In 1900, Texas millionaire William Marsh Rice was found dead in his New York apartment. Within hours, forged checks, a suspicious will, and a hasty cremation order set off one of the most sensational murder cases of the Gilded Age. This is thestory of greed, betrayal, and the crime that nearly derailed the founding of Rice University.

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Source Materials

Rice's Attorney and Valet Face Criminal Charges, newsclipping - Rice University Digital Collections

Face the Law Murder Conspiracy and Forgery newsclipping - Rice University Digital Collections

"Confessed Murder Forgery" - Rice University Digital Collections

Scrapbook page of New York news clippings announcing the mysterious circumstances of the death of William MarshRice - Rice University Digital Collections

Evidence of Guilt newsclipping - Rice University Digital Collections

Murdered man's estate founds great university, newsclipping regarding Rice Institute - Rice University Digital Collections

The Murder of Millionaire William Rice by Albert Patrick, 1900 - HistoricalCrimeDetective.com

William Marsh Rice: A Story of Money, Poison, and Murder – Kathy M. Slaughter

William Marsh Rice and His Legacy — The Heritage Society

 Martin L. Friedland, The Death of Old Man Rice: A True Story of Criminal Justice in America (University of Toronto Press, 1996).

Thomas Duke, Celebrated Criminal Cases of America (1910), Part III: “The Murder of Millionaire William Rice by Albert Patrick.”