The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry CroninHunt, Henry M.
History
The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin
Hunt, Henry M.
Cronin, Patrick Henry, 1846-1889; Trials (Assassination) -- Illinois -- Chicago
Numerous Toronto Irishmen who were consulted expressed the opinion (some
of them to Long's face) that they believed his dispatches had been
manufactured out of whole cloth. A final effort was made to induce Long
to clear up the mystery surrounding the murder, by disclosing how he was
prompted to send the dispatches, and a suggestion was made that, upon
the existing facts, he stood in danger of being indicted by the Chicago
authorities. This, however, failed of its purpose, and, failing to
induce the reporter to unbosom himself in the cause of justice, the
matter was dropped.
Further investigations into the movements of William J. Starkey were
next made. It was found that the fugitive and a prominent Irish-American
from Chicago, had met in Windsor about eight months before, when the
Irish-American had paid over to Starkey $8,000 in cash, which had been
obtained for him from a Chicago corporation which was under obligations
to him. About the middle of February Starkey received a visit from a man
from Chicago who was possessed of brains of a high order, and after his
return to Chicago a regular correspondence ensued between this
individual and Starkey, which ceased only with the latter's departure
from Toronto to New York. This occurred on the Sunday morning,
following the Saturday night on which Dr. Cronin left his home forever.
Up to two weeks before this time Starkey's financial condition had been
very bad. Then he suddenly became "flush," and was enabled to invest
several thousand dollars through D. K. Mason, member of the great
fugitive colony, who, as has before been mentioned, had for five years
found it desirable to make his home in Toronto as the result of some
little irregularities in warehouse receipts which had transpired in
Louisville, his old home. Where Starkey had gone on Sunday, May 4th, was
a mystery. From the statement of the train dispatcher at the Union
Depot, as well as of a business man who had talked with him just prior
to the departure of the train, it was certain that he had left on the
noon passenger train of the Grand Trunk. He had not purchased a ticket
however, and consequently must have paid his fare to the conductor on
the train. His wife insisted that he had been absent from Toronto,
continuously from this time, but although the intuitive wifely forecast
of danger which induced her to make such a statement was entitled to due
respect, it was established by a dozen reputable witnesses, among them,
some of his oldest friends, that he had been seen in the city on the
Friday and Saturday, one week later, when Long had manufactured his
telegrams and interviews.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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