Patrick Eugene Prendergast
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Patrick Eugene Joseph Prendergast (1868 —July 13, 1894) was the assassin of Chicago's Mayor, Carter Harrison, Sr..
Prendergast was a newspaper distributor in Chicago. In addition, he lobbied for improvements in Chicago's railroad grade crossings, which he saw as a danger to the public. In 1893, he supported Harrison's re-election campaign. Prendergast was under the illusion that if Harrison won the election he would receive an appointment as Corporation Counsel. When the appointment didn't come, Prendergast visited Harrison at his home on October 28, 1893 and shot the mayor four times. Harrison did not know who Prendergast was.
In his first trial, Prendergast's attorney tried to have him found insane, but failed. Clarence Darrow later won a hearing on Prendergast's sanity, but it also failed. Prendergast was hanged on July 13, 1894.
Prendergast's story is one of the sub-plots in Erik Larson's non-fiction book, The Devil in the White City, which argues through example that Prendergast was indeed insane.
[edit] Reference
- Larson, Erik, The Devil in the White City, Vintage Books, NY 2003
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