If you haven’t read the earlier parts, start at Part 1.

O’Neill had given a somewhat plausible story but according to William Roberts, it was a lie. He said O’Neill would go to Roberts’ estranged wife’s home “at 10 o’clock every night and stay with her until four o’clock the following morning, then he would go to his own house and get breakfast.” O’Neill’s former neighbors sided with Roberts, saying “he was the kindest of husbands and fathers until he met the pretty wife of Roberts. Meanwhile, people on Lester Street said O’Neill visited Mrs. Roberts many times, took her out riding and devoted every attention to her.”

During all of this, Kate O’Neill deteriorated quickly. The gossip about her husband and Mrs. Roberts made her miserable. Frequent squabbles occurred between herself and her husband and, though O’Neill was generous with money, he would not come home to her.  According to Buffalo News, “On Sept. 28 she broke $200 worth of furniture in her house. She split up chairs with an axe, threw stove lids through mirrors, broke up stoves, ripped carpets, and behaved like a crazy woman. Still O’Neill did not change his habits.” After this, O’Neill rented No. 657¾ Seneca Street—for Kate and his son. He had no intention of leaving Mrs. Roberts’ home.

In early September, there was an altercation between Roberts and O’Neill. According to O’Neill, during the process of moving his wife and son from Eagle Street to Seneca Street, Roberts took it upon himself to visit Eagle Street. James was not there but Kate was. So Roberts insulted her.  James O’Neill, hearing of the incident, found Roberts and horse-whipped him. William was maimed by the incident and O’Neill was brought up on charges in September 1891 over the incident. The charges were later dismissed.

However, according to Roberts, the whole thing went down very differently. He said he had seen Kate O’Neill in the road and was in the midst of telling her about what her husband was doing with Roberts’ wife. O’Neill drove up in his buggy and Roberts accused him of alienating his wife’s affections. According to the Buffalo News, “O’Neill is stockily built, powerful as an ox and a hard hitter. He jumped out of the wagon, caught Roberts by the throat and horsewhipped him. Roberts was a sight when O’Neill got through, one eyeball had been injured, while the cuts in his face looked like cables.”

Roberts, it seemed, was cured of his desire to avoid a divorce. He began to think that perhaps people might be interested to know some things about his soon-to-be ex-wife.

Go to Part 4!