William E. Sturtevant, identified by printed caption along the lower mount border as "The Halifax Murderer," is portrayed in a close-cropped bust portrait in this CDV dating to circa 1874, with no photographer's imprint visible. The card was produced for public circulation following one of the most sensational criminal cases in Massachusetts history, a practice common in the period when portrait CDVs of notorious criminals were sold as curiosities to a fascinated public.

Sturtevant is shown in a three-quarter view wearing a dark coat over a white shirt and bow tie, his dark hair neatly parted, a full mustache visible, and his expression composed and unremarkable. The plain background and tight framing give nothing away about the circumstances of the sitting, which was likely made during his imprisonment prior to trial or execution.

On the night of February 15, 1874, Sturtevant walked four miles from his home in Hanson, Massachusetts to the Halifax farmhouse of his great-uncles Thomas and Simeon Sturtevant, both elderly and known to keep their savings at home, and bludgeoned all three occupants to death including their housekeeper Mary Buckley. Convicted on the strength of bloodstained clothing, matching currency, and boot prints at the scene, Sturtevant was hanged for the triple murder, the case becoming one of the most widely reported criminal trials in New England that decade.

The mount bears the printed caption "Wm. E. Sturtevant, The Halifax Murderer" along the lower border. No photographer's imprint is present.