From the Annals of Texas Trash –  In 1840,  slave smuggler Monroe Edwards was found to have forged a bill of sale for 171 slaves that he had smuggled up the Brazos River to his plantation Chenango near Brazoria.  Edwards and his partner Christopher Dart intended to keep the slaves for sale after the Texas Revolution (fought in part to preserve slavery in Texas) ended.  Dart  pressured Edwards to sell the slaves and split the profits.  Instead, Edwards altered a letter from Dart to appear as a bill of sale to himself.  Dart sued and won an $89,000 judgment against Edwards. To add insult to injury, Edwards was also indicted and jailed.  He made bond and immediately fled to Europe claiming to be a veteran of San Jacinto and an abolitionist. He was run out of Europe after the Texas Envoy to England threatened to expose him.  Upon returning to the U.S., he continued his nefarious ways engaging in several major forgeries.  He was arrested and convicted in a celebrated trial that was subject of daily reports in the New York press.  Upon conviction he was sentenced to Sing Sing prison.  In 1847, his plan to escape failed and he was beaten to death by prison guards.  A perhaps fitting end for a notorious piece of human filth.