This Binghamton Murderer Was Executed in 1871 and His Brain Is Still on Display

There's a strange piece of Binghamton history sitting in a jar more than an hour away from the Southern Tier.

His name was Edward Rulloff, and in 1871, he was executed at the Broome County Jail for the murder of a young Binghamton store clerk. More than 150 years later, Rulloff’s brain remains part of Cornell University’s Wilder Brain Collection.

It is one of those local stories that sounds made up until you start digging into it.

The Deadly 1870 Binghamton Heist That Shocked the City

In August 1870, Rulloff and two other men broke into the Halbert Brothers dry goods store in Binghamton. Two clerks were sleeping in the store as overnight guards when they encountered the burglars.

During the struggle, clerk Frederick Merrick was shot and killed. Rulloff’s two accomplices fled but were later found drowned in a nearby river. Rulloff was caught while trying to leave town.

Investigators connected him to the crime through a shoe left behind at the store. It fit Rulloff’s distinctive left foot, which was missing a big toe. Cornell University’s account says the shoe was left behind when Rulloff removed it to avoid making noise during the burglary and didn't retrieve it in the chaos.

Rulloff was convicted of Merrick’s murder in Binghamton and sentenced to death.

The Woman and Child Who Disappeared From Rulloff’s Earlier Life

The Binghamton murder was not the first time Edward Rulloff had drawn attention.

Years earlier, while living near Ithaca, Rulloff’s wife, Harriet, and their young daughter disappeared. Rulloff was convicted of abducting his wife and spent years in prison. He was later acquitted of murder after a second trial, and the disappearances remained unresolved. Cornell’s history of Rulloff explains why those earlier allegations followed him all the way to Binghamton.

Rulloff was also intensely interested in language. He studied several languages and developed his own theories about how language formed. That contrast made him a public fascination: a man tied to shocking crimes who also had a reputation for exceptional intelligence.

The Hanging at Broome County Jail Drew Widespread Attention

Rulloff was hanged at the Broome County Jail on May 18, 1871, for the murder of Frederick Merrick.

A contemporary 1871 newspaper report identified Merrick as the victim, reported that Rulloff had been evaluated as sane, and said that about 200 people witnessed the execution.

His final words have been repeated in several conflicting versions over the years. The documented story is already unbelievable enough without repeating a line that cannot be nailed down.

Why Edward Rulloff’s Brain Is Still on Display at Cornell

After Rulloff was executed, his brain was removed and examined because of its unusually large size.

It later became part of Cornell’s Wilder Brain Collection, created by Cornell professor Burt Green Wilder. Cornell says Rulloff’s brain is the collection’s most famous specimen and was long believed to be among the largest ever recorded. It remains on display in a case inside Uris Hall on the Cornell campus, according to Cornell University.

A Binghamton Murder Story That Still Feels Impossible

The brain in a Cornell display case is the detail people will remember. But this story began with Frederick Merrick, a Binghamton store clerk killed while working an overnight shift.

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Edward Rulloff’s life became a national fascination, but the crime that ended it happened right here in Binghamton. That is what makes this one of the strangest and most unsettling stories in Southern Tier history.