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Quote1 They had to die. I dinnit know them. I dinnit care. I just had to be free. The only way. Quote2
Ernest Kelleher src

Ernest "Ernie" Kelleher was a wealthy man who owned a lot of property in both Gotham City and Gotham County, including a self storage facility named Easy Store.

Unbeknownst to him, the Joker had been renting one of the Easy Store's bins to stock his trademark venom. Kelleher casually discovered this when he opened the bin after the tenant's account became three months past due. When the United States Postal Service launched a series of stamps to commemorate great comedians, such as Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers, the Joker took it as a personal offense that he had not been included, and decided to exact his revenge by kidnapping Gotham City's postmaster and attempting to rob a sort office. Batman and Robin thwarted his plans, however, and he was promptly arrested. All the while, Kelleher decided to take advantage of this situation and use the poison he had found to get rid of his oppressive and belittling wife, Phyllis, and make it look like the Joker did it. As a means to throw suspicions away from himself, he bought the newly-released stamps, dosed them with the venom, and returned them all over the city, knewing that the Postal Service would have put them back into circulation.

Several innocent people died as a result of Kelleher's actions, in what became known as the "poison stamp killings". Then, he arranged for his wife to use a poisoned stamp, and her death was overlooked as just another random murder. Kelleher even appeared on television, mourning the death of his wife and calling the Joker a coward. Of course, the Clown Prince of Crime was immediately suspected of the murders, tried, and uncharacteristically sentenced to death. To make matters worse, a former criminal associate of the Joker seized the opportunity to extort millions from the city by pretending to be the real poisoner, and writing extortion notes in the Joker's style. Eventually, Robin was able to trace a receipt found among the Joker's personal effects to the Easy Store, and he and Batman concluded that Kelleher was the one behind the poisonings all along. The Dark Knight confronted Kelleher at his home, and "talked" him into confessing to his crimes at the GCPD Headquarters. Kelleher burst into tears, claiming he only wanted to be free from his wife. As a result, the Governor of New Jersey granted the Joker a stay of his execution just minutes before he was to be electrocuted.[1]


Abilities

Equipment

  • Joker Venom: Kelleher had access to several drums of the Joker Venom, which he used to commit his crimes and frame the Joker.


  • The whole backstory of Joker: Devil's Advocate appears to have been based off of the 1982 Chicago Tylenol poisonings, and the resultant copycat crimes of Stella Nickell and Joseph Meling, who laced OTC drugs with cyanide in an effort to kill their respective spouses. As a means to throw suspicions away from themselves, they also caused other people to end up killed. Only Nickell actually managed to murder her intended target. Also, the concept of someone taking advantage of the poisonings to extort money from the community is reminiscent of James W. Lewis, who was convicted of writing an extortion letter in relation to the Tylenol murders, but never tried nor convicted for the murders themselves (Wikipedia: Chicago Tylenol Murders).

Related

Footnotes


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Batman Villain(s)
This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

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