Death of Merriweather Lewis Essay Example

Who is Priscilla Grinder? Is she innocent? Guilty? What happened the night of Merriwether Lewis's death. What is the real story? Merriwether Lewis died from a gunshot in the head and stomach on October 10-11 1809. He was staying in the grinder inn while traveling to Washington D.C to meet with the president. His servants, John Perrier, and James Neely traveled with him. Priscilla Grinder was the only one at the inn the night Lewis stayed. Her husband wasn’t there. We don’t know who killed him, but I will give a clear reason why Priscila is a suspect of murder. 

It is clear that Meriwether Lewis was murdered by Priscilla Grinder because she left him in a deplorable situation, she was the only one known to be present, and she doesn't remember how many gunshots. Let’s explain why Priscilla Grinder is the one to blame. There are many reasons why or how Pricilla Could’ve murdered lewis. But the first claim is that she left Lewis in a deplorable situation. She didn't open the door, didn't try to save him. She decided to leave him there because of fear. What does not make sense is to let an innocent person die at your hands because of your feelings. An account in Document B says “I left him in the most deplorable situation out of fear for two hours. He expired in about two hours,” My evidence explains that my claim is valid because she knew he was in a bad state, she knew he was dying, but she put herself first even though she wasn't in danger at the time. She let herself get in the way of someone’s death. I am sure if someone was dying for no reason, the least you could do was help them. It doesn't add up. Therefore, This is why Priscilla murdered lewis. She murdered him because her story doesn't make sense. If she leaves him in a bad situation and SHE knows that, it only makes sense that she was a suspect and a murderer. 

Another reason why she is the murderer is that she was the only one closest to lewis. I'm sure she would have heard someone break in since it's a small house. The servants were more than 200 yards away and nobody else was near. Pricilla’s husband was away as well. It says in Document A “while my husband was away It does not state any other evidence of Priscilla getting the servants. Though it's far, she didn't even try to get anyone. Priscilla was the only one known to be present. To sum it up, Pricilla Grinder is Guilty of Murder because she was the only one present at the time, the servants were far away, and she could hear a break.  Why wouldn’t she run to the nearest house, the nearest place that had safety?  She was too far from the servants and she knew that, so she let him die. Priscilla is Guilty. She is the one to blame even if she didn't kill murderer lewis which I doubt. 

My last claim for this paragraph is that she doesn't remember how many gunshots. Gunshots are loud and if she didn't hear them and more importantly didn't remember them, it's a clear reason why she did it. She later changed her story and said she heard three shots instead of two. It doesn't add up or make sense. Document C says “Sound of a pistol, and then two more.” Also, Document B says something different… “The shot of a pistol, and then something fell heavily on the floor. Immediately afterward I heard another pistol.”This doesn't make sense one bit. She recalls hearing two shots, then three. Not to mention hearing the gunshots and remembering how many aren't hard to remember. Her story changes more as the years go on. This is a clear reason why she committed murder. She can’t remember how many gunshots, and her story progressively gets different. It is suspicious that she can't remember how many shots when something so chaotic like that happens, it isn't hard to forget something important. She did though. This is another reason why she did kill him.

Therefore, Lewis was murdered by the one and only Pirsicilla Grinder. This is because she left him to die, she was the only one near Lewis, and she doesn't remember the gunshots. These are all the claims leading up to why she may and probably did kill Merriwether. First off, she murdered because she was “too scared to help him” this doesn't make sense at all, if someone is dying and you know it, you would help them, unless you had something against them. But, she chose herself and her feelings over someone's life. Priscilla also was oddly the only one present during Merriweather's death. The servants were too far away and she knew that. She was the only one at the inn that was close enough to say Lewis, but she didn’t. This proves she isn't innocent. It is not right and doesn’t make sense. Lastly, she obviously couldn't remember how many shots she heard. These shots shiver up my spine. Priscilla tried to make it seem like she knew what she was doing. But, lucky enough she doesn't remember. Weird? It isn't that hard to remember something so tragic like that, but for some reason, she doesn't remember, maybe almost 40 years later she confessed, but we both know if she kept a secret like that, it would come back and bite her. But, it didn't.

We now have a clear reason Pricilla is a suspect in Merriwether’s death. To this day many people are still trying to figure out the reasoning behind his death, But we never really will know what happened that night of October 10-11 1809… What would you do if you were Priscilla?