Patrick Prendergast

Background

Patrick Prendergast was born in Ireland. His grandfather was reported to have died insane while his mother had "repeated attacks of hysterics" and his father died of consumption.

At the age of 4, Prendergast was reported to have suffered a severe head injury from a fall. He had been 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 in school.

Prendergast left home at 16 because of imaginary persecution. By 18, he had developed grandiose ideas of his capabilities and became a fanatic for the single-tax promoted by Henry George. He later became a newspaper distributor in Chicago, where he lobbied for improvements in Chicago's railroad grade crossings, which he saw as a danger to the public.

In 1893, Prendergast supported Harrison's reelection campaign under the delusion that if Harrison won the election, Prendergast would receive an appointment as Corporation Counsel.

The offence

Prendergast was the assassin of Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison, Sr.

On October 28, 1893, Prendergast visited Harrison at his home. He was admitted by a maid who went to wake the mayor. As Harrison was leaving the room where he had been sleeping, Prendergast approached and shot the mayor three times with a .38 revolver. Prendergast escaped after the shooting and fired once at a coachman whom he encountered. Harrison did not know who Prendergast was.

Investigation

Prendergast surrendered at Des Plaines Street police station 30 minutes later. He still had the gun in his possession.

When interviewed by police, he gave varying stories as to his motive. The motives he gave included the failed appointment and the mayor's failure to elevate train track crossings. The smell of burned powder and empty chambers reaffirmed the police department of his actions.

Trial

In his first trial, Prendergast's attorney tried to have him found insane. Several doctors testified that while Prendergast was paranoid, he knew right from wrong and was capable of standing trial for the murder.

Clarence Darrow later won a hearing on Prendergast's sanity, but it also failed.

Sentencing

Prendergast was hanged on July 14, 1894 in Chicago.

Aftermath

On occasion, Prendergast has been represented in film or fiction. In the 1991 made-for-TV movie Darrow, he was portrayed by New York-born actor Paul Klementowicz. Prendergast's story is one of the sub-plots in Erik Larson's book The Devil in the White City.