Murder Sheet: “John Terrell’s Trials and Tribulations: A Conversation with Author Stephen Terrell”

Date: September 1, 2025
Hosts: Áine Cain (A), Kevin Greenlee (B)
Guest: Stephen Terrell (D), interviewed by hosts (C/E)
Main Theme:
A deep dive into the century-old true crime saga of John Wesley Terrell, a wealthy Indiana farmer who murdered his abusive son-in-law, as recounted and researched by Terrell’s great-nephew, author and attorney Stephen Terrell. The episode explores the sensational crime, its trial, and the broader social, legal, and cultural context of Indiana in the early 1900s.

Episode Overview

The hosts interview Stephen Terrell about his nonfiction book, "The Madness of John: Revenge and Insanity on Trial in the Heartland," which investigates a notorious family murder, its reverberations in the community, and its wide-ranging legal and societal implications. Terrell recounts both the personal process of uncovering this hidden family history and the meticulous research that exposed the realities of justice, mental health, and morality in turn-of-the-century Indiana.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stephen Terrell’s Background

• [04:08] Terrell is a retired Indianapolis attorney, with decades of experience in civil litigation and appellate practice.
• Started his professional journey as a journalist, then returned to writing later in life, producing novels, short stories, and legal articles.
• Pandemic-era genealogy research led Terrell to uncover a buried family secret: his great-uncle’s sensational murder case.

Quote:
"That urge to write...I finally decided I needed to do something about that." – Stephen Terrell [05:17]

2. Discovering the Family Murder

• [08:00] While building his family tree, Terrell found a headline about his great-uncle: “Wells county man who murdered his son in law dies at home of daughter."
• Terrell had never heard this story, unusual for a family that cherished tales of its past.

Quote:
"I had never heard of this...it didn't take me long to jump in and start researching this. And very quickly I thought, oh, this has got to be a book." – Stephen Terrell [11:22]

3. Researching a Century-Old Case

• [11:48] Process began with sweeping newspaper searches, finding 600+ stories, including national headlines (e.g., NY Times).
• Unearthed the 2,500-page Indiana Supreme Court trial transcript—“the largest by far” of its era—requiring days in the archives photographing every page by hand.
• Contextual research included mental institutions, legal practices, yellow journalism, and the culture of the period.

Quote:
"I'm looking at a transcript that had not been opened in over 100 years..." – Stephen Terrell [14:04]

4. Who Was John Wesley Terrell?

• [19:28] John was the product of a family of Methodist preachers, but was himself a “devout atheist.”
• Inherited and expanded family land in Indiana; oil was discovered on his property, making him one of the wealthiest men in Wells County by the 1890s.
• Stern, hardworking, business-savvy, yet personally unlucky: an ailing wife, two daughters abandoned by husbands, and a youngest daughter, Lucy, who became a central figure.

5. The Road to Murder: Domestic Abuse and Scandal

• [21:40–33:44] Lucy, John’s daughter, was impregnated by Melvin Wolf—her second-trimester abuse led to a suicide attempt and eventual forced marriage.
• Melvin Wolf, notoriously abusive and previously involved in another statutory rape, continued to torment Lucy until, heavily pregnant and desperate, she returned to her father's home.
• Lucy sued for "fraudulent marriage"—a rare but successful claim at the time—heightening Wolf’s harassment of the Terrell family.

Memorable Quote:
"Maybe the 1890s and early 1900s weren't nearly as conservative and as buttoned up as we often think it was." – Stephen Terrell [27:54]

6. The Murder of Melvin Wolf

• [33:45–36:54] On July 12, 1903, following a public confrontation and years of harassment, John ambushed Melvin from a ditch with a shotgun as Wolf drove past the Terrell farm.
• John pursued the mortally wounded Wolf to a doctor’s office, battered down the door, and killed him with a point-blank shot.

Notable Scene:
"God damn the man who stands between me and Wolf. I'll kill him as sure as I'm going to kill Wolf..." – John Terrell, quoted in court transcript [35:25]

• The murder attracted nationwide coverage, becoming front-page news.

7. Why Did This Story Captivate America?

• [37:07] The case exemplified the “yellow journalism” era—crime, passion, scandal, and retribution.
• National fascination stemmed from its blend of shocking violence, familial drama, sexuality, and societal taboos.

Quote:
"It had everything. It had illicit love, a scorned mother, an abandoned child, a father's revenge...it had everything." – Stephen Terrell [38:31]

8. The Trial: Insanity, Public Sentiment, and Legal Culture

• [39:56] Though eyewitness evidence against John was overwhelming, the defense centered on insanity—both temporary (irresistible impulse) and hereditary.
• Jury selection revealed the surprising reluctance of 1900s rural Hoosiers to embrace the death penalty: “the biggest reason men were excused from that jury was because they did not believe in the death penalty.” [43:00]
• Evidence today considered inadmissible—family mental health, morality, atheism—was freely debated in court.

Quote:
"The conduct of the lawyers for the most part was what you would see...but there were several things you'd never see today..." – Stephen Terrell [50:32]

9. Cultural, Legal, and Social Contexts

• [45:26] The episode explores the thriving oil boom towns like Petroleum, IN; the logistics and drama of criminal trials in the early 1900s; the intense sensational media environment; and the powerful social stigma attached to atheism.
• Temporary insanity as a defense (linked to “irresistible impulse”) was permissible at the time but is obsolete under modern law.
• The trial transcript itself, procedures, and even use of 16-page-long hypothetical questions to experts illuminate early 20th-century practice.

10. Aftermath, Division, and Institutionalization

• [58:10] Community was deeply divided on John’s guilt; petitions emerged both for and against pardoning him.
• Following his conviction, John experienced a mental breakdown and was declared insane by a special jury, later confined to East Haven Mental Asylum rather than state prison.
• The conviction was later overturned due to a typographical error in the indictment’s date ("18903"); John was re-indicted but remained institutionalized, ultimately released to family custody, and died in 1916.

Quote:
"That debate over whether John was really insane or if he was just faking it just tore apart the community and the state." – Stephen Terrell [61:10]

11. Personal Reflection & Significance

• [69:45] Terrell shares the powerful, personal impact of hearing the literal words of his ancestors in the transcript, making the distant past strikingly immediate.

12. Research Process & Upcoming Work

• Terrell continues to write articles and short stories and gives presentations comparing historic and modern legal practice, but has no major book project at present.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On discovery:
  “It was a journey for me as well, to travel back to that time...I got a chance…to see their actual words. And that was really an important moment for me.” – Stephen Terrell [70:26]

• On legal norms:
  “You can't take the law into your own hands. That was very forcefully made by the prosecutor...They had eight hours of closing arguments on each side, 16 hours total.” – Stephen Terrell [56:32]

• On public views:
  "There was a petition with 5,000 signatures sent to the governor to pardon John...there were petitions filed the other way..." – Stephen Terrell [57:44]

Key Segment Timestamps

• Terrell’s biography & writing (04:08–08:00)
• Discovery & research process (08:00–16:10)
• Who was John Terrell? Family and background (19:05–21:40)
• Lucy, Melvin Wolf, and family tragedy (21:40–33:45)
• The murder and national coverage (33:45–37:07)
• Public and media reaction, yellow journalism (37:07–39:56)
• Trial details, legal strategy, and jury selection (39:56–45:11)
• Societal attitudes, trial procedures, and mental health (45:11–54:28)
• Was it insanity? Moral questions (54:28–58:10)
• Aftermath: institutionalization, reversal, release (58:10–69:14)
• Personal reflection, significance, and closing (69:45–74:05)

Conclusion: What Listeners Learn

This episode exposes the messy, human truths behind a legendary crime and trial. Terrell’s research and candor challenge nostalgic myths about the past, showing how early 20th-century Americans grappled with the same tangled issues—scandal, abuse, morality, and justice—that still animate true crime today. The story’s resonance, both then and now, emerges not just from its violence, but from its very real people, their suffering, and their attempts—flawed, fervent, and sometimes desperate—to find justice.

For readers and listeners:
The book, "The Madness of John," offers even more depth—original newspaper stories, trial transcript details, and an intimate window into social history—which the episode encourages all true crime enthusiasts, historians, and Hoosiers to read.

[End of Summary]