Patrick Murphy was born in 1881 in County Mayo, Ireland.
He went by the name Frank Carter and F.R. Clark. The media called him, Omaha Sniper, Phantom Sniper, Sniper Bandit.
It all began in early February of 1926 in Omaha, Nebraska, where Frank was a laborer. a mechanic was murdered with a .22 caliber pistol with a silencer attached. Soon after, a doctor was murdered, and then a railroad detective was shot six times in neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa.
On February 15, Omaha's newspapers recommended the city black out all lights after an expose on previous murders showed that the victims had been standing in their windows at home when they were shot. During daylight hours, the sniper shot another in the face and fired through more than a dozen lighted windows. Businesses in Omaha came to a standstill, streets cleared and the city's entertainment venues emptied for more than a week. Other crimes included shooting indiscriminately into a Downtown Omaha drugstore.
More than two weeks after his first murder, Carter was captured in Iowa, 30 miles south of Council Bluffs at Bartlett in Fremont County, Iowa. Carter readily admitted his crimes. After a month-long trial where Carter's lawyers pleaded insanity, Carter was convicted on two charges of murder: one for killing mechanic William McDevitt and the other for killing Dr. A.D. Searles. After his conviction, Carter further admitted to being a parole breaker. (He had been released from the Iowa State Penitentiary in 1925 after serving time for killing cattle.) Frank Carter's Nebraska Prison Number was #9277 He was executed by electrocution on June 24, 1927, at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, Nebraska. Carter was quoted as saying "Let the juice flow" just before he died.
He went by the name Frank Carter and F.R. Clark. The media called him, Omaha Sniper, Phantom Sniper, Sniper Bandit.
It all began in early February of 1926 in Omaha, Nebraska, where Frank was a laborer. a mechanic was murdered with a .22 caliber pistol with a silencer attached. Soon after, a doctor was murdered, and then a railroad detective was shot six times in neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa.
On February 15, Omaha's newspapers recommended the city black out all lights after an expose on previous murders showed that the victims had been standing in their windows at home when they were shot. During daylight hours, the sniper shot another in the face and fired through more than a dozen lighted windows. Businesses in Omaha came to a standstill, streets cleared and the city's entertainment venues emptied for more than a week. Other crimes included shooting indiscriminately into a Downtown Omaha drugstore.
More than two weeks after his first murder, Carter was captured in Iowa, 30 miles south of Council Bluffs at Bartlett in Fremont County, Iowa. Carter readily admitted his crimes. After a month-long trial where Carter's lawyers pleaded insanity, Carter was convicted on two charges of murder: one for killing mechanic William McDevitt and the other for killing Dr. A.D. Searles. After his conviction, Carter further admitted to being a parole breaker. (He had been released from the Iowa State Penitentiary in 1925 after serving time for killing cattle.) Frank Carter's Nebraska Prison Number was #9277 He was executed by electrocution on June 24, 1927, at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, Nebraska. Carter was quoted as saying "Let the juice flow" just before he died.
Here are some newspaper articles on the case.
1926.jpg)
1926.jpg)
Just after six A.M. as Frank Carter sat in the electric chair he had a few words to say to his audience after he instructed no blindfold was wanted. " Well, boys I guess you're going to get a big kick out of this. Ain't very often a condemned man gives you such a swell story as I am giving you."
After telling Rev Thomas Maxwell as he prayed for the killer. Chaplin, I think you had better command my soul to the Lord under the of Pat Murphy instead of Carter, because He will know me better under that name."
(Must have been a man of prayer once.)
After he was all hooked up and the attendants backed away, Carter yelled out "Turn on the Juice!" Just as Gilbert flipped the switch and 2,000 volts of electricity coursed his body to Hell. At 6:14 A.M. He was pronounced Dead.
In doing research on Patrick Joseph Murphy I found a wife named Anna born about 1895 in County of Mayo, Ireland and a son born in Chicago, IL on 2 Dec 1928 name Alfred Emanuel Murphy. I also checked the census records and if I found the right one he came to America by way of Liverpool England on the the Celtic in 20 Aug 1920 and landed on Ellis Island.
It was written that he thought he had a disease that would make him go insane and that's why did what he did but there's no evidence he had any diseases at the time of his capture.
There is no photo of his grave but there is a memorial on Findagrave.com and one person named Rita left him flowers in 2014. He is buried in the cemetery at the penitentiary.
Burial:
Nebraska State Penitentiary Cemetery
Lincoln
Lancaster County
Nebraska, USA
Comments
Post a Comment