An Honorable Vengeance: Part 2

The Letters

“My message is so terribly awful that it is almost impossible to pen it; but what I have to communicate concerns your daughter, and will almost drive you to madness, because I know how you worship her.”

Desiring to end his engagement to Lizzie Nutt, Dukes felt it necessary to send her father a difficult letter. He explained his evidence of Lizzie’s alarming behavior and her reputation in the community. Dukes asserted that Lizzie had been flirtatious with him, along with other men. He said he went to kiss her, expecting her to pull back, only to be surprised by her assertiveness in kissing him back. He also claimed to peep through her window to find her in the embrace of his friend, A.C. Hagan, along with other men. Rumors were flying around town, by unnamed sources, about the promiscuity of Lizzie Nutt.

In one of the letters, Dukes quoted one of her suspected lovers, who described the dangers of her allure by saying: “Her beauty and affectionate manner would disarm the devil himself.”

After sending letters back and forth on the matter of Lizzie Nutt’s reputation, animosity grew between Dukes and Captain Nutt. The Captain would not believe a word that was written about Lizzie and would defend her till the end. As men of honor, Captain Nutt and Dukes could be obliged to take up arms on the matter, though Dukes wrote: “You may murder me if you will. I shall not arm myself.”

At the time, Captain Nutt was working for the Pennsylvania Treasury in Harrisburg. Angered by the letters and wanting to pursue a course of action, he returned to Uniontown. There, Captain Nutt immediately visited the bank and deposited up to $625 for his wife. Today this sum would amount to more than $14,000.

The very next morning, on Christmas Eve of 1882, Captain Nutt left home to confront Nicholas Dukes.

Upon arrival at the Jennings’ House, where Dukes was staying, Captain Nutt and his nephew, Clark Breckenridge, were escorted to Dukes’ room on the second floor. They entered, only for Breckenridge to be swiftly pushed out into the hallway as the door fell shut. A struggle commenced and loud noises echoed throughout the house. A yell of “Murder!” escaped from Dukes’ room, followed by the cries of Captain Nutt for his nephew.

Breckenridge opened the door to find his uncle lying on the floor with a bullet wound in his head and Dukes standing over top of his body.

What exactly happened in that room would never be determined. The three witnesses—Breckenridge, the porter, and the owner of the Jennings’ house—claimed that when they burst through the door, Nutt was lying on the floor without a weapon in hand.

Dukes maintained that he had warned Captain Nutt he would shoot if he persisted and declared he fired out of self-defense. In his version of the truth, Nutt was waiving a cane around and threatening Dukes. Younger and stronger, Dukes wrestled with Nutt to gain control of the cane. Dukes then cried “Murder!” to get someone’s attention to end the tussle, only for Nutt to call for his nephew Clark. Dukes felt able to handle Nutt, but if the Captain was truly there to kill him and had the help of his nephew, Dukes would surely die. That is when he decided to take action and defend himself from Nutt.

Once the scene was exposed, a doctor quickly came to attend to Captain Nutt, but after 20 minutes he fell into unconsciousness and died. After an investigation by the coroner, Nicholas Dukes was charged with murder.

An unlikely murder case featuring such respected, prominent members of a quiet community quickly gained national attention. This prompted many high-profiled characters to play a role in the prosecution and the defense. Nicholas Dukes hoped to be represented by William Playford, a politician and a prominent criminal attorney, and asked him to be a part of his defense team. Playford refused his request, and in a dramatic turnabout, joined the district attorney as part of the prosecution. Dukes instead hired Charles Boyle, who had been elected as district attorney in 1862 and later went on to be a congressman.

On March 10, 1883, the trial for the murder of Captain Adam Nutt opened. When asked to state his plea, Dukes’ replied, “Not guilty,” and jury selection began. All twelve men selected to the jury were skilled laborers, did not live in Uniontown and were all Democrats, just like Dukes. The political leanings of the jury and their possible bias would later be a point of furious debate.

Fayette County Courthouse

Breckenridge was the first person called to the stand, where he recollected that someone cried out the word “murder,” although he could not distinguish whose voice it was. Dressed in all black, Mrs. Nutt testified for her husband that he was always armed because it was a habit for him to carry around a gun. The real question on everyone’s minds, however, was the nature of the letters exchanged between Captain Nutt and Dukes.

The following day, Playford tried to submit the two letters into evidence. After resistance from Boyle, Judge Wilson ruled the letters were relevant to the case and would be read in court—but not before all of the women in the audience were asked to leave. It was thought to be inappropriate for women to hear such lewd and malicious content.

The first letter told Captain Nutt of Lizzie’s indecent behavior, while the second letter accused Captain Nutt of already having known about his daughter’s conduct. The correspondences quickly turned the people against Dukes. Unfortunately for the prosecution, their witnesses contradicted each other and sometimes themselves.

As for Dukes’ defense, his lawyers argued that he did not instigate the fight and that Captain Nutt trespassed into Dukes’ room. They insisted that the young man had the right to defend himself in the safety of his home. Mrs. Jennings corroborated Duke’s testimony that he killed Captain Nutt out of self-defense. The defense also argued that Captain Nutt usually did not arm himself with a weapon as powerful as he did on that Christmas Eve, illustrating his intent to kill Dukes.

On March 14, 1883, closing arguments were made and the verdict of the court case was announced. In the case of the Commonwealth vs. Nicholas Dukes the defendant was found not guilty. Shock and awe swept the nation, which led to rage and outcries of injustice.