The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-12-18
SLAIN BY BURGLAR
PROMINENT PITTSBURG WOMAN
MURDERED In HER ROOM.
SHE WAS SOCIETY TREASURER
AND THIS FUND THE BURGLARS
PROBABLE OBJECT.

Miss Murphy Had Practised with
Revolver Until She Became an Ex-
pert Shot in Order to Protect Her.
self In just Such Emergency as
Faced Her Yesterday Morning.
The Burglar Guided by the Flash
of Miss Murphy's Weapon, Fired
with Fatal Accuracy.
Pittsburg, Pa, Dec. 17-Harriet P.
Murphy, prominent in church and So
ciety circles and treasurer of the
Kingsley House Fund, was murdered
at her home, No. 1921 Howe street,
East End, by burglar about o'clock
this morning. The murderer made his
escape and although the whole police
force of that section was called, the
man has not been captured.
Miss Murphy was the only sister of
Select Councilman John A. Murphy
from the Twentieth ward. and was 30
years old. She, with her brother ana
two servants, women, lived alone in
the house, Miss Murphy sleeping on
the second floor. She was an expert
with the revolver, having practiced
many years for the purpose of pro-
tecting herself in the evefit of just such
an attack@as happened this morning,
and she always had a pistol either un-
der her pillow or within easy reach.
About O'Clock this morning her
brother was awakened by two shots in
the house and fastening to his sisters
room found her lying dead on the floor
with a bullet wound in the head The
burglar was porch climber. He
scaled the porch posts and entered the
window of Miss Murphy's room by
breaking the glass. 1t is supposed
that the noise of the crashing glass
awakened her and as she jumped from
the bed with her revolver in her hand
the man fired. Marks in the snow on
the porch room indicate that only one
man entered the room. Miss Murphy
usually kept the collections for the
Kingsley House Fund in her room until
they reached a sum large enough to
be placed in the bank. and it is thought
the burglar was after the money.
When the police raised Miss Murphy
they found the revolver within a few
| llSHSS Va ilCI IlSlll manu- uHueI U0e IOluS
OF her night dress. The room in
which the shooting took place was
pitch dark and the police think that
the burglar gauged the vital spot of
the shooter by the flash from the re-
volver she fired. 1t was a shot that on
ly an expert could make and they are
confident that it could not have been
chance shot. A careful investiga-
tion was made of the room this morn
ing and not a thing of value was miss
ing.
The police are inclined to think the
burglar was a negro, and at noon
claimed to have a good clue.
Developments tonight in the case
deepen the air of mystery shrouding
it. At the preliminary coroner's in
quest 1t was shown that two bullets
were missing from Miss Murphys re-
volver, one was accounted for by trac-
ing it to the window, where it lodged
No trace of the other has as yet beer
found. Miss Murphy's physician stated
that his patient had not slept for fifteen
nights and the physician who examined
the body for the coroner said the hair
around the wound in the head was
scorched,- showing that the shot was
fired at close range. Bloody tracks on
the snow outside of the house supposed
to have been made by the wounded
murderer are shown to have been made
by police officers.