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The Thread® - Books and Literary News
Kelly Gordon

Jack el-Hai pulls a true-crime saga from history in 'The Case of the Autographed Corpse'

Side-by-side image. On the left, an author portrait of a man in a blue shirt. On the right, a light blue book cover with an image of an Indigenous man and white text reading, "The Case of the Autographed Corpse."
Minneapolis author Jack el-Hai's latest book, "The Case of the Autographed Corpse," details an Apache man wrongfully convicted of killing his wife and the mystery writer who helped him overturn that conviction.
Author photo courtesy of Jack el-Hai | Book cover courtesy of Pegasus Crime

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Author Jack el-Hai is a master at identifying lost historical moments and turning them into fascinating nonfiction books.

The Minneapolis-based author did it with "The Psychiatrist and the Nazi," which was adapted into the film "Nuremberg,” which starred Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring and Rami Malek as the psychiatrist sent to evaluate whether high-ranking Nazi war criminals were mentally competent to stand trial.

Now, el-Hai is back with another true story centered around a high-profile relationship. "The Case of the Autographed Corpse" follows an Apache spiritual leader who was convicted in 1933 of killing his wife. Silas John Edwards insisted from the beginning he was wrongfully convicted. But it wasn't until he reached out to mystery writer Earl Stanley Gardner that his case got attention.

Gardner is best known as the creator of Perry Mason, the fictional detective at the center of scores of books and a hit TV series. He was also deeply committed to investigating possible cases of wrongful convictions. In the 1940s, he started an organization called the Court of Last Resort, similar to today's Innocence Project.

When Gardner got a letter from Edwards pleading for help, he was struck by the confidence of the Apache man and agreed to take the case.

Known for his meticulous research, el-Hai was able to trace Gardner’s path as he traversed Arizona to find witnesses and clues. In the end, he was able to get Edwards freed. But his work also revealed the racial tensions inherent in Edwards’ wrongful conviction.

"Silas John was proud of the Apaches' history and spiritual past, and he wanted them to be able to determine their own lives and fates while living on these Apache reservations of Arizona, and it was very difficult for them to do so,“ said el-Hai. “Gardner, in the same vein, was exceptionally proud of the American system of justice and, as a result, determined to identify its flaws and fix them. So [pride is] really the common denominator between these men. And I think pride is something we all feel, and that I hope will will resonate with readers today."

To mark the launch of "The Case of the Autographed Corpse," Magers and Quinn Booksellers is hosting a conversation Thursday night, Oct. 15, between el-Hai and James Mayer, the legal director of the Great North Innocence Project. The event is free, but registration is recommended.