Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Dr. Larrian Gillespie absolves J. Gordon Whitehead

I was hoping Genii magazine would do something special on Houdini in its October issue, but this one took me by surprise. The issue contains a story by George Hardeen about how Dr. Larrian Gillespie, author of provocative Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice, recently connected with a relative of J. Gordon Whitehead, the McGill University student who punched Houdini, and arranged to have a new marker placed on Whitehead's grave with the inscription: "WHITEHEAD, Joscelyn Gordon, Nov. 25, 1896, July 5, 1954. Falsely Accused No More."

It's Larrian's contention, as laid out in her book, that Houdini died from a bowel obstruction, and not from the effects of a ruptured appendix, as history had long recorded.

"I just felt this injustice had to be corrected," she said. "Since I knew and could prove he didn't kill Houdini, I was the one who had to be responsible."

Larrian was accompanied to the cemetery by George Hardeen, Houdini’s great-nephew, J. Gordon Whitehead’s nephew D. Whitehead, Canadian escape artist Dean Gunnarson, and magician Marc Trudel, the first recipient of the Michel Cailloux Grand Prix de Magie.

Whitehead's grave is located in the Complexe Funéraire des Trembles Cemetery in the Pointe-aux-Trembles borough of Montréal, Quebec, Canada. It had previously been unmarked.

For more details, I will direct you to George's article in Genii. Unfortunately, the magazine didn't put Houdini on the cover, even though George's piece is the feature. Genii and Houdini have a long history and a tradition of October covers, so this seems like a missed opportunity. But Cyril Takayama holds the space well.

Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice is available at Houdini True Crime. International buyers should use Cipher House Books. Larrian will soon release a new "Murder Box Edition" that includes updated images and information.

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2026 at 9:00 AM

    Bowl obstruction? Wasn’t peritonitis via a ruptured appendix reported from day one prior to his death? Once his appendix ruptured he was on borrowed time. There was no cure.

    The second operation was to clear a bowl obstruction.

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2026 at 10:24 AM

    Houdini told Max Malini at the train station that he let a college kid get to him. Clearly Whitehead's punch or punches had something to do with the tragedy. The bowel obstruction was after the fact and was the fault of the doctor who gave him the chop suey.

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