319:. Chicago lawyers disagreed, as Prendergast had taken special care to keep an empty chamber in his revolver as he carried it around. This demonstrated rationality because carrying a revolver of that era with a live round under the hammer could cause it to go off if dropped; having the forethought to leave the chamber safely empty demonstrated sanity. Modern revolvers have safety features to prevent such accidental discharges. Several doctors testified that while Prendergast was paranoid, he knew right from wrong and was capable of standing trial for the murder.
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A signal was given and at 11:48 the rope holding the heavy trap in place was cut. Prendergast's neck was broken by the six-foot drop and his body did not move after the fall. Prendergast's heart continued to beat for about ten minutes, after which it ceased; five minutes later his body was taken down
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Prendergast walked to the edge of the trap without assistance, where his hands were fastened. Although having previously planned to make a last statement, he had been dissuaded by the priest, to whom he quietly delivered his last words, "I had no malice against anyone." Prendergast's feet, knees, and
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Prendergast was reported to have suffered a severe head injury from a fall at the age of four, from which he was unconscious for a long period of time and suffered vomiting for four weeks after. He was described as a peculiar child, solitary, irritable and excitable, with a poor memory who did poorly
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When the appointment did not come, Prendergast visited
Harrison at his home on October 28, 1893, ringing the doorbell at 7:50 p.m. Prendergrast was admitted by a maid who went to wake the mayor, who was taking a nap on a sofa in the parlor. As Harrison stepped into the hallway from the parlor,
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had dissipated. He was visited by a doctor at 11:30 and spent a brief time with a priest, declaring that there had been no malice in the killing of Mayor
Harrison. Five minutes before his scheduled 11:45 execution, Prendergast's attorney, S.S. Gregory, arrived and was allowed to shake his client's
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had been constructed in the north corridor of the jail and seats placed between the row of cells along the north side and the high building wall. Prisoners facing the corridor were removed from their cells to a place where the execution would not be visible, and about 500 ticketed witnesses were
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by several citizens and a police officer, who ran after him to the Des
Plaines Street police station, where Prendergast immediately surrendered. He still had the gun in his possession. When interviewed by police, he gave varying stories as to his motive, including the failed appointment and the
221:. He was baptised in St Colman's Church on 12 April 1868 His parents were Ellen King (1837–1914) and Patrick Prendergast (1840–1886), both of whom were described as teachers at their marriage in Inishbofin on 2 July 1865. His grandfather, William Prendergast, who lost an arm in
288:, hearing the gunfire, ran towards the site of the shooting with a pistol of his own, firing three times at the escaping Prendergast without hitting him, while avoiding being hit when Prendergast returned fire. Mortally wounded, Harrison died in his home at 8:25 p.m.
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Prendergast approached and shot the mayor three times with a .38 revolver, hitting him first in the abdomen above the navel, a second time under the left arm with a shot that pierced his heart, and a third time at point-blank range through the left hand.
264:. Harrison was elected mayor in April 1893, to a non-consecutive fifth term. Before and after the election, Prendergast wrote numerous letters to and visited the offices of prominent politicians associated with Harrison's campaign.
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Sheriff James H. Gilbert visited
Prendergast's cell and read him the death warrant issued in his case. He was visited one last time by his brother John at 11 a.m., by which time hope for a last-minute reprieve from Governor
303:, where the building was quickly surrounded by a crowd of 5,000 people. Fearing potential mob violence, at 11:15 p.m., Prendergast was stealthily hurried into a wagon and taken to another station located on the
260:, which he saw as a danger to the public. In 1893, he supported Carter Harrison's re-election campaign under the delusion that if Harrison won the election, Prendergast would receive an appointment as
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mayor's failure to elevate train track crossings. The smell of burned powder and the revolver's empty chambers reaffirmed to the police department that
Prendergast was telling the truth.
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assembled, which included the members of the jury which convicted him. At 11:43 the order was given to march and
Prendergast was led to the gallows, accompanied by Father Gilbert of the
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180:, fatally shooting the five-term mayor on October 28, 1893. Following two separate trials, in which the defense tried unsuccessfully to have him acquitted
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later won a hearing on
Prendergast's sanity, but the defense also failed in the second trial and Prendergast was found guilty. He was sentenced to death.
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chest were bound with straps and a white shroud placed over him and he was taken onto the trap, where the noose was placed around his neck. A white
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241:. He left home at 16 because of imaginary persecution and by 18 had developed grandiose ideas of his capabilities and became a fanatic for the
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476:"Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison's Assassin Patrick Eugene Prendergast was executed on this date in 1894"
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during a city hotspot checkin in which you can visit the police station and briefly read about it.
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Prendergast was taken from the Des
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On occasion, Prendergast has been represented in film or fiction. In the 1991
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400:-born actor Paul Klementowicz. Prendergast's story is one of the subplots in
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Newspaper illustration of
Prendergast published on the day of his execution
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on 20 May 1873, aged 5, traveling with his brother John, aged 8, on the SS
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hood was placed over his head and the noose, obscuring both from view.
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In his first trial, Prendergast's attorney tried to have him declared
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of the city, where he was lodged in the county jail pending trial.
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688:(1st Vintage Books ed.). Bismarck Public Library. p.
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Transactions of the
Medical Society of the State of New York
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Medical Society of the State of New York (1807–) (1895).
729:. Vol. 53, no. 195. July 14, 1894. p. 9.
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on July 13, 1894, the only client of famed attorney
209:Prendergast was born on 6 April 1868 in Cloonamore
276:Carter H. Harrison Sr., five-term mayor of Chicago
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349:hand one last time and to exchange a few words.
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252:Prendergast became a newspaper distributor in
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772:19th-century executions by the United States
339:At 10 a.m. on the morning of July 13, 1894,
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587:: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
163:(6 April 1868 – 13 July 1894) was an
777:19th-century executions of American people
651:. Louisville. October 29, 1893. p. 1.
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460:In Re Prendergast: Address to the Jury
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404:'s 2003 best-selling non-fiction book
291:The escaping assassin was chased down
827:Irish emigrants to the United States
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361:, who was on hand to administer the
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16:Irish-American assassin (1868–1894)
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217:, an island off the west coast of
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502:Radeska, Tijana (July 30, 2017).
410:. Patrick was also referenced in
161:Patrick Eugene Joseph Prendergast
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606:"1893: Mayor Carter Harrison"
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837:Irish people executed abroad
522:"General Registrar's Office"
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745:The Devil in the White City
685:The Devil in the White City
554:Clifden 1865 Vol 14 page 81
425:The Devil in the White City
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407:The Devil in the White City
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682:Larson, Erik (2006).
577:. Harvard University.
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182:by reason of insanity
102:Newspaper distributor
721:"Assassin is Hanged"
463:. pp. 920–1117.
440:with similar motives
192:to ever receive the
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671:. October 29, 1893.
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262:Corporation Counsel
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165:Irish-born American
89:Cause of death
792:Illinois Democrats
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68:(1894-07-13)
767:1894 deaths
762:1868 births
402:Erik Larson
341:Cook County
284:Harrison's
227:consumption
756:Categories
619:2008-11-25
481:ChicagoNow
363:last rites
305:North Side
243:single-tax
215:Inishbofin
205:Early life
111:Democratic
99:Occupation
52:Inishbofin
44:1868-04-06
583:cite book
445:Footnotes
435:President
327:Execution
200:Biography
643:Carrier"
531:11 April
487:March 3,
418:See also
398:New York
301:downtown
286:coachman
235:New York
223:Pamplona
211:townland
121:Executed
365:of the
354:gallows
254:Chicago
219:Ireland
186:hanging
172:Chicago
56:Ireland
696:
394:Darrow
375:muslin
317:insane
311:Trials
239:France
139:Murder
641:Times
175:Mayor
149:Death
694:ISBN
589:link
533:2017
489:2020
63:Died
38:Born
690:382
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
