JHU MLA 450.744 – Murder and Espionage in Maryland

The course will look in depth at one significant spy case (Alger Hiss vs. Whittaker Chambers)  and three famous Maryland Murder cases, Swearingen, Wharton, and Grammer (1820s, 1870s, 1950s.   The earliest murder case is about the death of a Sheriff's wife by the hand of the Sheriff, the second about the murder of a civil war officer by the widow of one of his soldiers, and the third is about the murder of the wife of a WWII special forces enlisted man by her husband, in whose defense a letter of commendation was introduced, signed by General Dwight David Eisenhower.  Only the woman got off.  The men were executed.