In the early morning hours of Sept. 19, 1910, Mary Hiller awoke inside the Chicago home she shared with her husband and four children. The gas light at the head of their stairway, which she always left running overnight, was out — so she sent her husband to investigate.
Upon inspection, Clarence Hiller found an intruder: a recently paroled man named Thomas Jennings. The two struggled briefly before several gunshots rang out, leaving Hiller dead. Prior to this fatal encounter, Jennings had sexually assaulted one of Hiller’s daughters.
Jennings fled, but police detained him less than a mile from the crime scene. He was bloodied, with torn clothing and a recently fired .38 revolver. His explanation for his ragged appearance — of having fallen from a trolley — wasn’t convincing enough for police, who arrested him.
But it wasn’t just this evidence or eyewitness testimony that ultimately sentenced Jennings to ...
