The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-08-26
MURPHY MURDERED.
HAZE no KILLED nv JAMES HAHN I'M
TINE TRIANGLE BUILDING.

ii Ia O well known fact that one crime IS
followed by another of the same character SO
rapidly that 1t Is hard to realize.
Thus it Is that before the coroner has linz
ighed with the murdered remains Of Paddy
Jones he IL called upon to hold an autopsy
upon the body OF Henry Murphy, shot by
james Hahn, alias Lee, in the Triangle
Building, ut the corner Of Front and Calliope
streets. at O quarter to G o'clock Sunday
morning ."-.-".
As soon as 1t was made known that the
murder had been committed representative
of this paper repaired to the house. Outside
the building large crowd had gathered,
through which 1t was impossible to pass until
some Of them were made to stand aside by
the officer on duty at the door. The reporter
was then able to reach the door, a1d, ad-
dressing the officer, asked, where Is the
dead nlarl2' "On the third floor" responded
The officer. Then pointing down long pass
ageway, he said Ego down that passageway
until you come to pair or steps; go up
them: then turn to your right, and you will
find another pair Of steps; go up them, and IL
along that passageway and you can't miss the
room;
.. THE BODY -.
s there"
given. and after ascending the 1iCkety stairs
and passing along the plasterless halls found
himself in the room with the murdered man.
The coroner not having arrived, the body
had been left in the position in which the VIC
tim fell. This was apparently an easy posi-
ton. The victim lay on his right side, the
right arm under, the left being at right angles
with the body resting on the floor; the right
leg WIS bent, while the left was extended.
The corpse was lying II p2o o. blood, which
wound, which was In the right breast, three
inches above the nipple.
The room next attracted the reporters at-
tention. It was @ small apartment, with one
door and three windows, and very meagrely
furnished, the furniture consisting OF single
bed q table and two chairs. The door, which
opened on the inside, had two bullet holes in
IT,; one of the bullets had penetrated the
panel, and the other had made its way
through the cracks near the lock. The door
had evidently been locked by the deceased,
who was on the inside and had been kicked
open by Hahn, who was on the outside In the
passageway,
saw the accused and deceased scuffling down
stairs before the shooting, and they give the
following version of the affair: The two men
we're on the ground floor. when they became
involved in O difficulty, and Murphy struck
Hahn in the face and
SKINNED HIS NOSE
The two GOmbHtantS were then separated,
and Murphy retired TO his room and Hahn
went to his. Suddenly they were startled by
three pistol shots fired in rapid succession;
Two friends Of Murphy's, Ed Manning and
one Robertson, was about to go up stairs to
see what were the matter, when they saw
Hahn coming down stairs with pistol in his
hand. They started to arrest him, but he
leveled the weapon at them and told them II
they placed q hand on him he would kill
them; he then passed into the street and
succeeded In making his escape. They then
went up stairs and found Murphy dead. This
is al the light they could throw on the
tragedy.
Sergeant Calvin, of the Second Precinct
made q thorough investigation of the murder,
and his opinion of the affair is that Hahn
room, armed himself with his pistol and i'm
mediately repaired to the room occupied by
Murphy. Finding the door locked, he tried
to force it open, but being unsuccessful, fired
one shot through the panel Of the door; his
next shot he aimed at that portion OF the
door where he judged the lock was, and SO
fired with the hope of dislodging the lock and
forcing his way into the room. In this he
appeared to have been successful, as the lock
was found shattered. A slight kick forced
the door open, and as it swung open Murphy
the third shot, and Murphy fell at his muir
derer's feet.
The n,1tnnsx Of Dr. Reard in presence Of the
coroner showed that the bullet had passed
through Murphys body and lodged under
the skin in his back. The two other bullets
were found In the wall in the room
The entire police force have been notified to
keep q sharp lookout for the accused and ar
rest him on sight.