Anne Bradley Trial: 1907

Defendant: Anne Maddison Bradley
Crime Charged: Murder
Chief Defense Lawyers: Orlando W. Powers, George P. Hoover, Robert W. Wells
Chief Prosecutors: Daniel W. Baker, Charles H. Turner
Judge: Wendell Philips Stafford
Place: Washington, D.C.
Date of Trial: November 13-December 3, 1907
Verdict: Not guilty

SIGNIFICANCE: Was Anne Bradley insane when she shot former U.S. senator Arthur Brown, or did she shoot him in a fit of jealous rage? That was what a jury had to decide in this scandalous early twentieth century trial.

Arthur Brown was born in Michigan in 1843. After college, he was a successful attorney in Kalamazoo before moving to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1879. There, he again practiced law and became prominent in the local Republican Party. Elected one of Utah's first two U.S. senators when the territory achieved statehood in 1896, he served for 13 months and unsuccessfully sought reelection in 1902.

Brown wedded twice. His first marriage ended in the late 1870s when his affair with Isabel Cameron became public knowledge. Cameron later followed Brown to Salt Lake City and became his second wife. The senator had a child by each spouse.