Teresa Bagioli Sickles - Affair and Murder

Affair and Murder

As in New York, Sickles continued to maintain love affairs in Washington and, in the meantime, seriously neglected his marriage. It did not take Teresa long, however, to strike up a romance of her own with Phillip Barton Key, a U.S. District Attorney and son of Francis Scott Key, the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner". Philip's uncle was Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the United States, and, in 1857, Philip became one of the pillars of the Washington bar. Key followed Teresa everywhere, to her social gatherings as well as to her home.

Dan Sickles eventually received a poison pen letter informing him of his wife's infidelity and investigated further. He discovered the allegations were true, and that Teresa and Key even had a house for their assignations—located within walking distance in a poor, mixed-race part of town.

Enraged at his discovery, Sickles confronted his wife. Although she initially denied everything, Teresa eventually relented and wrote out a confession. In the extraordinarily candid document, Teresa described her numerous rendezvous with Key at a vacant house on 15th Street that Key rented. A few days later, on Sunday, February 27, 1859, Sickles saw Key outside his house, located on the west side of today's Lafayette Square, signaling Teresa with a handkerchief. Key continued walking, and Sickles sent an acquaintance outside to delay him. Sickles then armed himself with several pistols, burst from his house, and intercepted Key at the corner of Madison Place N.W. and Pennsylvania Avenue, across the street from the White House. There, Sickles shot the unarmed Key twice, one shot directed at Key's groin. Key died about an hour later in a nearby house.

Daniel Sickles was later acquitted of the murder in the first use of the insanity defense in the U.S.