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
William Stanley North, 33; born in Cleveland, Ohio; American parents;
married; manufacturer; Presbyterian.
Edward S. Bryan, 40; born in New Jersey; American parents; married; law
book salesman; Congregationalist.
Elijah Bontecou, 35; born in Troy, N. Y.; American parents; married;
salesman; Protestant.
Charles F. Marlor, 30; born in New York; parents, American; married;
clerk; Episcopalian.
Benjamin F. Clark, 53; American by birth and parentage; married; real
estate dealer; Methodist.
LONGENECKER'S MASTERLY EFFORT.
Breathless silence prevailed. Judge McConnell inclined his head. The
gavel fell. State's Attorney Longenecker, with his hands thrust deep
into the pockets of his trousers, was on his feet in an instant. Without
any preliminaries, he plunged direct into his opening address. The
effects of the months of hard work he had devoted to the case were
plainly apparent. His face was pale and his voice weak, but he braced
himself for his task, and without any attempt at oratory, but in a
plain, succinct manner which indicated that he had thoroughly mastered
his subject, he gave to the jury in the short space of two hours a
complete and admirable statement of the evidence that had been collected
and would be submitted to the body. Commencing with a review of the
conception and progress of the Clan-na-Gael, he traced the movements of
the organization and the extent of the active interest in its affairs
that had been manifested by the murdered man. The motive for the crime,
he declared, was the bold warfare which Dr. Cronin had waged against
his enemies and especially against the deadly and malicious plottings of
the triangle. The speaker became thoroughly aroused as he dealt with
this branch of his subject, and with his right hand sweeping the air, he
lashed the triangle in the most vigorous English. Mr. Forrest objected
that the famous and omnipotent triumvirate had nothing to do with the
case, but the objection was overruled. The State's Attorney went on to
declare that the plotting against Dr. Cronin began about the first of
the year. It was in Camp 20 that the conspiracy had been hatched, and of
this Camp Beggs, Coughlin, Cooney, Burke and O'Sullivan were members.
Here it was that the fate of the victim was sealed, and the commission
of the crime intrusted to reliable hands. In vivid language the speaker
proceeded to show the lizard-like deliberation with which the plotters
had gone about their work; how they had purchased the furniture and
trunk, rented the cottage, lured the physician from his residence;
beaten out his life; robbed the corpse of every article of
identification; save the "agnus dei" which was fastened around the neck;
thrust it into the trunk; borne it to Edgewater; and there dumped it
into the catch basin. The prisoners scowled and the jury listened with
looks of intense interest as the State's Attorney, although almost
exhausted by his effort, continued with his vivid recital. The evidence
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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