Mary Ann Evard Wright who went by her middle name Ann was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1820. This was where and lived there with her first husband. He would unfortunately die in a railroad accident. She would move to Pleasant Hill, Illinois, and then settle in St. Paul, Minnesota in April of 1858. She had moved there because her nephew, John Walker, was sick with Typhoid Fever.
Stanislaus Bilansky was born in Poland in 1807/1808. He had lived in Wisconsin, but then moved and settled in St. Paul in 1848. He was one of the first Polish Immigrants to St. Paul. He had been divorced twice previously and was in custody of his 3 young children. He was a poor man who owned a small cabin that doubled as a bar, and a grocery store. He was known to drink heavily.
In September of 1858 Ann and Stanislaus would get married. Ann would frequently take care of the children when Stanislaus was ill or working. It was said that she was a good stepmother. However, the marriage was not perfect. Soon after Stanislaus would get sick and seemed to have hypochondria. He was also a violent drunk.
February 28, 1859, Ann and her friend Lucinda Kilpatrick (20s) went shopping. The two went uptown to the post office to send letters and retrieve mail. They would then walk to W.H. Wolff's drugstore on Third St and Wabasha St. She went inside and asked for rat poison so that she could use it in the store since the mice were getting into the vegetables. She claimed her husband wanted it. The rat poison was too much though.
The two would then go to Day & Jenks, a different drugstore, where Ann purchased a jar of arsenic for ten cents. Lucinda thought it was strange that they needed rat poison. She had never seen any or even heard about any mice in the Bilansky home.
Stanislaus would become sick once again between March 6 and March 11th. It was thought to be indigestion, but his condition would worsen quickly. When his condition worsened he would take both alcohol and Graffenburg pills. No one believed that he was dying other than Ann. Lucinda would witness Ann sitting by her husband's bed. She would cry and ask what to do with the children if he died.
Lucinda thought this was strange as no one thought he was dying. On March 10th Lucinda would sit with Stanislaus. He would tell her that "he had nothing to live for" and this worried her. She never heard him say anything remotely close to that before.
She would tell him a small story to perk himself up. She would tell him a story of a sick man being taken care of by his wife. He recovered, but his wife died. Then the man would marry a young man afterwards.
On March 11th Stanislaus was really bad. Luicinda's husband Andrew wanted to sit by Stanislaus's bedside. Ann refused that and refused to call a doctor. He would then pass away.
A coroner's jury would determine that it was a natural death. He would be buried on March 12th. Lucinda would claimann asked her to take the blame for buying arsenic. She would tell the police about Ann asking him about what to do with the children, the rat poison, and the odd comments she made.
On March 13th the body would be exhumed. Medical examiners would then find a trace that resembled arsenic. This would lead to Ann's arrest later that day. March 15 his nature of death would change. A new coroner’s jury ruled the death a homicide.
The murder trial would begin on May 23, 1859. Ann would claim innocence that she was not responsible for her husband's death.
Lucinda would go on stand to repeat what she told the officers and what led to the discovery of the murder. Another witness Rosa Scharf stated that Ann had changed with the door open after the funeral. That she did this even though her nephew, John, was in the home. She also stated that the two had a weird air about them and gave each other sneaking glances as if they were having an affair.
She stated that one day they were sitting in the Bilansky home before Stanislaus's death. An old man would go past the window “I had better set my cap for him, for he has money,” Ann said. Rosa would state that a loveless romance would not be fulfilling. Ann would then respond “You could give him something to sleep himself to death.” She then would tell her how much poison would kill a man.
She also claimed that when she was doing dishes Ann warned her about Stanislaus's plates. She also noted that his meals were made separately from everyone else. That she should be careful about them. Also after the funeral Ann would say "Must of taken poison" which threw Rosa off since no one thought that was how he died.
There was no solid evidence, only circumstantial.
It was believed that Ann wanted out of her marriage and did so by poisoning Stanislaus. That she was in love with John and poisoned her husband because of it.
On June 3td she would be found guilty. She would try to appeal her case on July 23rd but was denied. Within hours of finding out her appeal was denied Ann decided to escape. She escaped from the jail by squeezing through the window bars. She was not missing long as she was caught a week later.
The case went to the state supreme court, though on narrow and technical grounds. The court denied the defense’s appeal on July 23. Within hours of learning her appeal had been denied, Ann Bilansky escaped from jail by squeezing through window bars. Authorities caught her a week later just a few miles away.
On December 2, 1859, Judge Edward Palmer would give Ann her sentence. She was to be executed. Then Governor Alexander Ramsey would set March 23rd as a hanging day. Ann had some hope though as she had many supporters, a new attorney who was former territorial governor Willis Gorman, and two more avenues to pursue.
On March 5, 1860, the legislature passed a bill commuting Bilansky’s sentence to life in prison. This would be vetoed though by Governor Ramsey, whose brother Justus had served on the jury. Throughout all this, she would maintain her innocence.
She would be the only woman executed in Minnesota. She was executed on March 23, 1860.
These were her last words;
“I die without having had any mercy shown me, or justice. I die for the good of my soul, and not for murder. May you all profit by my death. Your courts of justice are not courts of justice — but I will yet get justice in Heaven. I am a guilty woman I know, but not of this murder, which was committed by another. I forgive everybody who did me wrong. I die a sacrifice to the law. I hope you all may be judged better than I have been and by a more righteous judge. I die prepared to meet my God.”
