There
was a time crime was rampant in New York, but City Hall was fine with the
carnage. This seems to be a recurring
cycle in the City, but in this case, the time in question is 1918. Coroner positions were an important part of
Tammany Hall’s patronage mill. No
medical training was required, as long as the mortuary kick-backs were shared
with the machine. As a result, untold
poisoners escaped judgment, either through negligence or graft. The efforts of
a reformist medical examiner and his pioneering toxicologist to make science
and integrity part of New York law enforcement are chronicled in Rob Rapley’s The Poisoner’s Handbook (promo here), which airs this
Tuesday as part of the current season of American Experience.
Charles
Norris was independently wealthy, relatively politically astute, and a genuine
medical doctor. Against the vociferous
objections of Tammany Mayor John F. “Red Mike” Hylan, the state of New York
forced through his appointment as the City’s medical examiner. His chief lieutenant was Alexander Gettler, a
Jewish Hungarian immigrant who worked his way through a PhD in chemistry. No longer in the business of selling
specially tailored death certificates, Norris’ office actually started applying
the scientific method to criminal investigation. During their early years,
Gettler wrote academic papers on scores of toxins that remain relevant to this
day.
Based
on the nonfiction book by Deborah Blum (who appears as a talking head), Poisoner is more authoritative in its
treatment of criminological history than the thematically related How Sherlock Changed the World. Rapley never addresses Gettler’s reading
habits, but evidently he was quite the Yankees fan. Shrewdly structured, Poisoner zeroes in on Gettler’s relationship with his nemesis, sort
of the Irene Adler of arsenic, for maximum dramatic value. It also morbidly but logically organizes each
section according to the relevant toxin under discussion.
However,
it clearly favors the toxicologist over his M.E., even though political junkies
would probably prefer to hear more about Norris’ wrangling with Tammany
Hall. In contrast, a bit too much time
is devoted to Prohibition. While it
certainly kept Norris and Gettler (both Wets) busy, there was little mystery
involved in each toxic “denatured” alcohol death.
