I have just read up on Houdini's death and on traumatic appendicitis. There is no question in my mind that it happened pretty much as it has been handed down. Since I watched that show--you know, what's it called--I have been reading every word that is available on Ask Alexander and the web.
Believe me, no one was more surprised than I to find that a punch in the stomach killed Houdini. During a friendly visit with three students from McGill, Houdini let a student punch him in the stomach. There is evidence to demonstrate that Houdini had previously let people punch his stomach. There are no recorded stories of other "punch me in the stomach" instances, but, Houdini said to Sophie Rosenblatt "I've never had a punch hurt me like that," and he told Julia Sauer, "I didn't have time to stand up." I'm paraphrasing. And he told Max and Ozzie Malini who saw his last show in Montreal, "I let a college kid punch me in the stomach, and he caught me wrong, and it's killing me.
Had Houdini been freestanding, his stomach muscles could have withstood the blows and his body would be able to move a tich--like catching a baseball--and "take" the punch.
He was lying on a couch, half-sitting up. Houdini had no idea when he said Gordon Whitehead could "test" his stomach muscles (Whitehead after feeling Houdini's stomach--which he said was "like a washboard" had asked if he could test Houdini's stomach muscles) that Whitehead would start punching almost immediately. Even though Houdini's stomach felt like an oak plank to Whitehead, the first punch compressed Houdini's peritoneal cavity probably forcing feces into the appendix where it became trapped and quickly infected. From that moment on, Houdini had the symptoms of acute appendicitis.
A genuine case of traumatic appendicitis.
The meeting with the three students went on for a few more minutes, then, Houdini ended it cordially. Whitehead, Smilovitch and Price left the theatre at the same time. Houdini acted as if the punches hurt hadn't hurt him, but, Price later said Houdini seemed to wince with each of the three or four punches he received.
If Houdini had been operated on for appendicitis anytime in the next 24 hours, he probably would have survived.
There is a lively discussion, rife with grassy-knollism going on over at Wild About Harry.
No one ever described Whitehead's punching too soon as having any criminal intent. It wasn't really a battery. Price said that Houdini seemed to brace himself before the first blow, so Houdini saw it coming, but, thought Whitehead would give him a chance to get on his feet. Houdini, Whitehead and Smilovitch had all boxed. All three young men had felt Houdini's forearms, and shoulders as Whitehead discussed physical conditioning with him. Then, Whitehead essentially challenged Houdini to let him punch him in the stomach. None of the punches needed to land on the appendix to cause the acute appendicitis. It was that compression effect. If he hadn't been lying down, the punch wouldn't have hurt him. Whitehead was a typical nervous, awkward, nutty fan. He jumped the gun.
Has everyone seen "Double Indemnity?" You know. Barbara Stanwyck coming down the stairs wearing a towel, an ankle bracelet, and a cheap blonde wig. Watch it again and enjoy Edward G. Robinson's brilliant performance. Pay particular attention to his speech about suicide. Same applies to the Houdini "murder." Nobody ever set out to murder anybody by punching him in the stomach.
The old story is true.

http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2012/01/......ded.html

It was a chain of events.

It's easy to blame Whitehead and his punches, but they were the direct result of Houdini's self-image and publicity...H's fascination with his physique...the whole "punch me" theme...were ongoing. So, in a way, the primary problem was one of Houdini's own making.

Appendicitis is mentioned a lot, and his appendix was probably related to his death. He'd probably had previous problems with it, but it was exacerbated by the punches.

We tend to forget that antibiotics had not yet been discovered. An appendectomy was a major thing, with significant risk of complications. Peritonitis was the secondary (and worse) infection.

So, if you want a conspiracy theory...I'd suggest it wae those scheming bacteria. They're everywhere, in the air, on our skin, in our food, digging into every part of our lives. Mwahahahaha!

Here's the only known photo of our man Whitehead if you're interested.

http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2012/01/......ead.html

Great stuff, Patrick!

Over on John Cox's blog, someone said: 2) "J. Gordon Whitehead was a kook, and oddball, off beat, malcontent, religious nut, and weirdo. (This was even told by one of the witnesses.) Whitehead was stalking Houdini the entire week Houdini was in Montreal."
and also: "Later Whitehead bragged about what he had done."
What's the truth? Nothing whatever is known about Gordon Whitehead's religious beliefs or affiliations other than what one might assume from the question he asked Houdini about miracles in the Bible--which Houdini said he would prefer not to discuss.
Stalking Houdini? What is the evidence for that?
There is nothing to indicate he was a "religious nut."
And outside of his sworn statement in which he admits to punching Houdini after Houdini agreed to let him "test" his stomach muscles during a discussion about fitness, I can't find an instance of his mentioning to anyone that he was the guy that fatally punched Houdini--let alone bragged about it.

"Houdini's first thought on coming out of the anesthetic," says Miss Robart, was for the boy who had punched him in the belly. "Don't let them blame that poor kid," he said, "he didn't know."
from an interview with Sophia Robart (Sophie Rosenblatt) in the Milwaukee Journal, April 5, 1931

Whoa! That's new. Interesting.

When Harry Houdini says "he didn't know." does he mean Whitehead didn't know Houdini already had an appendix problem, or that his appendix was on his left side, or that Houdini never did the punching challenge before?

Or that the writer of the story did not even know how to spell Sophie Rosenblatt and wrongly spelled it Sophia Robart.

We have searched all over, books, internet, etc., and cannot find reference to this article and cannot find a copy of it any where. We do, however, remember seeing it referenced somewhere before.

Would appreciate it if Pat could send us a copy for our collection, or tell us where we can find it.

For more information about the backstage (staged? Just kidding) happenings go to our four pages on the Dick Brookz/Dorothy Dietrich Theory on the internet:
http://houdini.org/houdinimurdered.html

We will be adding to this over time.

Houdini murdered does not mean Houdini was murdered or was meant to be killed, but because that was the title of the recent TV show.

Dick Brookz & Dorothy Dietrich

Sophie Rosenblatt changed her name to Sophie Robart.
The interview explains that.
You can find the interview on AskAlex.
I used a quote from it in my chapter on the Needle Trick in Houdini--the Key.
I'll put up the true story, as soon as I finish it, on houdinisghost.com.
In the meantime, everybody can waste their time on crackpot theories--based on the most slipshod kind of research--on other sites.

Ouch!

Looking forward to it, Patrick.

Well, I've put a preview on the other thread on this same topic.

Looked at it.

Amazing post.

For us it falls in line with the Dick Brookz/Dorothy Dietrich Houdini Death Theory.

We will tell more as time and inclination sees fit.

We have 3 copies of The Key. Will check it out.

While we are at it we are looking for pictures of Sophie Rosenblatt and Daisy White. Can any one help us out?

Was Sophie married? Children?

Thanks.



For pieces of our theory go to

http://houdini.org/houdinimurdered.html
and
http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2012/01/......ent-form

Love the John Cox blog. How does he find the time?

D&D

No life?

Dick and Dorothy,
There is a photo of Daisy White on my website.
Also your "mystery woman" Ina Claire.
As everyone who bought a copy of "Houdini--the Key" which, incidentally, is about the secrets of his magic ans escapes and contains not a word about the circumstances of his death--as those of you who own a copy know, I have followed a strict one to a customer rule.
Dick Brookz said "we have three copies of the Key." That's because he bought one, Dorothy bought one, and their museum bought one. I signed each book to them and the museum by name.
If I had sold multiple copies to everyone who asked to buy multiple copies, I'd have sold out completely in two weeks. As it is, I still have some of the 278 books to sell, and nobody can scalp them on the internet.
There are people hoarding multiple copies of the Houdini Unlocked set to this day.
I want to state that I wholeheartedly believe the "Dick Brookz/Dorothy Dietrich theory" is complete nonsense.
Patrick Culliton

Shows how easy it is to blurt something out that might be misunderstood. I mentioned three copies of the book show how important we feel Pat's body of work is though we may not always agree.

Pat is correct three copies were in fact bought by three different entities, at three different addresses. Each a different babkaccount. SFull retail for each, did not ask for a discount, and that was not at the special pre-publication price, either. Dorothy Dietrich bought one for the house library, I bought one for our warehouse, where I do my "crazy" research, and one went to the Houdini Museum, in case customers want answers to specific questions.It has a great index. I dislike books without an index as it makes tins easy to search out. Each book is nicely inscribed to each separate entity by Pat. None are for sale, and never will be till it is all over. We also have three copies of his two previous big Houdini books that we paid top prices for in the same three locations for the same reason.

Pat:
We could not find Daisy White on your site but did find one in your book "The Key". I have since found two others. Found Hilton, the mystery lady, and Lillian on your site.

Did not find Sophie Rosenblatt, or info about her, like was she married, any children, etc.

I will now answer the questions your pose to us above via small parts of our long "Dick Brookz - Dorothy Dietrich Houdini Death Theory" more parts of it can be seen at

http://houdini.org/houdinimurdered.html
and
http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2012/01/......ent-form






THIS IS ANSWER TO SEVERAL QUESTIONS. PLEASE REMEMBER DON BELL WAS A DEDICATED PERSON WHO WORKED PROFESSIONALLY AS A WRITER.

we will put our answers in CAPS.

PLEASE DO

YOU SAID HOUDINI SAID...

THIS COULD SIMPLY BE A MATTER OF FACT PASSING STATEMENT, BUT DOES NOT REALLY SAY HOUDINI GAVE WHITEHEAD PERMISSION. OUR OPINION IS HOUDINI WAS TAKEN IN BY WHITEHEAD WHO HAD BAD INTENTIONS, THAT NO ONE REALLY SUSPECTED AT THE TIME.

THEN YOU SAY...

WHITEHEAD SET HIM UP BY BRINGING UP HOUDINI'S STRENGTH AND MALICIOUSLY JUMPED THE GUN KNOWING HOUDINI WAS NOT READY TO PURPOSELY HURT HOUDINI.


WE WERE THE SOMEONE WHO SAID THIS ON JOHN COX'S BLOG

IN DON BELL'S BOOK, WHICH WE FEEL WAS CAREFULLY AND WELL RESEARCHED MOST OF THE NEGATIVE ADJECTIVES ABOVE AND MANY MORE WERE BROUGHT OUT BY DIFFERENT WITNESSES, EXCEPT "RELIGIOUS NUT", WHICH WAS OUR CONCLUSION. HERE ARE A FEW OF OUR REASONS ALTHOUGH NOT ALL FOR THIS OPINION OF OURS. TWO YEARS AFTER HE BEAT UP HOUDINI HE WAS ARRESTED TWICE FOR SHOPLIFTING BOOKS. HE EVEN SERVED JAIL TIME FOR IT. ONE OF THE BOOKS HE NEEDED SO BAD THAT HE WOULD RISK JAIL FOR WAS A 100 PAGE BOOK ON THE MYSTICAL SUPERSTITIOUS AND ESOTERIC SUBJECT OF PALMISTRY. GO TO JAIL FOR THIS!

THE ONE WOMAN IN HIS LIFE THAT BELL WAS ABLE TO FIND,THAT WHITEHEAD LIVED THE LAST TWO YEARS OF HIS LIFE WITH WAS A BELIEVER IN NUMEROLOGY, SO MUCH SO THAT SHE COMPLETELY CHANGED HER NAME BECAUSE IT HAD BETTER VIBRATIONS, SHE ALSO BELIEVED IN ODDBALL CULTS AND STUFF. BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER, ETC.

ANOTHER LADY FRIEND SAID WHITEHEAD TOOK HER TO A DIANETICS LECTURE (THIS EVENTUALLY BECAME THE WACKO RELIGION OF SCIENTOLOGY.. . BELL, PAGE 128 "WHITEHEAD TOOK HER TO A LECTURE MORTON JAQUAYS GAVE ON DIANETICS," THIS WOULD HAVE PROBABLY HAVE BEEN IN THE EARLY 1950'S TOWARD THE END OF HIS LIFE. ) EVEN TO THE END WHITEHEAD WAS SEARCHING WIERD CULT STUFF. BELL... PAGE 130)

BELL...PAGE 96. IN TALKING TO WHITEHEAD'S OWN BROTHER WHO HE SAID WAS GIVING GUARDED ANSWERS., "WAS GORDON," I ASKED, "INVOLVED IN, OR WAS HE AT ALL INTERESTED IN, ESOTERIC THINGS, LIKE SPIRITUALISM, OR ASTROLOGY, THINGS LIKE THAT?" (EVEN SO, WHITEHEADS BROTHER REPLIES) "WELL, I'M SURE HE HAD A INTEREST IN THEM, YES, AND I'M SURE THAT PROBABLY THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DREW HIM TO HOUDINI, OR HOW HE WAS ABLE TO ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP WITH HOUDINI. HE PROBABLY DISCUSSED THAT SORT PF THING WITH HOUDINI"

AND OF COURSE, HE BARGED INTO A MAJOR STARS DRESSING ROOM, TOOK OVER AGGRESSIVELY, AND BADGERED HOUDINI WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT HOUDINI'S BIBLE BELIEFS. IT ALL CLEARLY ADDS UP.

THEN PAT SAYS...

HE SOUGHT HOUDINI OUT ALL WEEK,PROBABLY EVERY DAY. IS AN ACCEPTED FACT THAT HE BORROWED BOOKS FROM HOUDINI BEFORE THE DRESSING ROOM INCIDENT.. HE WENT TO HOUDINI'S LECTURE AT McGILL. HE SOUGHT HOUDINI OUT AT HOUDINI'S SECRET HOTEL, BUT WAS TURNED AWAY. THEN HE VISITED HOUDINI BACKSTAGE AND PUNCHED HIM. IT IS POSSIBLE HE MET HOUDINI AT THE THEATER BEFORE AS WELL. AND HE ALSO VISITED HOUDINI AT THE THEATER AFTER HE PUNCHED HIM BY HIS OWN ADMISSION. SORRY, BUT IT IS OUR OPINION HE WAS STALKING HOUDINI.

THEN PAT SAYS...

WE FOUND SOME!

BELL PAGE 63. "HE WAS A CRACKPOT," SMILEY SAID OVER THE PHONE, AS HE HAD DURING OUR FIRST INTERVIEW. "HE BOASTED THAT HE HAD HIT HOUDINI. HE BRAGGED ABOUT IT. HE DIDN'T SHOW ANY GREAT REMORSE."

BELL PAGE 111. "I SUDDENLY RECALLED SMILEY'S DESCRIPTION OF WHITEHEAD'S COCKINESS AND ARROGANCE, HIS IMPERTINENCE, HOW HE EVEN BOASTED TO THE LAWYER HARRY COHEN,"OH, IT WAS NOTHING.. LET ME SHOW YOU." THAT WITH HOUDINI WRITHING IN PAIN IN HOSPITAL IN DETROIT."

BELL... PAGE 137 WIFE'S OPINION IN RELATING THE STORY AS DIRECTLY TOLD TO THEM BY WHITEHEAD......"HE WANTED TO SHOW HOUDINI UP." LIKE "IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK? THEN I'LL SHOW YOU! AND OF COURSE HE DID HIT HIM."... WHAT HAPPENED WAS BECAUSE HOUDINI WASN'T PREPARED....." ... "BUT HE HIT HIM AT ONCE. ANYWAY, THAT'S THE WAY I REMEMBER THE STORY. DO PEOPLE REMEMBER IT DIFFERENTLY?..... "I FELT." JACK RODICK (HER HUSBAND) SAID, AS HE HAD BEFORE HIS WIFE CAME DOWNSTAIRS,"THAT AS A STUDENT HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN BRASH ABOUT THIS SORT OF ESCAPADE...." HIS WIFE SAYS "I'T'S TRUE, HE CERTAINLY DIDN'T HAVE ANY SENSE OF BRAVADO ABOUT IT, SHE AGREED, "NOT AT THE TIME WE KNEW HIM, BUT I IMAGINE HE WAS AGGRESSIVE AS A YOUNG MAN."




AND ONCE AGAIN

AGAIN THAT BEGS THE QUESTION. WHAT DIDN'T WHITEHEAD KNOW? HOUDINI DOES NOT SAY! PLEASE TELL US IF YOU KNOW FOR SURE. AS I SAID DID HOUDINI MEAN WHITEHEAD DID NOT KNOW ABOUT HIS STOMACH PROBLEM? IT IS OUR OPINION HOUDINI MAY WELL HAVE HAD STOMACH PROBLEMS GOING INTO MONTREAL.
[/quote]

There is more as we answer other questions about our opinions and theories. True, Pat was not there and neither were we. It is wonderful that Don Bell took the time to write this book before every last person involved died. Including himself. I suggest every one get the book and read it for themselves. Or, read the various posts as per above.

MORE ON OUR RESEARCH TO FOLLOW. WE ARE CURRENTLY ON THE ROAD.

MEANWHILE CHECK OUT;

http://houdini.org/houdinimurdered.html
and
http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2012/01/......ent-form

Dick Brookz & Dorothy Dietrich

Would anybody who has read the Don Bell book and who agrees with the Dick and Dorothy "theory"--and everybody has a right to a theory or opinion--care to add something to this thread?
Dick and Dorothy have successfully hijacked three threads with over a dozen links to the same pages on their website.
They have also hijacked Bell's book, for that matter.
I will never argue with anyone about this particular "theory" again.
It's fiction--just as most of Don Bell's book is just wondering "what if?"
There was no criminal case. Nothing criminal was reported by the two eyewitnesses.
every quoted word in the Dick and Dorothy theory is lifted out of context.
Never mind that they've made an assassin--who set out to "hurt" Houdini--out of Gordon Whitehead, they've made a mockery of Don Bell's research.
I'll put up a page or two on my site when I have time to write it.
Now there will probably be a reply to this reply, but, I'm done with this thread.

BTW, why are we leaving Joshua Jay out of this? After all, HE is the one who, on camera, articulated the whole manipulation of the affidavits idea which led the hanging DA to hang Bessie. And did Jay come up with this on his own, or did the show pass Dorothy and Dick's theory to him? Jay seems to have gotten a gigantic pass in all this.

With all due respect to Joshua Jay, he was a disgrace.
He and Scott Rolle spoke from a background of complete and utter ignorance.
I don't kinow who was telling them what to say (the comic book writer, Meltzer, who speculated Houdini might have been killed for spying on the Nazis?), but Rolle has not reviewed all the paperwork from the New York Life/Houdini double indemnity case--as I have--and Joshua said Houdini was "sitting down" and with that, he sat on a park bench. Everyone knows, Houdini was reclining on his dressing room sofa with his feet up.
How many of the rest of you have found the evidence that clears Gordon Whitehead in the Don Bell book?

Joshua Jay seems like a nice guy and his Tragic Magic lecture is supposed to be excellent, but lately he's been put forward as a Houdini expert (check out video tour he did for the Houdini Art and Magic exhibit) and he absolutely mutilates the facts. In one of the Art and Magic segments he actually says Houdini was born in America.

A YEAR LATER AND NOTHING ON PAT CULLITON'S WEB SITE AS PROMISED.

PS We never said Whitehead was an assassin. Read our posts again or on our Houdini Museum web site.

We still stand by our beliefs and they still hold accurate.

Dick Brookz & Dorothy Dietrich
Listen to our new radio shows on WFTE FM at http://DorothyAndDick.com