Murder Aboard

July 15, 2019
Hiam (Who the Hell Are We Fighting? The Story of Sam Adams and the Vietnam Intelligence Wars) does a mixed job of recounting a real-life nautical murder mystery. In 1896, the sailing ship Herbert Fuller left Boston en route to Buenos Aires, transporting a cargo of wood and 10 crew members, including Capt. Charles Nash; Nash’s wife, Laura; and one passenger, Harvard student Lester Monks. One night, about two weeks into the voyage, Monks was roused from his sleep by a scream. In the main cabin, he found Nash’s body; in Laura’s room, he noticed blood stains on her bed. After seeing mate Thomas Bram, the second-in-command, walking the deck, Monks asked him to help investigate, and the pair found that both Nashes, as well as a crewman, had been hacked to death by an axe. Bram, who supposedly threw the murder weapon overboard, became the prime suspect and was eventually convicted of murder, despite holes in the evidence. Hiam fails to explain important legal developments, such as the error that led to Bram being charged with only one killing, and abruptly names the person he believes to be the real criminal without marshaling the facts against him. This is a fascinating case, but it warrants better treatment.