The Knickerbocker murders

One of the most influential decisions in American jurisprudence began in December 1898 with an odd Christmas gift: a bottle of Emerson’s Bromo-Seltzer, a popular over-the-counter medicine. The box had been wrapped in manila paper, sealed with wax, and addressed to one Harry Cornish, a director at the Knickerbocker Athletic Club in New York, one of the first American football teams. Inside, Cornish found the bottle in a silver holder, encased in the distinctive robin-egg blue of Tiffany & Co. The sender was a mystery, but Cornish thought nothing of it – he often got presents that way.