Throughout the long trial, Regina Strong stood beside her husband. She sat in court each day with Sam, facing his accusers and the public. The papers reported not only on the trial’s progress but also on the clothing the attorneys and witnesses wore and on which Denver school was present on a field trip. In the end, the 12 members of the all-male jury found for Sam Strong, returning their ‘not guilty’ verdict on May 17, 1901, after only one ballot. It had taken them less than three minutes to decide. A murmur of approval rose from the spectators. Maybe folks had it in for him down in Colorado Springs, but in the big state capital, they were willing to give him a fair shake. A smiling, tearful crowd of supporters engulfed Strong and his party. Half an hour later, he sailed up and down the streets of Denver in his automobile, ‘not a trace of malice for the anxiety’ upon his face, according to the Denver Post. The headlines read, ‘Strong Vindicated.’ The same press that days earlier had branded him a villain now carried stories of his success.

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The syndicate’s attorneys requested a motion to prepare a new trial, and the judge granted 60 days. Strong’s attorneys filed a counter suit for damages. The legal system wasn’t finished yet. On May 19, a Denver Post reporter spoke to Nellie Lewis. He quoted her: ‘Let him come on. I have a lot of testimony that I haven’t said yet.’ The article described Miss Lewis as ‘confident and coolly menacing.’

The strange twist to it all was that in order to win the damage suit, Strong would have to use some of the same witnesses he’d discredited in the current trial. The Denver Post reported that several of the witnesses had admitted to conspiring against Sam–a conspiracy orchestrated by Nellie Lewis and her associates. The follow-up trials promised as much excitement and scandal as the original one had provided.

All the legal battles, as well as the fact he and Regina had moved into a new home in Denver, had kept Sam away from Cripple Creek and his business. But on Wednesday, August 21, 1901, Strong boarded the train for the mining camp. Little did he know that Grant Crumley would cause him more distress than all those millionaires and mistresses combined.

Back on February 17, 1899, Sam Strong had spent the evening at Cripple Creek’s National Hotel, where his friend Grant Crumley managed the gambling room. Strong’s luck had been bad that night. After several large losses, he had cashed a check for $2,500. Crumley had readily advanced him the cash, but the next day Sam had heard rumors around town that Crumley ran a crooked roulette wheel, so he had angrily stopped payment on the check. Crumley had tried unsuccessfully to collect the cash directly from Strong and then had sold the check to Thomas Clark for a reduced price. On March 17, 1901, Clark had filed suit against Strong to collect the debt. In mid-August 1901 the court finally settled the suit, with Strong paying $635 of the $2,500. About a week later, when Strong went back to Cripple Creek, he had no reason to expect trouble from Clark, or from Crumley either.

Strong spent most of August 21 at the Pinto mine, where he laid out work for the next two years and discussed plans for a new processing plant. That evening Strong went out partying with his father-in-law, John Neville; his Cripple Creek attorney, Owen Prentiss; and the Pinto mine’s superintendent, Sam Fitch. They visited four gambling establishments before reaching the Newport Saloon.

At the Newport, the group gathered around the roulette wheel, which happened to be run by Crumley. Both Crumley and Strong made several comments about their last meeting over a roulette wheel, back in February 1899. But there was no trouble at first. At one point, Crumley bought Strong a drink to celebrate their letting bygones be bygones.

Around 6 a.m., August 22, the gamblers were still at it. Neville and the others urged Strong to return home. They were tired, Sam was drunk, and the morning shift had already headed to the mines. After Strong went to the men’s room, though, Crumley made it clear to Neville that he wanted to keep spinning the roulette wheel. Strong was ahead on the wheel, and Crumley wanted to change that.

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