Burton Wilkes Gibson: Lawyer & Killer

Burton Wilkes Gibson was born in New York on 13 Dec 1874 to Joseph Wilkes Gibson (1843-1915) & Emily Alletta White (1851-1943).

Inmate: #64624 Sing Sing Prison

Rec: 1 Jun 1914

Grand Larceny

Below are his Auburn Prison records he to was Inmate: #35928 Rec 1 Jun 1914 He must of been transferred to Sing Sing or from Sing Sing to here.

 

 

Burton  was a lawyer who had a large number of incredibly unlucky clients. People who hired him had a distressing habit of dying or disappearing in various mysterious ways.

Below are photos of crowds waiting outside to see Burton come out with cuffs on.

One of Burton's possible victims, as her case has never been officially solved. Her mother was a client of Burton's.

Some newspaper articles on the Burton Case: 1910-1912

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29602058/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29601441/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57890274/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57890053/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29601972/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29601875/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29601924/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29601986/burton-gibson/

Another victim was Rosa Szabo

In July of 1912, Rosa Szabo went boating in New York’s Greenwood Lake with her attorney, Burton W. Gibson. During this outing, Gibson later explained, she fell out of their boat and drowned.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29602151/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29602104/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29602600/burton-gibson/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35771161/burton-wilkes-gibson/

He was married to Maude Isabelle O'Dwyer (1879-1922) 7 Sep 1898 in New Haven, CT.

They had two daughters:

Maria Emily Gibson

1901–1902

Marion Patricia Gibson (Photo below)

1906–2001

Burton's parents:

So it seems he got away with it as nothing came from the killings.  He was tried twice for the killing of Rosa Szabo, but neither jury was able to reach an agreement. Subsequently, however, it was established that he had fraudulently obtained over seven thousand dollars from Szabo’s bank account. This time around, a jury had little difficulty in finding him guilty of grand larceny. He was sentenced to five to ten years in prison, plus a fine of $7800. It was said that during his imprisonment, he gave “advice to the other prisoners which was not for the good of the community.” He was disbarred.

The newspapers reported that the police would be opening investigations into the deaths of Mr. Szabo and William Schumann, but if so, these inquiries evidently came to nothing. William Schumann a well-to-do jeweler who Mrs. Szabo went to work for, who was partially paralyzed as his live-in housekeeper. After this, Mrs. Szabo somehow banked a great deal of money, nearly $10,000. Her bank books were kept in the vaults of Schumann's jewelry firm. Then, William abruptly dropped dead. 

Then to top it off he was later pardoned 17 Jun 1919.

There was nothing further found on him not even a death date or place although the 1920 census has his wife listed as a widow.

Family photos were shared on Ancestry by: Ron Goins originally shared this on 09 Jan 2011.

Burton had graduated from Yale University, what a sad waste, he might of been a great lawyer if he was so greedy.