John Murphy was a pretty sad gunman if you look at his record:
Arrested 1/16/02 for assault term one year
Thirteen months later arrested for burglary. Term one year
Fourteen months later arrested for shooting a guy. Term seven years released early for good behavior.
February 17, 1910 Murphy and his pal, Bill Duffy, enter a Bowery lodging house and hit up a guy named Fred Devlin for some booze money. Devlin gives them a dime, all the money he had, and they shoot him to death. Murphy flees the city for Middletown New York.
Murphy and his moll were either having a very late dinner or very early breakfast at a Middletown chop suey joint at 2:00am, one hundred years ago today, when a handful of cops walked in. They had received a description of Murphy from the NYPD and decided a guy who fit the bill had been hanging out in their town for awhile.
Seeing the law approach his table Murphy slurped his remaining noodles and made a run for it. He came to a stairwell and ran upstairs the officers close on his heals. On the landing he pulled out his gun but was unable to make it speak before the cops subdued him and dragged him off to jail.
Murphy was returned to NYC where he was placed on trial for the Devlin killing and found guilty of murder in the second degree.
"He must have done something. They don't kill you for nothing." - Chicago Gangster Ted Newberry. Rubbed out January 7, 1933
2 comments:
It's kind of odd that "100 years ago" now means the 20th century. For most of my life "100 years ago" always ended up somewhere in the 1800s. Time stinks!
What became of Murphy? Did he get the chair?
I hear you Steve. It still strikes me odd as well. Especially since in a few short years we'll be hitting the birth years of family members I knew.
I don't know what became of Murphy. I don't believe you get the chair with 2nd degree murder so I suspect he spent a decade or so behind bars.
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