John Haggerty (murderer)

John Haggerty (died 23 April 1847) was an Irish American self-professed Baptist minister who murdered American gunsmith Melchoir Fordney whilst undergoing delusions about a talking horse. The trial of John Haggerty marked the first case of using the insanity defense in American judicial history, following the trial of Daniel M'Naghten and the establishment of the M'Naghten rules in the United Kingdom.

Life

Early Life

John Haggerty was born in and immigrated to the state of Pennsylvania from the Irish portion of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland at the age of 20. Haggerty initially worked as a lumberjack, before becoming a self-professed Baptist minister. Haggerty was known for his alcoholism, resulting in a years-long imprisonment in the Eastern State Penitentiary for assault and battery. Haggerty was also married, and resided in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as a neighbour to Melchior Fordney.

Murder of Fordney

Prior to the murder of Melchoir Fordney, Haggerty had progressively become delusional, expressing fierce concern over a horse he owned, who he claimed would talk to him, and berate Haggerty's shortcomings and livestock. On 27 August, 1846, during a storm, Haggerty had sought to use a musket from Fordney's gunsmithing shop on Conestoga Street to kill his horse. At 9am, Haggerty had approached Fordney requesting Fordney shoot the horse, but this request was turned down. In response, Haggerty commandeered a display weapon and unsuccessfully attempted to shoot the horse, eventually retreating into his nearby home with the rifle.

Haggerty later emerged from his home with the display rifle and an axe, presumably firing on the horse. Haggerty had claimed the rifle finally fired due to the use of silver bullets. The gunshot alerted the neighbors, Fordney, and Fordney's common-law wife Catherine Tripple, resulting in Fordney attempting to disarm Haggerty, with Tripple pleading for the rifle to be handed over by Haggerty. Haggerty gave the musket to Tripple, then began attacking Fordney with his axe. Fordney and Tripple both escaped into Fordney's residence, being followed by Haggerty. Fordney and Tripple's daughter, Isabella, was also present in the room, ending in all three being attacked by Haggerty and his axe. Both Fordney and Tripple had died at the scene, with Isabella being temporarily paralyzed and severely hurt, but survived the attack. As the residence door was open, neighbors observed the massacre, and began throwing bricks and stones into the shop to distract Haggerty. When a brick struck Haggerty's head, Haggerty had focused on the neighbors, threatening to attack them with a now-bloody axe. Six men restrained Haggerty and disarmed him. Another child of Fordney's had also alerted the deputies at the town courthouse. Haggerty was then arrested by the police at the scene.

Trial

The trial for the murder of Fordney was held in 1847, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The proceedings were conducted at the court of oyer and terminer, presided upon by judge Ellis Lewis, and associate justices Jacob Grosh and Emmanuel Schaeffer. Haggerty had claimed to police that he expressed discontent over Fordney and Tripple "living in sin", as they were unmarried, and the two's refusal to let Haggerty kill his horse. Haggerty had also vocalized about the talking horse, stating it climbed trees, and turned into a fire breathing dragon to breathe fire on goats that would chase the horse up the trees, and that his chickens would turn into an "image of Martin Van Buren" when the horse "insulted" the chickens too harshly. Haggerty also claimed seeing other unusual events, such as the British Army being bemused at the horse exclaiming insults from the tree, and seeing an "army of saints" led by George Washington marching down Queen Street, ignoring the horse in the tree which "confused" Haggerty.

Investigating officers had ruled out alcohol as a factor in the murder, despite Haggerty's reputation and admittance of consuming alcohol that night. The trial itself was held in the aftermath of the earlier establishment of the then-controversial M'Naghten rules from the United Kingdom, only three years prior. The trial had heard from over 70 witnesses, mainly from the prosecution. One witness was a testimony from Dr. William Baker Fahnestock, who used the pseudoscience of phrenology to determine the motive of the attack, but declared that a former skull fracture from Haggerty's time as a lumber worker and other phrenological "evidence" did not impact the motive. Fahnestock had claimed the fracture "passes the lower edge of Wonder, Hope, and Conscientiousness, but had not reached the areas of Destructiveness or Combatitiveness." Other testimonies included the medical analysis of the bodies of Fordney and Tripple, describing the murder scene and the dealt inflictions. Haggerty's prior conviction for assault and battery and his alcoholism was also scrutinized, leading to a declaration that he is "prone to symptoms analogous to mania".

In the final instruction to the jury, the judge Ellis Lewis repeated the basic facts of the case, including the question of Haggerty's sanity. Lewis had also argued that Haggerty was still responsible for his actions because he had chose to drink despite knowing the associated risks. In Lewis' summation, he had stated that if the jury decides to convict, he is guilt of murder due to the consumption of alcohol beforehand:

If the jury believes that the defendant committed the act in a state of voluntary intoxication, he is nevertheless guilty of murder. The voluntary conversion of himself into a demon was, in itself an unlawful act... though there be no deliberate intention to kill, the law, by construction, holds him to be guilty of malice aforethought.

The jury had voted to convict Haggerty of first-degree murder, and Haggerty was sentenced to be hanged. Lewis had stated to Haggerty that he knew he was not mentally sane and chose to commit the murder due to indifference of human life:

You knew your brain was powder and, with reckless indifference to human life, if not with deliberate design to work destruction, you applied the match.

Haggerty was later hanged on 23 April 1847.

Legacy

The aftermath of the trial was the first use of the insanity defense in American judicial history. Since the trial, the definition of insanity in terms of crime has been expanded and elaborated. A book was published about the trial, named "Report on the Trial and Conviction of John Haggerty for the Murder of Melchoir Fordney, Late of the City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania", originally published in 1847, and was put into reproduction in 2012 by one of Fordney's decendants, Kenneth T. Fortney. The housing of Haggerty has since been demolished, but the former gun shop and residence of Fordney still remains, at 506 and 508 Queen Street respectively.