The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-01
Scenes in and Out of The Prison.

To-day the hardened villain, John II anlon,
who endeavored to cover up the ira ces of
namefess crime by following it up with murder
most foul, expiated his double transgression
upon the scaffold in one of the passages of the
County Prison. The last execution which took
place within the enclosure was that of Jerry
Eaton, who was hung on the Sth OF April, 1869,
for the wilful murder of Timothy
Heenan. By the side of this offense,
the crimes of which Haulon was
guilty were so appalling that there would seem
to be no justice in an equality of punishment.
Many people believed Jerry Eaton innocent of
the crime for which he suffered death, and com
miserated his fate; but in the case of Hanlon
there has been universal belief in his guilt
and an undisguised feeling of relief at the arri-
val of the day fixed for his fate. In life he was
unscrupulous, cold-blooded, diabolical, fend
in heart and monster in deed; in death he is
without sympathy, without commiseration.
A Synopsis of the Case-A Record of Hn nlon's
Grimes.
The particulars of the startling tragedy with
which the barber Hanon was connected have
been made so public that the remembrance of
them is still fresh in the minds of the people,
although the devilish deed for which the
man, was convicted and sentenced happened
nearly two years and half ago. Justice in
this case, though exceedingly slow, was, as it
nearly always is, very sure.
The murder of the child Mary Mohrmann
was committed on Sunday evering, September
9TH 1868. At that time no one but the guilty
man knew that the foul deed had been done.
The mother of the child and the neigh
bors knew that the child was missing, and sup
posed that she was lost and would soon be found
again. 1t was not until the Tuesday morning
following that the city was startled by the news
that the dead body of the little girl, who was
only about six years old, though large for her
anOuUh ota 10 tba
serious displeasure of any human being-had
been found in a pool of water in an open lot
near her former residence in the upper part of
the city. The appearance of the body made it
very evident that she had been most horribly
murdered under circumstances of the most
fendish atrocity. The testimony since elected
shows that the manner of death of the unoffend-
ing girl was such that her sufferings must have
been of the most intense and agoniZing descrip-
ton.
For some time after the discovery no clue
could be found to the murderer, though public
opinion, especially in the immediate neighbor-
hood, was at high state of excitement. Sus-
picion pointed to the man John Hanlon, who
kept barber-shop on Fifth street, few doors
from Diamond. The building in which he lived
and in which the shop was situated was in a
direct line with and Immediately in front of the
house of Mrs. Mohrmann, the mother of the MUIR
dered girl, which stood on Orkney street,
small street running parallel with Fifth. Han
lon was known to be character likely to be
the perpetrator of the deed. The imperfect
evidence then cleaned pointed SO strongly
towards him that he was arrested and held for
hearing, but from want OF sufficient testi-
mony it was found necessary to discharge him.
With unusual effrontery the suspected man
stood his ground and continued his business as
if nothing had happened. This unusual course,
which but few guilty men would have had the
nerve to carry out, diverted suspicion from him
almost entirely save in the minds of the few
officers of the law who were engaged in work.
ing up the case Had he had but sufficient self
control to have kept him from acts similar to
that which ended in the murder, he would pro.
badly never have been discovered. AS it was,
the imperfection OF the evidence made him
leel in short time perfectly secure, and he was
less guarded in his actions. He even boasted of
the fact that though he had been arrested, the
crime could not be proved upon him.
The inquest of the Coroner threw NO new
light upon the subject The post mortem eXa-
mination showed that the body had been unmer-
cifully mutilated though the immediate cause
of death was strangulation. After hearing the
testimony the Coroners jury agreed upon the
following verdict
"The evidence submitted shows that on SUNDAY
evening" September6, 1865, Mary MohImann, a child
aged six years, while playing at Fifth ana Diamond
streets, near her mothers house, was entced away
by man to the jury unknown Although diligent
search was made. no traces Of the child were OBJ
tanned until her dead body was found in a pond on
sixth street, above Susquehanna avenue, on Tues
day morning. the Sth inst
''The evidence further shews that the said child
had been violated In the most disgusting ana hor-
rid manner; that several blows had been inflicted
upon her head and that she had been strangu-
lated. The evidence also showed that the body
was not placed in said pond until some hours after
death.
Therefore We, your jury, find the following
verdict:-That the said Mary MOhrmann came to
her death from strangulstion, after having been
violated, at the hands OF some person to this jury
unknown"
The public interest in the case was so great
that the mysterious occurrence was talked over
for very long time after. But this gradually
wore away as the event became more aud more
thing of the past. A long year and half
rolled by without anything further being heard.
The officers of justice were actively but quietly
engaged in following the chain of evidence
though their efforts in completing 1t had not
been very successful so far Even the offered
reward of Mayor MeMiehael of $1,000 for in
formation which would lead to the conviction
of the guilty party produced no effect.
On one occasion the detective officers visited
Harlon's shop as customers and questioned him