the Century in San Francisco, California. Everyone was shocked. The papers couldn’t get enough. How could a nice Sunday school teacher, a man attending medical school, kill two women in the church?
Listen as we discuss The Demon in the Belfry, William Henry Theodore Durrant. We discuss his life before the crimes, the crimes themselves, then talk about his family, particularly his sister, Maud Allan, who found fame and controversy years later.
Source: The San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Apr 1895
Source: Book by Edgar E. Peixotto, 1899
Emanuel Baptist Church, located in the Mission District.
Source: California State Library
Source: Book by Edgar E. Peixotto, 1899
Source: Book by Edgar E. Peixotto, 1899
Photos from San Quentin State Prison
Source: California State Archives
Theodore during the trial
Source: The San Francisco Examiner, 2 Nov 1895
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Jan 1898
Traced copy of the death warrant for Theodore Durrant
Source: The San Francisco Examiner, 11 Dec 1895
Victim Minnie Elora Williams
Source: The San Francisco Examiner, 7 Jan 1898
Minnie Williams
Source: The Buffalo Times, 3 May 1925
Source: Book by Edgar E. Peixotto, 1899
William Allan Durrant (1851-1917
Source: The San Francisco Examiner, 7 Jan 1898
Obituary for William Allan Durrant, Theodore and Maud’s father. No obituaries were found for their mother, Isabella.
Source: Modesto Morning Herald, 29 Mar 1917
Isabella Matilda Hutchinson (1853-ca1910)
Source: The San Francisco Examiner, 7 Jan 1898
The first graduating class from Cogswell Polytechnical College (a high school at the time), today known as the University of Silicon Valley, has both Theodore and Maud Durrant as graduates.
Source: The San Francisco Examiner, 29 May 1891
Photo of Maud in 1908
Obituary for Maud Allan, aka, Beulah/Ullah Maud Durrant, sister of Theodore Durrant
Source: The Guardian, 8 Oct 1956
