Murdered by Rats: The Strange Death of Esther Bland

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In March of 1930, a Harrisburg woman suffered the sort of death typically reserved for horror movies or nightmares, but Esther Bland's strange manner of death might have been a mystery if not for a keen-eyed neighbor who noticed an untouched newspapers on the dead woman's doorstep.

On the morning of Monday, March 24, Mrs. Alice Clark grew concerned after noticing that her neighbor had not retrieved from her doorstep the Sunday night edition of the Harrisburg Telegraph. In fact, she hadn't seen or heard from Esther since Friday night. Fearing the worst, Alice went to Esther's home and peeked into the kitchen window of the shabby little house at 1224 Wallace Street. What she saw chilled her blood-- a woman's bloody hand, stiff and outstretched as though pleading for help that never arrived.

Terrified, Alice Clark ran screaming for help and her cries were heard by Patrolman Edward Murphy, who raced to the Bland home and battered in the door.

 "I'll never forget it," Murphy later recounted. "She must have been sitting on a chair in the dining room." The patrolman, after breaking down the door, had found 41-year-old Esther Bland fully clothed and sprawled across the kitchen floor. The chair was on overturned, and one hand was clutching a slipper. Esther's poodle loyally guarded the woman's body, which had been chewed apart by hundreds of small razorlike teeth. As for the face, well, it was almost completely missing. Murphy believed the woman had tried to make a desperate lunge for the door when the army of murderous rodents swarmed her.

"It was the most horrible sight I ever saw," declared Detective Sergeant Oscar Blough, who arrived at the Bland home to determine if the woman might've been a victim of foul play. "She was literally torn to death by rats. A horrible, horrible death." The detective had heard stories about the rats in the neighborhood, which emerged from the sewers in search of food. He had heard rumors that the sewer rats were as big as cats. He hadn't believed the stories until he viewed Esther Bland's body.

"All the doors in the house were locked when Murphy arrived," explained the detective, which ruled out the possibility of murder. The windows had been securely fastened from the inside and none of the victim's valuables were missing. "Never have I seen anything like it," Blough continued. "She couldn't get to the door. She battled them even after she fell, judging from the position of the body on the floor. It was a ghastly sight."

Coroner Orders Autopsy

Though he was certain of the nature of Esther's death, Coroner Howard Milliken ordered an autopsy just to be sure. The autopsy was conducted at the Ross Cooper Funeral Home on Elm Street by Dr. R.L. Perkins and Dr. L.S. Witherow. It was discovered that heart failure had caused the woman's death (which is understandable, considering the level of stress one must feel while being devoured alive by a pack of ravenous rats). Not everyone was satisfied by the rat theory, however. The owner of the Wallace Street property, a man named Snyder, told reporters that Esther's sister had told him that the poodle had scratched and bitten Esther on previous occasions.

The police investigation revealed a small life insurance policy naming a sister, Mrs. Mary Stannard, of Steelton, a beneficiary, while another sister, Lulu Brooks, was not named a beneficiary. Some who viewed the rat story with suspicion wondered if the sister who had been left out may have been motivated by jealousy.

Authorities scoffed at these rumors, however. There was no bad blood between the sisters, and detectives were fairly certain it was impossible for one to train rats to attack on command. "The rats travel in hordes," explained Detective Sergeant Blough. "Neighbors tell us they come out of the sewers in large numbers at night and make a ghastly sight with their grey, lean bodies. There are thousands of cracks and crevices in the house through which the attacking rodents could have poured."

Despite the unsanitary conditions of the impoverished, predominantly minority neighborhood-- or, perhaps, because of them-- city health officer Dr. J.M. Raunick stated that he would not hold an investigation into health conditions on Wallace Street. "I don't know anything about conditions up there," admitted Dr. Raunick to the Telegraph. "I am not going to investigate."

Esther Bland's body was sent to the Bolding Funeral Parlor in Steelton and prepared for burial. Her funeral services were held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Steelton, and her remains buried at Midland Cemetery.

 

Sources:
Harrisburg Telegraph, March 24, 1930.
Harrisburg Evening News, March 24, 1930.
Harrisburg Telegraph, March 25, 1930.
Harrisburg Evening News, March 26, 1930.