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
As good fortune would have it, on leaving the court room Tschappatt
encountered his employer, Benjamin V. Page, to whom he told this story.
By the latter it was communicated to Mr. Mills, and the prosecuting
officials, with the consent of the court, immediately commenced the
investigation already alluded to. Soloman was sent for and at first
emphatically denied the accusation that had been made against him.
Confronted with the honest German, however, he was forced to admit his
guilt, and make a full statement of his connection with the conspiracy.
From his pocket he produced a slip of paper on which was a list of names
and addresses of jurors whom it was thought could be influenced by
money, and a comparison showed that it contained the names of several
men who were on the special venire, and at that time waiting to be
examined. This list, Soloman said, was given to him by Hanks, one of his
fellow-bailiffs. Upon being interrogated this individual was also
compelled to admit his connection with the affair.
WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS.
With these statements as a foundation, still more important developments
were brought to the surface without much difficulty. It was found that
Fred. W. Smith, a manufacturer's agent, had offered several citizens the
sum of $2,000 each to get on the Cronin jury. Hanks had made an offer to
Joseph Konen, a fruit dealer, of $1,000 if he could succeed in passing
the lawyers and would render a verdict for the defense. Another man had
been offered $1,000 with the same object by Jeremiah O'Donnell, who a
few weeks before had received an appointment in the internal revenue as
gauger for the Calumet District, and the latter in turn had been
approached by Thomas Kavanaugh, a member of a plumbing firm. Hanks
appeared to have been one of the big cogs in the machine, so much so
that he had advanced $1,000 to Soloman for his services as a briber.
Behind Hanks was Kavanaugh, who was an active member of the
Clan-na-Gael. Both were spokes in the big wheel of the machine which had
been buzzing so silently and as they imagined, so successfully. Within a
few hours after the indictments had been returned, the men named therein
had been arrested and incarcerated in jail. The investigation was
continued upon the following day and further facts were brought to light
which warranted the presentation of the matter to the regular Grand Jury
for the October term. This body, after spending two hours in the
examination of witnesses, returned additional indictments against Smith,
Hanks and Soloman, together with an indictment against John Graham,
confidential clerk to A. S. Trude, a prominent member of the bar. The
indictment of Graham was based on evidence tending to show that he had
originally employed the parties that had endeavored to corrupt the
special veniremen. According to the story told by Bailiff Hanks to the
Grand Jury, Graham had offered to pay $2,000 each for two or more men,
saying that money was no object.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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